Phenology: Flowers and Snow

When I woke up this morning the same gusty winds through which I walked yesterday were still blowing. Mostly from the north. I saw small pale blobs moving past the window. Leaves? Wait a minute--trees that grow near the house don't have that many small pale leaves! Could it be...and as the day dawned, I saw that it was, indeed, the first snow flurry of the winter.

We've had a couple of frosts, but not yet a "killing" frost that would cause plants to stop growing and blossoming...and because we've had such a long growing season, with a few late frosts, several creatures seem so confused they think it's spring again. Yesterday, on the way to the Cat Sanctuary, I saw a small, drab Noctuid-shaped moth, too wet to be identifiable, floundering about in the rain beside the road. Probably it had blown out of a load on the back of a truck.

Today, I saw even more spring flowers in bloom beside the road. Two days of warm rain have brought out ground-ivy, irises, and honeysuckle, as well as daisies and dandelions! The snow had stopped falling, and the confused flowers were open to the sun...and to that chilly north wind.

Here's an out-of-season celebration of the Bearded Iris, my official favorite flower. (It grows well in thin, poor soil, even near the walnut trees at the Cat Sanctuary. It's a tough pretty thing.)

http://www.flowerspictures.org/image/flowers/irises/yellow-iris-flower.jpg

http://www.flowers.vg/flowers/iris-blue-yellow.htm

http://www.flower-pictures-online.com/iris-flower-picture.html