Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Spring FINALLY Comes to Maine (GBBD)



1. Jacob's Ladder wildflowers
(Thanks, Carol, for the ID.)

In Maine, spring doesn’t really kick in until May, 
and then everything blooms all at once in my garden and woods.  

2. First to flower is the Forsythia, burning through my woods,

3. Where Wood Anemones bow with blooms,

4. And Partridge Berry rambles.


5. In sun dappled patches, Low Bush Blueberry thrives.
(Thanks, Les, for the ID.)


6. Wild Violets are easier to identify.


7. True to name are Forget Me Nots.

7. Azalea fades as Cherry blossoms unfold.

8. More Azaleas follow.



Visit more Garden Bloggers Bloom Day posts @ May Dreams Gardens.


Gardeners, thanks for helping me ID the mystery blooms.

32 comments:

tina said...

Good morning and happy spring! The first flower reminds me of forget me nots? I have no idea the 5th. Possibly leucothoe or pieris? Gorgeous pics!

Les said...

Your mystery pic #5 looks to me like some sort of Vaccinium (blueberry or huckleberry), though I have been known to make mistakes.

Tracy Golightly-Garcia said...

Hello Sara

Happy, happy Spring!!

Love all your beautiful pictures.

Best
Tracy :)

ingrid said...

Will you please send some spring to Holland?:) It's raining and raining.....
Have a nice day..
Love from the netherlands
Ingrid

Rose said...

Spring is my favorite time of year, and I wish its blooms would last for months. Thanks for giving me that joy of spring once again through your beautiful photos, Sarah.

Sorry I can't help i.d. your unnamed blooms, but I'm sure some helpful gardener will be able to.

A Cuban In London said...

Wow! I mean, just, WOW! Alternatively, I could write biupkuuihauidga6gterfbabhycka... because I've run out of adjectives in English to describe your beautiful photos. :-)

Greetings from London.

Cid said...

I love the Azaleas that line the roadsides in Maine. Happy spring!

Sarah Laurence said...

All, we’ve lost power in my area for an unknown reason. It’s foggy today but not stormy. I’ve logged on briefly at Wild Oats Bakery, but I don’t want to hog a table for too long. Hopefully I’ll be back online soon to visit your blogs.

Tina, #1 reminds me of Forget Me Nots too, but the bloom is 4 times larger and the foliage is different. Thanks for taking a shot at #5 too.

Les, I hope it’s blueberry, but it’s different from the wild low bush blueberry we typically get in our yard. It looks a bit more like the images of huckleberry except the striped foliage is different. I’ll wait and see what fruit it bears.

Tracy, thanks!

Ingrid, welcome to my blog! It’s foggy in Maine today after a day of rain but my garden needed it. I’d love to see the Dutch tulips. I hope you get some sun soon.

Rose, our blooms come late and never last long enough. I’m glad I took these photos before a rainstorm battered the blooms yesterday.

ACIL, you of many words ran out of adjectives? I’m honored.

Cid, I love roadside blooms too.

Anonymous said...

Greetings from Sweden!

Would just like to say that your blog is truly charming, personal and interesting. Found it while googling in november last year (on "british christmas" I think it was, your post on christmas in Britain w your husbands family came up).

I've never been to the US but after you posted recommendations for friends visiting Maine, I hope to go with my husband soon! I know we both would love it.

Thank you very much for charing.

Best regards,
Sanna

Sarah Laurence said...

All, my power is back! Les has identified my mystery bush correctly as Vaccinium. I compared the leaves to a much smaller plant that I know is wild low bush blueberry and got a match. It’s wonderful to see it spreading naturally through “the meadow” in our woods.

Sanna, welcome to my blog and thank you! I loved hearing the story of how you find me. That English Christmas post is one of my favorites. Sweden is a country I’d love to see some day. By coincidence by writing critique partner, author Charlotte Agell, is Swedish. She came to Bowdoin for college, fell in love and settled in Maine.

Stephanie Strong said...

Greetings from Queensland, Australia!

Hi Sarah, My Aussie husband and I are hoping to move to Maine in the next year to be closer to our family. We are learning so much about your beautiful state through your blog.Couldn't resist letting you know you have another international fan!

Stephanie, Bargara, QLD

A Cuban In London said...

Hi, sarah, thanks for your comment. I didn't know that your husband had Latin roots. Please, get him to explore them! :-) That would be a post I'd be looking forward to reading. And Chilean? That's one of my favourite accents in the Spanish. Very peculiar indeed.

Greetings from London.

Amanda Summer said...

forsythia burns through the woods......indeed it does. i always look forward to seeing this fiery first sign of spring. all images are exquisite, particularly the wood anemone.

Donna said...

How pretty! I'm glad that spring has sprung for you in Maine. I miss those yellow forsythia bushes! They were everywhere in Connecticut and I had forgotten about them until I saw your post today. I haven't seen any in Iowa yet!

troutbirder said...

I do love our northern wildflowers and yours are lovely, Sarah. Thanks...

elizabeth said...

Even sweeter when it finally does come!
A treat of a post --glorious!

Carol said...

Sarah, These are all beautiful photographs of lovely flowers but I am stunned by your second number seven photo . . . Azalea and Cherry blooms! Gorgeous!! Your last photo is so poetic. Love the black and shadow too. I wonder is this the time to visit the Maine Botanical Gardens? Happy Blooms!

Carol said...

ps . . . your first mystery plant reminds me of Jacob's ladder??

Sarah Laurence said...

All Moms, Happy Mother’s Day! We just got back from a walk on the beach. It could not have been a nicer weekend, warm and sunny, with my family pampering me.

Stephanie, how wonderful to hear! I do hope things work out for you in Maine. It might be a bit colder than Australia…Let me know where you end up.

ACIL, my in laws have visited their cousins in Chile, but it’s not a close connection. My Chilean grandmother-in-law left my British grandfather-in-law and their young son (my father-in-law) at the start of WWII. She disappeared from their lives for nearly 40 years. She spent her old age in the UK and passed away recently. One day we’d like to visit Chile and connect with our relations there.

Amanda and Donna, yes, the forsythia herald spring here.

Troutbirder and Elizabeth, thank you!

Carol, I just compared Google images to my wildflowers, and I believe you are correct about them being Jacob’s Ladder. Thanks so much for the ID! I do want to visit the Botanical Gardens, especially now that the lilacs are budding. Maybe next week if it isn’t too wet.

A Cuban In London said...

Thanks for that info, Sarah. Happy Mother's Day to you and to all the mothers who visit your blog! :-)

Greetings from London.

prince snow farm said...

Your garden is inspiring. I am so happy that things are finally blooming here in southeastern Mass as well

CommonWeeder said...

What beautiful photographs of your lovely flowers. Here in the higher elevations I am still waiting for real spring bloom I do have lots of violets in the lawn however.

Katie E-P said...

I love this! It is like a wildflower walk!

Sarah Laurence said...

ACIL, Nantucket Daffodil, thanks!

Common Weeder and Katie, welcome to my blog and thank you! I enjoyed your GBBD posts too. Katie, I could not comment on yours since you don’t have a google or open ID option.

khaki said...

Aaaahhhhh Forsythia. Makes me smile. (it does not grow here) Every time I see it (which is not often) I am reminded of Chicago- we got engaged there and the hotel lobby had a huge arrangement of them and we took several pictures in front of it and well, it reminds me of that. =0)
The wild Violets are so pretty! I don't think we have those here either! I love seeing blooms from other regions!

Anonymous said...

Jacob's Ladder... what an inspiring name for a flower. I really admire it. :-)

The last azalea looks wonderful. I have two azaleas in my garden - yellow and red - and every year they look better having more flowers and being grown a bit higher and wider. I also have Forsythia, this bush is quite popular here. I found a shoot entangled in the fence and didn't want to throw it away so now it has its place inside the garden and I'm glad to have kept it.

Cat said...

Yay that spring has sprung in your sweet corner of the world. It all looks so lush and colorful. I imagine you're finding lots of inspiration for painting. Happy GBBD, Sarah.

cynthia said...

I love Forsythia yellow, especially right next to a purple tree I don't know the name of. And it's almost summer here in Georgia--highs in the 80's this week.

bookworm said...

Your photos are wonderful. And since most of these plants have already bloomed where I live in upstate NY (well, not lowbush blueberries, which we don't have) it's like reliving spring all over again. Thank you for sharing.

Sarah Laurence said...

Kacky, how romantic!

Petra, Jacob Ladder gets its name from the ladder like leaf structure.

Cat, it’s too wet to paint watercolors now, but I’ll be out there once the sun returns.

Cynthia, purple and yellow are complementary colors. It would be striking. It’s still mostly 60’s in Maine but we hit 70s recently.

Bookworm, welcome to my blog and thank you! We do seems to have much in common. I enjoyed visiting your blog too.

la.p pessoa said...

ohh... they all are so so beautiful! And I love the photos!

Sarah Laurence said...

la.p, welcome to my blog and thank you!