{"id":4040,"date":"2020-05-03T11:06:52","date_gmt":"2020-05-03T11:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/?p=4040"},"modified":"2020-05-03T11:06:52","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T11:06:52","slug":"spring-in-maine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/spring-in-maine\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring In Maine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maine springs are uncertain times.
\nWarm, sunny, snowy, windy… all are encompassed in April here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
SPRING CROCUS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Last week I was able to enjoy my lower 40 with its early Crocus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The true plural of crocus is not Crocus or Crocuses, but Croci,
\nthough no one uses it.
\nThink of the plural of hippopotamus… it is hippopotami.<\/p>\n

They were opened and enjoying the sun,
\nwhile I enjoyed them!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Years ago I planted a lot of Crocus together.
\nI wanted a long bloom period,
\nso I put in some early species with later blooming hybrids,
\nto get a long bloom period.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I love the delicate species Crocus.<\/p>\n

Across the driveway, the Chionodoxa were also blooming.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Chionodoxa\"
Chionodoxa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0 Chionodoxa is part of the Scilla family.
\nThere is nothing delicate about this bulb!
\nIt is a workhorse.
\nIt blooms early with masses of flowers,
\nseeds itself around,
\nand multiplies with bulblets!
\nAnd it has a very long bloom time<\/p>\n

It grows in everything from pure scree to grass.<\/p>\n

When I see it, I know spring has arrived!
\nThe parade of spring bulbs had started! Spring was here!<\/p>\n

Ha!<\/p>\n

On Thursday a storm blew in, and I mean blew!
\nThere is nothing like a Nor’easter!
\nA Nor’easter comes in from over the ocean,
\ncarrying either wet snow or heavy rain,
\nwith high counter clockwise winds.<\/p>\n

And this is what hit us just before Easter weekend.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It dropped 8″ of very heavy wet snow on us. And, I mean heavy… it was like cement!
\nThere were smashed shrubs, downed trees, and downed power lines.
\nA Nor’easter with snow will coat every twig with snow.
\nIt can be extremely beautiful.<\/p>\n

And, it can be extremely destructive.<\/p>\n

But, as I drove to work, I thought this is really winter’s farewell…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Right after the snowy Nor’easter,
\nwhich knocked out power for many,
\nwe had another one,
\nonly it was rain and wind.<\/p>\n

It also knocked out power.<\/p>\n

But, the Chiondoxa were unfazed!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0The large Crocus hybrids showed up soon after.<\/p>\n

The Dutch hybrid Flower Record
\nis a showy thing,
\nespecially in large groups!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bold and beautiful, it is set off by the white wire edge along the flower petals.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The next bulbs to come were the
\nsmall, delicate Scilla mischtschenkoana.
\nThis used to be Scilla tubereniana ;
\nwhy it has been renamed?\u00a0 I have no idea.<\/p>\n

This has naturalized in the lawn,
\nand has formed clusters of the delicate flowers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Scilla
Scilla mischtschenkoana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The delicate flower are on wiry stems that
\nsway and tremble with every breath of air.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Down below the house the
\nPrimula vulgaris are in full bloom.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Primula
Primula vulgaris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As many of you know,
\nthis is my favorite spring perennial.
\nIt forms nice colonies, withstands everything the weather throws at it,
\nand blooms for about six weeks!<\/p>\n

Down in the meadow they are interspersed with
\nScilla siberica that has naturalized,
\nmaking a lovely patch of spring.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Scilla siberica is probably one of the bluest garden plants.
\nIt rivals gentian!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Scilla siberica<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It naturalizes easily.
\nHere it is with some of the white variety,
\nScilla siberica alba.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have seen this thickly carpeting the ground under trees-
\nit is truely breath taking.<\/p>\n

Next upon the scene are the first Muscari,
\nor grape hyacinth.
\nBy planting several varieties,
\none can continue the displays of blues.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Muscari\"
Muscari<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Try mixing the Chiondoxa, Scilla siberica, and Muscari together.
\nOne can have a multicolored carpet of blues.<\/p>\n

A small corydalis makes patches of violet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"CORYDALIS\"
Corydalis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This small plant grows in deep shade and full sun,
\non one inch of soil on granite ledge,
\nand in the grass in the meadow.<\/p>\n

It is fleeting, as it is an ephemeral.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The shrub Pieris japaonica is the earliest shrub to bloom in my yard.
\nI love the racemes of small bells.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Pieris
Pieris japonica<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The bulbs and flowers are one sign of spring.
\nBut, another are sounds.<\/p>\n

Throughout all of this one becomes aware of sounds one has not heard for a long time.
\nThere is the sound of running water from snow melt,
\nas it tumbles down the hill, flows under the road and makes it way to Great Salt Bay
\nor to a marsh and then to the river.
\nThere is the sound of white throated sparrows
\nand the cry of of the ospreys.<\/p>\n

And, then the sound we all wait for-
\nthe sound of the tree frogs!
\nThat incessant peep peep peep
\nthat starts up in the evening and lasts til dawn!
\nOnce one hears that people know spring has finally come!<\/p>\n

And, with a little warmth,
\nleaves unfurl, and
\na veil of green slowly emerges.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Spring.<\/p>\n

__________________________________________<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maine springs are uncertain times. Warm, sunny, snowy, windy… all are encompassed in April here.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4040"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4040"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4097,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4040\/revisions\/4097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brickhousefabrics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}