Walking in the Spring

Most of the plant life here is easy to identify. There are euphorbias, berberis, lavender, wisteria, lilac, honeysuckle, peonies, roses, and sumac. But there are a few things that have surprised me. Since my phone will look them up for me, I stop often on my walk and take a shot.

Viper's bugloss or blueweed comes from the borage family Boraginaceae. There are tiny red stems poking out of each little flower.

This Empress Tree is growing downtown right next to the largest Orthodox Church in the world. It is also known as a princess tree, which is definitely native to Asia.

The dog rose or Rosa Canina grows wild in fields of Romania. This one is about 12' across and 10' tall. They require no maintenance and bloom effusively in May.

Of course, a happy poppy will cheer you up on any day of the week.

I think this is a species of acacia. It's climbing through a fence on top of everything around it.

This giant dandelion seed head would be fun to blow apart, but not today.

Thistle is one of my favorites, perhaps because I'm Scottish. Some are dainty like this one, and some are warningly enormous. You'd hate to be chasing a frisbee into either one.

Sadly, some plants don't make it. You can water, feed, and support, but they just wither away and die. This tree makes me sad every time I walk by.

This little guy froze as we walked by. Even after taking his portrait he still didn't move. So Paul encouraged him with his foot to scamper into the tall grass.