Wednesday, April 01, 2015

Fiddling around.

Everywhere is so pretty right now, in part due to the fact that there are so many different plants happily blooming away.  And there is also new and healthy looking growth on trees, shrubs and, of course, grapevines.  I love spring, it's my favourite season.
I may have mentioned this before, but I just love wildflowers (and most weeds).  A current favourite wildflower of mine is the Intermediate Fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesli var. intermedia) which is blooming, in quite dramatic fashion, over at the off leash dog park where I sometimes take Vinodog 2 for a bit of a treat (though she really doesn't like the car ride over there).  Situated on the west side  of the valley the dog park is surrounded by vineyards and  even though every single last vineyard in the valley has been mowed by now, on the dog park side of one particular vineyard there are lots of fiddlenecks growing unfettered.  I just love the deep, golden-yellow of the fiddleneck's little trumpet-shaped flowers (and the spiky stems and the fuzzy buds), the blooms are very conspicuous against a verdant expanse of wild barley.
Love, love spring.

6 comments:

Thud said...

do you want any of our water? we have plenty to spare?

New Hampshire Wineman said...

VG: I'm with you, but even though spring has been 20 to only 50 degrees, and most of the ground is still covered in at least a foot of snow, March and April are my faves.
I've never seen the Fiddleneck, but that I like also, and wild flowers in general.

Thomas said...

VG: You have fiddlenecks; we have fiddleheads in the Finger Lakes. Maybe we can make a complete fiddle.

You lost me when you said you love weeds. As a vegetable gardener, I place weeds into the same camp as vermin, but the weeds give me back pains.

Vinogirl said...

Thud: That'd be an awfully long pipeline :)

NHW: I like that everything starts anew in spring...perhaps even more of a dramatic renewal in the face of such inclement weather.

Tomasso: Who's bringing the strings?
Weeds are fantastic. With their ability to adapt to different growing conditions, and their skill in outcompeting everything else, weeds are fascinating plants.

Thomas said...

VG:

You could say almost the same for rats, except the part about fascinating...

Vinogirl said...

Tomasso: I've never seen a rat outcompete a cat for very long.