April 27/ Nature Notes

Browns are turning into green, blue, pink, yellow and white

Even though we did receive a dusting of snow this week, spring is beginning to grow green. See it in the grass beneath the feet of the Canada goose?  Believe me, that was one very noisy goose. It honked and honked to warn me away from the end of a friend's pond. I'm thinking its mate is sitting on some eggs in a very private spot.

We have many more blossoms this week than last. Truth be told, none of them are very big so most of nature here is still looking fairly brown. But if you look closely you can now see buds and tiny red flowers on some maple trees like the one in the upper left square. Moving clockwise, yellow and often mistaken for dandelions, coltsfoot blossoms (Tussillago farfara) hug the ground at the sides of roads and in waste places without any leaves to accompany them. (The leaves will appear later.)

Pink Bethlehem Sage (aka lungwort or Pulmonaria) turn blue as they age. And the emergence of white Liverwort (Hepatica) means the woods will soon be coloured with spring wildflowers.  Blooming profusely, Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) have temporarily coloured at least one East Gwillimbury front lawn blue.

Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.