Lady's Mantle

We've gotten so much rain this spring that I find myself staring at the Lady's Mantle a lot. It's lovely leaves catch the raindrops and it actually looks better when it's covered in shiny droplets. We got a couple of these plants from a friend and I love them. They are a fascinating bright, light green and the leaf shape makes for a really interesting contrast in the gardens. It turns out that it's an herb that can "adjust hormonal imbalances" ... go figure. I also found that people used to collect the water from the leaves, calling it "celestial water, and used it in alchemy. Legend has it that the leaves were used to adorn the Virgin Mary. All I know is that it doesn't mind the rain, which makes it pretty magical to me.

Spring Green

Maple tree on Barlow Street.

Spring bought a new dress, and was showing it off this weekend. This weekend the rain stopped long enough for us to enjoy a trip to Montgomery where we spent time in Brian's upper field and then took a brief fishing trip. We drove up to a farm yard that has a breath-taking view of the Cold Hollow mountains and I was struck by the green we saw on the hillsides. Only in spring do you see this color - not quite green, not quite yellow, bright and hopeful, gone quickly. Our tulips are blooming, as well as the grape hyacinths. The creeping phlox is just about ready to pop open, and they'll be gorgeous this year. But, my favorite color of the season is this ephemeral spring green.

Rain and Flooding

The baseball fields at St. Albans Town park.

This has been an exceptionally wet, cold, rainy spring in Vermont. Recent rains have brought the lake to record levels and it's currently at 103 feet above sea level, an all-time high for the state. Many roads all around the state are closed, and flood waters are lapping at the feet of lots of homes and camps. I took these photos at St. Albans Bay on April 29, and since then we've gotten another three days of rain with another three to come. There was a massive mudslide in Highgate and there are fears that the Route 2 causeway could erode. It's a historic weather event, and I hope it ends soon.

Boating on the fields.

Wildflower walk

Dicentra cucullaria

Last weekend Oliver and I and some friends took a walk through Niquette Bay State Park. It was a warm sunny day and timed perfectly to give us a view of tons of early spring wildflowers. There are many wildflowers that bloom just in these early spring months when the forest canopy hasn't yet filled in. I love the delicate, intricate, shy nature of these woodland plants. I don't know all their names, but this one is familiar: Dutchman's Breeches. I looked this up and was surprised to find that it's also called bleeding heart. It certainly looks like bleeding heart, but the species I think of as bleeding hearts have flowers that are shaped somewhat differently. I had never connected the two species before.

At left is a flower that I've seen quite a lot, but I don't know what it is. I guess I need a wildflower identification guide. Some of the flowers are white, some blush pink. The leaves have an interesting three-lobed shape that makes them easily identified ... if one only knew their name!