Posted by wilde on March 26th, 2007 — Posted in Vegetable
The very earliest blooms are miniscule and usually borne on creeping stems or plants that wind their way through lawns and roadside gravel. Most of us completely ignore these little plants and tiny flowers because they are so small.
Chickweed growing among the gravel on the side of the lane.
Common chickweed (Stellaria media) is found throughout our area – the Northeastern United States and particularly Pennsylvania – and can be found blooming for much of the growing season.
Chickweeds have tiny flowers that are so deeply cut it appears that the blossom has ten petals, when in fact it has five. The little white flowers look like they have pairs of long white petals.
The sepals are longer than the petals in common chickweed and have a fuzzy appearance.
Long, green sepals and an apparent 10 white petals of common chickweed.
This particular chickweed is distinguished from other chickweeds by its long leaf stalks, or petioles.
Long-stemmed leaves are an identifying characteristic of Common Chickweed.
As you take a stroll around your neighborhood, look down! You might find a few of these weeds already blooming.
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Posted by wilde on March 15th, 2007 — Posted in Vegetable
The Vernal Equinox is less than a week away and, right on cue, Spring is starting to take hold here in the eastern U.S.
The past week witnessed birds returning from their winter havens. Robins were seen hoping around the field edges, while red-winged blackbirds were heard singing from utility poles. Flocks of Canada geese communicated noisely as they flew North in fantastic “V” formations.
Crocuses were blooming in Virginia a couple weeks ago, and here in southcentral Pennsylvania I spotted my first golden yellow crocuses coming up in the Millerstown town square – crossroads, really – just yesterday.
We’ll likely have more winter weather yet, but the last two days have been gloriously warm for the season. Warmer than average by 15 to 20 degrees! Snowbanks are history now and the brown grass is starting to green up.
No trees are budding or sprouting yet, but some weedy types that have foliage left over from last growing season are making an attempt. Pennsylvania bittergrass and purple dead nettle volunteered in the vegetable garden. Day lilies next to the house are sprouting and lamb’s ear rosettes are green in the flower garden.
We have to look indoors to find something blooming. What’s blooming now, you ask? A member of the Spiderwort family, the Wandering Jew!
Easy to care for and resilient, the Wandering Jew is a popular houseplant.
The wandering jew has linear-veined, oval-shaped, pointed leaves with a distinctive purple underside. The stalkless leaves clasp the creeping stem in alternate fashion. The creeping stems and flower stalks are purple.
White, three-petaled flowers at the terminal stem ends are 1/4 inch in diameter with stamens having bright yellow anthers.
Nearly every stem will produce a cluster of small, white flowers.
This plant has been flowering since February 24 – going on three weeks. A single bud rises up from a loose cluster to open its bloom in the sunlight. Blooms last for one day, only to be replaced by another waiting in the cluster. Drooping buds are actually blooms that have wilted.
Wandering Jew in a south-facing window blooms indoors.
Last year we had some other houseplants bloom in March, too. It’s interesting that one of the profuse bloomers was “Moses-in-the-boat”, another member of the spiderwort family.
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