Steve Schwartzman posted a species of Wild Geranium this morning that is a bit different than what we see here. His, Geranium carolinianum, is a very small flower while ours, Geranium maculatum (and also known as a Spotted Crane’s-bill), is a much taller plant with a larger flower. When I mentioned maculatum, Steve looked for an image here and noted that there wasn’t one. So here is my contribution. His have bloomed and ours won’t show up until late May or early June.
We are starting to green up and I expect to find some flowers this weekend. Despite that confidence, for a few minutes this afternoon we had a short snow squall as a very cold air mass passed overhead. I heard that the Berkshires to our west got a little accumulation at the higher elevations. We are having our final wood fire of the season tonight…unless something strange happens to the forecast.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
“Your” geranium sure is a lot showier than “mine.” I just read in a Wikipedia article that the genus Geranium has 422 species in it. That’s a lot of species.
LikeLike
We have two cultivated species as ground cover and have hung a couple of scented varieties in the dogwoods. That is a small start to collecting, I guess.
LikeLike
I didn’t know that there are scented varieties. Now I do.
LikeLike
Very beautiful and a wonderful way to bring my Thursday to a close…Such a special gift.
LikeLike
They are indeed a lovely flower.
LikeLike
I hope it’s your last need for a wood fire. We thought so too, but were mistaken. It always pays to be ready for one more. What a delightful blossom!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope so as well, Gary. There is plenty more out in the pile, but the garage is now empty. I guess I can haul a bit in but we’d rather let the sun provide from here on.
Yes, aren’t they beautiful?
LikeLike
As I went around today pulling garlic mustard, I noticed several plants of yellow violets. I didn’t have a camera with me. You will have to take my word for it. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice, Jim 🙂 I seldom see yellow violets. Do you participate in the garlic mustard competition?
LikeLike
No. I have a patch of woods across the back of our property. I work to keep them at bay. So far, it is a stalemate. I intend to gain a slight upper hand in time.
LikeLike
I understand scientist are hard at work developing a biologic control for garlic mustard. Let’s hope it is as successful as the purple loosestrife beetle.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That would be a welcome solution as long as it didn’t create new problems. That sometimes happens. Kudzu and carp were supposed to solve so many problems. Oh, don’t forget rabbits in Australia.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Or Nutria to eat the introduced water hyacinth …
LikeLiked by 2 people
I believe you, Jim. 🙂 Pretty soon our Trout Lilies will bloom and nearby that spot are some Yellow Violets.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I got 2 mediocre pix. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PycFVlILnH0/VTpxDdm8rdI/AAAAAAAARbU/DOHTpuFm6A8/s512/yellow1.jpeg and https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-B5c2gyGx8Cc/VTpxD5X70CI/AAAAAAAARbY/lUK4AB82gmQ/s512/yellow2.jpeg
LikeLiked by 1 person
You have flowers so I am jealous.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have Bloodroot up, with its leaves wrapped around like a vampire’s cape, but the rain was freezing as it fell yesterday. Here, it will usually then shoot on up to the 80’s. sigh.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a great description for a plant called Bloodroot, Melissa. I will definitely use that sometime. 🙂
LikeLike
Tee hee, I’m glad you liked it, Steve. You’re more than welcome to it. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
The contrasting greenish background gave the little blue flower a lovely boost. Excellent shot, Steve.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Yvonne. This is my favorite background for a flower portrait, but it isn’t always easy to get such a clean isolation. This was actually next to a water monitoring station.
LikeLike
Gorgeous.
LikeLike
Thank you, Bunty.
LikeLike
Terrific photo Steve. But snow? It’s almost May! The first of our Spring flowers are over but the Azaleas look magnificent and the Rhodies are budding. Soon you will have all your old favourites to occupy you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I know. It’s just not right, Andrew. I am happy to hear that your gardens and grounds are starting to pretty up. I am hoping for some flowers here, but we will approach freezing for the next few nights and I may have to break out the heat gloves in the morning. 😦
LikeLike
This is a lovely one. I’ve learned that the geraniums will thrive here as well as the pelargoniums that I’ve always called geraniums: perhaps better. I think that those big, showy, vibrant storksbills always will be geraniums to me, but it’s nice to know the difference.
I was interested in the mention of water hyacinth and nutria above. We’re in the midst of a real fight right now. During the drought, the hyacinth grew and grew. Recently, we’ve had flooding rains, which uprooted many of the plants and sent them downstream: down Cypress creek, into Clear Lake, through Galveston bay, and thence offshore — for as far as five miles out. Then, the tide turns, and they all come back, and look for places to nestle. Like this. It’s true that the flowers are lovely, and I’ve never seen them blooming as profusely as they are this year. Still, they’re a problem in a multitude of ways.
LikeLike
Here’s one of the flowers.
LikeLike
Yep, lovely flower. At least they should keep that boat from drifting away.
LikeLike
I wish we would learn to leave well-enough alone and let nature run its course on its own. Some alien transplants have been successful but the majority are less so and as with several, such as water hyacinth, having become spectacular failures one would hope we would learn our lesson.
LikeLike