From the Ground Up — Life is awakening everywhere
Published 6:00 am Thursday, May 20, 2021
Redbud trees exhibit cauliflory, meaning that blooms appear all along the stems and sometimes even the trunk. This allows more flowers to be pollinated by insects crawling on the limbs.
Virginia bluebells are pinkish when in bud, but open to a clear sky blue.
Common blue violets suddenly appear everywhere. Their flowers make a peppery addition to salads and can be used to make a tasty syrup for use in cocktails.
Bloodroot is another early-blooming native that is very popular as a garden plant. One lady always has a patch in her front yard.
Pansies can be planted in the fall here so that they provide both late fall and spring color. They are lovely planted with hyacinths, tulips, and daffodils.
Pale pink, yellow, white, orange, frilly, plain, large, and small. There are daffodils all over town.
Flowering quince, or japonica as it’s often known here, is available with pale pink, white, and deep red blooms. There are even low-growing, thornless varieties.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh described forsythia as “pure, unadulterated, untouched joy.”
The red maple is one of the most common deciduous trees in eastern North America. The fruits are called samaras.
The star magnolia has blooms that are 3 to 4 inches in diameter and that open before the leaves emerge.
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In time of silver rain
The earth puts forth new life again,
Green grasses grow
And flowers lift their heads,
And over all the plain
The wonder spreads…
Langston Hughes was right. Spring is a magical time when life awakens everywhere. Virginia bluebells and spring beauties carpet the floodplain along the river in downtown Farmville. Violets pop up in lawns and flower beds and make welcome additions to salads.
Home gardens are accented with tender flowering plants – fragrant hyacinths, tough pansies, intrepid crocuses, gay daffodils, perky tulips, shy bloodroot, and Leucojum or snowflakes. Irises and peonies also make an appearance and remind many gardeners of their grandmothers’ gardens.
Much to the delight of floral arrangers, many shrubs burst forth with flowers even before they sprout leaves. Old-fashioned flowering quince, bridal wreath, and forsythia reign supreme. In Farmville, there is hardly a house without at least several azaleas.
Trees flower too and then grow leaves in every shade of green imaginable. Red maple flowers appear first and signal that trees are awakening. Route 20 from Dillwyn to Scottsville is festooned with dogwood and redbud blossoms.
Redbud trees exhibit cauliflory, meaning that blooms appear all along the stems and sometimes even the trunk. This allows more flowers to be pollinated by insects crawling on the limbs.
Yes, spring is beautiful in and around our hometown. Everything is fresh and new again.
