I admit to being green. Green with
envy. It’s spring. My favorite time of the year, in the north. Here in Florida
spring is much like any other season. We’re seeing the last of the cool
weather—there is a projection that the low will be 60 tonight. Positively
frigid for a south Florida spring. I’m looking forward to the last breaths of
cooler air before the humidity comes in and blankets everything like a 1950s
rubber sweat suit. 
Recently there have been a lot of
blog posts with photos of budding trees and early flowers. My pity party was in
full swing before I walked outside and looked around. Spring has sprung in
South Florida. Everywhere I looked bushes and ground that had been merely green
throughout the fall and winter have burst into bloom. The angel trumpet plant
is sprouting its bell shaped flowers. The oleander is beginning to burst into
bloom. Bougainvillea is developing its colorful bracts. The colors on the
croton are deepening and becoming more variegated. The plumbago, always in
bloom to a greater or lesser extent, is bursting at the seams with new growth.
Yes, it’s spring in south Florida.
Great pictures, Kait. I love the colors of spring following brown-gray winter, but I hate the pollen. On Hatteras, we have tree pollen now. I never realized how much pollen can come off evergreens! Deciduous trees evidently aren't the only pollen producers. It makes sense, but I thought I get off easy without them. Nope--Live Oak and Pine give off pollen--then the wind whips it all over my decks and porches. Keep up the spring spirit, and I'm hoping your next book writes itself so I can read it.
ReplyDeleteThanks EB! About the write itself...nope, but I am making progress. Pollen here is very seasonal. We are in citrus country and are surrounded by groves. Every spring light yellow dust covers everything for about a month. It's interesting to watch the beekeepers bring in the hives. The sight of people in fields covered from head to toe in white suits becomes normal. Sounds like a plot to me! Mystery plot that is.
ReplyDeleteI used to sweep the thick yellow pine pollen off the car in Atlanta. And I remember children in southern California eating oleander blossoms and making a fast trip to the ER for an activated charcoal treatment. I used the ASPCA list of plants that harm dogs when identifying and planting our Cincinnati yard.
ReplyDeleteOne of our male dogs had a lust for coneflowers, though I'm not sure what Echinacea did for him.
Getting rid of it was my first thought when I saw the oleander in the yard. Of course, I remember when highway medians were covered with oleanders. It made no impression at the time, but now I wonder what they were thinking!The castor bean plants astounded me when they first popped up. I had no idea what they were and had to ask. I know that castor oil production used to be a viable industry in South Florida back in the day. As a pet owner I wanted to rid the yard of anything remotely toxic to animals. That proved futile, so the mystery writer in me kicked in and I realized just how many innocently useful plants grew in so many gardens. So much opportunity!
ReplyDeleteSpring in Portland is much longer than spring in Kansas City. My wife and I are going to New Zealand during the fall here, which will be spring there. We will have two long springs this year.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons I winter in Savannah rather than southern Florida is my preference for four seasons. We’ve had a great spring, but now I am heading north and so going back in time. When we reach our northern home, the trees will still be bare and I get to see the budding again.
ReplyDeleteWarren, how wonderful that you will have two springs! And what a great trip to look forward to. Can't wait to hear about it. Spring in Maine was a wonderful long time too. It began with the crocus poking out from the snow and ended in late May with the leaves in full bloom. There was a period of time that the horizons looked like pointillist paintings. That was my favorite.
ReplyDeleteJim - I never think of Savannah as having four seasons, but of course, it does get cold there. In any weather, it is a beautiful city. Have a safe trip north, and enjoy spring again. Sigh, I miss it.
Down in the Keys, the color is constant--mostly the bougainvillea with all its wonderful colors. The variegation on leaves may change, adding some yellow or deeper greens, but otherwise, there isn't very much change in the vegetation. Unless, of course, you are like me and leave a container plant in the sun... Wait, brown is a color, right?
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