Blooming Now

In my beehive journal I often write, "Blooming Now" and list all the main wildflowers honey bees visit that are currently blooming. It is important for beekeepers to know and understand the bloom cycles for their area. But for this post, I am showing you just a portion of the plants I have seen blooming recently. They are not all plants for honey bees, but I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

 

I like the Bleeding Heart. My mom has one that blooms every year (not this plant) and she gave me an offshoot, but it did not thrive in my environment.

Don't forget the Forget-Me-Nots

Okay, this is not a bloom, but a fruiting body. It is a true morel, according to my mushroom expert son. But it is a "half free" meaning it is not connected to the stem at the bottom. So, we do not harvest these. We use them as a sign that the "eaters" are not far away from coming up.

These Lesser Celadine are invasive. I usually see them near rivers, but these I saw along a path in higher elevation than I expected. I was surprised and a little bit alarmed.

Bluebells are always a joy to see.

The first day the Tulips opened up.

Note the white bark of the Birch Tree. It is blooming, too.

Here is the bloom of the Birch Tree.

Here is a clump of moss on cement. It has bloomed already, I think, on the tips of the longer strands.

When you see the Garlic Mustard (my walking stick is pointing to it), please pull it, bag it in plastic and toss it into the garbage. It is very invasive and will be blooming soon.

A type of maple tree in full bloom.

Here you can get a closer look at that maple tree's yellow/green blooms.

I like daffodils. A true sign of spring and they come up year after year, sometimes for many years.

Dead Nettle weed grows in large clumps, oftentimes. I found this loner and took its picture.

Box Elder is a type of maple tree and can be tapped for making maple syrup. Here it is in bloom (or maybe just past the peak of bloom).

The Bradford or Cleveland Pears always show well, especially with a blue sky backdrop.

The wild cherry trees are often the earliest, most obvious bloomers in our woodlands.

I use the Red Bud bloom as a signal that it is time for me to get out bluegill fishing.

As a beekeeper, I love seeing fields of dandelions in bloom. Their pollen is orange when the bees are bringing it back to the hives on their back legs (pollen baskets).

The Myrtle ground cover seems to be blooming prolifically this year.

Blood Root is one of my favorite wildflowers to see.

A type of maple tree blooming here. Just think of all the pollen and nectar available to the bees when a tree like this is in bloom.

Beware of ticks as you wander outdoors. This is our first for the season and it won't be our last.

Happy Springtime. It is a busy, but amazing time of year.