along the roadside

We've been enjoying the plants and flowers along the roadside on our walks and bike rides this week. The earth is just bursting with green life!


Personally, I don't think there's much prettier, or more New England-y, than a big grouping of hay-scented ferns growing along an old stone wall. And we've got both ferns and stone walls aplenty in this area. Our road used to be surrounded on both sides with farmland (the original homestead is across the street from us), so there are stone walls bordering both sides of the road, as well as running into the woods where they originally were dividing pastures and fields.

The spring asters have just started blooming the past couple of days. Their dainty purple petals are nicely complimented by their yellow centers. The boys really love these flowers. (Of course, they really love dandelions too, so there's no accounting for some folks' taste! But I happen to agree with them on the asters!)

Amongst my favorite spring wildflowers are the starflowers (lower right corner of this photo) and Canada mayflowers (the rest of the flowers in this picture). My Dad might correct me on these names, as it seems the common names I learned for the native wildflowers in Botany class in college don't neccessarily match up with what the native New Englanders call them, so I'll be sure to post any corrections he tells me to make.

A lovely clump of blue Phlox, escaped from someone's garden, no doubt, and growing in the woodlands. I've tried growing Phlox in our yard in the past, but apparently it's a favorite of the sheep, and it never lasts long. One of these days I'll have a more formal garden, no critters allowed! Then I can grow whatever I want, not just those plants hardy enough to withstand heavy grazing pressure.

Our neighbor's lilac tree. Beautiful! And stinky. I'm allergic to lilacs, so that's a planting that I'll leave to the neighbors so I can enjoy them at a distance.