03.11.07
The peepers are peeping in Herndon - this whole week is supposed to be in the upper 50s into the 70s.
02.25.07
It snowed today, somewhere between 3" and 4" according to the ruler I stuck in it. When i went out to
shovel, though, I suddenly noticed birds singing their little lungs out. I swear this is the first time
this year I've heard the birds.
03.27.06
The white clusters of flowers on the big trees are starting to fade, but more and more
cherries are blooming, including the weeping cherries. Grape hyacinths are blooming now.
03.16.06
The star magnolias are in bloom, and the japanese magnolias are beginning. Hellebores are blooming,
too, and so are those shrubs in the back yard the bees love so much.
03.13.06
The cherry trees on Herndon Pkwy are just starting to bloom, and some other fruit tree with
clusters of smallish white flowers. Forsythia is blooming down the street.
03.12.06
The first of the daffodils in the yard opened.
03.11.06
Today I definitely heard the peepers. The thermometer read 75 and I was hot in a tank top
and shorts. The birds have started singing their mating songs in the mornings - not many,
but they're definitely making different, louder sounds now. I saw a blue-tailed skink
dart into the front corner of the garage.
03.10.06
The temp was in the 70s today, and I heard a faint chorus of spring peepers off in the distance.
02.25.06
Got a few crocuses blooming in the front yard. The maple tree out front is
covered in small dark red flower buds, getting ready to make a mess everywhere.
Wednesday's snow was gone yesterday.
02.22.06
A dusting of snow covered a lot of the grass, but not the streets.
02.17.06
70 degrees out and almost no trace of snow left. It was gone by yesterday, after three warm
days in a row.
02.12.06
Ten inches of snow came down over night!
01.29.06
Windy today with a wet morning, but otherwise another beautiful day, once the clouds blew away. Only
a little colder thahn yesterday.
01.28.06
Forsythia is blooming already down in D.C. The temperature was great on a clear sunny day today!
Weather.com said a high of 63 degrees.
01.15.06
Snowdrops in bloom in Alexandria.
11.29.05
63 degrees today and I'm driving with my window open, when it's not raining...
Heavy grey sky, scattered showers. Nice to be able to have the window down, though.
11.23.05
First snowfall of the season, making the bushes and trees white, but not sticking to the ground.
The trucks didn't even bother to come out and salt the roads, thankfully.
10.15.05
And just like that, it's dark and cold. We're now down to the 60s and below, and it's
almost dark when I leave the office. Leaves are just starting to turn, though the sycamore
and tulip polars in the back yard have dropped most of their leaves. The maples back there are
still full and green.
09.03.05
It's Labor Day weekend, and suddenly, just like that, it feels like fall - the sun is lower
and harsher, the air is visibly clearer, and just a bit cooler.
07.14.05
Crepe myrtle is blooming.
06.30.05
That hazy feathery plant that looks kind of sagey is beginning to bloom - greyish blue-green
stems and leaves topped by stacks of small smokey purple flowers.
06.25.05
The annual cicadas started making noise today - now it gets hot.
06.12.05
Lightning bugs! :-)
06.05.05
It got hot. 85 degrees and humid, supposedly, but after such a cool spring, it felt more like 90.
Which it's supposed to be tomorrow.
06.01.05
The catalpa trees have started blooming.
05.31.05
The locust trees have finished blooming, and so have the small orchids in my back yard. However,
the bletillas just opened in the last few days and are very pretty. The tulip trees have been blooming
for at least a week.
05.09.05
The locust trees are blooming! :-) Wisteria is still going but fading, and Paulonia trees really started
blooming only about four days ago. Pollen is still falling, but is getting less, I think. Trees are almost
fully leafed. The iris in back hasn't opened yet, and there are flower buds on the tulip poplars and
a shrub against the side of the house. Luminaria is blooming in the middle of the expressway.
05.01.05
The small brown and green orchids have bloomed - 11 stalks. The camelia has bloomed for a week and is
dropping a lot of flowers now.
04.28.05
Looking hard for Paulownia blossoms, I finally spied some big buds just beginning to pop open up in
a tree beside the beltway. Also noticed the iris in the pines in the back yard has a bud on it -
never seen it bloom! The smaller orchids have lots of buds on them, too; just about to open. The forsythia
are almost, but not completely, given over to green leaves; I still see some yellow flowers clinging to
the branches. Lots of tall tulips are still going strong.
04.23.05
The purples are starting to bloom - The lilac buds are bursting open, and I've started seeing clusters of
wisteria. Azaleas are beginning to bloom, too. And exactly like last year, my cars have been green
with pollen for about a week now.
04.19.05
Okay, I'm falling down on the job here, and nature just zips right along - the cherry trees'
pear trees and forsythia are trading in their blossoms for greenery, and the crab apples, red buds
and dogwoods are picking up the banner. The dogwood flowers are still small and greenish, but definitely
there. The crab apples look like they'll hit their peak in a few days. Daffodils are fading, tulips
are blooming. The bed out front is full of grape hyacinths. The maple tree buds turned to little
leaves in two days over the weekend. Willows started putting out their streamers about a week or two ago,
and trees everywhere have green on them now. Not enough to hide branches, but it's definitely not winter
any more!
Spring beauties, small yellow violets, henbit, speedwell, chickweed, dead nettle, and, of course,
dandelions, are blooming everywhere. And I pulled bunches of wild onions out of the yard over the
weekend.
04.09.05
Cherry blossom festival in DC this weekend - the blossoms are supposedly at their peak, and certainly
looking very nice in NoVA!
04.06.05
Nice yellow dust on my car this morning... Yep, spring is here.
04.04.05
The smaller cherry trees in Bethesda are really taking off, and the large weeping cherries have gegun to
bloom. The Japanese Magnolias are gaining momentum as well. Bright yellow tulips light scattered stars
greeted me there, fitting for the second sunny day is weeks! One small red tulip is open in my front
yard, and the grape hyacinths have begun blooming.
04.02.05
It rained most of the day today, climaxing with a crescendo of wind and hail after dark.
03.31.05
Now the star magnolias are really going, and the Japanese magnolia buds are just starting to pop
at the seams.
03.26.05
The first yellow signs of forsythia blossoms are beginning to appear.
03.24.05
The daffodils are really starting to go now, the ones in my yard being a little
behind the curve. The small cherry trees behind the office are starting to bloom, and in Bethesda I saw
redbud trees starting, and the yard with hellebores has them again.
03.21.05
I saw a star magnolia when I was out for lunch today with several flowers already beginning to open.
It's nice enough out today to drive with the window down.
03.20.05
The toads have been making a din for the last couple of nights - Spring is here! Brought in today
on the first day of spring by an honest-to-goodness spring storm with thunder, lightning, and
kitty-litter-sized hail that got quickly cleared by the sun when it was over.
The weeds are happy and healthy, or they were till I pulled them out. More crocuses are blooming,
and the maple tree has just started opening its tiny red flowers. When the rain dried, it left
dusty spots on my car that look suspiciously like pollen already...
03.16.05
Spring is almost here - the daffodil greens have come up and their buds are almost ready to pop.
A small patch of crocuses just opened its flowers under the maple out front, and hyacinths,
tulips, and lilies are sending up leaves. I can see hyacinth heads just breaking the ground,
tucked down in their leaves. Weeds, of course, are already blooming small white flowers -
this is how they take over the world.
03.11.05
A cardinal was singing outside the window this morning. And I mean singing, not that typical "Pip! Pip!"
thing they do. Guess spring is just around the corner!
03.08.05
I heard pouring rain in the night, then awoke to a blizzard. The snow was blowing sideways, making for
poor visibility on this very grey day. It wasn't really sticking to the roads, but it stuck to my car faster
than I could wipe it off. On my way to work it was sticking on the sides of the roads, and, worse,
on my windshield wipers, leaving me with a diminishing visibility space through the window. I was
glad to get to work.
03.07.05
Heard frogs peeping tonight for the first time this year. The day was beautiful - supposedly in the 60s.
02.28.05
Snow today all day, but the ground must have been warm because it took a while to even start to stick,
and when it did, it was slushy. We got about four or five inches on the table outside, though.
02.19.05
Hiked the Gold Mine Loop at Great Falls. It was plenty chilly, with some ice on the canal.
02.06.05
We had a beautiful weekend with temperatures in the low to mid 50s. Went hiking this morning on the
Billy Goat trail, which had plenty of snow on it. The canal and ponds were covered with ice in
some places, some thick enough to support Matt's weight. Despite all the snow and ice, I wore shorts,
and after about ten minutes of hiking felt warm enough.
01.22.05
We got around 3" of snow today, which prompted a snowplow to come dump a ton of salt on our cul-de-sac.
My black Pontiac is a lovely shade of grey.
01.19.05
It was difficult to drive to work today; I was mesmerized by the shifting currents of snowflakes
as they twisted and smeared across the road, making beautiful patterns. It's fascinating to be
able to see the air through the dry particles suspended in it, as particles suspended in a
liquid - very similar flow patterns. The snow kept coming down, and after I'd been at work for
a while it finally began to stick. I took some photos.
01.17.05
Today it is COLD - in the low 30s, but also very windy, making it feel colder.
01.16.05
Noticed a light dusting of snow on the cars before bed. It was gone by morning on Monday.
01.15.05
The temperature finally dropped - now it's starting to feel like winter.
01.13.05
It was very humid today, so much that moisture was dripping off the ceiling in the parking garage at work.
It was warm enough by evening that I drove with the windows down.
01.12.05
Thick fog tonight.
01.03.05
It's a beautiful day today, with highs supposedly around 66. We ate lunch outside surrounded by
begging sparrows and starlings.
01.02.05
Overcast and cold all day, but we hiked anyway. There was ice on some still parts of the C&O Canal.
I think it was in the upper 40s - a surprise after yesterday's beautiful weather.
01.01.05
An incredible first day of the year; we could've worn shorts. It had to be in the 70s.
- 2004 -
12.31.04
I arrived home from a beautiful sunny warm day in Florida to a not-so-bad day here in VA. Only needed a
light jacket.
12.20.04
Highs in the 20s today, and crazy cold wind.
12.19.04
Got the first bit of snow of the season today, a flurry that resulted in a dusting blowing across the roads,
but that was it. Prior to this we've had excellent weather for November and December... Hiking yesterday
we almost wished we had shorts, but that was once we were warmed up and in the sun.
11.05.04
A huge wind came up ;last night and stripped a lot of the remaining leaves off the trees in the back
yard. The grass is now covered by yellow leaves.
11.02.04
The trees in the back yard have dropped half their leaves, while the birch trees have only a few
leaves left on them. My Christmas Cactus has begun to bloom.
10.31.04
The weather was beautiful today, upper 70s, almost too hot for a hike but accompanied by a nice breeze,
and we went to Great Falls. The leaves are just past peak, though still beautiful, and some trees are
still covered in green, but others are almost bare. The big trees in our back yard (maples, sycamore,
tulip) began dropping leaves Friday. Halloween night was mild enough that many people sat outside
with glowing pumpkins to hand out candy, though later in the evening a fire was definitely necessary
to keep warm out back at a friend's house.
10.27.04
The sun is trying to make a return... sure would be nice to see it again! I took a photo today from the
window of the office building of the trees across the street - Fall
Foliage Status here in Annandale, VA. Still some green, but lots of yellow and orange.
10.25.04
Welcome to fall for real... four days in a row of leaden skies and rain last week, then one nice day on Saturday, and
then right back to the grey. As for the leaves, this may have been the peak weekend - I'd say there's about a
50/50 mix of color and green right now around my house. I noticed some trees with branches weighed down by
big deep red fruit of some sort in front of the townhouse complex down the street. Apples?
10.11.04
Several maple trees are bright red up in Bethesda today, but the predominate color is still very much green,
though more and more subtle signs of color shift can be seen.
10.06.04
The first frost was supposed to be last night - time for the plants to come in, which Eric kindly did for me since I
was in New Jersey. On the drive back I saw that slightly more leaves are showing signs of color. Last trip
two weeks ago it was just the very tips of the branches; now it's a little farther down. The sumacs
are completely red and have been for a few weeks.
09.25.04
The Rose of Sharon in the back yard has one last drying bloom on it. The hydrangea still has a few
white clusters left, but most are dry. The birch trees have dropped a lot of leaves, and the tulip poplars have
started to join them. The toad lilies have started blooming.
I noticed the seed pod on the bletilla is still there, unopened.
Something has been peeping loudly down the street after nightfall. It sounds like some sort of solitary
little frog.
09.22.04
The very tips of branches on maple trees along the highways are just beginning to turn red. I can't believe
it's already time for that - I've been waiting for the unbearable heat and humidity of summer, and now it's fall.
Summer this year was unusually (and pleasantly) cooler and dryer than normal, with just a few short
stretches of normal damp heat.
09.08.04
Noticed that the tulip tree next to the house is turning yellow now, too.
A few weeks back I had the thought that it sounded like fall already. This was about mid-August,
when it's usually disgustingly hot and humid and undeniably summer here. But not this year. We've
had a little bit of heat, but I feel like I've been waiting for summer to kick in, and suddenly I
find myself thinking it sounds like fall.
I wasn't sure what I meant when I thought that - it had something to do with the crickets, but
crickets have been making noise for months now. Today I figured it out - the din of annual
cicadas had quit. Now there's only individual one making noise here and there. The air is cooling.
It's nice and I won't complain, but does this mean we'll have a killer winter this year? Guess we'll
see...
09.02.04
Yesterday I noticed that the birch trees next to the deck are about a third full of yellow leaves.
08.22.04
Spotted a large patch of touch-me-nots in bloom today.
08.21.04
I stepped out of the car next to sprawling greenness today and caught a whiff of something sweet - went to
check out my suspicions and, sure enough, the kudzu is blooming. I like that smell almost as much as the
locust blossoms. Speaking of which, those unidentified trees in my neighborhood that I suspect are
in the locust family only have a few flowers left on them.
08.19.04
I realized the mimosa trees have stopped blooming, and have been that way for a while now. The trees in
my neighborhood making the light greenish flowers are almost done. The teasel is done blooming. The
Queen Anne's Lace is still going strong, and the Virgin's Bower is proliferating. The weather has stayed
cool until today - it's supposed to get up to 89. Sumacs on the side of the highway look like they're
turning orange and red already!
08.09.04
A huge, furry brown moth with a 6-inch wingspan parked itself on the screen door last night and spent the
night there. I sprayed our patches of weeds yesterday, where I noticed the pokeweed is blooming. But then,
I think it has been for a little while in other places. Poison ivy is still clinging on with its skinny
leaves deformed by past sprayings of Round-Up. Give up, poison ivy! I gave water to a skink and watched
his little pink tongue lap it off a leaf. Very cute. And I think there's a nest of baby hawks in the back
pine tree - I heard peeping babies up there, and saw two adult hawks hanging out there. The bushes in
the back yard that already bloomed once in the spring appear to have strings of new buds on them -
I guess they bloom twice a year? When I remember what they're called, I'll come update this.
08.07.04
Today's weather was so incredible I wondered if I'd been transported to California. The
air was unseasonably cool and dry - I believe it was in the upper 70s, with no humidity.
08.03.04
Joe Pie Weed is beginning to bloom alongside the road, and the lariope out front of our office building here
is blooming. Day lilies are still blooming. Virgin's Bower is blooming along fences.
07.18.04
Gladiolas are blooming, and they have been for a week or two. These trees on my street are blooming, too, but
I don't know what they are. They're blanketing the ground beneath them with small yellowish-green flowers that
fall from clusters, and they have bipinnate leaves, kind of like a locust tree. The hydrangea out back
has opened about a twelfth of its buds into white flowers. The neighbor's crepe myrtle looks to be almost done,
but others are still going strong.
07.16.2004
Calla lilies are blooming now. I saw some lamb's ear that looked like it just finished blooming. Crepe
myrtles everywhere are looking gorgeous, full of flowers. Some kind of plant with dusty-looking grey-green
leaves and tall hazy purple spikes is blooming; maybe some kind of sage?
07.13.2004
I had to head off a little inch-long toad last night as he bee-lined for the pile of gardening implements
in the garage - he'd probably find some good eating in there, but I don't want to put a rake back on him!
07.11.2004
My first portulaca flower was open this morning, an intense rich pink. Teasel is blooming along the
roadsides now. I think it started recently.
07.09.2004
A very fat, very hairy yellow caterpillar with six black spikey tufts was on the side of the house
this morning. I wonder what he's going to turn into - never seen one like this before.
07.08.2004
The neighbor's crepe myrtle is looking quite nice, all in light pink bloom. My previous neighbor Sherri
dropped by and we took a tour of the yard, which was a good thing because otherwise I wouldn't have
known that several plants are preparing flowers. I haven't paid any attention to the mums as far as
pinching them back this year, and noticed that they're covered with buds, several dark red heads
already starting to open. The Rose of Sharon is in the same state, with several of its buds already
popped into dark pink flowers. The large bushy shrub that has dried flowers on it from last year
that make me think it's some sort of hydrangea has clusters of buds on one half, and there's a day
lily plant hiding around the maple tree plantings out front that I didn't even know was blooming.
07.07.2004
I drove to Michigan for the weekend, and noticed that the cicada damage in the trees seems to stop
somewhere in Pennsylvania, probably near Ohio. I didn't notice exactly when it stopped. The smoke
trees are doing their smokey thing up there in MI, as well as the day lilies, asiatic lilies, astilbes,
roses and hostas. The rhubarb leaves look good and healthy. The ash trees are not doing so well,
dead trees everywhere from the imported Ash Borer beetle. Oh! And it's May Fly season! Wow! They are
EVERYWHERE in Grosse Point. One house had up to three every square inch.
I noticed this morning that the "weed" I rescued from the front mulch and put in a planter is making buds,
verifying that it is what I suspected it to be - portulaca. What a treat! I love portulaca. I should
go buy some more to put with it. The little pink petunias I transplanted from the mulch at the same time
have been blooming for a couple weeks already.
Earlier the day I drove back, the 5th, landscapers came and dealt with our yard - they removed the
big stumps left over from the junipers, finally, and grassed the area in so the mulch area out front
is smaller. They trimmed all the hollies, which really needed it. In back, they removed the viburnum,
the boxwood-thing, and a small evergreen, and moved the camelia to where the vibernum used to be. The
vibernum had gotten way too big and was blocking the windows on the back of the house. They also removed
the window box and the ivy and spirea in it, and ground the two old stumps out back, and trimmed the
heck out of the mock orange.
06.26.2004
Went hiking on the Billy Goat Trail on the Maryland side of Great Falls today and saw lots of small wildlife and
plants:
Garter snake chasing a toad (which escaped)
Water moccasin lying in a lock on a fallen locust tree
A large brown water frog wiith bright green streaks next to his eyes
Tadpoles
Turtles
Small fish - maybe pumpkin seeds or bluegills
The hugest spider we had ever seen other than tarantulas, and a whole nest of new hatchling spiders
Green Swallowtail butterfly
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly
Pale Swallowtail butterfly
Pearl Crescent Butterfly
Great Purple Hairstreak butterfly
Snowberry Clearwing Moth Hemaris diffinis
Tent caterpillars
Whitemarked Tussock Moth caterpillars
Bunches of milkweed beetles
Bunches of Japanese beetles, many making more beetles
Assassin bug that got a milkweed beetle and a caterpillar while we were there eating
All kinds of dragonflies and damselflies
Some kind of bright pink flowers that might be a type of Pinks
A few blueberries still on the bushes
Blackberries
Some strange raspberries with really hairy buds that initially enclose the berries
Button bush in bloom with butterflies enjoying it
Wild oats
Staghorn sumac doing its red thing on the tops
Chicory is still blooming strong
Day lilies
Thistles in bloom
Milkweed in bloom
And the azaleas in the front yard have just dropped their last blooms.
06.22.2004
I noticed a few days ago that the milkweed is blooming on the roadsides, and today I saw two big yellow
tiger swallowtail butterflies. No monarchs yet, though. The hostas are blooming now.
06.20.2004
Saw one periodical cicada flying, and heard one or two making noise today. Also saw a very large black
snake next to our stoop this morning! Good! He can keep the mice away. Not that we really have a mouse
problem, but occasionally we'll see signs that one was hanging out in the closet or something.
Also noticed the stonecrop/tall sedum plants in the area are making big clusters of buds already.
06.18.2004
Just when I was beginning to wonder if they were gone, I was met by a periodical cicada flying off my
car this morning. I haven't heard them for almost a week. At least, I think the sounds I'm hearing
now are the annual ones - they're the ones I hear every year, not the eerie UFO sounds. I still
haven't seen an annual cicada this year. I saw the last three of the yellow flowers that have been blooming outside the front
door on the ground this morning after last nights downpour. And today we have a heat advisory that
the heat index is supposed to feel like abve 100 degrees. Yay.
06.17.2004
The mimosa trees are in bloom. Black-eyed susans are filling the roadsides, with the occasional splash of
a red poppy. I keep forgetting to note that some sort of holly with really big leaves has had
grape-like clusters of berries for several weeks now; maybe over a month. I saw what i think was a
golden rain tree blooming yesterday. And the pokeweeds have buds.
06.16.2004
Still not hearing the periodical cicadas. I saw a jimsonweed plant growing beside the highway with
several buds on it ready to bloom, maybe tonight. Also, my miniature astilbes have spiked up their bud stalks.
06.15.2004
I didn't even hear the periodical cicadas today.
06.11.2004
Saw crepe myrtle trees in bloom.
06.09.2004
The periodical cicadas are defnitely getting quieter - I can't hear them in the house any more. There
aren't as many of them lying around behind the office building.
The yellow flowers out front of the house are almost finished blooming. I still haven't figured
out what they are. The last round of azaleas appears to be nearing the end, too. The wild onions
have crazy green and purple Medusa heads on their stalks, little bulblets ready to fall to the
ground and make more onions.
06.07.2004
The eerie sound of the periodical cicadas seems to be waning. They were fairly quiet over the weekend,
but I wondered how much of that was due to the fact that it was chilly and rainy. They revived a bit Sunday
when the sun came out. Today I'm suddenly noticing all the damage to the branches - branch ends are
hanging all over trees, covered in dried brown leaves.
05.31.2004
We went hiking in Great Falls, MD today - lots of small plants in bloom. Tiny deep pink five-petaled
flowers; purple ones, too. Tall stems of tiny white flowers and tiny yellow flowers. The mullein
might be just beginning to send up its stalks. Mountain laurel was blooming and looked like it had
been for a while. And the blueberries are just beginning to ripen - yum! There is no shortage of
cicadas over there - they were making a loud racket, flying everywhere, landing in the water to be
snatched from below. For other wildlife, we saw geese and ducks and turtles, a very tiny frog, tons
of tadpoles in almost every pocket of water in the rocks; some mosquito larvae, too. Saw a very
large snail and a huge yellow moth with reddish markings on the wings that could have been an
Imperial Moth. And two very cute fuzzy caterpillars of the whitemarked tussock moth (top picture on that link). Matt
witnessed a duck tumble five feet down the rocks into the river.
05.27.2004
Hollyhocks are blooming now, and day lilies and lamb's ear.
05.24.2004
Saw the first lightning bug I've seen in our neighborhood. The neighbor's peonies are finished blooming.
05.23.2004
The cicadas are SO LOUD now! At the house they're not as bad as some places, but I can hear them now
when I'm inside the house. At the intersection at the end of our street they're flying all through
the air, and they're VERY loud. Eric and I walked down there to check them out. Discarded exoskeletons
are all over the trees, leaves, and fence there. We stood under a screaming tree and Eric measured
the sound level with the dB meter - 98 decibels! He said, "We should really be wearing hearing
protection under this tree!" And he wasn't kidding - the volume hurt my ears! Incredible that bugs
can create such a cacophany. For comparison, if you're really rocking out in your car, you might be
listening at 80 or 85 dB. And decibels are measured exponentially.
05.22.2004
Went back up to New York and saw that the locust tree flowers are fading there. Oddly, I saw one
small tree in peak bloom here just a couple days ago, after all the rest are very much done!
05.20.2004
The big purple irises are almost done blooming in Bethesda, and chickory is beginning to bloom.
05.19.2004
I noticed buds on a climbing hydrangea today. Checked out the back window for the cicadas in the
vibernum and saw less today. Those I saw were hiding under the leaves like umbrellas from
the rain.
At least two kinds of magnolias are beginning to bloom - the big Southern magnolias and a smaller
variety, with smaller leaves and flowers. They still smell wonderful. I also saw a few hosta stalks
with buds.
05.18.2004
I heard several cicadas buzzing outside, and the eerie phaser sound of Brood X is getting a little louder
- yesterday we had to ask each other if that distant sound might be them, but today I can hear that
same distant sound but in the house with the windows closed. I also saw them hanging out on
branch-ends in the vibernum out back.
The Paulownias are pretty much done blooming now; just a few straggling faded blooms still clinging
to the now-brown structures that will become small towers of brown seed capsules. And directly on their
heels I saw today the first Catalpa tree I've seen in bloom this season. Green hellebores are blooming
in Bethesda.
05.17.2004
We began to hear the Brood X cicadas off in the distance this morning, making a sound like old '50s
sci-fi UFO raygun sounds, or as Nancy pointed out, the sound of the Mind Eraser in the old Star
Trek episode.
I saw the first yucca in bloom I've seen this season - others are in various stages of making
bloom stalks. I've seen wild white roses dripping from the trees beside the highway for about a week
now, too.
05.16.2004
It was a perfect day for a drive today, and drive I did, all the way to New York and back.
The black locust trees are pretty much done here, so it was with surprised delight that I caught
their scent and then saw them in bloom off the side of the highway in New Jersey - after that point
they were everywhere, all at their peak. The Paulownias are fading here, losing flowers, and the ones
remaining have a bleached appearance. But up there they are also in full bloom, and I saw
several groves of them off the sides of the highway. Bright blue-violet swaths of luminaria stretch
here and there beside the highway, and some unknown trees with millions of tiny white flowers.
As the sun was settting the air got cooler and the flower scents got stronger. I smelled a lot of
honeysuckle all the way back home; very nice.
I also saw clematis vines and roses in bloom, planted alongside the highway in New Jersey.
05.15.2004
I heard the first of the green cicadas making its buzzy call this morning.
05.14.2004
Saw a couple more cicadas on the house this morning. A co-worker reported that her neighborhood is just
covered with them, and one house in particular has more than the rest.
05.13.2004
A co-worker reported that she saw cicadas molting everywhere this morning in her neighborhood in
Annandale, and that last night they were clustered around a light on her porch.
The bletilla buds have almost all bloomed and are looking quite pretty. Sadly, the black locust tree
blooms appear to be coming to an end - most of the ones in the trees have turned brown. I've noticed
that red and white clovers and splashes of yellow buttercups are blooming everywhere, but didn't
notice when that began - I think they've been going for about two weeks now.
After writing this entry, last night I wandered outside around 12:00 and found the first few
cicadas of my yard climbing up the house and breaking free of their skins - photos in the
Brood X page.
05.12.2004
My boss reported that he saw cicadas crawling up his trees this morning and had photo evidence of it.
My neighbor from our previous abode in Reston reported they're coming out there, too. It has begun!
05.11.2004
The wisteria in Bethesda is done blooming. The bletillas in the front yard have just begun to bloom.
And clematis vines have started blooming.
05.10.2004
Went for a walk in the woods at night and saw lots of glow worms! And one firefly.
05.09.2004
The clump of plants outside the front door have bloomed, but I still don't know what they are - tall
leafy stems with yellow blooms tucked into them. Also, the rhododendron out front has started to
bloom.
05.06.2004
The vines of Virginia creeper have a healthy foothold now. My little patches of unknown orchids are
still blooming, while the bright pink buds on the bletillas are growing fatter. Spiderwort is in
bloom in Bethesda. The large wisteria clump I pass in Bethesda is fading but still has lots of
flowers, and there is a magnificent blazing orange azalea there. Pink dogwoods are still in bloom,
though mostly done. And the invasive weed with pointy leaves and white flowers is everywhere.
05.04.2004
Something related to dogwoods is blooming in Bethesda - maybe bunchberry. And my neighbor's peony
is blooming.
05.01.2004
Something pink that i think is Sweet William is blooming in the front yard.
04.29.2004
I noticed that the locust trees are just starting to bloom! I love their scent. The wisteria vines
everywhere are dripping with blossoms, but the dogwoods and crabapples are beginning to trade their
blossoms for leaves already. The crabbapples at work and the one at home are completely done blooming.
The lunarias are blooming in medians and yards, a brilliant splash of blue-violet. Big fat purple
flag irises are just beginning to bloom in Bethesda, and shrubs covered with flowerbuds that look
exactly like honeysuckle are just beginning to open.
04.27.2004
Large purple flag irises are blooming in Bethesda today.
04.26.2004
My mom reported that the green haze of new leaves is just starting on the trees there in the Detroit
suburbes of Michigan.
04.25.2004
I walked around Lake Accotink in Springfield today in search of Showy Orchids, which I've never seen before. My friend
Matt stopped and pointed to a tiny pink thing nestled down amidst the violets and other "weeds", and
said, "What's that?" I got down to examine the diminutive flowers and discovered, to my surprise, that
it was the orchid we were looking for. We had both been expecting something a little bigger! It had
about five buds on its stalk, but only one was beginning to open. It'll probably be more fully open
by next weekend.
What else we saw - all in bloom except where noted as "nb" (not blooming):
Herbacious Plants
Bellwort - Perfoliate or Large-Flowered
Bloodroot (nb) with seed pods
Bluebells
Cinquefoil (nb)
Coriopsis
Cut Leafed Toothwort (nb)
Garlic Mustard?
Greenbrier (nb)
Grape Vines (nb)
Hispid/Hairy Buttercup
Jack-In-The-Pulpit
Mayapples
Pennywort
Poison Ivy (nb)
Rue Anemone
Showy Orchis
Skunk Cabbage (nb)
Solomon's Seal (nb)
Spring Beauties
Star Chickweed
Trout Lilies (nb)
Violets, Common Blue
Violets, Yellow (maybe Smooth Yellow)
Virginia Creeper (nb)
Wild Strawberry
Wintergreen (nb)
Mystery lilies - hanging white flowers
with green spots on petal tips
Mystery leaves with dark arrows on them
Mystery vines with rings of leaves
Mystery flowers - 4 petals, light purple
|
|
Trees, Shrubs & Bushes
Azaleas (domestic)
Dogwoods
Redbuds
Royal Paulownias
Mystery shrubs - greyish-green foliage,
tight clusters of tiny yellowish-white
flowers that could be smelled through
the open window of the car
|
|
Animals
Ducks
Geese
Hawk
Tadpoles
Toad
Dead fox
|
|
Insects
Ants
Carrion Beetles
Eastern Tiger Swallowtails
Question Marks
Six-Spotted Tiger Beetles
|
The spring peepers were quieter tonight.
04.24.2004
The leaves on the trees have grown faster than i expected they would; it's already hard to see
branches any more. Wisteria is going strong everywhere, dripping from trellises, trees, fences,
echoed in color by the upright stacks of Paulownia flowers. The lilacs are also going full bore.
It's time for purple!
04.23.2004
From the fifth floor of the building here where the office is, I stood and watched a big storm
roll in, turning everything dark grey, limiting visibility, and making the flags across the street
blow out straight. Water was sheeting across the parking lot below, and right down the middle wound
a thick yellow river of pollen. My car has been noticably green for about a week now.
04.22.2004
I stopped for a ten-minute walk in the woods, where I saw that the poison ivy has put out leaves and
is looking quite healthy, all shiny with oil. The sumac trees are beginning
to put out their shiny new leaves, too. Wild purple violets were scattered around, and colonies
of mayapples had spread their canopies. I saw a flower on one plant.
The vibernum in the back yard is really flowering now, and azaleas everywhere are putting on a show.
The wisteria flowers have caught their stride now, and the white dogwoods, which were just beginning
to open their flowers Tuesday, are now in full bloom, the pink ones several days behind in their
cycle. In someone's yard I saw Irish Bells in bloom.
04.21.2004
The wisteria vines sprawling over the walk on the upper parking deck have leaves and are just
beginning to open their flowers. Their scent is exquisite! One of my favorites.
04.20.2004
The Japanese magnolias have mostly turned to leaves; only a few flowers are left on them. Now it's
the crabapples' and the redbuds' and the dogwoods' turn for splendor. The lilac flowers are just
beginning to burst from their buds, as well as the Paulownia flowers. Daffodils are still going
strong in Bethesda. I saw the first vine of wisteria blossoms that I've seen this season. Hostas
are still small but recognizable now.
Red maples are fully leafed out. Weeping cherries are still blooming but looking a bit faded. The
last few forsythia flowers are making a valiant stand on their bushes.
The spring peepers and toads are still noisy in the evening.
04.19.2004
Most trees officially have leaves. They're small, but they're there. I can still easily see branches,
but I bet in two weeks I won't. In front of my friend Carrie's house, a beautiful huge bleeding
heart is in bloom.
04.17.2004
We removed the giant junipers from the front of the house and I discovered, beneath them, a network
of holes and tunnels. I dug into the earth and exposed a grub, which quickly backed down farther
into its tunnel. Curious to see if it was a Japanese beetle larvae or cicada, I dug it out again
- sure enough, it's a cicada, not quite big enough to be ready to come out and molt. As I kept
digging up roots, I unearthed a lot of these guys - poor things, living underground for 17 years,
only to have me dig them up weeks before they get their chance to emerge!
I'm really not looking forward to that din.
Both types of orchids I planted in the yard are doing well. The bletillas are a couple inches tall
now, and whatever the smaller ones are have made new fat little shoots. The ginger has made some new
leaves for spring, and the Japanese painted fern has unfurled three of its own. The epimediums
have just started to bloom, all three. The coral bells have sent up new leaves. The wisteria buds
have popped open to expose tightly clasped bundles of leaves. My wisteria has never bloomed.
Both types of hyacinths in the front are still going strong, and the occasional tulip opens. The
hostas have started to relax their leaves in small fountains in the mulch, and also in the mulch
I found one tiny lone forget-me-not with three tiny blue flowers.
I was surprised to look out the kitchen window and see a crabapple in my neighbor's yard
completely covered in hot pink blossoms - I didn't notice it there before! Also, our camellia is
covered with buds, and the first couple flowers are open, also a deep pink.
The forsythias are nearly finished blooming, and the pear and cherry trees have only a small smattering of
flowers mixed in with their new leaves. The birch trees have begun making small leaves, and have
a few catkins still hanging on them.
And the maple seeds have begun sprouting en masse, as if, like the cicadas, they believe that they
can overwhelm me with sheer numbers, and I'll miss some that will grow all the way to be trees.
They are everywhere - in pots, under the deck, between pavers and bricks, in the gravel, all out in
the yard hiding in the grass where they'll get mowed.
04.16.2004
My dad reports that the Royal Paulonias are just barely starting to bloom there in the
Chattanooga area of Tennessee.
04.15.2004
Today I noticed buds on lilac bushes and on azaleas. Also, the tulip trees are making small leaves
now.
04.13.2004
The fruit trees (pears, apples) are more green with leaves now than white with flowers, while the
redbud trees are just beginning to bloom. The hyacinths are still blooming in the front yard, and
tons of grape hyacinths have popped up. The big cherry tree and some others in Bethesda have finally
succumbed to leaves; only a smattering of blossoms still adorn them. But many of the smaller cherry
trees there are still going strong, covered in pink blossoms.
The yard behind us has been totally invaded by dandelions, looming as a bright yellow threat to
our nice green lawn. He used a mulching mower to cut the grass. I guess he doesn't know that those
flowers will still go to seed even cut from the plant like that.
04.07.2004
I noticed the vibernum out back is covered with clusters of flower buds.
04.06.2004
It got down to 30 degrees last night. I have to check on the daffodils and other flowers
to see if they suffered...
The big cherry trees I pass in Bethesda are still gorgeous and full of flowers. The forsythia is
also still in a golden blaze, but the yellow is beginning to give way to green. The long hanging
parts on the willow trees are getting longer and leafier. And other trees are just starting to
have a suggestion of green to them.
04.05.2004
It's so windy today that everyone's trash cans are blowing all over the street, rolling around,
attacking cars, and I could hardly get to the door of my office building through the wind tunnel
formed between it and the building behind.
I notice that the maple in our front yard is making thousands of red helicopter seeds now. I
think most of the maples are actually making these seeds now, not making leaves like I initially
thought.
My friend Corwyn called me just to make sure I had seen the moon. I had - it was GIGANTIC!
I just think it's awesome that Corwyn called just to tell me about the moon.
04.04.2004
Noticed that the hyacinths in the front yard have bloomed. Also, it was very windy today.
03.30.2004
Yesterday I drove under the most incredible cherry tree - it was huge, and must be very old, and
covered with pink flowers! The big cherries and weeping cherries are in full splendor now; I
don't know about the ones on the Mall in D.C., but the ones in the neighborhoods certainly are. This
morning I also noticed that the maple trees are making small leaves now, done with their tiny red
blossoms.
03.29.2004
I see behind my office building that the small pink cherry trees there are finishing up with their
blooms and leafing out, but now the white cherry trees are beginning to bloom.
03.28.2004
Matt called from the lake near his house and I could hardly hear him over the din of toads in the
background. He reported they were swimming and piling on all over the place, and he took some photos,
hanging from a limb over the lake.
In the yard, plants and weeds are waking up everywhere! I saw the following "weeds" in the yard:
Dandelion, blooming
Speedwell
Henbit
Deadnettle
Star Chickweed
Small white weeds with heart-shaped seeds
Rosettes of spiney blue-grey-green leaves
Yellow wood sorrel
Wild onions are coming up everywhere
Maple tree seedlings are everywhere
And the following "intentional" plants:
Mums are poking up new growth
The epimediums are sending up small leaves and flower buds
The first grape hyacinth
Some tulips
Daffodils are still going
Regular hyacinths are in bud
Tiger lilies are a couple inches tall
Orchids are poking up through the mulch
Irises are sending up leaves
Coral bells are sending out new leaves
Hosta tips are breaking ground
The pieris is still blooming
03.27.2004
The toads are copying the activities of the frogs - after dark a strange lump of toad went hopping
across the yard - it was a small male tightly clasped on the back of a female at least twice his size.
03.26.2004
Stopped briefly at the park before I went to work. It still looks like winter (bare trees) but today
feels like spring - I didn't even need a sweater. Moths were flying here and there, and some insects
that looked sort of but not exactly like mosquitoes came to bother me. I saw and heard a couple of
pileated woodpeckers up in the branches.
03.24.2004
It's warming up again, and I noticed a tiny red-orange flower in the front bed this morning - it
looked like a big red crocus, but turns out it's the first of the tulips! I wonder if they'll all
be that small. I heard some peepers again tonight.
03.21.2004
Today was cold again, and extremely windy. The forsythia may be at their height now, blazing yellow
hedges. Star magnolia is also blooming, and it looks like my neighbor's pear trees are about to
burst into bloom. The henbit has gone crazy in the yard and has begun to bloom.
03.20.2004
I stopped at the park for a quick walk and saw a belted kingfisher flying through the trees, making
his call. This was the second one I've seen, ever. Some sort of tree was in bloom with tiny, almost
imperceptible red blooms. I saw what may have been beaver tracks on the stream bank.
Lots of daffodils were open at the house. The temperature was wonderful
and the peepers were going again this night after disappearing for a while with the cold in between.
03.15.2004
The first daffodil in the yard opened this morning. Some other trees with light grey bark behind the
office building i work in are blooming strange, tiny petal-less blooms.
03.13.2004
The willows are just starting to have that fuzzy green haze to them, like a subliminal leaf memory.
The Japanese Magnolias are blooming now, and so is the mystery bush beside the house, which is also just
beginning to leaf out. Snow drops are blooming, and probably have been for a bit now, but I saw my
first today.
03.12.2004
One of the small cherry trees planted behind the building I work in has flowers on it today. Forsythia
bushes have also begun to bloom.
03.10.2004
It's snowing today, big fat compound flakes. So far they've been melting when they touch the ground.
03.08.2004
Last night the temperature dropped and rain rolled in, and today we're reminded that it's still
winter, with mostly grey skies, 46 degrees and very windy - the trash cans were blowing all over
the street this morning. Tonight it's supposed to drop down into the twenties.
03.07.2004
We took a walk in Runnymede Park today. Spring peepers are making plenty of noise, though, as usual,
I didn't see any. I did see frog eggs in the water - there'll be tadpoles soon. On the way back,
we heard a bird-ruckus up in the tree tops and stopped to see what was going on - lots of
scree-ing and cawing. A couple of hawks flew away, but we could hear more, as well as a crow or two.
Sounded like he called for reinforcements, because two more crows came flying up, landed in the tree
by him, then quickly departed as if to say, "You messin' with hawks?! You're on your own!"
A hawk came out then, circling high above and screaming, and then a larger one appeared, circled for
a couple seconds, then tucked his wings in tight and fell into a dive - bam! - through the treetops and
branches, he hit that pair of crows and knocked them right off their branch. One flew toward us, stopped
on a branch, them seemed to think better of it and kept going. We lost track of the other.
Lots of birds were out making complicated songs. I noticed robins, red-winged blackbirds, cardinals,
sparrows, titmice, and of course the crows and hawks.
03.06.2004
I just took a walk around the house for the first time this year. The yard is all squishy and wet
from the rain last night, soaking my canvas shoes. This is a new yard for me, so many things that come
up will be a surprise. I saw:
Tiny red flowers are blooming on the maple tree. This is the prelude to the helicopter seed
storm to come.
A patch of purple crocuses is blooming out front.
Daffodils, lilies and tulips are thrusting up through the mulch, sometimes carrying big clumps of it
up with them in their vigor. The daffodils have buds.
The wild onions are quite happy and everywhere.
The weeds also already have a good foothold, and some are even blooming and making seeds already:
- Field speedwell - Veronica persica?
- Something with tiny white flowers in the mustard family - closest picture I could
find was Lyre-Leaved Rock Cress
- Dandelions
- Henbit
- Yellow Wood-Sorrel
The spikey-leafed ground-hugging weeds appear to have survived the winter.
03.05.2004
I noticed tiny green leaf clusters starting to break the earth in a big patch by my front door,
pushing through the dried remnants of last year's patch. I don't know what this plant is,
or if it blooms. Guess I'll find out!
Crocuses are blooming.
It was in the 70s today, and got warmer as the day went on. I took a walk in the
evening wearing shorts.
Saw a toad out on the sidewalk tonight.
03.03.2004
It feels like spring! Last night I heard spring peepers for the first time this year.
02.29.2004
The bird songs are starting to be complex.
01.27.2004
More light snow, and then freezing rain made a crust.
01.26.2004
5" of snow fell overnight into this morning.
- 2003 -
12.14.2003
Snowed last night - slushy.
11.13.2003
Massive wind storm.
11.08.2003
Full lunar eclipse.
10.28.2003
2/3rds of the trees are still green in Annandale, VA.
10.12.2003
Leaves are just starting to change in Reston, VA.
10.02.2003
1st frost.
05.30.2003
Sunny all day after 23 straight days of clouds & rain, but the next day was cloudy again.
It continued to be mostly rainy until the last week in June.
05.10.2003
Small orchids blooming in Emile's yard.
05.09.2003
Japanese roof iris bloming.
Coral bells blooming.
05.18.2003
Locust trees done blooming.
05.02.2003
Locust trees began blooming.
03.30.2003
Snowed all day but none of it stuck to roads.
02.26-28.2003
Total of about 9" of snow.
02.15.2003
Slush and ice.
02.07.2003
7" of snow.
01.05.2003
3.5" of snow.
- 2002 -
11.19.2002
Lunar eclipse.
09.22.2002
Leaves just starting to turn.
05.26.2002
Bletilla striata done blooming.
05.19.2002
Catalpa trees blooming.
05.14.2002
Locust trees done blooming.
04.24.2002
Locust trees starting to bloom.
04.23.2002
Sherri picked morels in her yard.
03.31.2002
Paulonia trees and wisteria blooming.
- 2001 -
11.17.2001
Too foggy to see them, but Leonid showers tonight.
10.13.2001
Saw a glow worm.
08.06.2001
Cicadas are coming out of the ground.
06.13.2001
Saw Indian Pipes blooming at Difficult Run.
05.04.2001
Locust trees are blooming.
04.30.2001
Saw a pink lady slipper orchid in bloom on the mountain bike path.
04.15.2001
A tiny morel mushroom is growing in the back yard.
04.14.2001
Saw one pink lady slipper on the mountain bike path in beginning bud.
2000
09.17.2000
Fall leaves beginning to turn.
07.02.2000
Saw Downy Rattlesnake Plantain and Indian Pipes at Calvert Cliffs.
05.27.2000
It got hot out.
04.09.2000
Light dusting of snow in the morning.
01.21.2001
4-5" of snow.
01.30.2000
Snowed all day.
01.25.2000
Big snowstorm, all day - 4:30am - 8:30am.
01.20.2000
5" of snow.
01.18.2000
Snowed.