A longish photo diary to establish a baseline for plants and flowers being seen along the Schuylkill River Trail in Philadelphia. Lots of stuff so far that I can not immediately identify. Please see my earlier diaries on this area for the initial wildlife sightings and other observations. These photos are from walks along the Schuylkill River on March 18th and March 20th.
One thing I noted in trying to identify these plants is that most of the quick internet options concentrate on “showy” garden plants and seem to ignore anything with small flowers.
The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds and/or flowers. All are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds and/or flowers. All are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. |
First off — let’s do some of the little stuff. Moss and lichens.
Second we have the small edge plants; invasives, “weeds", etc. that grow in untended or disturbed soil.
Third, we move on to bedding plants in the area that are blooming. There are extensive plant beds around the Art Museum. Most have recently been heavily mulched.
(Note: The Helleborus pictured above were all planted in shady areas. And I might well be wrong and they are all Helleborus varieties or all Aconite varieties. They seem fairly similar other than leaf pattern, and appear to share a number of general characteristics.)
Fourth, we move up to shrubs and small trees; both wild and specifically planted for ornamental purposes.
Fifth, we move up to trees. Blooming right now are dogwoods and plums. Cherry should be following shortly. (And at this point I am realizing that I have been mis-identifying the early blooming trees — mainly thinking some of the hybrid dogwoods are fruit trees (cherry or plum).
We close with a geology picture. This is a sample of the bluff and local rock through which the river flows.
(Edit 1: Added an identifier to most of the photographs. Also made an initial set of corrections to the picture captions as comments corrected my conclusions, which I do highly appreciate.)
(Edit 2: More name corrections as commenters have offered suggestions and corrections. The three unidentified “ornamentals” are tough since all I posted are close-ups and no information on shrub structure, leaves, etc. Same going for the unidentified “edge” plants since they might be in youth stages, or have not bloomed. I suspect they will go into one of the large groups like brassica or prove to be a honeysuckle varient, etc. And I really do appreciate getting straightened out on the trees — magnolias are nice, and now I get to start watching for the cherries and plums actually blooming.)
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Now It's Your Turn
What have you noted happening in your area or travels? As usual post your observations as well as their general location in the comments.