Spring Beauties from Bob Kelly

Words and Photos by Bob Kelly

The Red Bud trees ought to be called Magenta Bud Trees, but no one asked for my input when they were named! Early in the spring little magenta colored buds emerge all over the tree branches, and at this time of year burst open into tiny orchid like flowers. After about a week the flowers fall off and then the leaves emerge for the balance of the season.

The Flowering Quince is a small bush that has lots of reddish-orange flowers and is just a lovely decorative spot of color in landscaped yards. They produce a small fruit, that is rather tart but can be used to make jelly, if one can harvest enough of them.



These small trees produce flowers in whites, pinks, and rose colored shades, and at the end of year they form small fruit that birds love to eat.




Tulips are one of the most vibrant rainbow flowers of spring! There is a large tulip festival in Pella, Iowa this coming week and the town is ablaze with them in large beds of many hundreds all over the city. These were photographed in the yards of thoughtful Ames neighbors, who planted them so all could enjoy their colors this time of year.



The photos of the Dog Tooth Violet a week or so ago, while lovely were shot on a cloudy day and the flowers had not yet opened as dramatically as they are in this photo. If you want to see them, you had better look soon, for they will be gone by the end of this week. It is rather astounding the way in which nature coordinates and times the coming and going of woodland
flowers so each has its moments, before another one emerges, and all of them present themselves and begin to make seeds before the foliage on the trees totally shades the forest floor!
I love to visit Little Wall Lake near Jewell, as it is beautiful, small, yet spacious, and you meet some very nice people there as well. These two turtles own the NE end of the lake as they hold court to their domain from a protruding log. Not far from them a Wild Plumb bush was bursting forth its delicate blossoms that will turn into tasty plumbs for birds or people.