April 2010 - Northern Hemisphere- Flowering now.

[Maggi Young]

I was intrigued by the lovely lake, too.... here's what I found about the area: www.un.int/russia/new/MainRoot/newrussiaen/goldringen.htm
 
Pereyaslavl' Zalessky (behind the woods) looks as if there were more old ancient churches than hotels, cafes and shops altogether. Quiet Plescheevo Lake is considered the cradle of the Russian Navy: just here it was those 300 years ago, the young Russian Tsar who became Peter the Great mastered the art of sailing. The small boat of the Russian Emperor miraculously survived and now is an exhibit in one of museums.

Plescheevo Lake is famous for it’s most uncommon «Pereyaslavl' herring» or «riapushka» of the salmon family. The fish is a relict sea fish and probably got into the fresh water of the lake before the ice age. Russian Tsars used to like it very much, so it was called "Tsar herring". The fish is in the city emblem of Pereyaslavl' Zalessky.

 

http://www.pereslavl-zalessky.com/botik_en.htm

[Olga Bondareva]

Maggi
Yes it is.  Pereslavl is one of the oldest russian towns with great history and many interesting places. There are a lot of prehistoric sights to. Nature is poor but full of beauty.









... but sorry it is not about flowers now. 

[cohan]

olga--nice to see a new place! and all the flowers are a joy--love the hepaticas, esp the white in reply #359 good that i can see them with the new browsers!

robin and mark, glad you enjoyed the pussywillows; robin--also enjoyed your article in the new IRG, loved the hepaticas there too! have to go check your new postings in Alpine Walks...

[ChrisB]

Olga, your photos are to die for, please keep sending them!  Love those pulsatillas!

[cohan]

as always our earliest flowers, Petasites sp, probably sagittatus--we also have presumably P frigidus v palmatus, and or the hybrid between the two, P x vitifolius; as far as i can tell, the distinguishing features are the leaves, which are not visible while the plant is in flower, certainly not at the early stages; the palmate leaf species here grows mainly in wooded areas, and flowers rarely; further, plants can have male and female flowers, or only female (so i read, i have not figured this out, visually!) and the inflorescences grow a huge amount and change greatly in appearance over  time after opening..here you see plants found from closed buds to fully extended flowers, but all still quite small--from maybe 8-15cm roughly in height; they will reach 20-50cm later..

[cohan]

some views of the area where the Salix and Petasites photos were taken; this is on the farm belonging to my relatives, just behind our acreage;
this area is a low area, called slough (slew) locally; it would tend to be fully overgrown by willows,alders  (alnus) tamarack (larix) and black spruce (abies mariana) and birch in wet to moist areas,blending into birch, poplars and spruce on higher groun,d only staying open in the wettest spots which would go to grasses and reeds etc; this being part of a farm, it functions as pasture, for grazing cattle, and so is cleared occasionally (decades apart) and so grass is maintained in areas favoured by cattle.....
this year has/had been very dry--till we got a half day of rain followed by probably nearly 30cm of snow the other day! should be wetter now!

EDIT: more photos, and larger, are in my Picasa albums, including another set from later in the same day, near sunset, at another wet area just along the road ...
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus

[Ragged Robin]

Wow, Cohan, your photos really show Petasites sp, probably sagittatus developing so beautifully from the wine red bud to a fluffy cream ball - I find them fascinating the way they just appear overnight, almost like a fungi does.  Your final image is a great view - I think it should be in Images of an arty kind thread  

Really like your Picasa web albums, great for images and the info you provide - I shall be learning a lot, I can see 

[cohan]

Wow, Cohan, your photos really show Petasites sp, probably sagittatus developing so beautifully from the wine red bud to a fluffy cream ball - I find them fascinating the way they just appear overnight, almost like a fungi does.  Your final image is a great view - I think it should be in Images of an arty kind thread  

thanks, robin, i do have a couple i may post over there, perhaps tomorrow
glad you enjoyed the picasa albums too

[Paddy Tobin]

Cohan,

A lovely range of photographs. I like the smell of petasites.

Paddy

[gote]

Last day of April
Chrysosplenium alternifolium - the one that has to move to place where it does not disturb its neighbours.
Erythronium sibiricum, Scilla rosenii and an unnamed Corydalis solida.
A corner with corydalis and others
A Caltha that came under another name. Anybody recognize sp or var??
Welcome May!
Göte

[Maggi Young]

EDIT: more photos, and larger, are in my Picasa albums, including another set from later in the same day, near sunset, at another wet area just along the road ...
http://picasaweb.google.ca/cactuscactus

Goodness me, is there any wonder I never get any housework done with all these albums to enjoy?! 

[Lesley Cox]

Everything just beautiful, the hepaticas, pulsatilla and that gorgeous re berry. Is it a Vaccinium?

[cohan]

Last day of April
Chrysosplenium alternifolium - the one that has to move to place where it does not disturb its neighbours.
Erythronium sibiricum, Scilla rosenii and an unnamed Corydalis solida.
A corner with corydalis and others
A Caltha that came under another name. Anybody recognize sp or var??
Welcome May!
Göte

göte-nice plants, i esp like the group in the second pic..
paddy--thanks--i was just talking to someone about the petasites, and mentioned the fragrance--i don't think i have ever smelled it in the field, but i used to pick them with caltha for mother's day (probably will again!) and they can fill a room with fragrance!
maggi--who needs to do housework  its almost mother's day--you should have a week off

[ArnoldT]

Russian Medlar.

Arnold

[Maggi Young]

maggi--who needs to do housework  Grin its almost mother's day--you should have a week off

But cohan, you don't know how many off from the housework I've already HAD!!

Arnold, lovely photo of the Russian Medlar flowers.... is there any wonder that folks find plant names confusing when the plant comes from Iran, is called Mespilus germanica and has the cultivar name 'Russian'??