Spring Stroll

© Bob Palin 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . New Snow on the Henry Mountains

After another cold snowy day on the 29th the sun returned leaving a fresh blanket of snow on the Henry Mountains, this is the same view of the mountains I have from my house, not bad eh? The dog is one of Nancy's, they often come out to meet me when I'm walking down to the river though they don't leave her property.

© Bob Palin 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Juniper Waking

Spring is trying to emerge, the new cones are starting to grow on the juniper trees, there's just one berry left in the middle.

© Bob Palin 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dog Walking

Zane down by the Fremont River, it's running pretty well with the snow melt.

© Bob Palin 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Growing Urge

Over the winter they refreshed the tar snakes on River Drive, some plants just have that need to grow though...

© Bob Palin 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Willows

These trees line my drive to the north, they have been just starting to bud out in the last couple of days.

© Bob Palin 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cottonwood Catkins

I don't know if the flowers of cottonwood trees are actually called catkins, or indeed if any tree flowers are called that in the US, that's what they look like though. These are in my back yard and fortunately are cottonless so I don't get great piles of white "cotton" everywhere later in the spring.

© Bob Palin 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blossom

Last year I planted about 8 fruit trees out back, this is the first one to have blossom, it chose to emerge right before the cold snap, last night it got down to 19F. None of the others is this advanced so perhaps they will be OK, the frost has damaged some of this one's but not all. Most fruit is an iffy proposition here as the last frost day is May 31st.

© Bob Palin 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Torrey Cottonwoods

It must be spring because the ditch is filled, it's used for agricultural irrigation, there are still some alfalfa fields in the middle of town. The older cottonwoods along the main road don't react so quickly to spring, they are now around 120 years old and reaching the end of their lives. Some new ones have been planted in between them, they are really the signature feature of Torrey.