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5th March
2010
written by JAK

While I was in St. Louis, I looked for signs of spring at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Spring seemed a little late this year—the flowering trees were not yet blooming, but they did have large buds. Here’s what I saw:

Daffodil leaves

Spring was starting in the English Woodland Garden. Daffodils were pushing through last fall's dead leaves.

Winter Aconite

The winter aconite, with its yellow blossoms, was the farthest along.

Hellebore

Hellebore unfurled it's leaves...

Hellebore flower

and showed reddish blooms.

Crocus field

At first I thought it was too early for crocus.

Purple Crocus

But as I looked closer, I could see them...

Purple crocus

Purple...

Yellow Crocus

and yellow!

Snowdrops

I was too early for glory of the snow, but gigantic snowdrops greeted me in the Mausoleum Garden.

Bulb Garden

More crocus were blooming in the bulb garden

Shade garden

And they looked almost fluorescent in the Shade Garden.

Iris

There were also some bright purple early irises.

Ozark witch hazel

Just before my camera battery died, I came upon a gorgeous Ozark witch hazel.

Ozark Witch Hazel close-up

Wow! What a splendid finish!


Saturday, Barb and I went to the Butterfly House for March Morpho Mania. Every March they release thousands of blue morpho butterflies into the conservatory. It was amazing—but extremely hard to capture with a camera. They flutter so quickly. I did manage this composite photo. The blue was much brighter in real life.
Blue Morpho Butterfly

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