February's Wildflower Wednesday

I am tickled that February is almost over, and the temperatures for this week are going to be warmer than they had been in awhile.  It was in the upper 50s Tuesday, and even though it was very windy, I was able to go outside without a coat on, and managed to get some photos taken.  This is going to be a hodge podge post for Gail's Wildflower Wednesday.

I am glad to see the prairie smoke geums coming to life.

The short toothed mountain mints are looking great.

I don't remember which kind of penstemon this is.

I have noticed this winter that my memory seems to be getting worse.  I know full well what this plant is, and I am wanting to call it a verbena of some kind, but I am not remembering for sure.  It will have clusters of lavender colored blooms in spring.

We have had a warm up since the last snow, and it is pretty much all melted now.  The flower beds look a lot different than how they did in my last post.

There are still some seeds on the cup plant for the birds to finish if they want them.

The Heuchera richardsonii clumps are greening up.

I think wild quinines have the longest season of beauty.  They bloom pretty much all summer, and continue to look awesome in fall and winter.

I am not sure if birds eat the seeds.  I did a brief search, but did not find the information.

Illinois bundleflower is another beauty in the fall and winter.

I have been spending a bit less time on Facebook the last few days.  I am hoping to keep up with blogging a bit more.   I am excited to see the changes spring brings in different parts of the country, and for it to make it our way.  I hope things are going well with you.

Photos from the Front Door

We have had a mild winter up until the last few weeks.  The local news said we have had 7.7 inches of snow in the last, I think, 10 days.  In the mean time, I am starting to see spring posts in the southern and western states.  Those photos always lighten my heart, and excite me for the time when our signs of spring will be visible.

I have been seeing juncos, cardinals, blue jays and sparrows in the yard.  The rabbits are also around.  They don't seem to hibernate.  We also have a number of squirrels.

I enjoy growing lots of native plants.  Leaving them up in the winter provides seeds for birds and shelter for the insects that live in the stems.  The tall plant just left of middle is pale Indian plantain, the plant I featured for last month's Wildflower Wednesday.  The one one the right is cup plant.  I love how the snow rests in the cups of the leaves.

I am seeing round headed bush clover, wild quinine, and maybe a coneflower of some kind.

This is across the sidewalk, right in front of our house.  You can see the cup plant on the left.

I love the seed heads of the Illinois bundleflowers.  They look very nice with snow caps, as well.

I am pretty sure this is a gray headed coneflower clump.

I look forward to the progression of spring to Nebraska.  I am going to need to be more careful to use sun screen and wear hats when I garden.  I encourage others to do it before damage is found.  My face is a mess from the work the dermatologist did Friday on the AKs and SKs he found.  He also took a couple biopsies to send in.  I will get the results of those in a couple weeks.