Blooming Blueberries

These wild blueberries are blooming at the Indiana Dunes this April, way ahead of schedule. They are so tiny, so delicate, and so tasty once they turn into fruit.

April Flowers

Usually not blooming until May, these blossoms are filling the woods with their heady fragrance. And, mingled with the trees just getting their leaves, the air is so thick with pollen you could cut it with a knife.

Mayapples in April

All that green underneath the trees in this picture are Mayapples, a prevalent wildflower in Northwest Indiana. Mayapples are named for the month that they flower and fruit and this year they are already flowering in early April.

In other years, early April would find the forest floor just as brown as in the foreground here, all over---the Mayapples shouldn't even be up yet.  

More Early Blooms

More blossoms ahead of schedule by about a month to a month and a half. And with April sunny and warm so far, it's going to be an interesting year.

Bloomin' Early

This morning the sweet, once a year bouquet of lilacs; heavenly!

This year is definitely on overdrive---these lilacs are usually blooming after the first of May.

The Earlier Blooms of 2012

Flowers, trees, and bushes are blooming earlier this year. These Dutch Breeches bloomed around April 18th in 2011.

This year they are almost bloomed out by the end of March.