Spring Garden Trail of Blooms mid April

 Creating this  trail of posts on early spring blooms which grace us for such brief time,  I have had to look up the spelling of more than one flower.

Tuesday, April 15th, the Delphinium was  just about to open.

  I learned that it's named  from the Greek word for dolphin
and my Delphinium being still in the bud, I was able to see why this is so.

By the 18th of  April,    

 the little dolphins were already transformed.

The Cecil Brunner is climbing onto the new gazebo 

where its small pink roses burst open this week as well.

                                                   This showy volunteer bloomed when I wasn't looking.  Digitalis purpurea  or foxglove is not  native to California and is considered a wild land invasive.  They grow readily from the seeds they cast and bloom their second year.  If  left to their own devices, they can, in the right conditions, crowd out native flora.  I've left  a few of those I found in my garden, but have curtailed them against a wall.  The bees like them, they fly right into the spotted chambers. A prescription heart medicine is made from a chemical removed from the plant.  Be aware, if you have animals or children, that every part of the plant is poisonous.  

On a rotting stump amidst a variety of more green and growing volunteers, 

this mushroom shone like gold in the morning sun. There are many treasures in life that I don't know near enough about and fungi are one of them. I learned a little about mushrooms in the last few years and  know enough to approach each one with wonder and let them be for the various kinds of good they can do.

More rain would of course be appreciated here in "Zone 14,  Northern California inland with some ocean influence" as it would across the rest of the state.   As the days continue to warm and the spring flowers pass one by one, I know I'll want to visit the ocean blue and feel its cooling influence more directly, but for now the weather is warm and gentle and much appreciated.