Kaw Valley Almanac

This is how a hedge apple begins: as a green cluster of flowers bunched together, waiting to be wind pollinated from a male tree nearby, which sends out the pollen that fertilizes the flowers, producing a seed near the core of the hedge apple.

The blues and pinks of the spiderwort are a welcome sight in prairies this time of year, something well worth finding. While you’re there, look for starry eyed grass, wild hyacinth and the beginning of oxeye daisies and more.

Even though woods are closing in as oaks and hickories are unfurling new leaves, there are still some woodland wildflowers surprises to be found, such as this showy orchid, found adjacent to an eastern Kansas creek’s rich soil.

Papaws are found in native woodlands as an understory tree, meaning that they only grow 10-20 feet tall, in the shade of the much taller trees that make up the dominant overstory canopy. Papaw’s chocolate colored blossoms can be found right now, hanging like bells on the branches.

Hoary puccoon is a sunny, yellow flower found on area prairies, emerging amongst last year’s still mostly dormant grasses to capture the light, bloom and go to seed before the warm season grasses shade out the ground.

Here is a rue anemone, one slightly pink due to genetic variation. Rue anemone has as many as 7 petals and lightly lobed leaves, while false rue anemone have only 5 petals and more deeply lobed leaves.

Verbena is an early spring wildflower that has begun to bloom, and this giant swallowtail honed right in on it.

Redbuds have begun to open a little early in northeast Kansas, as evidenced by these flowers poking out the ends of the clusters of red buds, ready to unfurl its pea-like flowers, even before all of last year’s seed pods have fallen.

Redbuds have begun to open a little early in northeast Kansas, as evidenced by these flowers poking out the ends of the clusters of red buds, ready to unfurl its pea-like flowers, even before all of last year’s seed pods have fallen.

Look to the south after dark to see some of the best constellations of the year, with Orion sliding west from the south, Taurus and the Pleiades leading the way and bright Jupiter in the west.

This is a good time of year to look for heron nests, which are located in giant, white-barked sycamores along creekbeds in valleys across much of the eastern half of the state.

Kansas is blessed with some of the best sunsets and sunrises, so hang out and enjoy the minute-by-minute changes that take place in our not-cloudy-all-day skies this week — you won’t regret it!

Slender mountain mint seedheads, like beebalm seedheads, keep their aroma long after they have dried up. Smash them between your fingers and thumb and you’ll get a burst of minty essence that is surprisingly strong.

Crocuses are blooming, as are the other early spring ornamental snowdrops.

The Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge folks estimate that with the melting ice and recent rains, there are nearly 400,000 snow geese there right now.