Garden Bloom Day February 2016

Today is February 15 which means it is the monthly Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.  On the 15th of each month garden bloggers from all around the world post links to photos of what is blooming in their garden on May Dreams Gardens.  According to the USDA, my garden is in zone 6a, but my area is notorious for micro-climates ranging from zone 3 to 6a.  As I look out my door with camera in hand, it doesn't look like there is much to photograph.  I see slushy melting snow covering the ground and leafless deciduous trees.

My garden on February 15, 2016

As I learned last month, a closer inspection often reveals much more than what I see from a distance.

Alder tree trunks covered with lichens

The tree trunks in my garden are covered in numerous species of lichens.

Lichen on maple tree trunks

The maple trees had patches of crustose lichens that resembled splotches of gray paint.

Foliose lichens

 Branches of evergreens were covered in a variety of foliose lichen species.

cup-shaped lichen

Some with little cups.

Colorful lichen

And others with interesting colors and shapes.

Fructicose and foliose lichens

Some branches had both fructicose (in chartreuse) and foliose types.

Usnea lichen species

There were also numerous clumps of what is probably some species of usnea lichen that looks like hair.

Fungus growing on a stump

This beautiful fungus also caught my eye.  They look a bit like sea scallop shells.

Alder catkins

I also returned to the alder catkins I photographed last month to see how they had progressed.

Witch hazel blossom

Last, but not least, I found one of the small witch hazels I purchased at the end of the summer, is starting to bloom.  Hooray, my first flower of 2016!  Be sure to visit May Dreams Gardens to see the other gardens this month.