flowers and vines in Lavaux - may 2016

centaurea montana

dicentra spectabilis

a typical spring flower: bleeding-heart

delicate hearts dangle on long stems
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after blooming the plant dies down in summer to emerge again next spring

a favorite trio of spring meadow flowers...

poppies, daisies and cornflowers
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​ - red white & blue -

papaver rhoeas

a variation on the same theme for summer:

monarda didyma 'coral reef', delphinium grandiflorum 'blue mirror', dianthus

leucanthemum vulgare

antirrhinum majus

more unusual flower in the vineyards: snapdragon
​likes dry rock walls and rocks
mediterranean origin

laburnum & wisteria sinensis

two flowering friends:

​golden chain tree (laburnum) and chinese wisteria

one is a tree, the other a vine
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golden rain tree (koelreuteria paniculata) is a different yellow blooming tree that flowers in summer

AAAHHHH...
WISTERIA....

vigorous vine that produces an abundance of sweet smelling flower clusters in spring
it likes a sunny location for it to bloom
very strong roots and vines that can destroy your terrace and wreck your house...

wisteria sinensis

chinese wisteria gets flowers usually before the leaves and its vines spiral clockwise
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japanese wisteria gets flowers after the leaves and its vines spiral anti-clockwise

tamarix tetranda

two other flowering trees of interest:

tamarix and cercis
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tamarix is a small tree, likes well-drained soil in full sun

cercis canadensis

pink flowers directly emerge from the bark, usually before the leaves
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small tree or multi-stemmed shrub, easily grown in sunny locations 

amazing how quick nature develops...
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only weeks ago these cherries were mere flowers...

how quickly it goes! already inflorescence (flowercluster) on the stems!

snake? no a slow worm (anguis fragilis), a limbless lizard - photo shows part of a dead specimen (probably its tail that it shed as defense mechanism)

new plants for our vineyard - you get them 'bare root', soak them in water the night before, cut off the majority of the roots and plant them as is in the ground (no extra soil and stamp the ground tightly to avoid illnesses and pests)

the young plants are covered in red wax to protect the graft: 'chasselas rose royal' stem on top of American root stock (immune against phylloxera: a root destroying pest)

example of weed control in neighboring field: spraying with probably glyphosate around the vines and leaving the weeds in the middle

our vineyard is small so we can remove weeds mechanically and manually (weed whacking...)