Scenes of spring

A horse pasture at N.C. State's College of Veterinary Medicine. Photographed April 26, 2011. TAKAAKI IWABU -

A dogwood in full bloom in East Raleigh.

A pine cone is surrounded by blooming phlox following a storm in Cary, NC, Saturday, April 9, 2011.

A portion of common dandelion spherical seed ball has already been exposed as most of its feathery seed parachutes still hold the morning dew along a Chatham Co. roadside, waiting for the morning sun to bun off so the seed parachutes can disperse. This common weed is native to North America and Eurasia.

Paperbush flowers at Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham.

Ariel Goulian, age 6, enjoys a romp through the sprinkler on Friday April 15, 2011, in Raleigh, N.C. Spring was less than a month old. The afternoon temperature was in the mid-seventies. Just warm enough for Worth Kelly, age 4, and his brother Noble Kelly, age 3, to convince their mother Jennifer Noble-Kelly to turn on the sprinkler in the front yard of their Pineview Street home, and invite their neighbor Ariel Goulian over to join in the fun.

 

Drops of rain run down the stem of a maple tree's samaras or "maple key". These are the seeds of the tree, and at this point, were about one half an inch long. They are the seeds for the tree, and are dispersed like small little helicopters or whirlybirds.

Brand new Japanese maple leaves in northern Durham County still look shiny and new in the recent spring rains.

Three-year-old Noble Kelly enjoys the first barefoot splash of the season in puddles of water from the sprinkler in his yard on Friday April 15, 2011 in Raleigh, N.C.

Chalk on the sidewalk on Boylan Avenue April 15, 2011.

East Carolina University students, from top to bottom, Matthew Archibald, Matt Schurtz, Thomas Briley, Chris Dowd, Danielle Spence, left in bottom hammock, Matt Ghezzo and, standing, Ryan Williford, "hang out" in the quad on Monday April 11, 2011. The group hung their hammocks between trees to enjoy the warm spring weather and because it was a "relaxing alternative to studying in the library," Spence said.

Pink dogwoods in full bloom along Western Blvd give riders a beautiful view as they are outbound towards NC State University.

Raindrops stick on a blade of grass along Gregson Street in Durham as the rains come down Wednesday afternoon, March 30, 2011.

Flox open their delicate lavender flowers to the sun in the early morning.

Tiny droplets of morning dew dot the fine hairs on the fleshy leaves of a common flowering roadside weed in Chatham county. Small pink flowers are beginning to emerge around the weed's circumference as the flower grows.

Azalea

Raindrops stick on a blooming tulip along Gregson Street in Durham as the rains come down Wednesday afternoon, March 30, 2011

Hostas just begin to push up out of the ground in northern Durham County.

The wings of a newborn Cardinal are clearly defined as it sleeps in it's nest on Easter Sunday April 24, 2011 in Raleigh, N.C.

The broken shell of a Robin's egg, discarded from a nest, litters the sidewalk on April 22, 2011 in Raleigh, N.C.

A Japanese Flowering Apricot at Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham.

A young fern starts to unfurl in northern Durham County. When they are opening like this they are sometimes called "fiddle heads" because they resemble the heads of violins.

Azalea

Verbena.

The first iris of the year blooms in our yard in N. Raleigh last week. This plant originally came from the yard of my wife's great-grandmother in Missouri. Taken with an iPhone4.

An orange-scarlet flowering trumpet vine blooms early April.

A violet in my yard in Raleigh, N.C. on April 11, 2011.

Dogwood blooms framed with a rusted sunflower shaped bird bath. Taken with the Hipstamatic app on an iPhone4.

A Coral Lake Magnolia blossom collects rain drops during a steady afternoon shower on Wednesday, March 30, 2011, at the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh.

Azaleas in my yard in Raleigh, N.C. on April 11, 2011.