Stamen to Stamen, the nurturing and care begins

And the quest for the best begins anew.

Soon, like this muscadine flower in June of last year, the self-polinators will be busy sending signals to the vine to make grapes.

Photos - Growth begins

By April 7, the vines are pushing hard. to release the first leaves. It's important the fertilizer added in March is now available. The leaves need to green and widen, the vines to seek length, flowering and fertiizing, stamen to stamen, the grapes seek release.














Cattle egrets visit, foraging, cleaning the vineyard of potential invaders.

Photos - Buds to greenery

Over the vineyard, the sun rises and sets in an endless explosion of shapes, forms and, most incredible, colors

















Lead by the pruning shears in January, the buds explode into leaves and the season begins in earnest.

Photos - The season is triggered

The incredible process of cellular generation into leaves, vine, and grapes has begun. Glory!

There's a trigger no human understands. Perhaps it's the temperatures, or the amount of sunlight, or a time-instilled genetic signal that flips the switch at exactly the right time. Something tells the vine to generate growth, leaves, tiny and fragile, and the point from which the plant will create it's new season.

By March 24, the temps are rising and the buds are confident. It's time to break. It happens very fast. Apparently comatose one week, then change, slight at first.

Photos - Early March. They're coming!

After the pruning, the vines sit quiet, dormant, spooky looking in the morning mist, for weeks. The spiders string their traps between the spurs awaiting the unfortunate. Their webs, invisible otherwise, become highlighted by beads of dew. A few buds break their casts early eagerly seeking the new season. It's early March.