Posted by wilde on April 25th, 2006 — Posted in Vegetable
Well, the early Spring ephemerals are gone from the woods now. New blooms are taking their place while other plants are just starting out. It’s interesting that a plant will be blooming in the lower ground but not so in the woodlands higher up the ridge. I’m a little surprised to see such a difference in blooming times for a change of only about 30 feet in elevation. The Sessile-leaved Bellwort, also known as Wild Oats, was blooming on the lower ground near the spring, but those on the higher flat land have not yet developed their flowers. The higher bellworts have about 3 sets of leaves now.
Wild Oats blooming in the low lands.
Soloman’s Seal is developing its flowers, but none were found blooming yet.
The dogwood trees certainly are blooming, and will continue for another week or so.
Dogwood blooms in the forest.
The mustards are blooming in full. There are over 130 species in the NorthEast, so identifications can be difficult. As members of the Cruciferae family, each mustard has four regular petals in the shape of a cross. Familiar vegetables, like broccoli and cauliflower, belong to this group. Garlic mustard is easily identified, however, by its stalked, somewhat triangular or heart-shaped leaves that have the odor of garlic when crushed. Garlic mustard is an alien plant that has become established nearly everywhere, to the demise of some native plants. Feel free to pull it out!
Garlic mustard showing its triangular or heart-shaped leaves.
Garlic mustard showing the typical four-petal flowers.
I spotted a couple of the Wild Geraniums blooming near the pond runoff. Those adjacent to the lane and those higher up the land are still developing their greenery.
Wild geranium blooming is just beginning.
In contrast to the single blooms of a few different plants, there are violets blooming everywhere. It is so pleasing to see so many violets bloom at once! The Common Blue Violet, Viola sp., with its heart-shaped leaves seems to be in its glory near the pond. The two lower side petals are bearded and the central lower petal is not.
The Common Blue Violet has heart-shaped leaves.
The Common Blue Violet is rather plentiful!
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Posted by wilde on April 24th, 2006 — Posted in Animal, Vegetable
The trees are beginning to leaf out in earnest now. Cherry trees are showing their white blossoms which are short-lived and last for about a week. On the left side of the drive you can see a cherry tree blooming.
Cherry blossoms brighten the driveway as the trees are still developing their leaves.
There is a little patch of Rue Anemone along the gravel road which comes back year after year. This patch receives morning sun and is shaded in the afternoon by a big oak tree. Rue anemone is also known as Windflower, Anemonella thalictroides. The three-lobed leaves are in whorls and the white to pink petals, sepals really, number 5 to 11. A root tea was used by Native Americans to treat diarrhea and vomiting. As always take caution in ingesting any member of the buttercup family, like Rue Anemone, as they are toxic to some degree.
Rue anemone, or Windflower, is a showy Spring woodland flower.
Mayapples are making their appearance for the season. Their large umbrella-like leaves emerge from the ground in a rolled-up fashion, slowly unfurling to a more erect posture. Here, a stand of mayapples is just coming up. Flowers of mayapple,
Podophyllum peltatum, will appear in a couple weeks.
Mayapple, also known as American Mandrake, is a perennial woodland favorite.
Walking about the woods this week I did see my first snake — a small, brownish garter snake. I was surprised that I had not seen any snakes until this point in the season as we have been having unusually mild weather. Since the first sighting, a black snake and another garter have been spotted.
The dogwood trees are beginning to bloom. A faint white color is noticeable from a distance, but the blossoms should be more prominent in a few days.
A favorite tree of mine is Sassafras, Sassafras albidum. It is a member of the Laurel family along with cinnamon, sweet bay, avocado and spice bush. When the leaves or branchlets are broken they give off a pleasant odor. I’ll often break off a leaf or stem of sassafras for a little do-it-yourself aromatherapy. The sassafras flowers about the time the leaves are starting to appear. Male flowers have 9 stamens and female flowers have 6 sterile stamens and a central pistil. Each flower is small, 5 to 8 mm in diameter, and has 3 yellow petals and 3 yellow sepals that look alike.
Sassafras male flowers are showy at the edge of the woods.
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Posted by wilde on April 19th, 2006 — Posted in Vegetable
Grape hyacinth and tulips are the only garden flowers that are blooming right now. I have always liked looking inside tulips to see their patterns. This purple tulip is showing a white and blue design on the inside of the petals. The bright yellow stamens have shed some pollen probably with the help of a bee or other pollinator.
The inside of this tulip has a design you can’t see from the outside.
We also planted some wild ginger (Asarum canadense), a native plant, and I was happy to see it breaking out of the ground. The flowers will come a little later in the spring. One of our two peach trees is blooming. The second peach tree is putting up suckers and most of the woody parts from last year appear dead. It is planted a little too close to the septic drain field and I will try moving it to a different location.
Peach blossoms are giving off a very faint, fruity scent.
Ferns that volunteered next to the house are showing their little fiddle heads. Each year this batch of fern looks lovelier than the previous year’s growth. It is thriving in the shade on the north side of the house. Several pieces of the root have been transplanted to different areas in hopes of propagating it.
Ferns rolling out their fiddle heads.
Cinquefoil with its five bright yellow petals and five-part leaves is running all over part of the backyard. It seems to thrive in areas nearest the large oak trees where grass has a hard time growing, most likely due to a lack of sufficient water. Most would call it a weed but I enjoy seeing the bright yellow flowers dotting the landscape.
Cinquefoil flowers are a happy yellow sight.
Dandelions are taking over part of the front yard. This shot of the leaves is simply here to compare with goatsbeard when I see it blooming.
Dandelions are ok in my yard. No attempt at monoculture here!
Another native flower that we have growing in the same area as the cinquefoil is the northern violet. Northern violet has downy, oblong-shaped leaves instead of the typical heart-shaped leaves of the common violet.
The oblong leaves are distinctive to Northern violet.
I was pleasantly surprised to see another patch of hepatica in the woods yesterday. White hepatica was found blooming in the northeast corner of the property on a north-west facing slope. It was adjacent to a large patch of purple, round-leaved hepatica.
Round-leaved hepatica blooming white in the woods.
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