Month: April 2007

Two days ago the first violet was seen opening its purple blossoms. Between the rain and the wind that come along with the Spring rains, it’s been hard to get decent photos of them.

The Northern Downy Violet, Viola fimbriatula (V. sagittata var. ovata) is characterized by its elongated lance-shaped leaves with short stems. It is always one of the first violets to bloom in south-central PA.

The light violet to purple flowers are only slightly taller than the leaves and sit about 2-3 inches above the ground. The spur is small in this species of viola.

The two lateral lower petals are bearded with fine hairs. The lower middle petal has lines of deep purple. Stems of both flower and leaf are softly hairy, or downy.

Younger individuals of the northern downy violet have smaller oval-shaped leaves without lobes.

A similar violet is the arrow-leaved violet, Viola sagittata. Leaves are lance shaped with notches at the base, but the leaves are not downy. Flowers are about 4-5 inches off the ground.

A great resource for aiding indentification of New England violets is the Connecticut Botanical Society, where you can browse wildflowers by color, look up ferns and rare plants, and learn about gardening with native plants.

Thanks to the very warm weather we are experiencing, there’s more activity in the way of what’s blooming this week! Quite a swing to be 15-20 degrees warmer than usual after the very late snows we had in central Pennsylvania and upstate New York.

The spiderwort leaves are at least 6 inches out of the ground now. The wild ginger leaves are just out of the surface and rising up from their shallow-rooted rhizomes.

Sassafras trees are enlarging their bright yellow-green buds. The buds in sunny areas are starting to open.

Cherry trees are blooming now in earnest. As you drive along the country roads no other trees are showing green leaves, except for the evergreens of course. The view is mostly gray and brown but here and there you see the white, dotted outline of Prunus trees in bloom. With the exceptionally warm weather the cherry blooms will not last long.

Pin cherry, Prunus pensylvanica, grows at the edge of the woods or in disturbed or opened areas of the forest. Blossoms overhead are in clusters of four or five.

Also this week I was surprised by the grape hyacinth that had doubled in size from last year. I had forgotten about it until I saw the deep purple blooms. What a terrific scent, too! Crocuses are history for 2007, and the star magnolia will be too very soon. Greenery of the lily-of-the-valley is coming up and there are others to look forward to…so stay tuned!

Hepatica was in full bloom this past week. It is so refreshing – and surprising! – to see a beautiful cluster of dainty, pale blue to violet flowers on the otherwise dull forest floor of tan. Oak leaves rustle everywhere you step except the places where animals have worn them down to flakes along their paths.

Round-lobed hepatica growing out of the end of an old fallen tree.

Hepatica americana is quite variable in its growth habit. Sometimes the tri-lobed leaves are not present at the time of flowering. Sometimes the leaves are just as tan as the dead oak leaves. Others have green leaves that apparently survived winter just fine.

Hepatica blooming with no apparent leaves.

Four tan and quite dead-looking leaves are present on this woodland hepatica plant.

I saw a new leaf variety this year that I have not noted before nor read about in my trusty field guide books. Usually, the tri-lobed leaves are at ground level and may even be hidden under last year’s old tree leaves.

In the two images below you can see two types of leaves. The larger tri-lobed leaves are the norm. The smaller and erect leaves are taller than the blossoms and much smaller than the typical basal leaves. The small leaves are also somewhat tri-lobed, yet definitely have a more scalloped edge compared to the smooth edge of the typical leaves.

Small, erect leaves on this woodland plant are not typical of round-lobed hepatica.

Larger, tri-lobed leaves at ground level and small, erect leaves of hepatica.

Hepatica is also variable with respect to its blossom colors. Today’s images show the blooms to be white, light blue to violet, or shades of purple.

White blossoms of hepatica showing large sepal-like bracts and wide white petal-like sepals as compared to the purple flowered plants.

It is so pleasing to have one of my favorite woodland plants on our property. When everyone is itching to get outside after a long winter and those nice warmer days come along, a simple walk in the woods is easy entertainment. It can be so invigorating when you spot a new or even familiar plant showing off its Spring colors.

Makes me want to say, “Oh, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home!”

This past week we saw more signs of Spring. A few other trees showed interest in starting their spring growth by breaking open their buds, namely the stone fruits, peach and cherry. Hawthorns and dogwoods are also starting to open their buds.

Even though Spring is continuing on its march toward warmer weather, a dip in the jet stream is causing a bit of confusion.

We are in the midst of an historic April snow storm! Folks in the mountainous areas of New York and Pennsylvania are expecting a foot or more of the heavy white stuff.

Elsewhere, in the northeastern U.S. many people should be watching nearby creeks and streams for flooding. This storm is a really big one and has brought a couple inches of rain to quite a few major cities already and it’s only half over.

As the old saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers!”

North of the Catskill Mountains in eastern New York the Spring bulbs are awakening but not yet flowering. Crocuses, daffodils and tulips are coming out of the ground, but now have their greenery hidden under the snow.

Spring here has been rather tumultuous. The Snow Drops (Galanthus nivalis) have now experienced five different snow events. Usually a single snow fall will cover those cute little blooms and this year they are showing themselves to be quite hardy!

Yesterday, the hanging blossoms were opened wide after a couple days of snowy weather and now, again, they are closed and tucked under the snow.

My walk through the woods today was rather chilly, but not uncomfortably so as I was prepared by wearing long-johns and an earband.

I was looking for new sprouts and found several. Brambles and wild roses have started poking their leaves out of their winter buds. The plants along the lane are further along than others in more wooded areas. Forsythia and hawthorn have also opened their buds to start their spring growth.

The star magnolia has opened a couple of its large buds and the elderberry shrubs are continuing their leaf development.

I found my favorite Spring Ephemeral in its earliest stages of bloom. The round-lobed hepatica, Hepatica americana, was sporting a single bloom so far. The evergreen leaves collected the flakey snow, while the bloom hung with her head down as if to say she wasn’t ready to show all.

A single, closed blossom of round-lobed hepatica surrounded by its leaves catching snowflakes.

Columbine has been growing for a couple weeks now. Many small plants are arising from one original plant that was allowed to go to seed. Guess we’ll have to start transplanting as soon as possible!

Columbine greenery starts life as a tight little ball of leaves that gradually open to catch the sun’s rays.

Spiderwort has come up and multiplied since last growing season and the wild ginger is about ready to break out of the ground. Other garden dwellers that have been revived from winter’s sleep include the mints, chrysanthemums and the false indigo.

A group of yarrow that I spotted last fall coming up in the lawn has begun its growth, too. These plants will be scooped up and placed into a native plants garden. We’ll see if it transplants well.

Trying to take pictures outside today would be an utter waste of time.

The wind is gusting over 20 mph and bringing in with it some mighty cold air – at least compared to the high 70s we had on Tuesday!

A friend in Chicago reports their temperature was 75 degrees one day and 29 the next as a clipper from Canada pushed the warm breezes back to the South.

The warmth of three days in the high 60s to mid-70s nudged a few plants into sprouting. Most notable are the trees as they opened their winter buds to release a burst of color and, unfortunately for some of us, loads of sneeze-producing and eye-watering pollen.

Places far to the south of us, like Georgia and North Carolina, have reported extremely high pollen counts. High enough, in fact, to be record-setting amounts. Guess the conditions were just right, as Goldilocks would say. We hope our entrance into Spring will be a little less dramatic here in Pennsylvania.

So far, here are our mountain top trees that have broken out of their winter buds and whether the buds contained foliage or reproductive structures.

• red maple with red flowers
• lilac with light green leaves
• sweet birch with yellow flowers
• elderberry with light green leaves
• star magnolia with white flowers

Snow squalls produced a coating of snow on the ground this morning, which means last night could have been cold enough to harm the more delicate early bloomers. Local tree fruit farmers may have something to worry about tonight, so they will probably be spraying their trees or burning their barrels to minimize the damage.

Our star magnolia just broke her buds three days ago. Yesterday morning three blooms that had begun to open were closed again as if trying to shut out the cold air. More buds have opened by mid-morning today, but the blossoms are not yet out in full. We’ll keep watching and waiting to see when she blooms for real.

Early Spring brings with it many blossoms that are not seen at other times of the year. These early Spring bloomers are often referred to as Ephemeral Spring Flowers to describe their fleeting nature. Flowers may persist for a week or a day, so time is of the essence to observe these Spring Beauties!

Get thee to a National Forest or other trail near ya!

A partial list of early Spring blooming flowers in the Northeastern U. S. include the following:

• trillium
• hepatica
• bloodroot
• rue anemone
• toothwort
• spring beauty
• Virginia bluebells
• twinleaf
• Dutchman’s breeches
• dogtooth violet
• Jack-in-the-pulpit
• showy orchis
• wild geranium
• columbine
• wood sorrel

We have three of these listed beauties on our property, but they have not yet been seen this year. Most of the others can be found at the nearby forest trails.

Have a look here to find a hiking trail near you! Try the PA State Parks if you’ll be searching for wildflowers in Pennsylvania.