As serendipity would have it, a ton of native violets grow wild on our property. At the time I was reading about making jelly from violets our Northern Downy Violets were in full bloom, so we made a batch of violet jelly! Oddly, I thought it would taste like grapes, because of the cool colors I guess. The real taste is floral – like a violet and slightly fruity or berry-like with a faint hint of elderberry. Elderberry jelly has a much, much stronger flavor, but there were notes of it in our violet jelly.

Three of us went outside on a sunny and breezy day in April to pick two cups of violet flowers. Just the flower heads were needed so any stems that came off the plant were picked out of the bowl. Violet flowers were picked from our backyard on the mountain ridge top.

Violet pickers happily picking flowers for jelly. Photo taken 20 April 2012.

In about 15 minutes time we had the amount of violets we needed to make the jelly. Nearly three cups of violets were loosely tossed into a measuring bowl and the whole amount was firmly packed in a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Now, that’s not firmly packed like brown sugar measured out for a batch of cookies, but the flowers were pressed down lightly to fit in the measuring cup.

Three cups of loosely packed violet flowers.

Two cups of violet flowers in a glass measuring cup.

The violets appeared rather clean, but since the pollen has been very high lately they were given a quick rinse with water in a colander anyway.

Violets were rinsed with water running through a colander.

The next step for making the violet jelly was to pour two cups of boiling water on top of the flowers. We want two cups of liquid to make the jelly, so don’t rely on using the measuring cup scale for adding two cups of water. Since the violets already took up space in the measuring cup, boiling water was measured out in a separate measuring cup and then poured on top of the flowers.

Two cups of violet flowers after two cups of boiling water was poured on them.

After a couple of hours steeping the deep blue liquid could be decanted off the flowers. We let the measuring cup sit at room temperature for a couple of hours so we could see the color develop and then let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. After 24 hours of total steeping time, a double layer of cheesecloth was draped over a 2 quart bowl and the flower and water mixture was poured over the cheesecloth. The flowers were held back from the liquid and then taken to the compost pile.

Ingredients for making violet jelly, including from the top, clockwise: 3 oz. packet liquid pectin Certo brand, 2 cups violet juice, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and 4 cups sugar.

At this point the violet liquid was a very deep blue color. Four cups of sugar were measured out into a separate bowl. A 3 oz. package of liquid pectin, Certo brand, was opened and sat upright in a glass. A quarter cup of lemon juice was measured out too so that all ingredients were ready when needed. Previously, about an hour before, glass jars were washed and sterilized in the dishwasher and the door kept closed so that the jars would stay hot until needed. Bands and lids were sterilized with a kettle of boiling water poured over them as laid out in a skillet and covered with a lid until needed.

Take caution! To cook up the jelly use a 4 quart pan. When we made this particular batch of jelly we used a 2 quart pan to cook the jelly and created one heck of a mess. As the jelly cooks to a boil foam is formed and that foam layer rises a couple of inches up from the liquid level in the pan. Needless to say there was a scorched mess on the stove top to clean up because the hot jelly ran over. I just knew that pan looked a little full at the time, but I neglected my own thoughts and decided to follow the recipe to a T. Wish I had listened to myself, but since I didn’t, maybe you won’t make the same mistake.

At this point in making the jelly we should have transferred the blue liquid to a 4 quart pan before turning on the heat. The heat was set to high and the mixture was constantly stirred. The lemon juice was added and the color changed immediately from deep blue to a light lavender or pink color.

Lemon juice added to the violet juice turned the deep blue color to pink.

Sugar was added to the pan and the heating continued. It didn’t take too long to bring the mixture to a boil and it was constantly stirred.

After sugar was added to the violet and lemon juices, the mixture was an opaque pink color that cleared upon boiling.

Once the boil was reached, the packet of liquid pectin was added and the mixture boiled for two minutes more. With the smaller pan we had to guess at how long the pectin-sugar-juice mixture was actually boiled because the pan was taken off the heat to stop the boiling over. We guessed ok because the jelly gelled just fine.

Jars of Violet Jelly made from Northern Downy Violets. 21 April 2012.

Evidently, the same jelly recipe could be used for other floral jellies, like rose or rose hips jelly, or herb jellies, like mint or lemon thyme jelly. It would be fun to try some other fine jellies like that, but if we find another big violet patch, we’ll be making some more violet jelly first.

The deep colors of this blue iris certainly were eye-catching. These flowers were beautifully displayed at the side of a country road. Perhaps someone planted them there years ago. They appear to be a form of the Bearded Iris, Iris germanica, which isn’t native to North America.

A different plant, called the Larger Blue Iris, Iris versicolor, is native to North America, and it can be found growing wild from Canada south to Ohio and Virginia. You’d be more likely to find this native iris in wet meadows, marshes and swampy places. Its upright petals and falling sepals are not as wide as the german bearded irises, which are represented in the photos below. The Larger Blue Iris has large petals that are held vertically but do not fold over the top of the center of the flower like many of the colorful irises available at garden centers. It also has veins of yellow among its striking colors of blue and white.

Bearded Blue Iris flowers beside a mountain road. Photo taken 28 April 2012.

Just as with its cousin, the Yellow Iris, I. pseudacorus, the growth habit is in clumps. Several sword-like leaves arranged in a fan-shape are at the base of the plant. The whole plant may reach 2-3 feet tall with the leaves being somewhat shorter than the flower stalk.

Flower stalks emerge from a clump of sword like leaves in the blue iris. Photo taken 28 April 2012.

Each flower stem is smooth and round and usually gives rise to more than one flower. Flowers emerge from a tightly rolled bud.

(Click on any photo to see a larger image.)

Looking down on an iris flower stalk. Notice the flower bud that will bloom tomorrow. Photo taken 28 April 2012.

Each iris flower looks great for one day and then fades to let another take its place the next day.

Side view of the bearded blue iris. Note the rounded flower stalk and flower buds yet to open. Photo taken 28 April 2012.

The bearded irises have a streak of fuzziness along the midline of the falling sepals. The photo above highlights the white beard on these particular flowers.

The day that these pretty blue iris flowers made me stop along the road, privet shrubs were blooming and giving off their sweet smell of Spring.

In the last two weeks of April the lilacs were blooming in their purple and white. Dogwood and Redbud trees had very long bloom times this year. About a week’s worth of blooms seems typical due to the usual rainy and windy spring weather that knocks down blossoms and petals, but this year so far has been a little different.

Dogwood flower with paired leaves in the background. Photo taken 15 Apr 2012.

White dogwood flower closeup. Photo taken 15 Apr 2012.

Small dogwood tree under oak. Photo taken 15 April 2012.

Dogwood trees were exceptional this year and they bloomed for two weeks or longer. From about the 10th of April through the end of the month we saw the pretty four-petaled tree flowers all over central Pennsylvania.

Flowers bloom at set times of the year according to temperature and daylight conditions. It may be practical to remember when a certain flower blooms according to what the general population is doing and not merely using the calendar.

Following the calendar for “normal” bloom times this year would have resulted in us missing a lot of flowers blooming. Most plants started their spring development about three weeks earlier than normal in 2012, so thinking about relative bloom times would be more fruitful.

For example, two early Spring white-flowering trees may be confused when seen at a distance. (OK, if you can recognize the shapes or outlines of these trees, it’s a moot point.) The example below is about relative bloom times, not identifying spring-blooming trees in themselves.

Two dogwood trees bloom among the hardwood trees developing their leaves. Photo taken 28 April 2012.

Dogwood trees blossom a little later than serviceberry trees. Serviceberries bloom when practically no leaves are on the trees. It doesn’t matter if all the trees, in general, are leafing-in early or late compared to the average bloom times. Dogwoods bloom when most of the hardwood trees have at least some leaves developed, and they may continue to bloom until the leaves are about 50% of their full-grown size. Dogwood trees flower after the serviceberry blossoms have blown away.

Picking up clues from the surrounding vegetation can help us learn about the flowering times of certain plants. Remember that each plant is part of a community, and it’s the relationships of all the inhabitants of the community that make it work.

(Click any photo to see a larger image.)

Flowering serviceberry tree in a stand of trees at the edge of a field. Photo taken 5 April 2012.

Serviceberry tree flowering among maples and oaks just leafing out. Photo taken 5 April 2012.

Flowering serviceberry trees along a Pennsylvania country road. Photo taken 5 April 2012.

Serviceberries, also known as Juneberries, will be in leaf a couple of weeks after their white blooms are in view. The flowers develop into small berries that ripen in June, hence the name Juneberry.

The tree canopy is coming in fast now that it’s the third week of April. We are surrounded by trees where we live in the middle of the woods and right about now the trees seem to be closing in on us. During the winter we can see far into the woods, but now with the greenery growing bigger the view is getting blocked near the forest edge.

Heard baby bluebirds in their bird house yesterday. The parents have been frantically flying to and fro feeding the little guys peeping in there. Their activity must have caught the eye of a hawk because I saw one on the ground about five feet from the birdhouse. Didn’t see the strike to know if the broad-winged hawk got a bluebird for lunch, but he flew away without anything in his talons.

Bluets, violets and fairy wings continued to be beautiful this past week. The flowering trees were impressive everywhere! Pink and white dogwoods, ornamental flowering cherries and crabapples, light purple redbuds, and even the yellow balls of sassafras flowers brought many smiles this past week.

Violets are blooming in earnest now. We have the Northern Downy Violet, Arrow-leaved Violet and the Common Blue Violet popping up in the yards and driveway. They don’t seem to mind the rocks and clay that we have for “soil” up here on the mountain.

Early spring flowers of the familiar bulbs that herald Spring are already faded or dried up and blown away. The greenery of the crocus, daffodil, hyacinth and tulip are still growing strong and collecting energy for reproductive purposes. After the leaves yellow the bulbs can be dug up and replanted to allow them to spread out.

A native plant with a large bulb for its size is the dainty little Spring Beauty, Claytonia virginica. Early Americans are said to have eaten the bulbs or tubers as a potato substitute. They’re edible, but small. It would take quite a number of plants to make a meal. Spring beauty tubers are up to a half inch in diameter. Perhaps a nice thing to know if you’re leaning toward survivalism, but not worth digging really. Let’s just enjoy their beauty, shall we?

Robins made their Spring appearance and have been hopping around the place for a few weeks now. I suppose the juncos will leave any day, unless they are year-round residents that stay in the Appalachian Mountains all year.

Dark-eyed junco or slate-colored junco, female.

Another blooper popped up last week when listing a few early blooming plants that are ahead of schedule this year. As luck would have it coltsfoot was mentioned as one of the plants that were finished blooming for the season, albeit earlier than normal. Such a definitive statement is bound to get one in trouble with the whims of Mother Nature.

In most places along our country roads you can see the seed heads of coltsfoot plants that have already bloomed for the year. The round, composite seed heads are much like the spent flower heads of dandelions that a child picks up to blow the seeds into the air.

Coltsfoot seed heads are white in the background and dandelion is flowering yellow in the foreground. Photo taken 5 April 2012.

The flowers in the photo above faced south with at least a road’s width of open space to its south. One usually finds this early spring bloomer along roadsides and in full sun. Most of the coltsfoot flowers have ended their early blooming for the year but small pockets of flowering coltsfoot may still be seen. Look in secluded or shady areas for the last-flowering coltsfoot blossoms.

Coltsfoot flowers close up and droop their heads overnight, then raise them in the sunshine of the following day. Photo taken 12:30 p.m. on 5 April 2012.

Trading the cold of night for the warmth of sunshine, coltsfoot flowers gain enough energy to raise their heads and open their composite flowers. The coltsfoot in this particular location didn’t seem to open their flowers completely by late afternoon, so they were probably on their last few days before turning to seed.

Coltsfoot flower heads open up slowly in filtered sunshine. Photo taken at 2 p.m. 5 April 2012.

The last two photos are of the same clump of coltsfoot, taken about an hour-and-a-half apart. This grouping of coltsfoot was along a Pennsylvania country road and adjacent to woodlands on the south. Sunlight was filtered through the trees and so made for a late-blooming set of coltsfoot.

Early bloomers that have already finished showing off for this year include:

• anemone
• crocus
• coltsfoot
• hyacinth

Some plants seem to be mixed up regarding their blooming times. Some individuals have already bloomed and died back, while others of the same kind growing nearby are just now blooming or have yet to push out their flowers. Hepatica is a good example. Some hepatica plants that are already spent were blooming last year on 14 April, three weeks later than this year. A few hepatica had both spent blossoms and flowers in bloom on 29 March 2012.

Three hepatica plants past blooming. The flower stalks can be seen with their three maroon sepals. Photo taken 30 March 2012.

Hepatica americana blooming with three flowers. Photo taken 30 March 2012.

Other flowers that have bloomed for at least a week or longer and that are still blooming include:

• periwinkle
• grape hyacinth
• common chickweed
• purple dead nettle
• pennsylvania bittercress
• common speedwell
• mustards
• dandelions

A few plants have their flower buds developed and are getting ready to open today or in the next few days, including:

• tulips
• blueberry
• wisteria

Still other plants are just beginning to flower, including:

• bluets
• azalea bush
• violets
• ground-ivy or gill-over-the-ground
• strawberry

Other plants are starting to develop as their greenery is growing, but their flowers will take a couple of weeks at least to show up, including:

• mayapples
• elderberry
• brambles, raspberry, blackberry, roses
• herbs for the kitchen

The end of March has to be the earliest I’ve seen Mayapples poking out of the ground.

Mayapples poking out of the ground very early this year. Photo taken 30 Mar 2012.

I’m curious to know with the extra warm weather and all, what early bloomers have surprised you this year? Tell us where you saw some early blooming!

We have been hearing the flocks of Canada geese and swans flying north for a couple of weeks now. Robins have appeared and are singing loudly from the oak treetops. It occurs to me that I haven’t seen juncos for a while now, so maybe they’ve flown back to Canada, too.

The crocuses started poking their heads out of the ground and yesterday was the first day to see them blooming. A different type of bulb, anemones, bloomed last week. We call them “early crocuses”.

Early crocuses or anemones in bloom. Photo taken March 6, 2012.

The anemones have thinner petals whereas the later crocuses have wider petals that are rounded at the tips. The linear leaves are very similar with the white midrib, but the anemone leaves are also thinner.

Crocuses showing off their wide petals in bright white and purple. Photo taken March 13, 2012.

The temperatures here in the eastern US are about 20 degrees warmer than usual, so many trees have popped their leaf buds. Maple trees, elderberry canes, wild roses and blackberries have all pushed out their leaves. The elderberry leaves have grown the most so far, but with warm weather predicted for the next ten days or so, we expect the pollen levels to shoot up from lots of tree activity.

In the woods hepatica isn’t blooming yet. I did see one flower bud at the soil surface when I checked them yesterday, so I suspect that hepatica may bloom early this Spring.

Hepatica not quite blooming yet this year. The maroon-tinted leaves remain from last year. Photo taken March 12, 2012.

Hepatica americana is a favorite of mine and since it’s growing wild on our property, you know I’ll be checking these plants often until they bloom.

It was a beautiful day yesterday so the dog and I took a walk together. I think we both really enjoyed being outside. We walked together up the lane and back to the old bean field. Stubble from last year’s soybean crop had delicious smells, evidently. The dog left his scent many times for the deer and turkeys that we regularly see in this field.

We walked the edge of the field to a rise on the north side. This area gets lots of sun as the open field lies to its south. The day was unseasonably warm, just like the rest of this winter. I was wearing just a shirt and hoodie and was totally comfortable, if not a little warm once we walked a bit.

To my surprise once we got to the highest spot in the field there were the tiny white flowers of Pennsylvania Bittercress blooming in the sunshine! That has to be the earliest I’ve seen them blooming. We usually see these tiny flowers appear in the middle of March, not February.

Pennsylvania Bittercress blooming very early.

In the same area we saw Purple Dead Nettle blooming too, but not to the same extent as the PA bittercress.

Purple Dead Nettle blooming early this year.

Since I didn’t take the camera on our walk, I picked a couple of these weeds and plopped them on the scanner once we got home. Do you see the detail in the images above that can be picked up with a scanner as compared to a macro photo? If I could have scanned the items when they were freshly picked instead of after being squished in my pocket for a while, you’d be able to identify the plants more easily.

fresh chamomile flowers

Chamomile flowers were picked fresh on 26Nov2011 and dried for several days on a window sill. Dried flower photo below taken 7Dec2011.

dried chamomile flowers

Several dried chamomile flower heads can be steeped in a cup of hot water for a delicious and calming cup of tea. Chamomile tea smells like green apples and has a soothing effect. To keep the scent fresh, store the dried flower heads in a glass jar. Keep the lid loose until you’re sure the flowers are completely dry. Enjoy with honey in a cup of tea.