WildeHerb is a collection of wild herb and wildflower sightings.
Saw a fly buzz around the other day, so I went looking for a patch of stinkin’ Skunk Cabbage. Actually, it was February 28th, after some record-breaking warm weather for a couple of days here in Central Pennsylvania, on Feb 23 and 24. (Photos taken Feb 28, 2017). It was probably the earliest in a … Read more
The First Flower of Spring Award goes to… Skunk Cabbage! Looking back on my old posts here at wildeherb, it seems I’m so excited for Spring to arrive that every year I just have to get out and see the skunk cabbage. That may be because it’s our first flower of spring, but also it’s … Read more
The different flavors of The Discovery Channel or The History Channel are the TV channels most likely to be left on all day in my house. I was going about a few chores just this week when I overhead a familiar name and so I turned my attention to the big screen. Somebody was talking … Read more
Skunk Cabbage flowers are not your typical Spring blossoms. Anyone who wasn’t educated about the structure of this strange plant would be hard pressed to recognize the flowers as such, or to find them in the first place. The flowers grow in colonial fashion on a sphere inside a protective hood. One can see these … Read more
The trees on our ridge-top are just starting to make their leaves so the hillsides still look bare. The spring-fed streams look more alive with the skunk cabbage developing their huge green leaves. The skunk cabbage has already bloomed for the year and is one of the only noticeable green things out here. No doubt … Read more
Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus, is quite noticeable this time of year as its enormous leaves dominate the wetlands. Go driving around the countryside and where there are creeks, backwaters, or the edges of rivers in woodlands look for the very large, bright green leaves of this perennial plant. Skunk cabbage occurs in the wetland areas … Read more
One plant that might be found blooming very early in Spring, even before Skunk Cabbage according to a fellow garden enthusiast from New York State, is known as Hellebore. Hellebores are so hardy they may even be found blooming in the middle of winter. Now, I haven’t seen it myself, but others report that hellebores … Read more
In the earliest days of Spring we have only a few splotches of color starting the blooming eruption. Flowers of the spring bulbs and garden plants that we planted are much more visible than the native flowers that are blooming this early. The native ones tend to grow low so they’re not quite as able … Read more