wildflowers
One of the things I like best about wildflowers is the way they sprinkle themselves sparsely and with great delicacy about the landscape. I almost missed this wild rose. When I looked closely, I discovered that there were quite a few of them in the area, in several stages of development. If you look closely, you may be able to spot a few too.
The trilliums have been out for a month now. They start out pristine white. As they age, they take on pinkish hues, until they become almost purple right before they give up the ghost entirely. This clump shows the whole gamut.
I think these are candy flower, or Claytonia Siberica. I base that assumption on the leaves, which look like Miner’s lettuce, also known as Claytonia. This police work is fun and frustrating in equal measure.
No such luck identifying this one. I picked a sample of each specimen to bring home, but after stopping to chat with a couple of neighbors they were wilted beyond recognition.
Small trees with these fuzzy blooms are all over the woods. Bet someone can tell me what it is. ID update: Megan says it is native elderberry. That would jibe with the bright red berries that come later.
These are obviously some sort of wild violet. I always called them dog toothed violets, then was told that’s the name for trout lilies. It becomes ever more obvious why we need botanical Latin, painful though that may be.
I’m looking forward to the march of the wildflowers, and hope to chronicle their appearance here. Maybe, with your help, we can put names to them in the process.
April 3rd, 2010 at 6:10 am
Wildflowers in the wild maybe sparse and well-behaved, but get them inside the fence and they go beserk. Take my titchy white Viola odorata: at least a thousand on one smallish lawn alone.
Meow to you too :-). That was a touch terse.
We do have cats. Dozens of them. Not ours of course. They leave tons of droppings, kill no mice but are partial to tiny songbirds. Blackbirds are too large for them.
I am usually good with identifying flowers, but need a close-up cut-out of the actual perianths. That early rose looks like it is the Rosa “Photoshop”. No?
April 3rd, 2010 at 6:44 am
Hi Ricki~~ The rose is just mesmerizing. I remember the yellow violets that grew in the forest we used to own. Such pretty things. Sorry I’m not more adept at names either. But regardless they’re sure are little treasures.
April 4th, 2010 at 12:23 am
Jo~We have seas of those white violets too…love ‘em. No Photoshop here (except for removing the bags under my eyes). That rose was the real deal.
I know better photos are necessary to ID plants. I will try to do better in future.
Grace~I thought for sure I could rely on you for naming everything. I love you anyway.
April 5th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
I think the white flowered trees are our native elderberries, although I forget the exact species.
January 11th, 2011 at 10:30 pm
Adore this article. Where did you uncover these details?