A sweet violetI love wildflowers. Who doesn't? I am especially fond of spring wildflowers that grow in deciduous forests. These plants need sunlight to grow, bloom, and set seed, and they have a limited opportunity to do that, between the end of winter and the trees leafing out. They have to be fast, and things change weekly, if not daily. Time is always against me in the spring, so I never get to see all of my favorites every year. Sometimes I forget their names, but I never forget a face.
Dutchman's Breeches: a perennial favoriteSolomon's Seal is one of those whose names always confuse me each spring. This is the "True" or "Smooth" Solomon's Seal. The buds and flowers hang under the leaves.
Smooth Solomon's Seal
Solomon's Plume
This year, I made some new friends at the New River Birding and Nature Festival, in West Virginia, like this squawroot. It is actually a parasite, deriving its nutrients from the roots of the oak trees it grows on.
SquawrootSome wildflowers look like they belong in your garden. This wild geranium looks a lot like the cranesbill geranium that I have around my gazebo.
Wild GeraniumThis sedum would be at home in any yard's rock garden. (Note the tiny bug.)
Wild StonecropToo bad the spring wildflower season is so short. I missed seeing so many things this year.
[Thanks, Julie, for reminding me of some of the names.]
8 comments:
I've never seen Dutchman's Breeches or that Squawroot in the wild. That little wild stonecrop is beautiful. I wonder if it's available at a nursery?
Katdoc - I *love* spring wildflowers, too, and this year I missed most of my favorites, but I'm making a point of being out there to see them next year!
I am seeing more wildflowers this year, just because I am getting my behind out in the forest and taking pictures. I don't know one from another, but I am learning.
It is amazing that anything is blooming this year. It got so hot and dry so fast! Where did Spring go, darn it?
It's been so dry here, many wildflowers just did not make it to blooming. Never thought north Georgia would feel like a dustbowl.
Dutchman's Breeches ... aka Butter and Eggs. A lovely little thing, either way.
-Sara
Sara:
Perhaps "Butter and Eggs" is a local name for Dutchman's Breeches in your area, but my Audubon wildflower guide shows it as a different plant. Dutchman's Breeches are in the Poppy family, genus Dicentra, along with Squirrel Corn and Bleeding Heart. Butter-and-eggs is a member of the Snapdragon family, Linaria vulgaris.
I don't have a photo of Butter and Eggs, but here is a link to show the differences:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LIVU2&photoID=livu2_003_avp.jpg
Like north Georgia, it's dry as a bone here in Charlotte. I don't think the wild flowers are making it. But I do get out and look for them.
As we know from another Ohio blogger, my peeps the Newfoundlanders do have many different names for common plants and animals. But this is not one of them and I'm wrong. Had I looked at the picture more closely, I would have seen it's a different flower. Still pretty stuff, though.
-Sara
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