Wednesday Woodland Path Walk!

Mertensia virginica - Virginia Bluebells.

Virginia Bluebell is a showy, early spring

wildflower found through most of the

 eastern United States. They have dense

 clusters of pink flower buds that open

up to blue flowers!

Virginia Bluebells are so pretty!

 Like many of the woodland plants I am sharing with you today, they remind me of my spring hikes through the woods of New England where I grew up. When I started my path, my goal was to create an experience similiar to the hikes I would take. Since I tended to spend most of the time with my head looking down so I wouldn't trip, I discovered many of my favorite wildflowers! I loved nothing more than to turn a corner and be greeted with a tiny wildflower next to a rock or at the base of a tree!

That's how I tried to plant along my path, planting a little pocket of plants here and there next to rocks, trees and other little natural features I found in my little patch of woods!

 Uvularia sessilifolia - Sessileleaf Bellwort,

 Wild Oats

.Blooms Early- to mid-spring

I like to call these little plants Wild Oats, the color of their hanging bells are a light yellow reminding of the color of oats. I believe these were native to my woods and I just transplanted them around different areas.

Now they have grown into large patches, showing off their delicate little bells. One might miss them since they are so slender and their bells hang below their leaf, but as a patch of them they are very charming!

Wild Cherry Blossoms

My Husband and I buy native seedlings
every year from our County Agricultural Extension Agency.
They offer a variety of native flowering trees and evergreens to choose from each year. I believe this is one of the wild cherry seedlings that is now 8' tall! They are pretty and provide fruit for the birds later in the season.

Erythronium americanum - Trout Lily; Dogtooth Violet.

Trout lily is one of the early spring wildflowers.



Dog Tooth Violet or Trout Lily



Yellow Dog Tooth Violets bring me back to my childhood backyard where they grew in abundance along a stream we had flowing through our woods. I would sit along the stream in my teenage years and watch their beautiful flowers blow in the breeze. Their spotted green and brown leaves tightly covered this little mound along the bank and engulfed a large boulder that I would sit on and think about life. It was a nice place to escape the crazy life of a teen!!

 So I had to have them along my path too! However, after 26 years they are only now beginning to bloom! For several years I was surprised by one single flower amongst a sea of leaves! This year I was surprised to actually have four beautiful yellow flowers blooming! Woodland gardening takes a lot of patience - but like I have said before, it is so worth the wait!

Stylophorum diphyllum - Wood Poppy, Celandine Poppy.

A beautiful, yellow, early spring wildflower.

This gorgeous Celandine Poppy is only one of hundreds

 that bloom along my path.

I had purchased one little plant from Bowman Gardens

in PA, and thought it had died.

A year or two later, the foliage emerged, but no flower.

 However, once it began flowering in the coming years, it has spread to the point that I am passing plants along to neighbors or to who ever would like one!!

They do create beautiful drifts of yellow flowers, are native, and bloom for along time!  So, I think I'll let them stay!:-)

  Claytonia virginica - Virginia Spring Beau nty,

 Narrow-leaved Spring Beauty.

 Early spring wildflower that can be 4 to 12 inches tall. Very similar to

 Carolina Spring Beauty - C. caroliniana - with the primary differentiator

being the leaf shape. It is protected in Massachusetts, New Jersey,

and Rhode Island as an endangered or historical species,

according to the USDA Plants Database.

While writing this, I actually learned something

 I didn't know about Spring Beauties. I have to make a correction on last weeks walk when I showed a picture of Spring Beauties. I knew that the two patches of spring beauties I had along my path had the same flower but different leaves, however, I never took the time to look into why! Now I know that the picture above is the true Virginia Spring Beauties and the picture last week is actually the Carolina Spring Beauties! They are both beautiful, very delicate, very similar flower, but the difference in leaves was the give away!! I also didn't know that it is an endangered species. I am thrilled my little plants are happily spreading along my path! I don't know if they were endangered years ago when I first planted them but I always stress to everyone how important it is to buy wildflowers from a reputable source that grows them and doesn't take them from the wild! 





This is a picture of the Carolina Spring Beauties and White Common
Violets that happily grow this large rock.

 

Mourning Doves



As I was strolling along taking pictures I had two mourning doves keeping an eye on me. I love hearing their owl type sounds that they make, in fact when we first moved into this house I thought I was hearing an owl!! The joke was on me, when I put up my bird feeders and realized that the sound was coming from them!  I couldn't believe I was fooled!! I still love them anyway and enjoy having them around to keep me company!
 



There was also a lot of commotion going on briefly in my neighbors tree that is close to our property. I think some mating was going on!!  It was hard for me to identify what type of hawks they were but my guess was either cooper hawks or possibly the broad shouldered hawks that have recently nested nearby for the last two years! So, I will probably be seeing a few more of them later in the spring!

A section of my woodland path filling in with spring plants. 

The squirrels have been chasing each other around the trees and the male cardinals have been sweetly feeding their female sweethearts from the bird feeders. It's spring!

Love is in the air!!!

See you next week!

Tracey :-)



 

Wednesday's Woodland Walk - Violets

 Viola pubescens

This week, most of the violets are blooming along our woodland path. Violets have always enchanted me since I was a little girl. I remember collecting all the beautiful purple/blue flowers into little bouquets before the lawn would be cut! They were so delicate! As I spent more and more time in the woods hiking, I happily discovered that there were many different colored violets!

Viola sororia (the white form)

When my husband and I moved into our home and created our woodland path, one of my goals was to start collecting a variety of violets. Right now I probably have 6-8 different varieties that I slowly gathered from friends yards and native wildflower sales.

Common Blue Violet- Viola sororia

 Although there are so many different flowers in bloom this week, I thought I would concentrate on these little beauties! Many people take violets for granted and don't really stop and enjoy these delicate flowers. The common blue or white violet can become a nuisance, popping up in little colonies in your lawn, but the next time you see them, stop and take another look. Better yet, make yourself a little bouquet! They are so charming in a little vase! You'll be amazed at their beauty!

I like to make little bouquets with some of my violets. My yellow violets haven't spread enough for me to want to steal a flower or two, but I'm sure next year I will be enjoying them in my little vases too!

Hairy Violet -Viola hirta

Hairy Violet -Viola hirta

 The violet is New Jersey's State Flower! It is also the state flower for Wisconson, Illinois, and Rhode Island.

 

I'm not sure what the name of this was, but it is a beautiful reddish purple color, very striking when its mixed with the other violets.

Sweet White Violet - Viola blanda

These small violets are very fragrant. They grow to a height of 3-5". Their shiny dark green leaves and flowers are on separate stems.

 -

'Freckles' Violet - Viola sororia 'Freckles'

Did you know that violet leaves are rich in vitamins A & C? Believe it or not, you can add them to your salads, cook them as greens (like spinach) or garnish cold soups. Their flowers are also edible, and can be made into candies and jellies!! I believe Martha Stewart explains how to sugar them and add them to cakes for edible decorations. They can also be used to decorate pastries, and fruit desserts. Just remember to only eat plants that were not sprayed with pesticides. If you chemically treat your lawn, you may not want to go grazing on it!!

Their fragrance can be extracted by steeping their flowers and leaves in water until it smells fragrant. This Violet Water, can then be used in teas, scent bedding or clothing (if rinsed or sprayed with it), and scent or flavor many other wonderful products.

Violets have also been used for medicinal purposes such as treating headaches, colds, coughs, sore throats and constipation.

Small grouping of violets along the path.

PS  Through the years I have lost many of the exact names of these flowers, so a few may be misnamed by me. Hopefully with a little more research I will be able to verify that these are accurately named!

Have you done anything special with violets? I'd love to hear from you!

 

Wednesday's Woodland Walk

                                    Wild Columbine - Aqueliga canadensis

Its hard to believe that it is mid April already! The weather has been perfect for planting and doing yard work.  The leaves are beginning to unfurl and the plants along the woodland path are beginning to rapidly fill in.  There are so many things in bloom right now that I'm not sure where to look first!

Pink Bleeding Hearts, Yellow Celandine Poppies & White Trilliums

In the foreground, are the lacy leaves of Dutchman's Breeches (Soon to disappear!)

Blooming in large colonies in different areas of my path are Wild Oats. They have one inch creamy yellow bell shaped flowers dangling beneath unstalked leaves. One might easily miss these 6-12" gems if not looking carefully. But I think they are charming!

Wild Oats - Uvularia sessilifolia

Wildflowers can sometimes be challenging even for the best of gardeners! For me, there have been several wildflowers that have been difficult to establish in my garden.

However, it makes them even more special to me as I walk along and spot them in bloom!

The Trout Lily is one of those baffling wildflowers that I patiently waited for 23 years to finally have one bloom!! Needless to say, I was doing the happy dance all day! Something my kids didn't appreciate!

Growing up, these amazing small 4-10" trout lilies grew along the banks of a woodland stream that ran through our property. Each spring they carpeted the banks with their beautiful clear yellow, lily-like flowers, and purplish brown mottled leaves, only to quietly disappear by the summer. I always loved them! I knew it may take up to 4-7 years for them to bloom, but 23 years! When transplanted along my path, they quickly grew like wildfire giving me a sea of beautiful leaves but no flowers until 2 years ago when I saw one little yellow flower blooming in the middle of all those leaves!! I couldn't believe my eyes, but here's the picture that captured that glorious moment!

Trout Lily (Dog Tooth Violet) - Erythronium americanum

This lovely plant has two common names. Many people refer to it by Trout Lily because it blooms at the beginning of Trout season and their leaves look similar to brook trout swimming under the water of rippling streams. Dog Tooth Violet, refers to the tooth-like shape of its white underground bulb.

Wild Columbine - Aquilega canadensis

This striking perennial wildflower jumps out at you with its gorgeous one to two inch red and yellow nodding flowers! Hummingbirds love to visit this native wildflower for its nectar from its long backward pointing spurs or tubes. Certain insects and Hummingbirds use their long tongues to extract the nectar as they hover below the blooms.

I often see columbines in rocky areas tucked inbetween rocks or cliffs when I hike. It grows one to two feet, is a short lived perennial (usually lasting for 3-4 years), and should reseed itself.

I have experimented planting this wildflower in many different areas of my woodland path, only to be disappointed that it has never reseeded itself for me! So every couple of  years I find myself purchasing another plant or two. I really hope this one will like its spot and reseed for me! There is also a yellow form of this columbine which is just as beautiful, but equally difficult for me to keep in my woodland garden! If anyone has a tip on how to get it to reseed let me know!

Wood Anemone - Anemone quinquefolia

Another beautiful little gem of a plant! I love its one inch clear white flowers and delicate leaves. It grows to about 4-8" on slender stems that often will tremble in the breeze, giving it another nickname called Wind Flowers.

 

Miterwort - Mitella diphylla

This wonderful wildflower is another native plant that you may just walk by without taking a second look! Nestled in front of two rocks along my path, this is slowly spreading into a nice little colony!

If you look closely, it has amazing tiny white fringed flowers(1/6") that bloom along a slender stem. It grows to 8-18", mine grow more like 10-12"tall. The fruit capsule is the shape of a bishop's miter or small cap releasing small black seeds. Sometimes people call it Bishop's Cap!

 

Virginia Bluebells - Mertensia virginica

I couldn't wait for my virginia bluebells to spread into a large area where my native Rhododendrons are growing.  I love their beautiful pink flower buds that turn into gorgeous blue trumpet-like flowers. They are so pretty blooming along my woodland path! They grow 8"-2' and have gray/green leaves that die back and go dormant until next spring.

You might be asking yourself what type of plants do I have after all these wildflowers go dormant? All kinds, is my answer! Just wait and see how the the woodland flora takes over, quickly covering the dying ephemerals. By mid-summer, one would never know there were wonderful native plants lying dormant, just waiting to wow me with their spring show again next year!