A Yellow Sea of Poppies! -Woodland Walk Wednesday

Yellow Celandine Poppies & Virginia Blues have filled

 my little patch of Heaven with a golden yellow glow!

It's hard to capture how magical
my woodland garden path looks at this moment!  
During this time of year, in my little patch of Heaven,
 the woods are aglow with hundreds of Celandine Poppies!
These beautiful yellow wildflowers are in full bloom!

While the poppies are dominating the woods
right now, there are many other native wildflowers mixed in and gorgeous in their own right. 



 Bleeding Hearts, White Foamflowers, and Blue Violets



!

Pink Bleeding Hearts

 Allegany Foamflower

Some of the flowers along the path aren't so obvious!

They make you search to find their flowers!  Right now, its the Wild Ginger plants, and soon it will be the Mayapples!

Wild Ginger patch along the path.

Their heart shaped leaves hide little maroon flowers. 

This is the maroon flower of the wild ginger plant.

 There is only one flower per plant, 

it is small and close to the ground.....

 very hard to find unless you know where to look for it!

Although I like to plant new wildflowers where I think they will thrive and be happy, I often find they will eventually move
 where they want through seeds or roots!! 

Mayapples pushing up through the mulch along the woodland path.
Notorious for spreading aggressively by roots, these will have to be moved
 or they will be trampled.


The beauty of the natural garden
 is finding a balance between keeping some structure, but also allowing the plants to find new places to settle -

like nature itself. 

Surprised by a yellow violet nestled in between the rocks
 at the top of a wall. Violets are the free spirits of the native garden!
They can pop up anywhere- but I love them and happy
 to see them most anywhere. They are a host plant and source
 of food to many butterflies and insects. There are
 certain varieties that are much less invasive
 than the common purple and white varieties.

White Trillium- It's taken me years to finally have a variety of Trilliums
growing through out my woodland garden.
The deer love to eat these!

Jacob's Ladder 

I'll end this walk with a picture of the Red-Bellied

 Woodpecker. He was busy hammering away on the tree limb above me while I was busy taking pictures for this weeks walk.  I'm so fortunate to have many different woodpeckers take up residence in our woods! I've learned through the years how to tell them apart by their call. The Red-Bellied Woodpecker has a loud chu-urr, chu-urr, chu-urro. You can find out more about this bird by clicking on  the link Red-Bellied Woodpecker below.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker - He's about 10", has a barred

 black and white back and upper wings, with a striking red crown,

 nape and lores. This little drummer is a male.

  If you look closely, they have pale red-bellies!

  

Until 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!