Hepatica In September

For the most part, we came to native wildflowers rather late in life.  Becky has an incomplete memory of Arbutus that is limited to instantaneous recognition of its scent.  Trillium and Jack In The Pulpit are the extent of my childhood flower memories.  In our retirement years those three plants were our focus in establishing a wildflower garden.

The pictured Hepatica has been with us for a number of years.  Surrounded by weeds, it seems to have escaped any recent notice.  That speaks of possible ignorance on our part since many of our native plants are at rest showing no above ground growth now.

This Hepatica may be in its second year with us.  Planted in the new garden, most of the surrounding ground is bare with the exception of shredded leaves.  Finally the fact that these leaves will survive winter made an impression on me.  This plant is among the first to flower here.  That is just the beginning of its display.

The first two photos were taken today.  The next two show flowers open in April.  The Popsicle stick label identifies this plant as a resident of our new shade garden.  A three lobed leaf shows both the remains of a blossom and the source of the name Liverwort.  As this leaf matures it will more closely resemble a human liver as legend has it.  Perhaps the resemblance will be to three closely spaced livers.

This picture was taken in a wooded area just across the Unadilla River.  There a dirt road climbs uphill where a bank lies close to the road.  Looking up at flowers growing there creates stunning images of flower parts usually hidden from view.  This picture is special for two reasons.  First, a purple flower always catches my eye.  Secondly, the three lobed leaf was formed in the previous year.  Hepatica blossoms appear before the new leaves push themselves past the fallen leaf litter.  Old winter worn leaves provide the nourishment for these early flowers.  Leaves visible in the first two pictures will appear next spring darkened and worn by their winter under the snow.

One location near the top of the slope above the roadway features a huge display of Hepatica plants.  Growing between stones and ferns, their early blossoms, create a stunning image.  My plan for spring is to place a large number of newly purchased plants near the moss covered stones that now line a new planting area in our shade garden.