Irma's Woods Once Again

We found this wooded slope next to a little traveled dirt road quite by accident.  The posted signs identified the landowner as a person that taught in the same school I did for one decade.  Irma was a class act and her standards of expected behavior are honored even after her passing.  We look at the native wildflowers growing here from the edge of the road.  Only pictures are taken.

Bloodroot has held my attention for a number of years.  Plants have been lost to drought or rude deer altogether too often.  The preferred conditions for continued growth are unknown.  Here these plants grow only in one small area for reasons that completely escape me.  The closed flower bud is tightly surrounded by circle of leaves until it is pushed above the tangle of forest soil as can be seen in the upper most plant.  The white petals are fragile and wind frequently pulls them loose.  Blossoms last only for a short time and the display can easily be missed.  These flowers may be only one day old and will be gone early next week.  Our visits here have been frequent.  This is what we wanted to see. 

Sharp lobed Hepatica blossoms have been open for many days now.  Many of the early native woodland plants end their growing season about the time that the trees leaf out but Hepatica is still holding on to last year's leaves.  The foreground area between the two sticks is filled with trios of liver colored leaves that continue to nourish the plant.  These plants also have the rare trait of a wide range of petal numbers on each blossom.  Our frequent visits here found Hepatica to be the first plant to open its flowers.

One narrow section of Irma's woods is home to this unusual and brightly colored plant.  We have yet to find its name while its appearance always gets a long second look.  Becky will have the identification of the foreground plant when it has grown some.

Spring Beauty is a friend from childhood.  Its pinkish colored flower petals appear white in our photos but to the naked eye these flowers are stunners.  The underground structure that supports this growth resembles a pea but it is located at some distance from the above ground growth.  If one remembers to visit the plants near the end of their period of growth, the slender underground connecting rod can be followed to the pea.  With its growth period over, the pea can be successfully moved but the timing is critical.  If one is early the pea has not completed storing nutrients and will likely die if moved.  If the dig is late the underground stem will have disappeared.  We have never moved this plant.

 This sight improved our moods immensely.  One of our Fall planted Bloodroots has pushed its leaf cluster above the ground.  Deep deer hoof prints widely cover this ground and we were fearful that the new plants were destroyed.  Water will be hauled to this area to help any others along.