Safe Behind Bars?

The two remaining dwarf ginseng plants now live under a cage. They share their cell with a stinking Benjamin, wood sorrel, Canada Mayflower, ferns and moss.I can only hope it will keep these two plants from being nipped off. I know caged wildflowers seems like an oxymoron, but we just have to try.




This picture shows the blossom of the medium size plant. The largest plant with 5 leaves per stem got nipped. This one has four leaves and the smallest three. A tiny bug is sipping nectar from a tiny white flower. The round ball of flowers is only the size of a marble.

The first Baltimore oriole was sighted today in the very top of an apple tree.They are so beautiful! I'm glad to see it, but it reminds me that my lilies will need some protection.Where did I put that bird netting?

Lost and Found Again

A decade and a half ago, when we first bought this land, I found a single dwarf ginseng (Panax Trifolium) while exploring the woods behind the pond. I took a picture of it then, but I was never able to find it a second time and believe me I have searched.

Yesterday I found not one, but three tiny plants. Again I took a picture, but this time I tried to memorize unusual trees and rocks that would help me to find the plants again. With a little temporary confusion I was able to lead Ed to the spot. Again I took a photograph, but when we got back to the house my picture was fuzzy. Today Ed took the camera and went back into the woods and found it again. The flowers have yet to open so we will try to find it again. This beautiful plant is above ground for at most two months, April and May. After that it dies back to the ground. Like so many things, if you are not paying attention, you can miss something wonderful.