Sure Signs Of Spring

As we come to the very last day of March, it's a delight to be out in the garden.  There are certain signs of spring everywhere.  I wondered if this winter would mean the end of many of my perennial garden plants.  Here to my delight is the Virginia bluebells that I planted last fall just emerging.  A spring ephemeral, this plant comes, blooms and disappears  again in the Spring.  I might not look like much, but it's cause fore celebration for me!

This is my Twin leaf plant. It blooms in the spring, but the beautiful butterfly like leaves flutter in the breeze all summer.  Boy was I glad to see it return!

The squirrel corn is coming back strong and it is several weeks ahead of last year.

Soon these lacy green leaves will be joined by dark pink bleeding hearts. It does my heart good to see them again!

Here the desirable plant is the Toothwort.  I will have to decide how much to tidy up around this plant and whether or not I should bury the roots.  John Burroughs called it Crinkleroot and talked about chewing the roots.  To my way of thinking you should have lots of plants before exhibiting that
kind of behavior. I want these to grow!

Last year when I visited Catskill Native Nursery in Kerhonkson, NY, I bought this Heartleaf Alexander.  I had never seen it before,  but it was an adorable plant with heart shaped leaves. With the kind of Winter we had without snow, I was concerned about frost heave.  It looks fabulous! No wonder I brought it home.
 

My pink trout lilies are coming up.  Beautiful speckled leaves and the beginnings of buds give me a thrill.  Ed carefully removed the cage top and teased the dandelions away from my prized plants.  Ed in the garden starting his war on dandelions is also a sure sign of Spring.  It might be my very favorite!

He wins a prize for the removal of the dandelion with its long taproot  intact. What could be better than that?

First Arbutus Flowers

These transplanted from the wild arbutus, Epigaea repens, are in their third year with us.  Never has a plant received as much attention as these have.  Daily visits, a protective wire cage and hand removal of covering fallen oak leaves or white pine needle clusters are just the beginning of lavish care.  When  I kneel on the large flat stones that surround these plants, it must appear that I am in prayer.  Thoughts of encouragement flow freely but I steadfastly deny speaking aloud to the plants.

Bud searches have been carefully made since fall.  Few were found and I accepted that as a consequence of the woodchuck attack last spring.  Today's visit found two new flowers peeking out from under a covering leaf.  A closer look from ground level revealed a much larger cluster.  The covering leaf was pulled up for the top picture.

This photo is as the flowers are.  The covering leaf is visible.  These flowers are so newly opened that they are for the moment scentless.  Tomorrow should see more mature flowers in full splendor.  This is the plant that made seed last year so its gender is female.  Recording the development of seed is at the top of the agenda this year.  Expect to see more pictures of this flower cluster as we move toward summer.

These western trout lilies, Erythronium, have been a delight this year.  Red squirrels or chipmunks ate the first planting during the fall or winter.  The following year these bulbs were planted inside of a wire mesh cage.  Its top is hinged and the pink plastic closure is visible above ground.  Some munching creature ate the fresh above ground growth the second year.  Now in year three the added above ground cage is visible.  All of that protection permitted a rich flush of both leaves and flowers.

When we wish to view the plant, the upper wire cage is simply set aside.  One must put their head at ground level to see the structure of these short downward facing blooms.  This much brazen beauty deserves to be protected from casual view.

We are facing our third consecutive night of possible freeze or frost.  These trout lilies will not be covered tonight.  Forecast overnight low temperatures are not frighteningly low and we must see just how hardy these plants are.  If they get frosted, we will always have the pictures.

Extremely Pretty In Purple

I ventured out with the camera today to get a shot of these purple trout lilies.  Yellow trout lilies grow in the woods here, but when I saw that they came in purple, I just had to have them.  It hasn't been easy.  These bulbs are prone to being eaten by critters, so Ed fashioned a closed wire box to encase the bulbs under ground.  Last year the leaves of this plant got frosted hard.  If it had flowers, they got  got eaten.  I never saw them.  This year an above ground cage was added give additional protection  for this beauty.  The temperature is likely to drop into the twenties tonight.  I hope these lovely pink flowers can take it.  Their yellow relatives have not tried to bloom as yet.  After I took the picture, I returned the cage.  I hope the rest of the buds on this plant will get their chance to open.  If not, we got to enjoy pretty purple flowers today!