First Visit To Irma's Woods

Somehow a trip across the valley to view native wildflowers in a totally natural setting seemed like a great way to start this day.  This hillside slopes to the south with no land forms blocking sunlight from warming the ground.  That results in the earliest known location of plants in bloom.  Coltsfoot is not a native plant but it was in widespread use as a medicinal plant in colonial days.  Its early appearance with flowers appearing before leaves earned it a place in this post.  Here it grows only in the ditch adjacent to the road.  Sometimes it is wildly invasive but here it is well behaved as were the students in Irma's classes.

These Spring beauty flowers are newly opened.  The bright pink pollen has never been seen by us before.  We suspect that by late afternoon today it will have completed its job and be gone.  It was a genuine thrill to see something for the very first time especially at our age.

  

This plant remains unidentified so far.  We recognize the Goldenrod emerging to its left but the bud cluster above three leaves will need to be seen again before identification can be made.  Many more visits will be made here.  If we can find it again after it has grown, identification may be possible.

Actually all that was needed for a proper identification was to let some time pass.  We are now certain that this plant is Toothwort or Crinkleroot.

We believe that Hepatica wins the race to be the first native plant to open flowers with Spring Beauty coming in a close second.  The pictured plant has leaves that end in a point and appears in several different forms.  These flowers have nine violet colored petals but both the number and color vary.  Our point and shoot camera does not accurately capture the color of he flowers.  It is much darker than seen here with solid  colored petals from their base to their tip.

These six petaled white flowers are also Sharp lobed hepatica.  Several maroon colored leaves can be seen below the flowers.  Hepatica frequently carries over leaves from last summer.  These leaves are functional supplying nutrition for both the flowers and the newly emerging leaves. 

 This sad looking plant has spent several years in our shade garden.  Two deer hoof prints can be seen too close to the heart of the plant.  These need to be carefully filled in and this plant would benefit from a covering cage.  Somehow welded wire cages detract from the natural look that we are trying for.

Rain For Tomorrow

When we first started this garden, Crocus were planted in embarrassing numbers.  Cages kept the deer away but this single flower is nearly all that remains now.  Voles moved in and we have been unable to end them.  We need to accept that this plant is here no more.

 

Bluets have been introduced to our gardens many times.  A friend had a lawn area filled with them downhill from the septic drain field.  Constant moist ground and frequent hits with the lawn mower prompted them to spread wildly.  These four plants placed themselves in this gap in the stone wall and continue to hold on but just barely.

This wire cage may be responsible for their continued existence here.

 

This plant is either Squirrel Corn or Dutchman's Breeches.  The correct identity will wait until the plants are larger and perhaps in bloom.  The pulled to the surface root mass went unnoticed until the picture was seen.  The deer hoof prints caught and held my attention.  A wire cage can be seen nearby but protects something else.  Following tomorrow's forecasted heavy rain, this will be replanted.

Kathrine Hodgekin's Dutch Iris are protected by a wire cage.  We have no tenable explanation for why these remain while the nearby Crocus are almost gone.

This Hepatica plant was nearly stepped on by a deer.  The invasion of wire cages is hard to look at but so is the near destruction of a treasured plant.

Our Shooting Star has a dandelion for a very close neighbor.  Loosening the soil before removing the interloper will be attempted but we fully expect the deep dandelion root to break guaranteeing that plant's return.

We went nonnative for this early blooming treasure.  Wind Flower is its name and very soon its bright blossoms will cover this ground.  Here we use a wire cage to mark its location  protecting it from both animals and the sometimes careless gardener since it will soon disappear..  We expect impressive growth following tomorrow's southern rain.  Who said that nothing worthwhile ever came from Delaware? 
 

Finally May Rain

As is sometimes the case, May weather has been harsh.  Lack of rain and frequent freezes or frosts have damaged many plants.  Last night a gentle warm rain fell for hours.  It totaled less than one half of an inch but even that much was welcomed by the plants.  We have been generous with the watering can but nothing can compare to an actual rainfall.

These Hepaticas are very recent transplants.  With rainfall in the forecast, we wanted these new plants in the ground.  The nearby area needs additional work as we see these plants in the wild growing surrounded by stones.  Our open ground will see appropriately sized stones nearly buried between the plants.

Violets are both a longtime family favorite and commonly occur in our nearby woods.  The decision to include them in the garden was not easily made.  Our deer herd frequently eat violets and that may be part of the reason why they often visit here.  The wire cages make walking difficult and stones placed just outside of the cage will prevent snouts from simply pushing the cage aside.  Time will tell if violets in the garden was a poor choice.

These Yellow Lady Slippers did not have any buds yesterday.  We say that with certainty since they are checked every day on the walk to the mailbox.  We believe that the rotting tree stump adds something to the soil that benefits these plants.  They have been here for several years and the number of stems and flowers is increasing.

We were unsure if these Jacks would make an appearance this year.  Marauding deer tore these plants up last year but their appearance now is impressive.  We cannot cage everything so these plants will grow here just as they grow in the woods.  That statement is an exaggeration since we usually see only single plants growing in our woods.

Early this spring Becky was clearing around her Woodland Phlox and accidentally broke off a single stem.  She then stuck a finger into the ground and planted the broken piece.  I mentally gave her action no chance of success and now she has a transplant with two flowers.  This plant will rapidly increase in size making its placement near the rescued stump look more natural.  We cannot wait for expanding phlox plants to close in on the fern.  They will also be transplanted allowing them to claim a nearby area.  All of this because of a broken stem and the belief that it could be saved.

April First Native Flowers

For some time we have been considering which native flower opens first.  It does not require a close look to spot these brazen yellow blossoms commonly seen in roadside ditches.  Note the complete lack of leaves which will appear later.  Coltsfoot cannot be in the running for first native flower since it is an European immigrant.

Eagerness to spot early flowers must be tempered with some reason.  Here the leaves are clearly Partridge berry but the flowers are Hepatica.  This presentation brings to mind a favorite story told by our elderly neighbor,  He saw an Arbutus plant apparently bearing purple flowers.  No one will suggest that what he actually saw was Hepatica growing close to Arbutus.  I intend to plant Hepatica close by one of my Arbutus plants in his honor.

Sharp lobed Hepatica presents blossoms of various colors and different petal counts.  This example bears eleven petals each colored a beautiful light violet.  It took me years to appreciate these first native flowers since early garden work kept me from wandering in the woods.

This nearby plant bears only six petals colored a near white blue.  In these woods Sharp lobed Hepatica is the first native plant to present flowers.

This Spring Beauty came in a close second.  Its bud will soon open revealing another early treasure.  Its growth habit makes transplantation nearly impossible.  From a pea sized corm a slender underground shoot travels a considerable distance before sending up its above ground leaves and flowers.  Removing a plant intact is highly unlikely.  As the plant is ending its growth cycle, following the then nearly dead underground shoot back to the corm is no simple task.  These plants grow wild in our back woods but are absent from our wildflower gardens.

Six lightly colored petals presented themselves above the jumble that is characteristic of natural forest floor.  We were unable to find any sign of Bloodroot plants today.  They will appear soon in this location but lost the race for first flower.

Mention must be made of the justification for leaving  the house during these trying times.  Just across the valley from our home is a bedrock ridge that slopes to the south.  Flowers appear first here in response to earlier warming.  Our walk took us along the dirt road that crosses this ridge.  We encountered no road traffic and saw no bikers or hikers while there.  Our outside time here endangered no one.  The land where all of these pictures were taken still carries tattered or fallen  posted signs bearing the name Haller.  A long ago phone call identified the land owner as Irma Haller.  We both taught at the Sidney Junior High School for its last decade of service.  My call was placed in an attempt to gain permission to explore these woods.  What I got was a sincere thank you for respecting her posted signs.  Becky and I frequently walk on this road while looking for flowers.  While there memories of Mrs. Haller always cross my mind.  In keeping with her high standards of expected behavior, we still respect the signs even though Mrs. Haller passed several years ago.

Searching For Signs Of Spring

Yesterday morning Ed and I worked together at cleaning up the  bed down by the road.  We made a very small dent in what needs to be done. We were hoping to work until the mail was delivered but in a relatively short period of time our hands were throbbing.  Ed loaded the tools and our garden carts into the back of the truck and  we headed back up the hill to the warm house.  We decided then that we would take a trip over to Irma's woods to see if we could find some signs of Spring.

 Ed wanted to go right after lunch.  One of the really wonderful things about Irma's woods is that it is on a slope  with sunlight filtering through the trees.  You can see a lot of wildflowers without leaving the comfort of your vehicle,  Usually when we go to Irma's woods we take the truck and drive by while I try to  watch for  spots of color or groups of plants I can identify.  He was waiting for me in the car when I got outside.  This time to my delight, Ed parked the car and shut it off.  We both got out to walk  along the road.  First this moss and lichen caught my eye.  After we had walked away from the car I heard something.   I asked Ed if he heard anything and he said no.  Once we spoke the sound stopped.  We walked on searching for signs of Hepatica plants.

Hepatica is one our favorite early wildflowers.  The hairy flower buds are nowhere to be seen yet, but if one looks, last years reddish leaves can be seen.

Sharp lobed Hepatica, Hepatica acutiloba, is a wildflower that is abundant in Irma's woods. Here with the moss background the leaves are unmistakable!

This single Hepatica leaf is surrounded by Ramps also known as wild leeks.  They have just starting to push their way up through the forest floor of dried leaves.  It is March after all and most wildflowers are still hidden under the leaves.

Happy we walked back down the road to the car.  As we got closer, I heard the sounds again.  This time Ed could hear it too.  It was a quacking noise.  Ed was looking for ducks.  I was looking for frogs!  Following the sound Ed went far enough up the bank that he was able to see many small Duck frogs diving under the surface in a small vernal pool of water. They were so fast there was no time to get a picture.   It is not every day that someone who is 75 discovers something new he has never seen before.  Today it is raining but we took another quick trip over to Irma's woods to get a picture of the pool of water.  I think a little rain is exactly what is needed here!

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.

Irma's Woods

Across the river valley from us rises a high south facing bedrock ridge.  Numerous small spring fed seasonal streams make their way among the rocks and trees creating a habitat that is very different from our dry woods.  We frequently take a break from spring garden work to see the wild flowers that grow here in great numbers.  All of the land along both sides of the road is posted so our pictures are taken from the roadside ditch.

One section of woods particularly rich with wildflowers was owned by a former teacher that plied her craft in the same school as I.  She taught history while I taught mathematics.  Her health had failed when we first discovered her woods so we were never able to walk with her in these woods.  Still, I remember her each spring when viewing her flowers.

Sharp-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba) are the earliest flowers that bloom here.  The flowers push above the leaf litter more easily than the low liver colored leaves.  Soil near neutral in pH is required so we have never acquired this plant.  If time permits perhaps a section of our shade garden could be filled with forest soil taken from under our maple trees.  Then we might be able to grow this plant.

Mixed among the road gravel scrapings pushed up by the snow plow are colt's foot plants.  I once moved some of this common ditch weed into a garden.  Given care it quickly claimed for itself a rather large section of garden.  Now I am content to admire this plant where it grows.  One name for this plant is son before father referring to flowers first, leaves later, growth habit.  This was our first trip to visit Irma's wood's this spring, but it won't be our last.  These earliest of flowers will soon be joined by others.   It would be a shame to miss seeing them.