Mother's Day Wildflower Walk, Photos By Amy

What a fabulous Mother's Day today.  The weather was glorious! We decided that it would be fun to drive over to Irma's woods to look at the wildflowers.  It is a wonderful nearby place with many wildflowers to see.  The road runs along the base of the hill and a short walk gives you a chance to see lots of great wildflowers.  I think this one is red elderberry.

I thought this was a toothwort and I looked it up when I  got home.  It is Dentaria cardamine. 

The large patch of bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis, no longer has flowers, but the leaves are huge. Almost all of this plant is concentrated in a small area.  Something about the spot provides the perfect conditions for this plant.  I've tried to grow it at home with difficulty.  I wish I knew its secret!

 

Many white trilliums, Trillium grandiflorum, can be seen here.   Some years this hillside is covered with white.  It seemed like their numbers were down, but they are still pristine white and show no signs of the pink color that they develop as they age.  Perhaps more of them will open soon since the weather is warming up.

We saw several large patches of these lovely Bird's Foot violets, Viola pedata.  The coloring and markings on these are amazing, but the shape of the flower is what makes it fascinating!

I have been watching for spring beauties here at home.  I watch for those little oval leaves with a narrow neck.  At least Amy managed to get a shot of one.  Their beautiful markings are hard to capture with a digital camera.  Notice the part of a ramp leaf across the upper left hand corner of this picture!

The fringed flowers of early meadow rue, Thalictrum dioicum are dainty and festive looking. They are only half of the story as this lacy fern like plant has male and female plants. 

This plant is smooth Solomon's seal, Polygonatum biflorum.  It is an interesting member of the lily family.  Amy and I love to look at wildflowers.  I always think where ever I go I will find some new plant that I have never seen before.  I did find one this time too, but I still have not found  the answer to the mystery. Perhaps I never will.  Soon it was time to go.  What more could a Mom ask for than to spend time with  her family doing something they love?  It was a perfect day!

Early Meadow Rue Gender Confusion

Yesterday on our wildflower drive, Ed took this picture of Thalictrum dioicum, early meadow rue.  The plant is so delicate and airy we almost missed it.

This picture is of a another  plant and the difference in color and appearance was intriguing.

Both plants have beautiful lacy foliage reminiscent of a maidenhair fern.  Last night I got out my wildflower books.  The name dioicum tells you that early meadow rue has male plants and female plants.  The male and female flowers are different.  The flowers bloom early like a spring ephemeral, but the beautiful plant remains through the summer.  It sounds perfect for the shade garden.
 I wanted to see more information about this plant so I gave Google images a try.  I searched for "early meadow rue female flowers".  What a mess that is!  After what seemed like searching for a needle in a haystack, I found these links with images and  information: blue jay barrens, and wiseacre gardens . Now I'm pretty sure I have seen both male and female flowers, but I still don't know  which is which. What it comes down to is that next spring I will be searching my native plant sources for early meadow rue.  I just need to get a boy and a girl.  The gender confusion will work itself out.  I will love both plants either way!