Initial Disappointment

We have slowly come to realize that many native perennial plants need time to adjust to a new home.  In the recent past new Giant white trilliums have been unreliable to accepting their new home.  Some show no above ground growth in their first year with us.  Small flowerless plants sometimes appear in their second year.  Our harsh early spring weather really hammered many of our plants.  Yesterday we were cleaning up some weeds and finally took a close look at our collection.  Huge plants are absent but there are new plants growing close by older plants.  It is not hard to see the possibility of an impressive group of pure white blossoms on display here next year.

Cardinal flower apparently has always been mostly absent in this part of NYS.  More that one century ago, Roxbury native John Burroughs described his difficulty in finding at least a single flowering plant.  Our weather is the problem.  These plants overwintered as new growth.  Their emergence from the snow cover saw beautiful light green tender rosettes.  Given time to adjust to typical early spring cold snaps, these plants would survive.  Here we get winds from the south raising temperatures into the 60's followed by hard frost.  Our habit is to cover these plants with Chrysanthemum stems following snow melt.  Still the bitter cold blackened these leaves.  We were certain that these plants were dead.  Clearly they are alive and we will soon see their brilliant red flowers.  A nearby group did not experience that success.  More than half of them are now gone but seed is on the ground.  Plants from seed will not flower this year.

Bloodroot has been smacking us around for years.  The cage protected area where transplants have been placed for several springs did not produce a mature plant.  Extremely small leaves did appear this year but hard frost ended them.  These pictured plants first appeared here last year.  They are self seeded  and were tiny.  Perhaps four plants are growing here and we very carefully remove weeds.  At our age we are no longer buying plants.  What grows here is largely on their own.

 Fragrant ladies tresses grew here for several years.  It is a southern plant and we felt lucky each year that it produced flowers.  It did send up several shoots this year but a severe frost ended them.  We will leave this ground alone after we remove the garlic mustard because it might be possible for us to see desired growth next year. 

Trillium Ready

This picture shows the condition of our Trillium bed in May of this year.  I would be ashamed to reveal just how many purchased plants have been transplanted here over several years.  Authors frequently describe seven years as the time required to see flowers from plants grown from seed.  It can be nearly that long for transplants to settle in to a new home.  Add to that the impacts of our totally at home deer herd to explain this less than spectacular display.  Our weather was less than favorable as was also seen by the poor showing at the huge section of native plants growing as nature intended across the river.

 

This picture taken just this week shows that we are dedicated to growing native plants here.  The weeds that covered this bare summer ground have been carefully removed.  Dandelions predominated with occasional clumps of a tall thin grass.  That low stone to the right served as a seat from which to work.  My trip down was far less than graceful but getting back up was nearly impossible.  Must remember to have the four tined spade close at hand.  With the weeds removed past years bagged leaves were mower ground and sprinkled across the bed.  We have used ground leaves here every year to speed up the woodland soil building process.  Now we need to sprinkle some lime pellets then replace the wire cages.  Then we will wait for May's arrival to see just how many Trilliums appear here.
 

Incredible Beauty

Trillium is a flower from my youth.  Finding a huge patch of them while walking in the woods is an unforgettable experience.  This picture was posted eleven days ago when these plants first opened their flowers in our shade garden.

Now that the trees are unfurling their leaves, the time of the trillium is coming to an end for this season.  Those pure white blossoms are now pink.  Just how wonderful is that?  One must pay attention or risk missing this part of the show.  Withered brown totally spent flowers can also be seen in this picture.  Soon this will be bare ground with no trace of these native treasures as their short time in the sun becomes over.

This native Pinxter bush is just now opening its buds.  Most remain closed but the overall affect is sweet smelling pink.  Actually two bushes grow here.  Perhaps this will be the year when I find the courage to move the smaller plant.

Flowers seen from their side reveal the brazen presentation of the sexual parts.  Five rather long filaments have their pollen producing stamens waving in the wind.  The sixth longer filament will receive the pollen sending it to the base of the blossom where seeds will be produced.  When fertilization is complete, the withered remains of the flower will detach and slide down the limp pistil.  Despite the fact that this is only the second day when flowers have been open we did see the remains of a spent blossom.

After the post was written another visit intended to savor the sweetness of the open flowers revealed two winged pollinators.  A massive bumble bee was sampling the open flowers.  Despite the pollen laden stamens placement way beyond the open petals, the bee was working its way to the base of the blossoms.  Its backwards exit is likely the cause of the flower that was pulled away.  The second pollinator appeared similar to a bee but it was tiny.  This represents the first time that pollinators have been seen near these flowers.  I always assumed wind spread the pollen.  Must watch out for those assumptions.

Hope

This certainly is a time when finding a reason for hope is a good thing.  Actually finding it in the image of Arbutus blossoms where the sweetly scented flower cups have been pulled away from the plant might bring my judgement into question.  The first time I was confronted with this mess, devastation was the emotion that presented itself.  Now I know that pollinating bumblebees pull the outer flower part away as they exit.  That part of the flower is no longer needed.  Seeds are almost guaranteed to form on these seemingly damaged flowers.  Just why huge insects are part of the pollination process of these rather tiny blossoms is a question without an obvious answer.

That this image greatly lifted our spirits requires explanation.  Last year this ground held an impressive planting of Bloodroot plants.  They experienced a fantastic season of growth with huge leaves and mature seeds.  Then the deer herd walked or danced across our shade garden.  Broken plants littered the ground and it appeared likely that deer hooves had pierced the corms.  Many days have passed with our daily inspections finding no sign of these special plants.  Then this single leaf, possibly wrapped around a flower bud, pushed itself above the soil.  More may follow but if this is the only plant that appears at least our Bloodroot is still alive.

Trilliums end their growth cycle soon after the trees open their leaves.  The deer's later visit might have pierced the corms and any sign of growth here was long in coming.  These leaves show signs of frost damage but appear to remain functional.  Circular wire cages now surround nearly all of these plants.  Our hope is that the congested area will prove unpleasant for the deer.

 Right now living in New York State is not ideal.  As a red-blooded American I bristle at the idea that the government gets to decide what is necessary for me.  That being said, I agree with the "Do no harm!" directive.  Before Covid-19 when only the winter cold kept me housebound, I ordered some native plants  intending to plant my treasures in the spring. Anyone reading this blog knows that our plant addiction is serious.  So we donned our masks and went to a place where we knew we could find the plants we wanted.  Everyone stayed outside in the fresh air and sunshine. We got the plants we needed and paid the money that was due.  Where is the harm in that? 


New York's travel ban has left us confused.  Despite instructions that I am to stay home, Greyhound buses still travel from the Port Authority in NYC to Syracuse.  The Binghamton mayor has asked that these buses not stop in his city and that request has been honored.  We have been limiting our car use to grocery shopping.  Liquor stores remain open under the State travel ban regulations but many plant nurseries remain closed.  Somehow thirty-one new plants have appeared here.  I do not consume alcohol but remain addicted to new plants.
.

Winter's Return

A dusting of light snow covered the ground early this morning.  Once again NOAA's forecast was accurate.  Sharply bitter winds coming at us from the Northwest meant that no outdoor work would happen here today.  This quick look at emerging plants was all that we did.

The slightly out of focus green blob is a newly emerging Trillium.   I had to perch on a curved rock to get this photo and my balance is far from what it was in the past causing the camera to shake.  So far four have pushed above the soil.  Trilliums take me back to my childhood home located in Newfield.  A section of woods contained a large patch of these flowers.  My habit was to snap off an armload for my Mother.  Unaware that I was killing plants by also removing their leaves, I now plant more here every year.  One simply must have a huge swath of these pure white flowers.

This may not look like much but three tips from a Yellow Lady's Slipper have made an appearance.  More will follow.  It is planted just across the path from the bench.  We will make many trips to sit and enjoy these unusual flowers.  The tiny red spheres are sumac seeds.  It seems that every seed germinates requiring a great deal of time to pull the newly emerging trees.  For now we leave this ground alone to prevent damage to the soon to appear Lady's Slippers.

Squirrel corn's pale yellow flowers are easy to miss.  This early native has a growth habit that seems to doom it to failure.  At the end of its growing season, a mass corms each of which resembles field corn kernels mark the location of the crown of the plant.  They appear to be an open invitation to small animals to dine there.  Somehow enough remain to present new growth the following year.  Having seen the remains of this plant, no imagination is required to see the origin of its name.

Last Fall Wild Ginger was transplanted near the Maidenhair Ferns. This Ginger is the first plant to appear here.  There is still no sign of growth from the ferns.   We have read that this combination of different plants will create a stunning picture.  A future picture is sure to follow.

Robin's Plantain was discovered growing in one of our meadows.  Also called Blue Spring Daisy, it has an  lavender and yellow composite flower similar to an aster. It has since disappeared from that spot but transplants continue to thrive in our gardens.  This one was moved adjacent to the developing shade garden where its location will receive generous amounts of morning sunshine.  It appears ready to grow.

Weeding Trilliums

Giant White Trillium is a flower from my youth.  Childhood memories dictated that they hold a prominent  place in our shade gardens.  Like many native wildflowers, considerable time is necessary for them to adjust to new surroundings.  This is an impressive old clump that is under attack from Trout Lilies.  This picture was taken after the area was cleared.  Chopped leaves now cover ground that was gently cleared of invaders.  More lilies will be weeded out.

When we first explored our newly purchased land twenty-five years ago, few flowering Trout Lilies were seen since stony ground limited their growth.  When moved to our shade garden that was built with deep stone free soil, they grew like weeds.  Their removal was necessary to protect the Trillium.

These removed weeds show just how serious their invasion will become.  Each white thick new root will grow a more deeply placed corm.  One single leaved nonflowering plant sports three such roots.  This single plant will become at least four by next year.  The only option was to make some clear ground between the two types of plants.

This piece of our new shade garden lies between our neighbors lawn and a stone lined path.  Placed in this ground that is not connected to the main part of the garden, ferns and Trout Lilies can compete for the open ground.  Each is expected to hold their own with this placement.  The lilies are approaching the end of their season with flowers just as the ferns are beginning to send up new growth.  Since both are stunning woodland plants, more of each will be transplanted here as new woodland soil is mixed.  Many other duties are calling for our attention now but for some reason this new garden has taken on an undeniable urgency.

Ed's Gone Native!

Ed has gone native and perhaps a bit wild. Some people dig for treasure and there is some digging involved here, but Ed is carefully burying treasured plants in a place where we hope they will flourish.  Bare root plants came today from Wisconsin.  We used to get plants from there in pots, but thanks to those nasty Asian jumping worms, shipments are sent bare root to prevent the spread of destructive slimy worms that jump out of your hand!  I hope I never see one.  It was raining hard, but Ed was determined to get these plants safely in their spots in the woodland garden.  I took pictures from the dry warm comfort of the truck.  It's true I wanted to keep the camera dry, but I was not keen on getting cold and wet either!

t

It was quite a trick to plant new plants between the slippery wet stones while taking care not to injure specimens that were already in place.  I watched in amazement.  Ed reached and stretched carefully planting Trilliums, Wood Anemones, Bloodroot and Virginia Bluebells. I didn't know that he could still move like that!  He is always ready to go the extra mile for his treasured plants.

By the time the last of the plants were in the ground, he was quite wet and cold but happy.  If in the future he is going to play in this kind of heavy rain, he will need a new raincoat. This one leaks!  The woodland garden is beginning to look the way Ed  had it planned.

When the last little rootlets were planted, Ed marked the location of the new plants with the white bags they came in held down by a stone. Those plants went from the mailbox to their spot in the garden on the same  afternoon.  I'm sure the plants will appreciate the rain.  It is likely we will not see them come up until spring.  As for Ed, it was time to head for the house for a hot shower, dry clothes and a cup of hot chocolate.  

Early May Wildflowers

The plant killing horrors of this year's March weather have been replaced with numerous native ephemeral treasures carrying out their spring life cycle.  This photo shows several stages of Blood-root flowers.  Upper left finds an older flower beginning to drop its petals.  Upper right shows a newly opened blossom.  Center left contains a mature bloom that has lost nearly all of its yellow pollen.  Center right has a perfect flower.  Lower left displays a young seed pod against the backdrop of a leaf.  Drought took Blood-root flowers from my garden while they flourish in Irma's woods. Our order of new plants will be here any day now.  The new woodland garden down by the road is waiting!

These early Arbutus flowers will soon be joined by many others that are still closed buds.  Transplanted on our land several years ago, these flowers are highly prized.  The major allure here is their scent.  The good news is that we can still stand up after dropping to the ground to draw in the memorable aroma.  The native stone was placed to support the protective wire cage that is the reason these plants still flourish.  Being evergreen carries some risks.  Rabbits devour unprotected Arbutus plants when the snow first begins to melt.  Insects ate the only partially destroyed leaves.

Irma's woods lie on a south facing sloped bedrock ridge.  The concentrated warmth of the sun there has these Trout Lilies at their height of bloom.  Our plants are just beginning to release their buds from the tightly wrapped leaves that safely carried them through several inches of forest soil.  Soon we will find similar flowers closer to home.

The steeply sloped roadside bank revealed flowers that we have never before seen.  Wild Ginger keeps its flowers hidden from sight close to the ground.  Looking uphill we finally got to see these flowers.  Flies are the pollinating agent so these flower's scent is much like rotting mouse meat.  We passed on a chance to sample that odor.  At home, our transplants have yet to open their tightly closed leaves.  The pictured leaves will soon be much larger hiding the flowers from prying eyes.

Here we see a single Spring Beauty flower behind a row of Hepatica flowers.  It is uncommon for the digital camera to capture the color of a Spring Beauty flower.  Usually all that is seen is white.  Most of the leaves in this picture are Ramps. Sharp-lobed  Hepatica flowers precede their leaves which can be seen here just beginning to unfurl to the right of the Spring Beauty flower.

These freshly opened Hepatica flowers show both their blue petals and white pollen.  Opening leaves surround the flower petals in three places.  Apparently, younger plants have fewer leaves with blue coloration.

Several of these multi-flowered stunning Sharp-lobed Hepatica plants occur singly across the roadside bank.  Their bright pure white color stands out in sharp contrast to the dull brown of decaying fallen tree leaves.  It is possible that older plants have many more flowers.  Some of these larger plants were growing up through the mud filled ditch at road's edge.  I really wanted to dig them up and give them a proper home.  Responsible reason prevailed and they remain where nature planted them.

This is the more common coloration of Spring Beauty flower pictures.  The camera misses nearly all of the delightful pink color. The plant in the upper left corner of the picture shows off  the plant's small  green  leaves.

This is the promise of more to come.  This white Trillium was fall planted in our new woodland garden.  Flower buds can be seen on this newly emerged plant.  It looks like two flowers will appear here during this plants first year with us.  We will need to return to Irma's woods as the Trillium there have yet to open their flowers.  Recent logging will have severely reduced the vast number of plants there but the opening of the forest canopy will aid in their return.

We found our spirits lifted by these early flowers.  Decline that accompanies age is making working in the dirt more difficult for us.  That reality may have heightened our pleasure in finding these flowering plants existing totally on their own.  Many more will follow as the month unfolds and we will try to see them all.  Their allotted time each year is short but they make the most of each day.  We will try to do the same.

Trillium Grandiflorum

My first childhood memory of interacting with a wildflower involves the white trillium.  A woodland at the edge of our cultivated field contained a sizable patch of these flowers.  Around Mother's Day, I would bring an arm load of these flowers to my mother.  My grandmother pointed out that I had picked the leaves as well as the flowers so the plants that I had touched would die since they were left with no way to take on nutrients.  Since there were so many flowers, I dismissed the awful truth contained in my grandmother's words.  That childhood memory may be what compels me to grow this native treasure now.

These plants were purchased from a mail order outlet that promises that the plants were taken from the wild in such a manner that guarantees sustainability.  I hope that they are true to their word.  The three large flowers appear to be from a single plant or at least from a naturally expanding root mass.  They have been planted here for several years and are finally settling in.  The much smaller flower and plant have been here for a shorter period of time.

We carried in woods soil and leaves to try and create a natural planting medium.  Our guess is that this location is a little on the dry side.  My planned project for this summer is to build a series of sloping stone ledges intending that extra water will be directed towards the wildflowers to be planted at their base.  Trilliums will be among the first plants placed there.  We hope for an extravagant massive display.

A more recent encounter with the white trillium occurred while driving from Richford to Ithaca.  There must have been a mile long stretch of winding road that bordered a long undisturbed wooded slope.  Trilliums in uncountable numbers filled those woods.  An improvement project to straighten the road destroyed that natural wonder.  That event may be another force that drives us to work to establish a natural appearing planting of this pure white wonder.

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!