Back To Irma's Woods

The need to explore these woods is made obvious by this photo.  A tree trunk, wild leeks, hepaticas in bloom and unfurling trillium leaves in the foreground and the promise of more in the background creates a strong desire to explore this land.  We can only imagine the promise of beauty likely to be found further up the hill.  Passersby have yet to be seen while walking on this dirt road but still that is where we stay.

This brown growth is something that we have never seen before either in person or in a book.  If we hit a day with little to do, a search might be made to try and identify this splat.  We find this on each visit here but have yet to notice any change at this busy for plants time of year.  It is growing on a moss covered rock rather than a piece of a long ago fallen tree.

Hepatica have been the star of the early show.  This cluster of many white flowers is unusual because of their closeness to each other while spread along a line.  Two of the blossoms have dropped their colored petals revealing their three green backings.  Seeds may be forming in the dangling white dots in the center.  What really caught our eye is the cluster of three connected larger leaves marking an early appearance of a Trillium.  A second plant is seen under the upper one.  A third is at the right edge of the picture.  A massive past display of white Trillium flowers is what first caught our eyes here.   It is somewhat impressive that we have finally noticed just how many more plants are also growing here.

Spring Beauties are a personal favorite because they connect me to my maternal grandmother. She may have used that name when showing off her violets but seeing this wild flower always brings back pleasant memories of her.  In many ways she introduced me to the wonder of plants.  Most of my past attempts to get a decent photo of these beautiful blossoms have been disappointing with the lines of color largely invisible.  Somehow today was the day to capture a complete and accurate picture of these tremendous flowers.

 This is just a small corner of a huge collection of Spring Beauties growing on the top of a large flat detached chunk of the bedrock ridge. Spring Beauty leaves, pointy and narrow, are easily seen in this photo.  This surface is above the soil level of the forest floor.  Here a thin layer of rotted vegetation enriched with the minerals dissolved from the rock supply nutrients to these plants.  Yesterday, carefully working among our garden plants reopened a leg scrape resulting in wisdom demanding that a light day would move it toward healing.  Part of this down time was spent next to plants that require no human intervention.  It was a day well spent. 

Welcome Back!

There is a lot of interest in Native plants now.  I say wonderful, more choices for me.  But please don't ask me or the bees to give up my Glory of the Snow.  Seeing them come up and flower in early spring makes me happy!

I let out a squeal of delight when I first spotted this sharp lobed hepatica flower.  Today there are two lovely pale purple flowers!  Around here this native wildflower is blooming now.  Our first drive by Irma's Woods found countless hepaticas in bloom.  It seems that the brightness of the flowers fade as the blossom matures.  Boy, can I relate to that!

The Squirrel Corn that we moved to the new woodland garden last year shows its lacy leaves. The funky flowers will be along soon. This is a spring ephemeral will not be visible above ground very long.  Now is the time to get out there and see them while you can!

These are stinging nettles. This plant is armed and dangerous famous for burning skin, but it is useful.  Red Admiral butterflies are among many that use it as a food source for their caterpillars.  When properly prepared it is a valuable food for humans.  If the color green has a taste, this plant has it.

Here is a Johnny Jump Up coming up from between Helen's Herkimer diamond rocks.  These  stones are native fifty miles to our north.  I like to eat Johnny Jump Up flowers and like their little faces.  Native or non-native I'm glad to see them both again.  The truth is I have to rip some of these plants out as  weeds while leaving some that flower.  Welcome back to another year in the Stone Wall Garden everyone!

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.