It’s time to start mowing lawns here in New Hampshire and that means that it’s also time for fleabanes to appear in many of those lawns. You can always tell the flower lovers among us by the islands of unmown fleabane plants left dotted here and there throughout lawns in every town in the region. The example shown here, Robin’s plantain (Erigeron pulchellus,) is the earliest of the fleabanes to bloom in this area. Its inch and a half diameter flowers are larger than many fleabane blossoms and its foot high stalks are shorter. One way to identify this plant is by its basal rosette of very hairy, oval leaves. The stem and stem leaves (cauline) are also hairy. The flowers can be white to pink to lavender and are made up of ray florets surrounding yellow disk florets in the center.
Mayapple flowers (Podophyllum peltatum) are hard to get a decent photo of because they nod toward the ground under the plant’s leaves. I’ve read that once a mayapple produces flowers and fruit it reduces its chances of doing so in following years. This plant is also called American mandrake, which is legendary among herbalists for the root that supposedly resembles a man. Native Americans boiled the root and used the water to cure stomach aches but this plant is toxic and should not be eaten. Two anti-cancer treatment drugs, etoposide and teniposide, are made from the Mayapple plant.
This photo of mayapple foliage is for those who have never seen it. The hand size or larger leaves hide the flowers well so you really have to look for them.
Eastern Redbud (Cercis Canadensis) is not native to New Hampshire and I have only seen two of the trees growing in this area. Both are on private property but this one had branches overhanging a sidewalk so I was able to get close to it. The hardiness of this tree can be questionable here unless trees started from northern grown seed are planted. I’m always surprised by how small the pea like purple flowers are but the tree makes up for it by producing plenty of them. They’re very pretty trees.
Heartleaf foamflowers (Tiarella cordifolia) have just started blossoming near shaded streams and on damp hillsides. They’re easy to spot because of their hairy, maple-like leaves and foot high flower stalks. The leaves are bright green at first and then turn a darker green, sometimes mottled with brown. Many hybrids have been created and foam flowers are now popular in garden centers. They are an excellent, maintenance free choice for shady gardens that get only morning sun.
The small, numerous flowers of foamflower have 5 petals and 10 stamens and it is said that the long stamens are what give foamflowers a frothy appearance, along with their common name. Native Americans used the leaves and roots of foamflower medicinally including as a mouthwash for mouth sores.
My mother died before I was old enough to retain any memory of her but she planted a white lilac before she died, so now the flowers and their scent have become my memory of her. Whenever I see a white lilac she is there too.
Though I like white lilacs I think the favorite by far is the common purple lilac (Syringa vulgaris.) It’s also the New Hampshire state flower, even though it isn’t a native. They were first imported from England to the garden of then Governor Benning Wentworth in 1750 and chosen as the state flower in 1919 because they were said to “symbolize that hardy character of the men and women of the Granite State.” Rejected were apple blossoms, purple aster, wood lily, Mayflower, goldenrod, wild pasture rose, evening primrose and buttercup. The pink lady’s slipper is our state native wild flower. I noticed last year for the first time how suede-like the individual blossoms were.
Another flower that comes with plenty of memories is the lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis.) I can remember bringing my grandmother wilting bouquets of them along with dandelions, violets and anything else I saw when I was just a young boy. I remember that she would always seem delighted with my gift but since I usually picked the flowers from her garden, her delight might be a false memory on my part.
Two of my great loves are history and botany, and they come together in the poet’s daffodil (Narcissus poeticus.) It is such an ancient plant that many believe it is the flower that the legend of Narcissus is based on; it can be found in botanical texts from as early as 371 BC. It is one of the first cultivated daffodils and is hard to mistake for any other, with its red edged, yellow corona and pure white petals. It has naturalized throughout this area and I find it in unmown fields. Its scent is spicy and pleasing but it is said to be so powerfully fragrant that people can get sick from being in an enclosed room with it.
I wonder if Johnny jump ups (Viola tricolor) got their name from the way they seem to appear overnight. This plant has been known for a very long time and goes by many common names. It’s said to have 60 names in English and 200 more in other languages. I think three-faces in a hood is my favorite. In medieval times it was called heartsease and was used in love potions. Viola tricolor is believed to be the original wild form of all the modern varieties of pansy. I’m lucky enough to have them popping up at the edge of my lawn.
Both Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were said to use common rue (Ruta graveolens) to improve their eyesight and their creativity. Early Romans cooked with its seeds and you wouldn’t think so because it is mildly toxic, but it is still used today as a flavoring agent, in very small amounts. Hippocrates was fond of it for its medicinal uses and Aristotle said that it calmed nervousness. Rue has an unusual bitter odor and the graveolens part of the scientific name is Latin for “having a strong or offensive smell.” The plant is evergreen and I see it growing on roadsides. Originally from Europe, it has naturalized in this area and some say that it can be invasive.
Starflowers (Trientalis borealis) are a plant based on sevens; seven leaves, seven petals, seven sepals and seven stamens, but just to be different they can occasionally have eight petals like the flower on the left in this photo does, and some can have six petals. These flowers don’t produce nectar so they are pollinated by pollen eating insects like halictid and andrenid bees. There can be one or several flowers on each plant and I always try to find the one with the most flowers. My record is 4 but I’m always watching out for 5.
Bearberry is a native creeping shrub with clusters of very small bell shaped flowers with petals that are curved at the tips. The flowers on the example shown had pink tipped petals. When pollinated by bumblebees the flowers will become red, berry like drupes that both black and grizzly bears love to eat. Humans can also eat the berries and they are usually eaten in the form of jams and jellies. Native Americans used the dried leaves in a smoking mixture called kinnikinnick and they also used the plant medicinally. Today over 50 pharmaceutical products in North America contain bearberry. This is the first time bearberry has appeared on this blog.
Another first for this blog is the nodding trillium (Trillium cernuum.) I’m guessing that I’ve seen them before but have probably missed seeing the flowers. The way they nod beneath the leaves makes them very hard to see and I tested that by looking at plants that I knew had flowers. Even though I knew they were blossoming I couldn’t see them at all from above. Nodding trillium is the northernmost trillium in North America, reaching far into northern Canada and Newfoundland.
When the buds form they are above the leaves but as they grow the flower stem (petiole) lengthens and bends, so when the flower finally opens it is facing the ground. I’ve heard that some plants do this to keep rain from washing the pollen away, but I don’t know how true that is.
Nodding trillium is also called whip-poor-will flower because it blooms when the whip-poor-wills return. I’m always a little wary of flower lore but the friend who gave me the tip about where to find the nodding trilliums also has whip-poor-wills near his house, and he said that he heard their calls just as the flowers opened. Coincidently, I heard my first whip-poor-will yesterday morning. Anyhow, this isn’t a bird blog. My favorite thing about the nodding trillium blossom is its six purple stamens. This photo shows a view that you would never see of the nodding flower. To get it I had to hold my camera under the plant and “shoot blind.” Out of many clicks of the shutter only this one was useable. I think it was worth the effort; it’s a pretty little thing and I’m glad I can show it to you.
What a desolate place would be a world without a flower! It would be a face without a smile, a feast without a welcome. Are not flowers the stars of the earth, and are not our stars the flowers of the heaven? ~ A.J. Balfour
Thanks for stopping in.
Congrats of two firsts, The bearberry is pretty, but I really like the nodding trillium. It’s always fun to find something new.
Yes, and I keep looking!
Gorgeous flowers! Most of these do not grow here and I very much enjoy seeing your photos of them! Too bad we can’t do some flower trading!
Thanks Montucky! I know, I wish we could trade some plants. I’d love to have that calypso orchid that you showed a while back growing here.
I’m pretty sure I would be one of those people with patches of fleabane in their lawn. Interesting that Daffodils naturalize in NH, I don’t think that has happened to any significant extent in Northern Illinois.
Yes, I would be too if fleabane chose my lawn.
The poet’s daffodil isn’t seen everywhere and not regularly, but I know an old field where they grow. The fragrance is amazing.
Your last shot of the nodding trillium is stunning. Not that all the others weren’t, but that, to me personified the world today – welcome spring!
Thank you Martha. Yes! I’m very happy that spring is finally really here.
Great variety of fresh spring flowers with excellent photos and wonderful explanation of growth habits
Thank you Eddie. Spring is really here now!
(Comment continued)…am learning some new IDs from them.
What a beautiful variety of early flowers. Your photos are gorgeous, as always, and I
Thank you Sue. I’m glad these posts are helping with some identification. I’m guessing most of what you see here also grows in your area.
Heartsease is one of my favourite flowers so I was very pleased to see it in this post. There are so many other lovely flowers in this post I cannot decide which to comment on. The shot of the common purple lilac is gorgeous!
Thank you Clare. I know what you mean, I have a hard time choosing which ones will go into these posts.
The heartsease just comes up here and there in the yard, usually at the edge of the lawn, but they never get very big. Usually only a single flower or two.
I like the soft pastel look of individual lilac flowers. Like suede.
So many wonderful flowers – May is a great month for them.
Yes, it’s hard to keep up with them!
I know the feeling!
The Bearberry is a very charming flower.
I thought so too, and it’s also rare in this area.
Beautiful photos and very interesting facts. The nodding trillium is gorgeous and that narcissus is one of my favourite. Also love your childhood memories.
Thanks very much. I like the nodding trillium too and I love the history that comes with the narcissus. To think that the Roman poet Virgil admired the same flower is really amazing!
I adore the smell of lilac and stop to inhale its scent whenever I pass by the flowers. What a lovely legacy for your mum to leave you.
Thank you Emily. You would have loved being here today. All I could smell were lilacs no matter where I went and it was almost intoxicating.
My mother must have loved their scent too! That one she planted was one of the first flowers I ever smelled and it was great to grow up with.
A beautiful and informative post, a walk-though my native New England woods.
My mother also grew white lilacs along the side of the driveway where I spent my earliest years. I remember the scent, and playing under them. I also associate white lilacs with her, as well as the moon, when it has risen during daylight hours and looms white against blue sky. She used to call quartz that had been polished by the sea “moonstones”. Sight, sound and scent all spark memories. Loved ones may be gone from sight, but never far from heart or mind.
Thank you, I’m glad the post brought back some good memories. I think most of us associate certain memories with certain flowers and you’re right about sight, sound and scent too. I have garden beds full of plants and most remind me of someone because they were gifts. Whenever I see the plant I think of them so they never are far from the heart or mind.
Not just delightful photographs but interesting information to go with them. I loved your quotation too.
Thank you Susan, I’m glad you liked the post and the quote. I need to read more by A.J. Balfour.
Great shots of the Drooping Trillium. As always an informative post with beautiful pics!
Thanks very much. Actually the nodding trillium (Trillium cernuum) and the drooping trillium (Trillium flexipes) are different plants, but I don’t remember what the differences are. I think they’re slight though.
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Thank you very much, Allen. They are all very pretty. Happy Weekend. Namaste
You’re welcome, and thank you. I hope you’ll have a great weekend!
A lovely post. How beautiful to have the memory of your mother associated with the flowers and the fragrance of the white lilac.
Thanks very much. It’s really all I have, other than a few photos. There are many flowers I know that come with strong memories.
I really enjoy your posts, but I’m particularly enjoying the spring flowers. I don’t usually get to searching for wildflowers until after school gets out, so I miss many of the early ones. I was very glad to see your picture of the Common Rue, as I’ve been trying to figure out what it is for the last few years. I’m retiring this year, so next spring I’ll be out early looking for flowers I’ve missed seeing!
Thank you Jeanne. If you Google “common rue” you’ll come up with this plant I’ve shown but then there is another by the same name with leaves that aren’t so needle like and flowers that are slightly different. I’m not sure why that is but I do know that the one I’ve shown has been called “rue” through at least my lifetime.
I hope you’ll be able to find more time to find more flowers soon. It’s a beautiful world out there!
To add another name to the viola tricolor: in Germany it is called “Stiefmütterchen” which translates as “little stepmother”. Many thanks for your regular outings that broaden my knowledge on plants and flowers not found here.
You’re welcome and thank you Zyriacus. That’s an unusual name for it and it would be interesting to learn how it came about. I’ll see if I can find out when I have more time.