When I thought about the title of this post I wondered if anyone would really want to look back at the last year, but then I thought that these “looking back” posts are as much about looking forward as they are looking back, because in nature it’s a pretty fair bet that what happened last year will happen this year. To a point anyway; I hope the drought will ease this year so I can see mushrooms and slime molds again. The above shot is from last January, when I was stunned by the beauty of fresh snow.
I was also stunned by pussy willows. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in January before.
In February the first skunk cabbages appeared from under the snow. A welcome sign of spring in February, which can sometimes be the coldest and snowiest month of all.
It was in February that I also saw the vernal witch hazels (Hamamelis vernalis) blossoming. Very small but beautiful, and with a fragrance that you can smell from two blocks away.
In March I saw the first of the American hazelnut blossoms; truly the first wildflowers of the year.
Things start happening in gardens in March as well. That’s usually when reticulated iris (Iris reticulata) appear. They are one of the earliest bulbs to show growth. They’re very cheery after a long winter without flowers.
April is when our spring ephemerals start to appear, and one of the largest and showiest is the purple trillium (Trillium erectum).These flowers are often an inch and a half or more across and very visible because of their color. Trilliums are all about the number three, with three red petals and three green sepals. In fact the name trillium comes from the Latin tres, which means three. The three leaves are actually bracts which the flowers nod under for a short time before finally facing outward. Inside the flowers are six stamens and three stigmas, and if pollinated they will become a red, three chambered berry.
With so many flowers appearing in spring it’s very hard to choose the ones to put into these posts but one I felt I had to choose for April is bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) and I chose it because most people never see it. They aren’t with us long but luckily colonies in different places bloom at different times, and in that way their bloom time can be extended. They will for the most part bloom only when the sun shines on them but you can occasionally find them on a cloudy day. Their common name comes from the bright red or orange sap in their roots.
One of my personal favorites among the spring ephemerals is the spring beauty (Claytonia carolinana.) Though they sometimes appear in April, May seems to be the month I can really count on seeing them. I know where a colony of many thousands of plants grow and I have happily knelt in last year’s leaf litter taking photos of them for years now. I love their aspirin size, pink striped blossoms.
Around the end of May is when I start seeing the beautiful little fringed polygalas (Polygala paucifolia). Their color and the fact that they sometimes grow beside violets make them easy to miss so you have to pay attention. The small 3 inch tall by inch and a half wide plants usually bloom in quite large colonies but not always. They are in the milkwort family and are also sometimes called flowering wintergreen and / or gaywings. Once you’ve found some you can go back to see them year after year. They seem quite long lived.
June is when our most well known orchid, the pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule) blooms. Once collected into near oblivion by people who thought they could just dig them up and plant them in their gardens, they have made a strong comeback and I see quite a few now. They’re beautiful and unusual, and should be left alone so we can all admire them. If transplanted they will not live long.
June was also when I found some larch flowers (Larix laricina). These tiny but beautiful things are so small all I can see is their color. I have to point the camera at the color and “shoot blind” until I get a shot. They can appear in mid May but I usually expect them in late May to early June. If you know a larch tree you might want to have a look. These tiny things will become the cones that hold the tree’s seeds, so if you look for the cones first that will give you an idea of which branches the flowers are most likely to appear on.
Around the end of June and the first week of July I start looking for one of the most beautiful wildflowers I’ve seen; the purple fringed orchid (Platanthera grandiflora). The big, two foot tall plant looks like a bush full of purple butterflies. They are quite rare in this area and that’s most likely because they grow in swamps. I can usually expect to have wet ankles after taking photos of this one.
Tall meadow rue (Thalictrum pubescens) blossoms right at the same time every year; just in time for the 4th of July, and its flowerheads just happen to look like fireworks. Flowers on both male and female plants lack petals and have only anthers (male) or pistils (female). These are male flowers in this photo.
One of our prettiest and smallest wildflowers bloom in early August. Forked blue curls (Trichostema dichotomum) get barely ankle tall and like to grow in sandy soil in full sun. One unusual thing about the flower, other than its unique beauty, is its four long, arching stamens that dust bees with pollen when they land on its lower lip. You can see the tiny white pollen grains at the end of the anthers on this example.
In my last post I described how colorblindness prevented my ever seeing a cardinal. It works the same way for cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) unfortunately, so I was elated last August when a coworker and I stumbled upon a group of them. I knew what they looked like, and once I was right on top of them I could see their color, which was beautiful. Note how this much larger flower with its arching stamens uses the same strategy as the tiny forked blue curl we saw previously. The chief difference is, these stamens dust hummingbirds with pollen instead of bees.
It wouldn’t be September without New England asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) and this one just happens to be my favorite color aster. Unfortunately it’s also the hardest color to find so each year I have to go hunting for them. I can’t complain though; hunting for flowers is a pleasure, not a chore.
I could have shown a fragrant white waterlily (Nymphaea odorata) in any month following May but this is the only photo from last year that showed the center of the flower, where a golden flame burns. I remember standing on the shore of a pond full of hundreds of these beautiful flowers last summer and being able to smell their glorious scent on the breeze. It was one the most amazing things, and I suspect that it wall last in my memory until I no longer have one.
I did see things other than flowers last year; things like this beautiful cedar waxwing I saw eating the berries of silky dogwoods at the river one September evening.
In October I went to see if the old stone staircase was still standing; all that’s left of Madame Sherri’s “castle” in Chesterfield. The castle was actually more of a chalet but it had quite a lot of elaborate stonework. It also had trees growing through the roof. How they kept the rain out is a mystery. Though I didn’t mention it in the original post I walked to the spot I had chosen and promptly tripped over a tree root and fell flat on my face in front of about 15 people who were all jostling to get a shot of the stairway. The camera was unscathed and I got my shot. The fall foliage was beautiful that day and the weather was perfect but the stairway was in need of some immediate help from a mason.
I also went to Willard Pond in October and walked through one of the most beautiful hardwood forests I’ve ever seen.
In November witch hazels bloomed. Also in December, but I doubt I’ll see any in January.
Also in November I was looking at lichens, including the smoky eye boulder lichen seen here. It’s one of the most beautiful in my opinion and I’ve put it here as an answer to the question “What is there to see in winter?” There is as much beauty to be seen in winter as there is at any other time of year. You just have to look a little closer, that’s all.
What could be more beautiful that this mossy hillside? It was like a green carpet covering the earth. What I like most about the colder months is how you can see the bones of the forest. There is no foliage to block your view in December.
One thing I’ll remember about the past year is how it was too dry for fungi. I saw very few until December, when I saw these mock oyster mushrooms (Phyllotopsis nidulans). They were big and beautiful, and looked as if they had been covered in orange velvet. They were well worth the wait but I hope to see more in 2021.
I hope this look back at 2020 wasn’t as bad as what you might have imagined. I’d rather have this blog be an island of calm in a sea of chaos than a running commentary on current events. Current events come and go like the tides and have no permanence, so about all you’re ever going to find here is nature, which is timeless. I do hope that’s why you come.
You live life looking forward, you understand life looking backward. ~Soren Kierkegaard
Thanks for stopping in. I hope you’ll all have a happy, heathy new year.
Take a break, man. You don’t have to do this every week or twice a week during the winter. Doing a look back seems more like a space filler.
That might be what it seems like to you David but these looking back posts are one of the most popular of the year.
Looking at photos from the beginning of the year, remind me that spring is not far away! Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome. Spring will be here before we know it!
I very much enjoyed your wonderful post “looking back”. Nature has sustained many of us during this difficult year, and you always show the beauty and detail of your part of the world..lovely to see. Best wishes for the new year. ( Gerrie Mackey)
Thanks very much Gerrie. You’ve been through much this year in Australia and I really do hope that 2021 will be much easier to take.
Thank you, at least no bush fires this year.
Glad to hear that!
Thank you for this year of beauty and information💖
You’re welcome Adrian, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
“The bones of the forest” – I like that description of winters views unhampered by leaves. Thank you for a lovely walk back through the year and on into this new one. It is our rainy season here now, no snow, yet.
Thank you Lavinia. I’m starting to wonder if our winters aren’t becoming a rainy season. When it snows it rains afterwards and washes all the snow away.
Beautiful and uplifting!
Thank you Nancy, I’m glad you enjoyed the post!
You’re the only guy I know who begins an article hankering for something called ‘slime mould’, but what a delightful post.
Now, though, you have me hankering for spring flowers, when I should simply enjoy the winter wonderland of my little valley and the Frank Lloyd Wright book open on my lap. Happy new year, Allen! Stay healthy.
And I know that’s mold though my spellcheck thingy thinks it ought to be mould! We Canadians use British spelling but there’s mold and there’s mould!
Actually slime molds aren’t slimy and they aren’t molds. In fact, science doesn’t know what they really are, but they’re pretty little things!
Frank Lloyd Wright? I’m surprised you don’t have garden catalogs open!
Happy New Year to you as well Cynthia!
Not yet for garden catalogues. That’s deep February, when I’m desperate. Garden memoirs and other gardening books right now, though.
‘an island of calm in a sea of chaos’ Lovely! It is and thank you so very much!
You’re welcome, and thank you Cathy. That’s what nature is to me!
What a lovely meander thru 2020 Allen style! And wonderfully devoid of politics, yay. The only “news” on your site is what’s growing/blooming in New Hampshire, which is why you have such a following. Love those stair ruins – so very photogenic. And those moss draped rocks are gorgeous. NH has a good array of native orchids; I’m sure it’s a delight to come across them. Looking forward to lots of interesting posts in 2021. Hike on, Allen!
P.S. – I’ve noticed my iris reticulata has poked up about an inch already!
You’re so lucky! I might see them next month if all goes well.
Thank you Ginny, that’s the plan!
I try to stay away from politics whenever possible.
We do have a lot of native orchids here but they can be very hard to find. When I do find them it’s usually just dumb luck!
Have a happy New Year!
Thank you for your wonderful post. A nice start to a stormy day.
You’re welcome Jill. We’ve got about two inches of very wet, sloppy snow here.
Thank you for your beautiful post today and each and every post. 🙏 May all blessings be yours.
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You’re welcome Dianne, and the same to you.
You looking back is different than most. 🙂 Stay safe and watch those face plants.
Thank you Judy, I will!
Allen, your commitment to this blog that brings so much beauty and information to others is remarkable, and so appreciated. It’s not easy to capture sharp, clear images of such tiny objects. Down on your knees, you bring us views into another world. Thank you, and may 2021 be wonderful to you
You’re welcome, and thank you Sue. With Glaucoma and cataracts it’s not easy to capture sharp clear images of anything these days! Luckily I have good eye doctors and good equipment and of course that helps. I hope you and yours will stay safe and healthy through the coming year.
A lovely recollection of a challenging year!
Thanks!
Thank you for this joy-inducing look back on a snowy NH January morning…it is wonderful to take a trip into our spring just a few months away!
You’re welcome Tammy. Yes, spring will be here before we know it! Then maybe we can let go of that breath we’ve been holding all year.
Absolutely gorgeous – the words as well as the images. Thank you so much for bringing all this beauty to our attention. It is truly a balm to the soul.
You’re welcome Ruth, I’m happy that you think so.
What an exquisite calendar. On a walkabout this snowy morning, I’ll be looking closely for what January might offer, and hoping to see a swatch of green velvet on stony “bones”.
Thank you Lynne. I wouldn’t be surprised if you found some!
I feel better now about those many times I’ve tripped over roots and rocks (and sometimes my own snowshoes) and fallen! It’s always a good outcome if you can say that the part of you that hurts the most is your pride.
Thank you Georgette. That’s just about all that was hurt that day!
It’s very easy to fall out there so be careful and I’ll try to do the same!
Your photos are always a delight — and, as you say, as much about looking forward as backward. But I must confess that the vernal witch hazel reminded me of the virus depictions we’ve been seeing for much of 2020. Will be nice when they are truly in our past.
Thank you Pat, I hadn’t noticed that! I suppose it’s been at the forefront of most of our minds for quite a while now. Long enough to make 2020 seem like two years.