We haven’t seen a cloud in the sky here for the last two weeks, so I apologize for the harsh lighting in some of these shots.
The many different native white flowered trees have just started blooming. Soon they will brighten the roadsides in every town in the county. This is a cherry (Prunus) but I’m not sure which one.
The magnolias didn’t have room for even one more flower this year. They’ve been beautiful.
Last weekend I saw what a couple of well-placed magnolias, a cherry tree or two, and a few hundred daffodils can look like. It was an amazing spring display, but I couldn’t help wondering what it would look like in the summer.
I saw a few white trilliums (Trillium grandiflorum) in the woods near the woodland garden in the previous photo, but I’m not sure if they are natural or if they had been planted. However they got there, they were very beautiful and are rarely seen in our woods.
If you want to see a rare and most beautiful display of white trilliums and other flowers, check out Jerry’s blog, Quiet Solo Pursuits, by clicking here.
Japanese Andromeda flowers (Pieris japonica) resemble many others, including grape hyacinth and blueberry.
In the garden fern leaved bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia) has just started blooming. This is one of my favorites.
I saw more coltsfoot plants (Tussilago farfara) in one place than I ever have on this trail recently. They extended well out of the photo to the right. Coltsfoot has just about finished the end of its blooming period.
I think that what I thought were native rue anemones (Thalictrum thalictroides) are actually false rue anemones (Enemion biternatum,) which are also native. The leaf shape helps identify each plant but I want to find them both so I can be sure. Both are just starting their blooming period. As if that isn’t complicated enough, there are also wood anemones (Anemone quinquefolia ,) that resemble the other two. Maybe I should just say that this photo of some type of anemone.
Native ginger (Asarum canadense) has just started blossoming as well but the flower is hard to see. This plant isn’t related to the ginger we buy in stores, but Native Americans dried and ground the root and used it as a seasoning. Scientists believe that the plants may contain poisonous compounds and do not recommend eating any part of them. The plant also contains two different types of antibiotics and was used as a poultice to heal wounds by both Native Americans and early settlers.
It’s a small and not very colorful flower, but interesting. The reason the flower is so close to the ground is because it is pollinated by flies that look for the carcasses of dead animals after they emerge in the spring. That is also why the flower is the color of decomposing flesh-it fools the flies into pollinating it.
The flowers of Norway maples (Acer platanoides) appear well after those of red maples. These trees are native to Europe and are considered an invasive species. White sap in the leaf stem (petiole) is one way to tell Norway maples from sugar maples, which have clear sap.
I’ve seen a lot of beautiful man-made gardens but I think this display of dandelions and ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) is every bit as beautiful.
What is lovely never dies, but passes into other loveliness, star-dust, or sea-foam, flower or winged air. ~ Thomas Bailey Aldrich
Thanks for stopping in.
New Hampshire Garden Solutions 