Weather permitting, Barbara and I get out a few times a week to hike nearby mountains or to roam local forests. When my vote to pick the day’s hike is permitted, my choice is dictated by trails with botanical interest. We’re a few weeks early for trout lilies, trilliums, and mayapples, but many spring ephemerals are now seen in abundance, even at higher elevations of our nearby Blue Ridge Mountains.
This week’s favorite is the roundlobe hepatica (Hepatica nobilis, above) that is seen in various colors from a vibrant blue to occasionally nearly white. We are overjoyed that the winter dullness of the forest is now dotted by glorious color.
Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) thrive in damp ground, though I’ve failed repeatedly to get them going in my swampy rear garden.Rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides)Drifts of large flowered Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) are a highlight along the trail. Its large leaves often persist through the summer.Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) is most abundant but widely scattered in local forests.Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) is most often seen as single plants but occasionally in drifts.Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) are just beginning to flower along a rocky mountain trail. Violets are just beginning their spring bloom, soon to be joined by yellow flowered violets.Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is at peak color today. Flowers of our native swamp (Red) maple (Acer rubrum) are beautiful if they don’t remind you of the start of the allergy season.Trout lilies (Erythronium americanum) are a few weeks from flowering, but foliage now shows above the fallen leaves.Leaves of Putty Root (Aplectrum hyemale) and Cranefly orchids (Tipularia discolor) are favorites, though we are weeks away from their flowering.The underside of the green leafed Cranefly orchid is purple. Occasionally, purple topsides are seen.We enjoy drifts of clubmosses, here Running Cedar (Diphasiastrum digitatum).
Thank you, Dave, you teach me so much! Now, I can identify Toothwort, which grows abundantly on my property, and I am thinking something else that I see is Cranefly Orchid. I appreciate you immensely,
Ramblin' through Dave's Garden 
Thank you, Dave, you teach me so much! Now, I can identify Toothwort, which grows abundantly on my property, and I am thinking something else that I see is Cranefly Orchid. I appreciate you immensely,
Lorraine
Thank you for your comments. I find it wonderful that in nature and the garden, there is so much that one should never stop learning.