Tuesday, April 26, 2016

More Spring flowers (mid-April)


















Lyre-leaved sage (above), all over the field at the farm beginning mid-April.
















Trumpet honeysuckle, a favorite of hummingbirds. Spotted along the Turtle Trail on April 20th.

















Yarrow begins showing up in the field mid-April. It has beautiful fern-like leaves in addition to lacy white flowers.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

First Spring wildflowers, March and April...

Cutleaf Toothwort

Cutleaf toothwort is the first of the spring wildflowers to appear at the farm, usually. They start showing up near the first or second week of March and are all over the hills by mid-April. It's also called Pepper Root and Crinkle Root. It has been used in the past for medicinal purposes.



Mayapple

Mayapples start showing up right about the same time as the cutleaf toothwort, but maybe a week or so afterwards... mid-March. They really start showing their umbrella leaves by the first and middle of May. Here, you can see the young mayapple sprouting out of the ground...

By the end of April and into May, you start seeing the white blooms (often hidden beneath its leaves and then, soon after, the fruit of the mayapple...

Spring Beauty

Spring Beauties start appearing towards the end of March. They're tiny, delicate white and pink flowers and scattered here and there throughout the forest.





















Star Chickweed 

Star Chickweed starts showing up near the first of April. We've seen it on the creekbanks.



Bluets

Bluets are simple, small and easy to identify. They appear in abundance beginning near the end of March.