Wildflowers Along the Road: Wildflower Wednesday

– Posted in: Native/Invasive, What's up/blooming
14 comments

It is getting to be peak wildflower season in my part of the country, a couple of weeks ahead of the usual time. I took a walk in my new neighborhood, and this is what I saw.

Arisaema triphyllum Jack-in-the-pulpit

Arisaema triphyllum - Jack-in-the-pulpit

This is growing on our property, along the path I am making by the big brook.
Caltha palustris - Marsh marigold

Caltha palustris - Marsh marigold

This is growing on our property along the small brook.
Cardamine pratensis - Lady's smock

Cardamine pratensis - Lady's smock

This grows in our lawn.
Dentaria diphylla - Twinleaf toothwort

Dentaria diphylla - Twinleaf toothwort

This grows alongside the road. I think it is related to the Lady’s smock.
Equisetum hymenale - Horsetail (Photo by Talitha Purdy)

Equisetum hymenale - Horsetail (Photo by Talitha Purdy)

Also alongside the road. Very odd looking. I don’t think this is a native.
Mitella diphylla - Miterwort

Mitella diphylla - Miterwort

Another roadside plant. This was the only one I saw, whereas most of the others were, if not plentiful, then at least existing in patches. Thanks to Christopher C. of Outside Clyde, who helped me identify it.
Tiarella cordifolia - Foamflower

Tiarella cordifolia - Foamflower

This is along the big brook on our property, and also in a hollow near the road.
Trillium grandiflorum

Trillium grandiflorum

This is what inspired me to take a walk today. My husband told me the white trilliums were blooming all over the glen. There were several large patches of them, and I found all of the other roadside flowers in the course of hunting for the trilliums.
Waldsteinia fragarioides - False strawberry (Photo by Talitha Purdy)

Waldsteinia fragarioides - False strawberry (Photo by Talitha Purdy)

This was perched at the top of a rather high ditch.

As you can imagine, I was thrilled to find all these native plants growing within walking distance of my home.

Posted for Wildflower Wednesday, created by Gail of Clay and Limestone, to share wildflowers/native plants no matter where you garden in the blogasphere. “It doesn’t matter if we sometimes show the same plants. How they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most. It’s always the fourth Wednesday of the month!”

About the Author

Kathy Purdy is a colchicum evangelist, converting unsuspecting gardeners into colchicophiles. She gardens in rural upstate NY, which used to be USDA Hardiness Zone 4 but is now Zone 5. Kathy’s been writing since 4th grade, gardening since high school, and blogging since 2002. Find her on Instagram as kopurdy.

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

~Albert Camus in Albert Camus quotations

Comments on this entry are closed.

sensiblegardening June 28, 2012, 1:39 am

Living on 12 acreas of virgin land I have catalogued many of our wild flowers. Probably the favorite for me here is the Maraposa Lily. Already in our area they are becoming quite rare but in the spring I have them everywhere.

Alistair April 30, 2012, 6:46 am

You have so much more interesting wild flowers in your part of the world, perhaps I havent been looking hard enough. The Jack-in-the-pulpit is fascinating.

Kathy Purdy April 30, 2012, 9:54 am

Perhaps it is difficult to love what seems common to you. I agree that Jacks-in-the-pulpit are interesting, but I also love those pale yellow primroses that are native to your part of the world, and it seems difficult to find the real thing over here–they are almost always hybrids.

joene at joene's garden April 27, 2012, 9:26 pm

I’m slowly but surely education myself about native wildflowers. It’s so much fun to investigate what is growing on its own, with no formal cultivation.

Deborah Banks April 27, 2012, 3:33 pm

This reminds me of our first year here when we found several wildflowers in our woods, and had no idea then what they were but knew they were special. I had to get books from the library to figure them out. Pretty exciting that you have native trillium grandiflorum; they’re so showy. We have a couple of kinds of native trillium (red and painted) and also pink lady slippers, but they are most prevalent in places that aren’t very accessible to deer, like the steep bank plunging down to the creek or tucked in behind downed trees. We’ve created some artificial shelters under branches, but sometimes I wonder about what the woods would look like without the heavy deer pressure. It’s a world I’d like to see.

spurge April 27, 2012, 8:14 am

Oh so many beautiful delicacies! How good you are to know all their names. I am hopeless at identifying wildflowers. Especially like that sweet dentaria!

Kathy Purdy April 27, 2012, 8:39 am

I have been teaching myself about wildflowers for many years, and have several books on the subject, spurge. So by now I can take an educated guess and then see if the images on Google match what I saw in the field. But that Mitella stumped me, and I asked my gardening friends on Facebook for help.

Carolflowerhillfarm April 27, 2012, 7:52 am

A beautiful and diverse collection of wildflowers Kathy. I felt the same way as Gail. Sounds lovely!

Mr. McGregor's Daughter April 26, 2012, 7:12 pm

Wow, you’ve got a treasure trove of wildflowers! I can’t imagine Trillium grandiflorum all over the place. Sadly, around here, the deer have eaten them to the brink in the wild. I love the dark form of the Arisaema. If you’ve got Caltha, you could probably grow skunk cabbage (I don’t know if you’d want to, but I would).

Leslie April 26, 2012, 12:20 am

It’s like you hit the jackpot! I can only imagine how much fun it must be to find so many things…and you can identify them…I am so in awe!

Lynn April 26, 2012, 12:03 am

What joy! Jack in the pulpit even! I never saw those, but loved finding Hepatica near us out there. You have riches in wildflowers, indeed. Thaks for the photos!

Gail April 25, 2012, 10:51 pm

Kathy, What delightful finds. “Trillium grandiflorum flowering all over the glen”~ goodness, that sound so romantic! Don’t you love spring. gail