Spring Ephemerals: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day May 2013

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

Spring ephemerals typically bloom in May here. We have many growing at our new home that didn’t grow wild at our old home, plus there are many that I acquired through purchase or trade while at the old house that I brought over with me.Here are a few of my favorites.

bluets, Quaker ladies, Houstonia caerulea

I don’t know what magic makes bluets grow in a lawn, but we have that magic here.

Bluets grew in the lawn at my husband’s childhood home, great patches of sky-blue in grass a little on the long side. Several times I took a chunk of bluets (Houstonia caerulea) from my in-laws’ lawn and transplanted it into ours, attempting to replicate the exact conditions, but to no avail. The bluets never returned in our lawn the following year. And yet, here they are in our new lawn. I hope they stay.
anemonella thalictriodes, rue anemone, pink form

This darling was given to me by a gardening friend, and it is slowly growing bigger.

The white form of rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) grows wild at our old house. I have yet to see it at our new house, but I have this dainty pink form thanks to a generous friend.
Dodecatheon amethystinum

I think shooting stars are fascinating. I’d like to grow more of them.

I once saw a shooting star growing along the shoulder of a country road in our former county, but never since. The Dodecatheon amethystinum pictured here was purchased from a nursery that is no longer in business.
arisaema triphyllum, jack-in-the-pulpit

Because the light is shining through the spathe, or hood, of this plant, the stripes appear red.

Jacks-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) grow plentifully along the side brook (see map). Some have green striping in the hood, and some have brown striping. But you can see that the brown must have red pigment in it when you view a Jack that is backlit.

Also Blooming Now

Trillium erectum (finishing up)
Trillium grandiflorum
Early meadow rue (Thalictrum dioicum)
Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris)
Solomon’s seal (not sure which one)
Tiarella cordifolia
Lady’s smock (Cardamine pratensis)
Twin-leaf toothwort (Cardamine diphylla)
Celandine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)
Creeping phlox
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
Narcissus x medioluteus I used to call this Irish Laddie before I knew what it was.

Inspired by the words of Elizabeth Lawrence, “We can have flowers nearly every month of the year,” Carol of May Dreams Gardens started Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. On the 15th of every month, garden bloggers from all over the world publish what is currently blooming in their gardens, and leave a link in Mr. Linky and the comments of May Dreams Gardens.

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.

If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It’s a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it’s time to reflect on what’s come before.

~Mitchell Burgess in Northern Exposure

Comments on this entry are closed.

Diane C May 18, 2013, 6:34 pm

Beautiful pictures! My tulips and daffodils are already finished but I absolutely love the violets that grow throughout the yard, although some think of them as weeds.

Donna@Gardens Eye View May 18, 2013, 1:44 pm

Kathy bluets are new to me but you have so many of my favorites…shooting stars especially although I have the white variety growing around. Love the ephemerals.

Carol - May Dreams Gardens May 18, 2013, 10:52 am

I love seeing the spring ephemerals. Ours are nearly “done” for this year, so nice to see yours today1

Max Sebring May 17, 2013, 9:10 pm

Hi Kathy,

The bluets are really beautiful. It’s very unfortunate that I didn’t grow up where I could see these magical flowers. I only see it in photos. Thanks for sharing! 🙂

Frances May 17, 2013, 5:15 pm

Lovely shot of the bluets, Kathy. We had them in the lawn when I was growing up, too. I have always loved them, too. I thought the shooting stars liked alkaline, and that was why I had trouble growing them. Maybe it is too dry here, but you have the moist, acid in spades!

Annie in Austin May 17, 2013, 11:34 am

Such sweet little flowers, Kathy! I’ve only seen shooting stars and bluets in photos, and since the Wildflower Center NPIN site says “moist, acidic” for them, I will not see them in person here! The other name for bluets is Quaker-Ladies, also pretty cool.
So no bluets, but my tiny blue flower this spring is Blue-eyed grass.
Happy May!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose