Author: Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.

A Traveler

He showed up at lunch today. Gulping down the syrup as if this male had traveled long distances, which he certainly has. The very first of the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) to arrive at my feeders.

Now dinner has come and gone. There was a female traveler who came to the feeder while we were eating. And then a male. The same one? A new one? No telling. Two or three of these little birds have arrived today. Absolutely welcome. Let the hummingbird circus begin.

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Tiny Iris

Such a pretty flower but quite small. Reaching just 3 to 6 inches tall. Dwarf Crested Iris (Iris cristata).

There are 28 Iris species native to the United States. Iris cristata is one of them, found growing in the eastern and southern United States, on rocky, wooded slopes. Some are blooming right now in one of my gardens.

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Purple Pink Blue

Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica), herbaceous perennials, native to eastern North America. Painting its landscape with rich yummy purple, fading to pink and eventually turning to a lovely soft blue as its flowers mature.

A beautiful palette for spring, April and May.

By midsummer the blooms are gone, the plants disappear into the leaf litter of the woods. Gone until early next spring when the purples, pinks and blues emerge to paint the landscape all over again.

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Buttercup Family?

Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa) is getting ready for bloom time, up here in the woods. It will be a while yet though, until it happens. The ones I’m seeing are 6 to 8 inches up. They reach 4 feet tall as they bloom.

I was surprised just now, as I was looking through information on Black Cohosh, to learn that it is in the Buttercup (Ranunculaceae) family. I sure would not have guessed that.

I’m looking forward to those blooms. Those white stalks of flowers reaching tall into the forest that make me think of ghosts of people who that lived up here in the mountains long long ago. Ghosts that come out to enjoy the emerald green woods of summer.

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They Seem To Pop Up Overnight

I’ve been watching, as I do with many of my plants. Knowing, anticipating. They seem to pop up unannounced. No hint that they’re there. This is one of many that I found today. A Virginia Springbeauty (Actaea racemosa) emerging next to a Confederate Violet (Viola sororia priceana). You can get an idea, comparing these two flowers in this image that the Springbeauty and its buds are mighty tiny.

They always take me by surprise. It seems to happen overnight. They emerge and PRESTO! They’re about to bloom. Their buds, that look like miniature jalapeña peppers, soon to open.

White with just a hint of soft pink.

Not rain but water brought to quench the dry soil. Encouraging the little flowers to spread and bloom to their heart’s content.

They’re Blooming Now

I’ve been keeping watch over a patch of Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum), looking forward to finding them blooming. That happened today. A beautiful, incredibly small flower, emerging from two mottled leaves. That bloom, no more that 1.25 inches across.

Trout Lily are native to eastern North America, and such a joy to experience.

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Circuition

This afternoon at my little pond. Wood Frog tadpoles (Lithobates sylvaticus) getting their nourishment from a cluster of Salamander eggs. The tadpoles are for the most part herbivorous, eating algae, and decaying plants, but occasionally eating the eggs of other amphibians. What a surprise to discover. I had no idea they would eat other amphibian eggs. Nature surprises me everyday.

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Cottontail

Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii). A cooperative model. Image taken at one of my favorite places in the Southwest. Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, Three Rivers, New Mexico.

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Apple Tree Abloom

So many things blooming in the woods now. There are even a few apple trees in the woods, planted long ago. This one though is in the front yard of my cabin, planted just a few years ago.

Today it’s in full, white and pink, bloom. Pleasing the pollinators. This one a Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). Both the blooms and the pollinators, pleasing me too.

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An Early Lily

I knew they’d be coming up very soon, so I went out there searching. Success! Found some coming up just a few days ago. A mighty early Lily. A mighty small Lily too. Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum). Native to eastern North America. Grows to a height of 6 to 8 inches tall.

My first Trout Lily experience was on a hike in 2010, with a PVCC class, Natural History of Virginia. It really surprised me how small the plant was. But oh so special, tucked away in the woods, just waiting to be discovered. Every year now I look forward to finding some of those mottled leaves emerging from the soil, soon to become beautiful yellow blooms.

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