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.

Another Early Spring Surprise

This wasn’t found until I was back to my cabin, checking on the photographs. Buds on the Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica).

Virginia Bluebells, a herbaceous perennial plant, generally blooms at the beginning of April.

A variety of bees, butterflies, skippers and hummingbird moths help to pollinate the flowers.

A spring ephemeral. By mid-summer the above ground portions of the plant, the stems and leaves, will fade and disappear. Leaving the tap root to prepare for the next spring.

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A Native Yellow

Bravely coming up out of the ground. Poking its nose from beneath the soil with no inhibitions. No concerns about the potential crazy weather we might have. Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum).

Fast forward from this early March to mid-April. Beautiful yellow. Native to the woods of eastern North America.

Its sunshine yellow, glowing in blooms from spring through early summer.

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Flowers Sprouting From The Bark

Wandering the mountain today, and a surprise. Redbuds (Cercis canadensis) within days of being in bloom.

And these blooms even show up on the trunk, and older stems of the tree. This is called cauliflory. There are estimated to be more than 100 species of plants, the world over, that are cauliflorous, scattered among a wide variety plant families.

No matter the location of those flowers on the trees. The woods will soon be pink, pink, and more pink!

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Prickly Pear Cactus

Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia). Tucson, Arizona. Native only to the Americas, including a couple species that are native to the East Coast of the United States.

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Emerging Mayapples

A discovery yesterday. Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) are just beginning to emerge from the soil. As one might expect given the lack of winter, they’re a bit early. I’m totally pleased to see them, early or not.

In the past I would expect to see this swath of umbrella-like leaves at the beginning of May.

These flowers too, at the beginning of May. But who knows what this coming season will bring and when. We shall see.

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Rummaging Through Leaves

This morning, an Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) rummaging through the leaves looking for something to nibble on. Note to self: toss some sunflower seeds into that leaf litter.

Goodness, those piercing red eyes. Not everywhere though. In Florida and the southeast coast up through most of North Carolina you might see Eastern Towhees with white or cream colored eyes. I haven’t seen that and think that might be just as jarring as the red eyes!

Glad to see the Towhee this morning. I’ll be listening for its song of, “Drink your TEA!”

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Ground Cedar

Known by the common names of Ground Cedar or Fan Clubmoss (Diphasiastrum digitatum). A Clubmoss. Though not a cedar, and not a moss. So much for common names. You can’t depend on them. That scientific name, which is a doozy to remember, is the one you can depend on for accuracy.

This Clubmoss is one of the most primitive of vascular plants. Vascular plants are those that have vessels within their roots, stems, and leaves that carry food and water to the plant cells. The Clubmosses first appeared in the fossil record approximately 400 million years ago. Now it grows as a small plant, but in those first appearances in the Carboniferous period, 350 million years ago, Clubmosses grew to be the height of the tallest trees of today.

Ground Cedar is a plant that I don’t often find around my cabin, so when I see it, I’m thoroughly pleased.

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Memories

Photographs often contain precious memories. Even photographs that were taken just a few minutes ago. That’s the case with this image. My Mom loves gardens and while she was very active, she had beautiful gardens filled with lovely flowers blooming or just waiting to come into bloom.

These Daffodils, just out my kitchen window make me think of Mom’s gardens and spring just beginning.