What's Blooming Here -- Mid-May

I'm a little later than I planned in posting flowers for Mid-May.  May is the month in which,  when I'm walking in the woods, I have trouble deciding whether to look up or down.  Up for birds, or down for flowers?  So of course, I'm alternating between both.  Only occasionally do I trip!  Seriously, there is so much to see in May and I love it all.  My housework is probably (well, definitely!) getting behind, but who cares about dust when there are warblers and wildflowers to see?

Here's what I've found in bloom this past week:

Wild Columbine

There is a place along our road where it blooms in abundance among the rocks.  I like to walk to see it, but you can even see it from your car.

I mentioned the Marsh Marigolds in our old pasture in my early-May flower post.  I said I knew of a place where you could see them from the road, so here's a picture of those.  It was just beginning to bloom in early May, now it is almost done but still pretty.

I mentioned Yellow Violets in my last flower post, too, and more violets are blooming now...  many kinds and colors.  As I was walking along the road,  I saw the best bunch of Common Blue Violets that I've seen this spring.  

Yes, they are right by the road!

You may also see the next flower as you ride along in your car... there is a lot of it blooming now in damp places.  It's called Toothwort.

It's quite pretty close up.  

For the next plant, we're going to leave the roadside and go into the woods.  And we're going to have to look carefully to find the flowers.  Wild Ginger is blooming, but probably not many people will even notice.  I think they are really neat though.

Wild Ginger flowers are right next to the ground, underneath their pretty leaves and they are less than an inch in diameter.  My wildflower field guide calls them a 'curious' flower and they certainly are.  Even though they are not the source of our modern day ginger root used in cooking, their root has a similar taste and was used as a substitute for it in the late 1700's and early 1800's.  American Indians used it as a food flavoring and a medicine.  It has been found to have two antibiotic substances in its' roots, so they knew what they were doing! (that info comes from the wonderful book I got for Mother's Day called 'The Secrets of Wildflowers' by Jack Sanders -- thanks, Sara!)

 

This very healthy-looking patch of Wild Ginger I found was growing on top of a large boulder - there was none anywhere else nearby.  I have no explanation for that but thought it was interesting.  

Wild Ginger on top of a boulder.

The next flowers are White Trillium.  (for you, Laura, as you said you wanted more trillium!)

These are growing in our 'little woods'.  They were plants we rescued from a road-side, where a bulldozer had uprooted them.  They have been happily blooming and multiplying in our woods now for probably 25 years or more. 

Once they are past their peak of bloom, they often turn pinkish.  So if you see pink trilliums, they are just white ones that are fading.

Also in our little woods are some Virginia Bluebells.  I planted those, too, but they are native to Pennsylvania.  They are also called Virginia Cowslip.

Nearby is Celandine, in the Poppy family.

(Has anyone else noticed that there seem to be a lot of Bumblebees this year?)

A wildflower blooming now that grows pretty commonly in our woodland is Foamflower.  These have escaped the woods and are growing in a shady spot at the edge of our lawn.  I've been mowing around them... they are too pretty to mow off!

Now, we're going to go back into the 'big woods'.  Another flower that you have to look carefully to notice (though not as carefully as for the Wild Ginger!) are Jack-in-the-Pulpits.

That one stands out because of his beautiful brown stripes and the rock he is growing by, but a lot of them are green and not so noticeable, at least until they have their bright red berries in August or September.

Still fun to see though!

Speaking of fun to see, how about this little fellow?

He is right next to our last flower for today.... a wild strawberry.  Lots of them are blooming now.

The chippy will probably be right there to feast on the berries, too, a bit later in the season!