Flowers

If you’ve visited this blog for a while, you may have noticed that in spring, my woodland garden is a top priority. The uninitiated assume I’m high on something, stumbling around the wooded patch, bent low, taking photos, and exclaiming over things too small to be seen from a distance. I’m checking out the plants and flowers as they appear. Looks can be deceiving.

This year, there were some surprises. The pitcher plant emerging in this spot is a volunteer from elsewhere in the garden

, and the nearby flowering Dutchman’s britches are another surprise.

Elsewhere, the golden seal is where it should be, and the Dahlbergia ( doll’s eyes for the white berries with dark pupil-like spots) and the Solomon’s seal are all ready to bloom—probably tomorrow.

From now on until the fall, something will be in bloom every day. It’s just that many will be small and hard to see, and you’ll have to bend over low to see them.

I’ve been re-wilding this patch since the fall of 1997 when we moved in. Seeing that the plants have begun to assume control of things is fun. They are spreading where they find suitable light and soil. They are increasingly in charge, and I am the sightseer out for a stroll, amazed at what I find.