Tag: cees-flower-of-the-day-challenge

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Obedient Flower – Flower of the Day- August 29th

The Obedient flower is an overlooked flower of boggy areas. It has an attractive spike of lavender flowers, but isn’t as showy as its sometimes companion the Cardinal flower with its showy spike of red. Why is it called obedient? Well, you can grab an individual bloom, twist it around and it will stay where you placed it; obedient to your wishes.

this specimen is part of my Bog in a Barrel garden, and in bloom at the same time are other tiny native flowers – asters, and a barely visible Water Horehound.

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Woodland Flowers

Despite the 36 degree windy weather this is what’s in bloom today in my woodland garden:

from left to right in the top row are: Sanguinaria ( bloodroot), Trout Lily, Liver lobed Helatica.

The bottom photo is a pulmonary – lungwort.

Enjoy springtime in New England. The Pulmonary blooms for several weeks and has those distinctive spotted leaves. The Trout lilly is an ephemeral it’s stray bronze and green leaves are gone by the middle of May and totally disappears. The Hepatica pulls the same stunt. If you mis the ephemerals you’ll just have to start watching around the end of March. Their bloom time is variable each year. Near the Hepatica the Trilliums have sprouted, but there won’y be flowers for a few weeks.

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Spice Bush in Bloom

This is no joke. Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) are what’s in bloom on April first in the woods around my house. There is not a lot to go wild over. The leaves and stems of this native plant are fragrant when crushed, but an award winning flower its not.

If you are patient, later in the season you may see this guy chomping on the leaves; the caterpillar phase of the Spicebush Swallow tailed butterfly.

When I say, you have to be a bit nuts to love spring in New England; this is why.

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