Wet wildflowers on a cold, gray day

With snow showers and temperatures just above freezing, today was mostly just cold, gray, and wet. Nonetheless, I just got a new camera and was dying to try it out. Luckily, the camera is a weatherproof Nikon Coolpix AW-100. My walk in the hollow brought me cold hands, muddy knees, and these pictures. If you want to see more detail, clicking on any of the pictures will open up a much larger version. Except for Harbinger-of-Spring, which seems oblivious to the cold, all the flowers I saw today were closed shut to endure the cold.

Harbinger-of-Spring (Erigenia bulbosa)

Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)

Cutleaf Toothwort, Harbinger-of-Spring, and remnants of
Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana) from last September

Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)

Hepatica - first bloom of the Spring. I am so happy
to have discovered that we have Hepatica in our hollow.

Wildflower report

Observed in the forest today:

• Harbinger-of-Spring (Erigenia bulbosa) - common and widespread
• Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) - a few beginning to bloom
• Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) - a few beginning to bloom
• Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis flavula) - saw one plant in bloom in a sunny area
• Hepatica - found 2 plants with developing but unopened blooms

Hepatica with unopened bloom

Wildflower report

Yes, there are wildflowers in bloom in the middle of winter! A few of the following were spotted in our yard and in the woods today:

• Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa)
• Birdseye Speedwell (Veronica persica)
• Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
• Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum)

Beechdrops

I noticed a large population of Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana) growing beneath an old beech tree on our trail today. At first glance they look like a dried herb gone to seed. If you look closely, however, you'll discover that the Beechdrop is actually in full bloom right now. Very curious plant.

Wildflower report

Found 2 new wildflowers blooming on the eastern side of the hollow today. It is drier and there are generally fewer wildflowers on that side.

• Three-lobed Violet (Violet triloba)
• Fire Pink (Silene virginica)
• Also found a morel mushroom (Morchella esculenta) growing next to the barn today.

Leaves are out on most of the trees in the woods now, so the canopy is quickly closing in and shading the forest floor. There are far fewer wildflowers now than there was just a few days ago.

Wildflower report

Noticed a few more new wildflowers today up on the ridge beyond the end of the hollow.

Newly in bloom:

• Early Saxifrage (Saxifraga virginiensis)
• Violet Wood Sorrel (Oxalis violacea)
• Cross Vine (Bignonia capreolata)

Notes on previously noted woodland species:

• Eastern Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus) -- many more in the last few days
• Common Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea)
• Round-leaved Violet (Viola rotundifolia)
• Celandine Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) -- large patch in full bloom at the back of the hollow
• Toad Trillium (Trillium sessile)
• Prairie Trillium (Trillium recurvatum) - This species definitely begins blooming a bit later than T. sessile.
• Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)
• Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata)
• Fern-leaved Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida)
• Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema atrorubens) - Many emerging individuals, but not yet blooming. I still have only seen one in bloom this spring.
• Bedstraw (Galium aparine)
• Small-flowered Crowfoot (Ranunculus abortivus)

Showy flowering woodland trees:

• Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
• Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

Fruiting / no longer in bloom:

• Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa)
• Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) -- leaves yellowing and drying up
• Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)
• Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis flavula)
• Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) -- only a few individuals; almost completely gone now

Found in our lawn:

• Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
• Birdseye Speedwell (Veronica persica)
• Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera)
• Field Pansy (Viola kitaibeliana)
• Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) -- fading quickly
• Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum) -- nearly all gone
• Bulbous Buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus)
• Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea)

Wildflower report

The gray and brown forest of winter is quickly turning green. The forest floor is beginning to feel shaded, and some spring ephemeral wildflowers have already bloomed and set fruit. Most trees are now either blooming or unfurling new leaves. Maple, Beech, and Tulip Poplar are all opening tender young leaves. There are lots of active songbirds throughout the day. Insects are becoming more and more numerous, and spider webs are beginning to appear across the trail. This has been a very early spring, one of the earliest on record, according to the phenologists.

Wildflowers currently blooming in the hollow:

Trillium recurvatum

• Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
• Birdseye Speedwell (Veronica persica)
• Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera)
• Field Pansy (Viola kitaibeliana) - lawn 
• Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) - lawn 
• Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum)
• Bulbous Buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus)
• Small-flowered Crowfoot (Ranunculus abortivus)
• Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea)
• Eastern Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus)
• Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)
• Common Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea)
• Round-leaved Violet (Viola rotundifolia)
• Celandine Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)
• Toad Trillium (Trillium sessile)
• Prairie Trillium (Trillium recurvatum) -- I have just realized that in years past I have not been distinguishing between  Trillium sessile and  T. recurvatum. I am pretty sure that T. sessile began blooming first, and T. recurvatum has bloomed within the last week.  T. recurvatum has distinctly stemmed leaves and downward drooping sepals.
• [Trillium cuneatum - I'm not sure, but this species may be here also. It seems to just be a bigger version of T. sessile, which is the smaller of the two with leaves only to about 3" long and flowers to 1.5". T. cuneatum has leaves to 6" long and petals to 3" long.]
• Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)
• Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata)
• Fern-leaved Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida)
• Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema atrorubens) - just now coming up, only saw one in bloom
• Bedstraw (Galium aparine)

Showy flowering trees:

• Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
• Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

Fruiting / no longer in bloom:

• Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa)
• Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)
• Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)
• Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis flavula)

Trillium recurvatum (left) and T. sessile (right)
(click to look a little closer)

Wildflower report

In addition to yesterday's list, add the following two wildflowers that went unnoticed yesterday. I only saw one individual of each today.

• Round-leaved Violet (Viola rotundifolia)
• Celandine Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)

Wildflower report

Currently blooming in our woods & lawn:

• Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) - By far the most abundant wildflower in our hollow; nearly covering wide areas of the forest floor, especially on the western side of the hollow (eastward facing).
• Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) - Very common
• Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis flavula)
• Common Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea) - Just a few so far
• Trillium sessile - common
• Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) - many of the brown mottled leaves beginning to appear, but I have only seen one plant in bloom so far.
• Rue Anemone (Anemonella thalicitroides)
• Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa) is pretty much done and gone to seed
• Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum) - Mostly in our yard, and in disturbed areas
• Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) - lawn
• Field Pansy (Viola kitaibeliana) - lawn
• Birdseye Speedwell (Veronica persica) - Abundant in our front lawn
• Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) - Yes, they're wildflowers! Fairly common in my lawn.
• Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera) - lawn

Wildflower report

I went for a nice walk with Sadie down to the Harpeth River. It's a beautiful, sunny 70º day. The following wildflowers were all observed in bloom. I'm not sure why, but our own hollow seemed to have the highest concentration of Toothworts and Spring Beauties.
Observed in the forest:

• Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)
• Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa)
• Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)
• Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis flavula)
• Common Blue Violet (Viola papilionacea) - Observed only in one location, high on an eastern facing ridge.

Observed in other areas:

• Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum) - Mostly in our yard, and in sunny forest edges
• Birdseye Speedwell (Veronica persica) - Only in our yard and in the disturbed floodplain of the river
• Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) - Only a couple, in our yard
• Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera) - In disturbed floodplain of river
• Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea) -  In disturbed floodplain of river

Other items of note:

• Saw the first bumblebee of the season (on Lamium purpureum) in the front yard
• 4 turtles sunning on a shoreline log in the Harpeth River
• Lots of deer tracks in the mud down by the river
• 2 Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) lazily hanging out in the river

Wildflower report

Wildflowers blooming in the hollow today:

• Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata, formerly known as Dentaria laciniata)
• Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa)
• Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)
• Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum) - mostly in the lawn
• Birdseye Speedwell (Veronica persica) - limited to the lawn

It was fairly cold and windy today, so Toothwort and Spring Beauties had closed petals. Toothwort is very widespread on the west side of the hollow. Pretty soon whole areas of the forest floor will be covered with Toothwort.

Wildflower report

After many signs of an early spring, the cold snap this weekend has halted the blooming wildflowers. It was down to 10ºF in the hollow Sunday morning and only 14º this morning. Only the tiny, wiry Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa) seems to be equipped to tough it out. No sign of blooms on anything else.

Wildflower report

Wildflowers blooming in the hollow today
In the woods:

• Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa)
• Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)
• Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata, formerly known as Dentaria laciniata)

In the yard:

• Birdseye Speedwell (Veronica persica)
• Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum)
• Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)