It is always so exciting to see the first green leaves pop out of the spring soil. A little walk around my garden and I saw spring beauty, trout lily, rue anemone, Dutchmen's britches, blood root, and tooth wort showing some leaves. Identifying flowers without blooms is always more challenging and leaves are not even shown in many wildflower ID guides. Each spring is like a quiz to see which plants I remember and how quickly their names and and an image of their bloom pops into my head. Spring beauty has very thin leaves and the nodding buds on a stalk in between. Trout lily is one of the easier ones since the leaves are thick and wide and covered with brown splotches just like a trout. Rue anemone leaves are tiny and there is usually a whole bunch of them in a colony together. Dutchmen's britches has feathery leaves. Blood root leaves are one of my favorite because they come out in a tight swirl that slowly unfurls into a large many lobbed leaf. Tooth wort has flower stalks like spring beauty and leaves like a very slender red maple. Another favorite of mine is the wild ginger because they remind me of little ears peaking out of the ground so I whisper to them that it is spring.
Comments