A surprise every day in the woods

When we first cleared out the honeysuckle in the woods in 2002, it looked hideously barren and I was afraid we had made a big mistake. About a month later, a lone Ohio spiderwort bloomed, which gave me hope there might be more dormant wildflowers just waiting for some sunshine. The next year there were two spiderwort plants in different places. They never multiplied until this year. Now there are five. What a treat!

The wild geraniums are also apreading robustly from one small clump at the back of the woods and are now found in patches along with the bluebells and toothwort. They are so colorful and fill in after the bluebells have finished blooming. They are surrounded in some places by may-apples, whose little nodding flowers are just beginning to open under their green umbrellas.

Some critter ate my merry-bells, which now may be gone forever. But it missed the wild columbine, an intriguing flower. I made a rough, winding path through the woods, bordered by wildflowers that are spreading from the top of the hill to the base. Each day I'm finding only one or two garlic-mustard plants getting ready to bloom, but I have to be vigilant. I was told that this pest releases hundreds of seeds and every one of them is viable, so even one plant can do a lot of damage. My neighbors are helpful and are pulling them from their gardens before they set seeds.

See my woods and my wildflowers on my web site.