The flower is:

Erythorium americanum (Trout Lily) can be found in rich moist woods and typically blooms in April, though like everything else, it is a little early this year.  The similarity in the mottled leaf to the scales of a trout is how the plant got it's common name.  This small unique lily is pollinated by ants, and is a pleasant, colorful surprise in the spring woodland garden.  It takes seven years for a pollinated seed to become a mature plant, and only plants with two leaves will flower.   

 

Look for these flowers in a woodland near you while they are still around! These can also be great additions to a woodland garden for some great spring color.  They are not super aggressive, so be careful about what other plants you put in an area where you put the trout lily.

 

 

I almost missed the blooming season but

This flower is yet another great spring ephemeral. I almost missed it in bloom, but I hope you can guess the flower of the week.  If you look closely at the leaf, it will give you a hint as to the name of the plant!  Tomorrow all will be revealed!













Yesterday, we had a successful Rain Garden workshop.  Here is the "just" installed picture.  I will be adding more as the planting progresses.  I hope that everyone that attended the workshop learned from the experience.  A special thanks to Claudia West from North Creek Nurseries for being my co-presenter at the workshop and providing the plants, The Willowdale Town Center for allowing us to install the rain garden, and the Chester County Conservation District for the use of their meeting room for the morning session of the workshop. 

Article of Interest

I hope that you are enjoying your long (hopefully) weekend if you were able to get off either Friday or Monday.  

I found this article about sparrows that change the pitch of their song in order to adapt to noise pollution near a city.  I heard a graduate student speak about some studies she was doing about warbler songs near the beltway in DC about five years ago, and thought it was a very interesting concept.  If anyone is interested in learning more, here is a link to the article: http://m.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2012/04/sparrows-actually-change-their-song-sing-over-noise-city/1667/

We at TLC are buckling our seat belts for an upcoming extremely busy six weeks culminating in our Stateline Loop 9K/5K Trail Race on May 12, 2012.  Check out all of our amazing education programs and the exciting events surrounding our fourth annual race at our website: www.tlcforscc.org

You can just see the buds on our stately oak at Stateline Woods!

Beware where you walk!

A friend shared a great photograph with me this morning.  She almost stepped on a ground nest while out and about.  I thought it would be prudent to mention that there are quite a few ground nesting birds that you should be on the lookout for while hiking on this beautiful weekend. 

 Some of the ground nesting birds to look for that will actually nest in a road way or gravel trail include: Horned Lark (I almost stepped on a Horned Lark nest during a breeding bird survey) and Kildeer.  

Other ground nesting birds include but are not limited to: Ovenbirds, American Tree Sparrow (they nest on or near the ground), White Throated Sparrows (on or near the ground), Kentucky Warbler (very pretty and uncommon), American Woodcock, Black and White Warblers, Roughed Grouse, Eastern Towhee, and House Sparrow.  All birds prefer a specific habitat from woodland to grasslands, and everything in between.  No matter where you walk, note that you may encounter a ground nesting bird.  This is one of the reasons that its paramount to make sure that you are aware of where your pets and your feet are traveling.  You want to minimize disturbance of any ground nesting birds!

As a general housekeeping item, I wanted to let you know that taxonomy of Lesser Celandine has changed.  I noted in my post that it was Ranunculus fiaria, however, the new name of Celandine is Ficaria verna.  As more information is learned each day about the various species in taxonomic orders, they need to be rearranged to better suit their characteristics.  Basically it adds up to always having to update your field guides and plant books to make sure that you have the most up-to-date names.  Or what I tend to do is just write the new name into my field guide. This tends to be a lot of writing because I bought my favorite field guide used on Amazon: The Illustrated Guide to Wildflowers and Shrubs by William Carey Grimm.  My book has a 1993 copyright date!  I'll leave you with my great photograph!

Peep season!!

Just to clarify, I'm not talking about the marshmallow fluffy ones that come in Easter baskets, though if you like those, they can be blown up in the microwave for a little extra peep fun; and I have an awesome peep cake recipe that I'd be happy to share.  

However, I am actually referring to the live peeps that are frequenting feed stores in our area at the moment, and rumor has it there were some peeps running amok in the Unionville Post Office.  Even if you do not have the space, or the time to deal with chickens, it is worth a visit to your local feed store to check them out.  If you decide to purchase them, I recommend the Aracana's (they lay green and blue eggs!) and Rhode Island Reds as my chickens of choice.  Both are very consistent egg layers.

On another note, there have been some sporadic Glossy Ibis sightings in the state of DE, and since beach season is almost upon us, you may be frequenting the state.  It pays to keep your eyes open for these neat shore birds.  This photograph is actually of a White Ibis, and it was taken in FL, but the body type is identical to the Glossy Ibis, the difference is the Glossy Ibis have dark brown/black coloration.  There have also been sporadic sightings of the White Ibis, so keep your eyes peeled!

Purple plant ID

Hepatica Americana or Round Lobed Hepatica blooms from mid-March through April.  This plant has hairy flower stalks that emerge from last year's burgundy-brown tinted leaves.   New leaves appear only after the flowers bloom. 

Light blue to lavender or white flowers are easy to find in the forest litter, 1 inch across, on 8-inch tall stalks. The flowers have numerous stamens, are without true petals, the petal-like 5-9 sepals surrounded by 3 bracts.  Round-lobed Hepatica grows in dry or moist upland woods.  

Interestingly the leaves were used for liver disease by early medical practitioners who subscribed to the practice that the shape of the plant would dictate what part of the body they were able to cure.  The liver-like shape of the leaves made hepatica a shoo-in to be used as a diuretic and as an astringent.   I can find no theory as to whether or not it worked. So, just a side note, if you want to practice any early settler medicine, note that the leaves are poisonous, so I would not overdose my patients. 

Blooming in Purple

I found this plant in bloom while walking along a road the other day.  This plant is one that is not necessarily rare, but I have not seen it very often.  

Do you happen to know what it is from the photos?  I even showed it to you in bloom with the flowers for easier identification.  The full reveal of the plant will be found tomorrow!