My Facebook feed is full of bloodroot right now. Sanguinaria canadensis. Bloodroot is the first big, splashy native ephemeral, and thus popular among macro-lensed flower nerds compelled to document signs of spring.
Ephemeral means it isn’t splashy for long, so I dashed to Warner Park Nature Center today to get my bloodroot fix. Continue reading “Bloodroots (are doin’ it for themselves)”
Before I began to Look Around (see what I did there?), the only clue winter was waning was this:
Daffodils are still pure cheer, but they aren’t the only yard flower to signal spring. Continue reading “First Flowers”
I post pics of my volunteer Passionvine every year. (Passiflora incarnata.) I’ve talked about the extravagant exoticism of this native flower,
the Christian symbolism devised by early missionaries,
the fact that it is Tennessee’s official state wildflower,
that it is the host plant for Gulf Fritillary butterflies,
and that the wrinkly yellow fruit is delish.
But I’ve just learned something new: the flowers are smart. Continue reading “Passionvine Family Planning”
SIDEWALK NATURE 