What a Difference a Week Makes...Spring Flowers at Garbry Big Woods Sanctuary

Tom and I walked at Garbry on April 8 and again on April 15.   We saw two different forest floors.

On the eighth we looked and looked and were rewarded by finding a few Trout Lilies (Erythronium americanum) almost ready to bloom.

On the fifteenth the forest floor was sprinkled everywhere with the yellow flowers.

Another flower that was still in bud on April 8 was Dutchmen's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria).

And on the fifteenth, like the Trout Lily, its unusual blooms abounded throughout the woods.

We looked for Sessile Trillium (Trillium sessile) and found none blooming two Mondays ago.

But we found the red-purple flowers this past Monday.

One greenish Rue Anemone (Anemonella thalictroides) on the eighth...

and  clusters of them throughout the woods on the fifteenth.

Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) were just breaking through the leaves two Mondays  ago.

 But, on Monday, they were everywhere we looked.  Their unusual leaves made them exceptionally noticeable.

The Spice bush (Lindera benzoin)  buds were small yellow balls two Mondays ago.

And now they are big  fuzzy flowers.

The Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra) leaves were still protected by their covers on the eighth.

Now the leaves are opening and growing bigger each day.

Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) stems were up but the leaves were still unopened on the eighth.

And this past Monday, the leaves were opening and the flowers were open as well.

As new flowers open, some of the early ones disappear.  We didn't see any Harbinger-of-Spring.

There was still a sprinkling of Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)  On the eighth all were fresh and new.

And now there were as many Bloodroot whose petals had dropped as there were flowers still blooming.  Here, in one small spot we saw fallen petals of one and the full bloom of another.

We found new flowers...Bellwort...(Uvularia).  I'm not sure of the species.

Hispid Buttercup (Ranunculus hidpidlus)...Tom identified this from one of our wildflower field guides.

Yellow Violet...(Viola)  I don't know the species.

And a Large-flowered Trillium (Trollium grandiflorum) almost in bloom.