The Spring Ephemerals Are Awake!

The soil had barely warmed up before they pushed out and began to unfurl their leaves and buds. 

 leaves trap warm air to protect the buds from spring cold snaps

 Such remarkable and fragile beauties. Ephemerals emerge early each spring, taking advantage of the rich, moist soil and full sunlight streaming through the bare branches of the deciduous trees. In the short period of time before the tree canopy emerges and blocks the sunlight they must grow, leaf-out, flower, be pollinated, produce seeds and die back (retreat underground).

the earliest to bloom are closer to the warm soil

The earliest to bloom in my garden are Cut-leaved toothwort/Cardamine concatenata, Hepatica and Spring Beauties/Claytonia virginica. They're just what this gardener needed to remind me that even though it's been cold and gray that spring is on the way.(Spring Beauty post)

These are flowers that one never has to worry will be nipped by the vagaries of our spring weather! They grow very low to the sun warmed soil and they often have either hairy leaves/stems or leaves that wrap around the emerging buds that trap warm air and keep them from freezing.

Isn't nature amazing!

dense hairs trap heat and protect the blooms

I don't mind crawling around on my hands and knees to look into those pretty faces.

they are visited by all kinds of critters

Of course, they're more than just a pretty face!

They're a vital food source for pollinators at a time when there is little food available. They are visited by many different critters, including honeybees, bumbles, carpenter bees, flies, beetles and their seeds are a primary food for ants. (Ants have a special relationship with the seeds of ephemerals, but, I'll save that story for another time!)

If you're like me and want to help pollinators get a good start in spring, then plant more spring ephemerals in your woodland garden. Please don't dig them them from the wild and be sure any you purchase are certified nursery grown!


The pollinators and other beneficial insects will thank you by making a home in your garden.
xoxogail

PS It bears repeating...If you want a happy and healthy garden with lots of insect visitors then never, ever, ever, ever use pesticides and be careful which flowers you bring home. You want to make sure they haven't been pre-treated with any pesticides that might harm your pollinators.


 Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: A Side Of Mustard

Cardamine diphylla

I am just now starting to enjoy the condiment mustard, but, I have loved the mustard family of plants for a very long time. It's also known as the cabbage family, crucifers and officially as Brassicaceae. It's an economically important family that includes --cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and kale.  

But, this post isn't about vegetables, it's about one of my favorite spring blooming mustards~the toothwort! Which by the way, is completely edible!

Cutleaf toothwort's terminal clustered flowers are white, pink, or pale purple.

I love toothworts.

Cutleaf toothwort was the first wildflower to catch my eye the spring after we moved here. It was a very busy time in my life, I had a pre-schooler and a growing therapy practice but, there was always time to explore a new garden on a warm spring morning. I recall being completely charmed by the nodding bell flowers that grew here and there on the weedy lawn. They imprinted on my heart and every spring my winter tired spirit soars when I see the budding flowers.

It plays well with other wildflowers

Of the four toothworts  found in Tennessee, the cutleaf toothwort is the happiest in my garden.  It has formed small colonies and usually begins blooming in late February here in my Zone7 garden, elsewhere in it's native range (Eastern US and parts of southern Canada) it might not appear until April.  It prefers moist forested woodlands with lots of decaying leaves and dappled sunlight. It plays well with other spring ephemerals and quietly disappears by early summer leaving space for summer blooming plants to do their thing.

Taxonomist, here after known as those who are often ignored, have merged the toothworts into the genus Cardamine (Bitter Cress), so now, the scientific name of Cutleaf Toothwort is Cardamine concatenata. Another name change that I drag my feet on~Dentaria flows off the tongue much easier...and makes sense when you consider that the dens in the name refers directly to the many tooth like characteristic of this wildflower.  In fact, the name toothwort refers to the plant’s toothed, or scaly, rootstock. 

But, Cardamine it is!

Showy flowers have ultra-violet nectar guides to attract pollinators

Since spring ephemerals bloom very early they have had to adapt to the vagaries of weather and pollinator activity, consequently, toothworts in particular have adapted to attract a variety of pollinators. They are nectar producers and are visited by honey bees, bumblebees, Mason bees, Cuckoo bees (Nomadine), Miner bees, Halictid bees, and Andrenid bees. Less often, the nectar of the flowers attracts early spring butterflies and Bombylius major (Giant Bee Fly). Short-tongued bees also collect pollen from the flowers. (source). In a warm year they might even be visited by Spring Azure butterfly.

the name crucifer is in reference to the suggestion of a cross (crucifix) shape formed by the 4 spreading petals.

This has not been a warm year! Pollinators haven't been out and about very often. Not to worry, this clever plant has several non-showy flowers that can self-pollinate.

Don't you think nature is amazing! We must do more to take care of it.
xoxogail 

Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. WW is about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not; and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers. Please leave a comment when you add your url to Mr Linky. 


Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Clay and Limestone's Season Openers

The season is starting to heat up and the earliest of the native plants are blooming.

Dentaria laciniata/Cardamine concatenata, also known as Cutleaf Toothwort is our opening act.  It's one of my favorite of the Spring Ephemerals that grace this garden starting in late February.

 Like many early blooming spring wildflowers this one is low to the ground (and you can count on getting dirty knees trying to take a decent photo).  While you're crawling around you might notice their sweet fragrance.  It's especially noticeable on sunny warm days.  The pollinators appreciate their scent; look for honey bees, bumblebees, Mason bees, Cuckoo bees, Miner bees, Halictid bees, and Andrenid bees which are attracted to its nectar.

My favorite Toothwort photo from a past season

This is a common plant in Middle Tennessee and if you have one plant, you will soon have more. It spreads by rhizome and seed. But, don't be afraid, it's an ephemeral and will disappear after setting seed.

Claytonia virginica is also in bloom all over the neighborhood.  It blankets neighboring lawns for almost a month and makes me green with envy!  I am working hard to add this pretty to the garden and I am happy to say~it's working.  It prefers dappled sunlight with rich loamy soil.  

It looks fantastic in lawns and if you can delay mowing and let it go to seed you won't ever be sorry.

False Rue Anemone

The anemones are also opening.  Enemion biternatum blooms first and produces a beautiful leafy mat with a few scattered flowers and prefers partial sun, slightly moist, rich loamy soil with abundant leaf mould.

Such a pretty face.  You can totally understand why I don't mind crawling around on the ground to see them!

xxoogail

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone." She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.