The Best of Spring

"No winter lasts forever. No spring skips its turn. April is a promise that May is bound to keep. And we know it.”

Hal Borland’s memorable quote is understandable for a man born in Nebraska and who lived most of his adult life in New England. Here in Georgia, his April begins in mid-February. Now I start walking in my garden each day to see if any spring ephemerals have burst through the earth. The daffodils are already putting on a pretty respectable show and by March, I will have Trout lilies (Erythronium americanum), Toadshade trillium (T. sessile), and Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) blooming.

What do I mean by spring ephemeral? A purist would tell you that spring blooming herbaceous plants such as bloodroot, jack-in-the pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) and most of the genus Trillium don’t qualify. While they bloom around the same time as true spring ephemerals, these pretenders retain leaves and ripen fruit well after the forest leaf canopy closes off sunlight to the ground.

Spring ephemerals then are early plants that complete their annual cycle in the space of a few weeks – typically six to eight. Thriving on the sunlight available before the over and understory trees and shrubs leaf out, they emerge, grow leaves, flower, are pollinated and drop seed, then go dormant in rapid succession. Interestingly these plants are rarely annuals, but rather perennial plants that return year after year. Many attract ants, which disperse their seeds.

It is likely that your grandmother called these plants wildflowers, and many still use this term however, it is ambiguous at best. Some think of wildflowers as these spring ephemerals while others apply the word to any plant that grows wild. Today we prefer to differentiate between native species that were naturally occurring in the area prior to European colonization, and exotic or introduced species. Further, we designate some plants are invasive species meaning that they out-compete other plants. Naturalized plants are those that have been introduced to an area, but are now considered by the public as native (Honeysuckle Lonicera japonica and Mimosa Albizia julibrissin) are a good example of this confusion here in the south. But I digress.

Though spring ephemerals bloom earliest here in the south, those of you from northern climates will see many of the same plants in April and May. One of my personal favorites is the Trout lily (Erythronium americanum). Tomorrow I will post a profile of this wonderful plant.

All photos for this article were obtained through Forestry Images, a joint project of the University of Georgia and the USDA Forest Service. Please consider joining. It’s Free! And, you can help a great free online resource for plant images grow and evolve.