Spring beauty (Claytonia virginica). Photo by Litzsinger Road Ecology Center.
We wait for them patiently. When we see the first ones poking through the mottled brown, leaf-litter forest floor, we get kind of nerdy (some of us more than others—you know who you are). We stoop as low as we can go to get the closest, most intimate look possible, perhaps for that perfect shot, or simply to marvel at the micro-details of flowers and forms. We know their delicate blooms are short-lived, strategically capturing the first warming rays of sun shining through a still-leafless canopy above. Happening upon them in places where they’re growing naturally is like spotting tossed jewels that spilled out of a treasure chest. It really is magical.
These are the opening acts of spring—the woodland wildflowers. The lessons they teach us are timeless. Find a place and community to flourish. Be strategic. Grab the light when you can. You can be strong and sensitive at the same time. Life is short—be brilliant, but not obnoxious. It is hard for us to pick a single favorite among our local star-studded cast; we applaud and welcome them all back this month before they exit stage left in May: The delicate white and pale pink blooms of hepatica (
Hepatica acutiloba), bloodroot (
Sanguinaria canadensis), and spring beauty (
Claytonia virginica). The more colorful celandine poppy (
Stylophorum diphyllum), Virginia bluebell (
Mertensia virginica), phloxes, and violets. The enchanting Jacob’s ladder (
Polemonium reptans) and yellow lady slipper orchids (
Cypripedium calceolus). We are deeply in love with them all.
To do: Join Heartlands Conservancy and SIUE biology faculty for a
Wildflower Walk in Bohm Woods Nature Reserve, the only remaining old growth forest in Madison County.
To do, if you want to get in touch with your inner nature nerd: Register for a class. Specifically,
Wildflower Identification and Ecology at Shaw Nature Reserve. We promise you’ll feel smarter and cooler afterwards.
To do, if you’re up for a day trip: Visit this month’s “Let’s Map It” feature site—
Meramec State Park. Wildflowers abound here for many reasons, among them the fact that this park and others like it are managed with prescribed fire, a tactic that enables native plant populations, including wildflowers, to flourish.