What's in Bloom?

Sunday on the way back from town Larry and I took pictures of the wildflowers in bloom along Joe's Run. This isn't all of them, of course--there are many others, but these are what caught our eyes:


Rue Anemone is a small but brightly white flower often found growing in rocky areas and roadside banks. I just like its name. Why rue? To rue something means to regret it. And there is nothing to regret about this pristine little beauty. Although you can't see it in the photo, the center of this flower is green.

Long-spurred violets. Can you see the long spurs sticking out the back of the flowers? These are very pretty, with light blue petals and dark purple centers.
Spring beauties. I love the delicate stripes of pink radiating from the center. This flower is so small that unless you're looking for them, you'd overlook a patch of spring beauties. Once you've seen them, though, you will look for them every year. Their color varies from almost white to pink. This specimen was particularly colorful. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden says the tubers of spring beauties are edible, but I've never tried them.

White Trillium, or Trillium Grandiflorum, one of my favorite wildflowers. Along Joe's Run is this bank of trilliums:
It is breathtaking at this time of year, a mass of white and green. My photo doesn't do it justice. We take that way home every day while the trilliums are in bloom. Folklore has it that trilliums bloom about the same time the robins come back in the Spring, which is why a common name for another (usually red) member of the trillium family is wakerobin.

These next two photos were taken around April 18, 2008. I was curious as to how this Spring compared to last as far as things in bloom, etc. Here's what I found:
Black Swallowtails were in abundance on the lilacs. While the lilacs are blooming, I've seen only a few butterflies so far and no black swallowtails.

The pear tree was in bloom and the tiger swallowtails were also numerous. I loved watching this one literally tearing into the blossoms--I could hear it working and bits of the flower fell off as the butterfly dove in. I had never observed a butterfly so closely before and I was amazed at its industry.

This year the pear tree bloomed several weeks ago, not necessarily a good thing because blossom and fruit are more susceptible to frosts and freezes if they bloom early. I've seen a few tiger swallowtails, but not nearly as many as last year.