Native flora in early May

Jenkins Arboretum, Devon, Pennsylvania, legacy of H. Lawrence and Elisabeth Philippe Jenkins. 

 

Mt. Cuba Center, Hockessin, Delaware, legacy of the Lammot du Pont Copelands

 

 

A few of the trees and plants – native to the Appalachian Piedmont – which are in flower in the first two weeks of May.

 

 

 

The redbud begins to flower along bough and trunk in April.  By the second week of May its flowers have fallen and it is in full heart-shaped leaf in metropolitan Philadelphia.

 

Photo taken on the High Line, Lower Manhattan, on May 16, 2022 where it was, of course, still in flower.  Native flora have been planted the length of the High Line.

 

 

High LIne, NY on May 16, 2022

 

 

 

The flowers of a native dogwood (Cornus florida) were in bloom this year until the middle of May

 

 

 

 

A greenway through the naturalized gardens at Mt. Cuba Center

 

 

 

 

Creeping phlox and foam flowers

 

 

 

 

Native deciduous azalea

 

 

 

She said ‘Yes!’ sitting on a bench surrounded by native azalea at the Jenkins Arboretum. 

You wonder:  and now?

Then you remind yourself that there is no need for cynicism.  Not here, not here…..

 

 

 

Photo from the website of Mt. Cuba Center

Photo from the net

Devilwood, Wild Olive (Cartrema americanum)

 

 

 

Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris)

 

 

 

Fringed bluestar (Amsonia ciliata)

 

 

 

Atamasco lily (Zephyranthes atamasca)

 

 

 

Wild geranium (geranium maculatum)

 

 

 

Drooping leucothoe (Leucothoe fontanesiana)

 

 

 

Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia)

 

 

 

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Dwarf larkspur (Delphinium tricorne)

 

 

 

Turkey beard (Xerophyllum asphodeloides: a slow-growing lily) 

 

 

 

 

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Wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) fronting Jacob’s-Ladder  

 

 

 

 

The gardens at the Jenkins Arboretum slope down a wooded hill to a lake at the bottom. 

Among many varieties of native trees and plants, the Arboretum has a celebrated collection of native and non-native azaleas and rhododendrons.

 

 

 

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Jacob’s-Ladder (Polemonium reptans)

 

 

 

 

Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus). Fragrant leaves.

 

 

 

Purple and white Florida anise (Illicium floridanum). Fragrant, evergreen foliage

 

 

 

 

 

Rue-anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides)

 

 

 

Bishop’s cap (Mitella diphylla). 

Black seeds shown in their receptacles in the photo above from the website of Mt. Cuba Center

 

 

 

Wild bleeding heart

 

 

 

The immature flower of Fairy wand (Chamaelirium luteum)

 

 

 

2 of 4 bodies of water of different sizes at Mt. Cuba Center

 

 

 

May Apple beneath its double leaf and before the fruit has formed

 

 

 

 

Longwood purple American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens). 

The flower is unscented

 

 

 

 

in early April

Purple flame blue flag (Iris versicolor) growing on the edge of the largest body of water at Mt. Cuba Center

 

 

 

Large flower two-wing silver bell (Halesia diptera)

 

 

 

Verdant leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata) 

   

 

 

 

Large-flowered valerian (Valeriana pauciflora) with a swallow-tailed butterfly

 

 

 

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

 

 

 

 

Immature flower of Bottlebrush buckeye (?)

 

 

 

Shooting star (Dodecatheon)

 

 

 

Large yellow lady’s slipper (orchid: Cypripedium parviflorum)  

 

 

 

forms of False indigo (Baptisia)

 

 

 

 

Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera Sempervirens) 

Deciduous this far north

 

 

 

 

Golden ragwort: eye-catching even when it goes to seed in mid-May

 

 

 

 

American fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus). Fragrant.

Light enveloping sweetest fragrance.