Monday morning I went hiking with my cousin the professional photographer and had a great time playing with the new macro lens.  But as I feared, the season is really compressed.  Twinleaf was completely done flowering, only four days after full bloom.  Trout lilies were waning, and so were the early toothworts.  But so many other plants were just going crazy, as if they knew they had to make up for lost time.  I found twelve more species blooming!

On Tuesday, temperatures fell all day and the rain turned to sleet Tuesday night.  Today’s high should be in the 50s.  Who knows what I’ll find out there…

Meanwhile, here’s a picture of spring avens (Geum vernum), an unassuming little blossom, first of the rose family to bloom in this area:

Viola species; Violaceae (violet family)

There are at least a dozen different species of violets in this area.  I’ve found three so far.

Here’s common blue violet (V. sororia):

The next one is the same species; they are known to be either solid blue or white with blue markings:

And here’s round leaved violet (V. rotundifolia):

And here’s downy yellow violet (V. pubescens):

You can’t see the telltale differences without zooming in on the pictures, but round-leaved violet has only basal leaves, and downy yellow has stem leaves (and fine hairs).

Some of the wildflowers I see are quite striking and eye-catching, some are dainty and delicate, all are interesting in their way… but not all are welcome. Since mid-March this year I’ve spotted 31 species of wildflowers in 17 different families.  Of these, 8 were exotic invasives.  Some you’ll know as common garden weeds.  Others you’ll know as common garden ornamentals.

Here are a few.

grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum):

red dead nettle (Lamium purpureum):

gill-over-the-ground, aka ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea):

ivy-leaved speedwell (Veronica hederifolia):

lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria):

Thalictrum thalictroides; Ranunculaceae (buttercup family)

mug shot.

This delicate flower is easily overlooked, especially with all the spring beauties in bloom.  I found this single plant and know of one other area where they’re widespread.  Need to get out and look for more.

Claytonia virginica; Portulacaceae

Spring beauties, one of the earliest flowers to emerge,

are in full bloom by the millions (no exaggeration) in the Carderock-Great Falls area.  Generally they bear five petals, but I’ve seen six to seven petals, too. 

The plants can be found singly or in large clumps

The color ranges from almost pure white,

to white with pink spots, to white with pink stripes, 

to pink and dark pink, with pink stripes. 

I love them even if they’re ubiquitous.