A Preview of Coming Attractions

My blog friend, Nature Girl (www.adknaturalist.blogspot.com), drove down from Newcomb today to tromp with me through some of my haunts.  Spring up there in the Adirondacks is at least a couple of weeks behind Saratoga, so she was growing hungry for an eyeful of spring ephemerals.  And boy, are they coming fast!  And disappearing just as fast too, what with this crazy summer-like heat.  Ninety degrees again today.  And no rain.  I hope this is not a pattern.  At any rate, we saw lots of flowers  on a walk through Skidmore woods, including several Nature Girl said were firsts for her.  I hope they were some consolation for the Trout Lilies being mostly spent.  Believe it or not, the Bloodroot was still glorious, and a few Hepatica were still holding on.

Shadblow 

The Shadblow trees opened their buds today, showing drifts of white against the blue sky.  Down on the ground, the Large-flowered Trilliums opened their snow-white blooms by the dozen, and tiny Dwarf Ginseng peeked up from among the leaf litter.  Two more violets -- Downy Yellow (Viola pubescens) and Long-spurred (V. rostrata) -- made their appearance.

Large-flowered Trillium, white at first, turns pale pink as it matures

And so did Large-flowered Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora), which joined its smaller cousin, Sessile-leaved Bellwort (U. sessilifolia), sometimes called Wild Oats.  Usually, Sessile precedes Large-flowered by at least a week, but this super hot weather seems to be forcing both to bloom at once. 

Large-flowered Bellwort

As we left the woods to walk back to our car, we passed this lovely patch of Wood Anemone (Anemone quinquefolia),  also called Windflower.  A parting gift from the woods to my visiting friend.  I hope Nature Girl enjoyed her preview of what will be blooming up north.  In the weeks to come, she will get to visit these flowers all over again.

Wood Anemone, also called Windflower