Dandelions & Forget Me Nots

 

Forget Me Nots & A Dandelion. 

Happy National Wildflower Week!

Forget-me-not, Myosotis sylvatica. The word "Myosotis" in the species name comes from Greek words meaning "mouse ear."

Wet Forget Me Nots

Wet Forget Me Nots

White & Blue Forget Me Nots

Forget Me Nots & Dandelions

Dandelions

Taraxacum are one of the first foods for native bees in spring. Before the invention of lawns, people praised dandelions as a bounty of food, medicine and magic. Gardeners often weeded out the grass to make room for the dandelions. But somewhere in the twentieth century, humans decided that the dandelion was a weed. Dandelions are good for your lawn. Their roots loosen hard-packed soil, aerate the earth and help reduce erosion. The deep taproot pulls nutrients such as calcium from deep in the soil and makes them available to other plants. While most think they’re a lawn killer, dandelions actually fertilize the grass.

For millenniums, people have been using dandelion tonics to help the liver remove toxins from the bloodstream and as a gentle diuretic that provides nutrients and helps the digestive system. Dandelions are actually more nutritious than most of the vegetables in your garden. The flowers, leaves, & roots can be used as food and medicine. The flowers can be used to make wine. Dried or roasted roots can be used as a no-caffeine coffee substitute.

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Disclaimer

My blog is meant to inform and I strive to be totally accurate. It is solely up to the reader to ensure proper plant identification. Some wild plants are poisonous or can have serious adverse health effects.

Tulip Delight

 Tulips

One of my favorite signs of spring, and they come in so many colors. The tulip is a member of the Liliaceae (lily) family. Tulips actually came from the Central Asia where they grew wild over a great territory in Asia Minor through Siberia to China. Turkish growers first cultivated and hybridized tulips as early as 1,000 AD., and Historically, Europe considered Tulips as the symbol of the Ottoman Empire. There are now over 3,000 different registered varieties of cultivated Tulips. Every year billions of Tulips are cultivated, a majority of which are grown and exported from Holland.

  Tulips

  Tulips

 Tulips

Fringed Tulip

I love this lavender colored tulip.

As a member of the Lily family, Tulips are edible but not particularly medicinal. The same flowers that were valued so highly by the Dutch in the 1600s became emergency food rations for the country during World War II because the starchy bulb provides a surprising amount of calories. The petals are also edible, leading to dishes with stuffed Tulip blossoms.

Red

Tulips With Mini Daffodils

Unusual Color Combos

My New Favorite Color Of Tulip

Unusual Stripes

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© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY ELISE T. MARKS. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS IMAGE ON WEBSITES, BLOGS OR ANY OTHER MEDIA WITHOUT MY EXPLICIT WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Trilliums

Trilliums 

Spring Woodland Flowers. 

Four types of trilliums grow in Vermont; White trillium, Painted trillium, Nodding trillium, and Red Trillium. It takes 2 years for a trillium seed to send out its first leaf. Trillium seeds are primarily dispersed by Ants. Maroon trillium goes by many names, like Wake-robin or Stinking Benjamin.

Never pick a Trillium!
Here's why...
1. It takes 9 years after germination for a trillium to flower. 
2. Each flower yields only ONE seed pod each year. 
3. Each plant can live up to 25 years, and gains all of its nourishment for the remainder of the year during the spring when its leaves are present. 
4. Trillium are propagated by ANTS. Not bees, the wind or birds. The seeds are covered by a sweet coating, which entices the ants to carry seeds underground into their colonies. After eating the coating, the seed germinates in the perfect subterranean environment. 
Every trillium in the forest is essentially a miracle.

Red Trillium

Red Trillium

Red Trillium

White Trillium

White Trilliums 

& a Trout Lily

Red Trillium

Red Trillium

A rare mauve pink Trillium

This is what it looked like when getting ready to open.

Uniquely Pink Trillium
Did you know that Four types of trilliums grow in Vermont; White trillium, Painted trillium, Nodding trillium, and Red Trillium. It takes 2 years for a trillium seed to send out its first leaf. Trillium seeds are primarily dispersed by Ants. This one is an unusual color and may be a hybrid, since it looks like a combo of a white and a red trillium, and it's color is mottled. This is the only one I've seen like this. I found This in Essex, Vermont

Red Trillium

I love how this one has it’s own cool shadow.

THANKS FOR YOUR VISITS, FAVS AND COMMENTS. AS ALWAYS, APPRECIATED VERY MUCH!

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY ELISE T. MARKS. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS IMAGE ON WEBSITES, BLOGS OR ANY OTHER MEDIA WITHOUT MY EXPLICIT WRITTEN PERMISSION.

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Happy Earth Day!

Magic In The Forest. This is one of my favorite places on the planet, along the North Western Slope Of Camels Hump, Preston Brook.

And

Honey Hollow

Wandering in the woods photographing nature is my favorite way to celebrate the earth. 

View At The Top
North Western Slope Of Camels Hump

Happy Earth Day!

From Milton Woods.

THANKS FOR YOUR VISITS, FAVS AND COMMENTS. AS ALWAYS, APPRECIATED VERY MUCH!  © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY ELISE T. MARKS. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS IMAGE ON WEBSITES, BLOGS OR ANY OTHER MEDIA WITHOUT MY EXPLICIT WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Shelburne Farms

                                Spring Lambs At Shelburne Farms

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Spring Wildlife 2025

 

Deer Are So Beautiful. 

I'm so glad they let me get close enough for this.

A Pair Of Mallard Ducks

Hanging out with the frogs.

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Thanks for your visits, favs and comments. As always, appreciated very much!
© all rights reserved by Elise T. Marks. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.

Jack In The Pulpit

Jack-in-the pulpit

 Jack In The Pulpit

  Jack In The Pulpit

  Jack In The Pulpit

  Jack In The Pulpit

Jack In The Pulpit

 Jack In The Pulpit

Arisaema triphyllum

(jack-in-the-pulpit, bog onion, brown dragon, Indian turnip, American wake robin, or wild turnip)

It is native to eastern North America, occurring in moist woodlands and thickets.

Also commonly called Indian turnip, it's a shade requiring species found in rich, moist, deciduous woods and floodplains and is a long lived perennial (25+ years).

Jack-in-the pulpit is pollinated by small flies and flowers from March through June depending on locale. The flower is an unusual green and maroon striped spathe surrounding a fleshy, maroon-colored spadix that bears the tiny, embedded flowers. In the fall, bright red berries appear, which have the consistency of a ripe tomato, and are an attractive food source for birds such as thrushes, rodents, etc. Each berry contains 1 to 5 seeds. 

While Jack-in-the-pulpit has both male and female plants, they can change gender from year to year, apparently in response to successful (or failed) reproduction the previous year. Males resprout from an underground corm that can last several seasons, the corm sending off shoots and producing new plants as well. Males tend to be smaller than females and have a small hole at the bottom of the spathe which allows pollinators to escape (with their pollen) more easily. Female plants lack the hole and pollinators are more likely to become trapped, better ensuring successful pollination.

Consumption of the raw plant material results in a powerful burning sensation. It can cause irritation of the mouth and digestive system, and on rare occasions the swelling of the mouth and throat may be severe enough to affect breathing. Leaves and fruits contain calcium oxalate that can irritate the skin so it is important to wear gloves when handling.

If the plant is properly dried or cooked it can be eaten as a root vegetable.

Preparations of the root were used by Native Americans as a treatment for sore eyes, to treat rheumatism, bronchitis, and snakebites, as well as to induce sterility.

Jack In The Pulpit Berries

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THANKS FOR YOUR VISITS, FAVS AND COMMENTS. AS ALWAYS, APPRECIATED VERY MUCH!

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY ELISE T. MARKS. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS IMAGE ON WEBSITES, BLOGS OR ANY OTHER MEDIA WITHOUT MY EXPLICIT WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Disclaimer

My blog is meant to inform and I strive to be totally accurate. It is solely up to the reader to ensure proper plant identification. Some wild plants are poisonous or can have serious adverse health effects.