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

MY PHOTOGRAPHS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

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.

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.

MY PHOTOGRAPHS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

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

My photographs are available for purchase through https://elisecreate.wixsite.com/mysite

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.

 

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.

My photographs are available for purchase
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

MY PHOTOGRAPHS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

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.

Maple Sugar Houses Of Vermont

 Native Americans began the practice of Maple Sugaring long before Europeans arrived in North America. However, no one knows what tribe first discovered it. Maple sugaring is a deeply rooted farming tradition that has made Vermont the leading maple syrup producer in the United States. 

Sugaring the old fashioned way at the Russell Family Sugarhouse. 

Matt takes Jackson & Reba out to collect sap while sugaring. This Sugar House is over 150 years old. The tin on the roof of the older section on the right, was given to farmers and sugarers by the local newspaper when they were done using them for printing, many years ago.

Sugar House In Charlotte

Sugar House In Colchester

Sugar House In Grand Isle

Sugar House In Underhill

Sugar House In Fairfax

Sugar House In Huntington

Sugar House Mailbox

Sugar House In Milton

Sugar House In Stowe

Sugar House In Swanton

Sugar House In Westford

Sugar House In Westford

Sugar House In Westford

Sugar House In Westford

Sap Pails Hanging On A Maple Tree

My Favorite Sign

Seen in Palmer’s Sugarhouse

My photographs are available for purchase through https://elisecreate.wixsite.com/mysite

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.