Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. Rachael Carson
I love Rachael Carson's comment. Nothing seems more welcome to me than those very first glimpses of flowers pushing their way through last autumn's leaves. Uplifting and comforting, Nature shows us the infinite greatness of the Creation and the value of all life. When we learn to appreciate this, humans seem very small in this grand order and overwhelmingly destructive.
The spring anemones
This is a rue anemone (Anemonella thalictroides) whose name is from the Greek word for "wind" because the flower was believed to bloom when the wind blows. It was used by the herbalists for everything from headaches to leprosy. The anemones are members of the Buttercup family, and worldwide there are some 85 species with about 25 found in North America.
Jack Sanders in his book "The Secrets of Wildflowers" says that the Romans would pick the first anemone of spring and say a prayer that it would protect them from fevers while the Crusaders are said to have returned with the poppy anemone, a red and white flower that was believed to have sprung from Christ's blood. Some even believed that this anemone was the "lilies of field" mentioned in the Bible. Egyptians, on the other hand, believed them to be a symbol of sickness, and the Chinese called them the flowers of death.
The flowers below are light pink, which according to some sources, occurs if the blooms are among the earliest. The leaves of Dutchman's Breeches may be seen in the lower right hand corner while the heart-shaped leaves of wild ginger are at the bottom center.
To determine the difference between the rue anemone (Anemonella thalictroides) and the false rue anemone (Enemion biternatum), you have to count the number of sepals. Even though they look like petals, in this case they are actually sepals that are neither green nor leaf-life.
This is a true rue anemone because there are more than five of these white sepals.
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The plants have either pointed (Hepatica acutiloba) or round (Hepatica americana) leaves. The pointed ones are called "sharp-lobed". The sharp-lobed leaf can be seen in the bottom left corner of the picture. Because its leaves are lobe-shaped, it is associated with the liver and was used by some Native Americans to treat liver disorders. Some of its common names are liverleaf, liverwort, and squirrel cup. It can be white, pink or purple in the color of the bloom.
Jack Sanders in his book "The Secrets of Wildflowers" says that the Romans would pick the first anemone of spring and say a prayer that it would protect them from fevers while the Crusaders are said to have returned with the poppy anemone, a red and white flower that was believed to have sprung from Christ's blood. Some even believed that this anemone was the "lilies of field" mentioned in the Bible. Egyptians, on the other hand, believed them to be a symbol of sickness, and the Chinese called them the flowers of death.
The flowers below are light pink, which according to some sources, occurs if the blooms are among the earliest. The leaves of Dutchman's Breeches may be seen in the lower right hand corner while the heart-shaped leaves of wild ginger are at the bottom center.
To determine the difference between the rue anemone (Anemonella thalictroides) and the false rue anemone (Enemion biternatum), you have to count the number of sepals. Even though they look like petals, in this case they are actually sepals that are neither green nor leaf-life.
This is a true rue anemone because there are more than five of these white sepals.
Even though the leaves are very similar in shape, this is a false rue anemone because there are only five of the white sepals. Both plants are members of the buttercup family.
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This plant is a wood anemone (Anemone quinquefolia). It also has five sepals like the false rue anemone but its leaves are very different. The leaflets are divided into three to five parts.
Jack Sanders says in the earlier mentioned title that the anemones should be established in a garden through the use of seeds collected in the spring. Anemone seeds should be planted in the spring and rue anemone in the fall.
The Hepaticas
Also in the buttercup family, these delicate flowers are among the very earliest of the spring flowers. Their leaves are green throughout the winter and give the plant a head start on blooming. The flowers appear so early that there are few agents for pollination, and it can self-fertilize. The hepatica's leaves and stems have tiny hairs.
The plants have either pointed (Hepatica acutiloba) or round (Hepatica americana) leaves. The pointed ones are called "sharp-lobed". The sharp-lobed leaf can be seen in the bottom left corner of the picture. Because its leaves are lobe-shaped, it is associated with the liver and was used by some Native Americans to treat liver disorders. Some of its common names are liverleaf, liverwort, and squirrel cup. It can be white, pink or purple in the color of the bloom.
After a long, cold winter, Ralph Waldo Emerson probably said it best
when he wrote:
Earth laughs in flowers.
