First Native Wildflowers

Today is a partly sunny day, in the mid-60s. Yesterday, I found my first native spring wildflower.


Photo: March 25, 2008

I often miss the Spring Beauty flower but having seen the buds earlier, I looked for this tiny flower (about 1/2" across) in low-lying areas.

Today, I found the second wildflower....


Photo: March 26, 2008

This Toothwort may have been blooming yesterday. The flower is also very small, only about 1/2" across but is a little more noticeable than the Spring Beauty.

Why are early spring wildflowers white? I read an interesting theory about that once. The author suggested that the flower was shaped like a solar collector (or similar to a satellite dish) where the light is reflected to the center of the flower which is warmer than the outside air. White is the most reflecting color (bouncing more than 90% of the light to the center of the flower) so that might explain why all the early native wildlflowers are white. Thus, the early spring wildflower attracts insects for warmth and not so much nectar. But, the insect still helps pollinate the flowers.

Since Saturday (March 23), I have seen Spring Azure butterflies. These beautiful little blue butterflies are a sure sign of spring.



Finally, I saw this Mayapple poking thru the leaves--the first for this season. A couple of warm days and everything will be sprouting.

This is my favorite time of year!