Mitella diphylla is a great little plant for the woodland garden. It prefers dappled sunlight during early spring, but likes shade when summer kicks in. A canopy of trees overhead will provide just that. The plant sends up stems covered in miniature white flowers. The flowers are starting to fade now, but the neatly mounded […]
Archive for the ‘Flora’ Category
Mitella diphylla (bishop’s cap)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on June 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Actaea rubra (red baneberry)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on June 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This is another poisonous beauty. I have already blogged about white baneberry. The two species have many similarities, and can easily be confused for one another. White baneberry has thicker stems. The red baneberry normally produces red fruit, but to complicate matters even more, I happen to have Actaea rubra neglecta in my woodland garden. […]
Iris cristata (dwarf crested iris)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Plant bio on June 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I observed this interesting little plant at the Brewster Museum of Natural History. It is native to the eastern United States, but will only be found south of the Wisconsinan glaciation spread (which occured some 11,000 years ago). Iris cristata spreads by rhizomes, so it could take a long time before it reclaims territory to […]
Waldsteinia fragarioides (barren strawberry)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on June 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Barren strawberry is native to the eastern provinces and states from Quebec all the way down to Georgia. The round and shiny leaves provide a beautiful groundcover, and you get the yellow flowers as an added bonus. This plant is easy to maintain and will do well in most soil types, and it can stand […]
Trientalis borealis (starflower)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Plant bio on June 2, 2011 | 2 Comments »
The woods on Cape Cod house this easily overlooked little spring beauty. Starflower does not form dense mats like bearberry, nor does it produce colorful berries. Also, the leaves are of a green similar to the surrounding grasses so you could be forgiven for missing this little plant altogether. The flowers and leaves disappear in […]
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Posted in Edible, Flora, Interesting, Plant bio on May 31, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Cinnamon fern is one of the larger ferns we have – I have a handful in the woodland garden, reaching over 4 feet in height. The plants are quite beautiful: The fertile fronds appear first as furry fiddleheads, ultimately becoming stiff, erect, and soon turn a chocolate brown color – very much like a stick […]
Geranium maculatum (spotted geranium)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on May 31, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This plant needs no introduction. Geranium maculatum does not look that different from the common garden geranium variety, but this species is native to eastern North America. It grows in dry to moist woods and purportedly can get abundant after a few years. I have only two of these plants, but I’ve seen them take […]
Baptisia australis (blue false indigo)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on May 31, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I acquired two of these plants and put them in different spots – the soil conditions are the same – sandy, somewhat dry. The plant that’s only getting dappled sunlight in the afternoon is actually flowering, while the one that gets steady light most of the day is not showing any sign of blooming. The […]
Maianthemum canadense (canada mayflower)
Posted in Edible, Flora, Plant bio on May 31, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
While I do not have canada mayflower in my yard, there are several patches on my street and alongside other streets abutting woods and woodlands. I noticed the leaves of these plants last fall, and thought I was dealing with lilly of the valley. An easy mistake to make, in fact: The other name for […]
Smilacina stellata (star flowered false solomon’s seal)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on May 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I added a couple of plants two years ago, and already this plant is exploring new territories in the woodland garden. It does not produce a dense growth, however, so it plays nice with the other plants (ferns and other assorted groundcovers) in that particular section. As the name states, this little false Solomon’s Seal […]