WiseAcre Gardens

White, baby blue and pale lavender flowers are scattered throughout the woods around me. The wild Hepatica have been blooming for a week now in the Town of Canton (NY). Spring Beauty is often found side by side with the native Hepatica and the early spring display is most welcome.

Hepatica Americana As the common name implies – the leaves are rounded. There is another Hepatica (H. acutiloba) with pointed leaves that may at times have 5 to 7 lobes. Hepatica is found in the drier areas of the wet/moist woods in my area. This is mainly an eastern wildflower but it’s range extends as far south as Florida. On the western front lay Alabama, Missouri and Minnesota. In Canada it can be found from Manitoba to Nova Scotia.

If you wear bi-focals like me then bringing home a photo for a closer look at the flowers is necessary in order to get a good look at them.

A photo will also let you get a close look at the new leaf growth. Looking at them you might never guess they are actually leaves. The plant is hairy and the new leaf shoots especially so.

Mother Nature had a 3 for one special for me today. All in one spot there were Blue Cohosh sprouts, a budding Trillium and Blooming Hepatica.

The moss being a lower life form was not invited but crashed the party anyway.

• Wildflowers
• Comments(10)

10 Responses

1. Lisa Says:
   April 24th, 2009 at 6:25 pm

   I hope my round-lobed hepatica will bloom soon! It has been wandering nicely for me too, with babies coming up in several spots near the mama.

   Lisa,
   Make sure you get a pic. I’ll want to see your grand-babies.

2. RainGardener Says:
   April 24th, 2009 at 8:34 pm

   I love your flowers and the pictures you took of them are wonderful. That one looks like you’re hiding little ponies in there with just their tails hanging out.
   Thanks for stopping by and seeing me today. Love the comment about your wife’s feet!

   RainGardener,
   I like that – My little ponies only showing their tails

   Ya, they come in handy during the summer when I want a cold beer and none are in the fridge.

3. Monica Says:
   April 24th, 2009 at 10:09 pm

   Noogie! Noogie! Noog! I love hepatica and have the round-lobed one blooming. I also planted a sharp-leaved one but it’s nowhere to be found. Your photos are much sharper than mine, but mine’s just as cute IRL! I also have ONE trillium, which I don’t recall planting, but must have done.

   Monica,
   Did you look under the bed?

   That’s a nice little clump you have there. The largest group I’ve seen in the wild only consisted of 3.

4. Ratty Says:
   April 24th, 2009 at 10:29 pm

   I never paid much attention to flowers before seeing your pictures. Now, I always try to get a closeup look at them. The ones you have here are good examples of how interesting they really are so close up.

   Ratty,
   Good. I hope you get hooked, have to buy a better camera and wander around in the woods looking little pretties.

5. Tatyana Says:
   April 24th, 2009 at 10:32 pm

   Never heard of this plant. It sounds like it doesn’t grow in WA. Need to check. Images are beautiful. Thank you!

   Tatyana,
   Sorry this is one wildflower that stops about one state west of the Mississippi. I believe you can find some Hepatica varieties available at native plant nurseries.

6. betchai Says:
   April 25th, 2009 at 1:20 am

   wow, very lovely and delicate flowers, your pictures are really lovely. now i know one more flower, hepatica, thanks a lot.

   betchai,
   I hope you get a chance to see it in person. Someday maybe you can travel east and see the sights.

7. rainfield Says:
   April 25th, 2009 at 8:56 am

   Your flowers are beautiful but I vote for the funny hairy things this time. They are cute.

   rainfield,
   They ‘make’ the plant for me. That unique little detail makes it so much more interesting. I liked the comparison to pony tails made by RainGardener. She doesn’t know how close she came to describing the back of my head.

8. sharkbytes Says:
   April 26th, 2009 at 12:22 am

   I see this occasionally here, but more often in Ohio and Indiana, and east.

   sharkbytes,
   Enjoy it where ever you may find it.

9. jodi (bloomingwriter) Says:
   April 26th, 2009 at 8:28 am

   Reading backwards, as always here! I love hepatica, which are all but extirpated from the woods of my province. I have a nice clump because I ordered it years ago from a nursery that grew natives from seed. It’s not yet blooming, but in a few days its cool blue flowers will make me glad to see it.

   We have claytonia, red trillium, dentaria and Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchmans breeches) yet to flower in the woods around here. I have some of them in my shade garden, along with bloodroot, mayapple and ferns. It’s a very soothing part of the garden. I just wish they’d hang around longer, the ephemera types. Maybe we wouldn’t cherish them as much then, though.

   jodi,
   Do you know what’s causing it to vanish? I hate to think it’s a forewarning for other areas. I’m glad to know at least some survive in your garden (ready to escape I hope) We have all the natives you mentioned – I just need to expand my hunting grounds a bit to cover them.

   I think of ephemerals as being polite. They move aside so we can appreciate those that follow.

10. Alice Joyce Says:
    April 26th, 2009 at 7:55 pm

    On another note, I adore C. tangutica (Radar Love!), and would you believe, I grew it in successfully and beautifully in the frigid winter/Chicago garden, twining through David Austin’s Graham Thomas rose. But, 3, count them….. 3 died in my California garden. Why???

    Alice,
    I wonder if they want some cold. They tolerate very dry conditions and in fact I had one survive in a gallon pot for 2 years that never got watered or winter protected. That one finally made it to the ground by my garage but sadly it might be – no more – after a roof job and getting trampled. I’m waiting and hoping to see some life in it yet but I’m not holding my breath.

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