Spring Beauties and Wild Leeks
My first wildflower photo of 2012 came as a bit of a surprise. The Carolina Spring Beauties – Claytonia caroliniana are about two weeks earlier than I’ve ever seen them.
The flowers are pretty enough to bring me to my knees.
The woods held a couple more surprises. Besides the spring beauties I also found wild leeks (ramps) and a number of garter snakes around the rock outcrop.
The leeks are nearly ready to harvest. I’ll be eating wild leek – potato soup early this year.
Anyone living in the Canton, NY area want some wild leeks? I’d be happy to pick extra.
Garter Snake – Thamnophis sirtalis
For some reason I don’t believe garter snakes got the name because women used them to hold up their stockings.
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March 24th, 2012 at 9:50 am
Love the snake close up. Your Spring Beauties have much fatter leaves than ours. Bring me to my knees as well.
March 24th, 2012 at 5:41 pm
Yikes, that’s the last thing you want clinging to your leg! That claytonia is incredible. Apparently it can grow in our area but I’ve never seen the likes of it.
March 25th, 2012 at 3:46 am
I haven’t seen any spring beauties yet, which is odd because the bloodroot is blooming. Maybe I haven’t seen them because I have not got out into the woods yet, although I usually have some in my wild garden (actually the filled in cellar hole of the old summer kitchen).
Do not love the snake closeup. Nothing personal, just a serious case of snakephobia.
March 26th, 2012 at 2:18 pm
I’ll have to start watching for garter snakes here. I saw a lot of them at my place last fall when I got here.
April 12th, 2012 at 10:44 pm
how do u post pix on this website?
June 15th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
i started out calling “blue-eyed grass”…” bluets”…for years. thanks for straightening me out. also you have a “dream come true” site. so much stuff i needed to know for identification and nowhere or no one to help. e.g. i needed to be sure that “garlic-mustard” is what i thought (only thought) it to be as… Did you know that this pest is edible? Wash or clean leaves, cover lightly with olive oil, bake at 400 degrees for a few minutes and eat like potato chips.
also, i took pictures of fungi (i guess) that is wirey and purple. looks like the picture of the yellow one you show under “unidentified”. would love to know what it is.
i live in rockland county,n. y. and only want to do gardening and identifying wild plants. are we kindred spirits? lovely house and landscaping.
norma assante
January 8th, 2013 at 1:09 pm
I love your pics, I take some myself. Especially love taking fungus and mushroom pics and identifying them later. Most people don’t take time to really look at the world close up or appreciate it. Thank you for putting beautiful pictures out there.