5 hours Ago By Judy Isacoff
Looking up to treetops suffused with clusters of burgundy-colored red maple flowers (female trees) and neighboring, vermillion-flowering male trees (the pollen bearers) we are stirred by the awakening forested mountains. Along wet swales, pussy willow bushes are covered in soft, plump catkins. Long catkins hang like a graceful rain in birches.
Diminutive, green flowers on long, delicate stems are beginning to break out of sugar maple bud covers.Trailing arbutus was the first wildflower to be seen on Mt. Washington’s Frissell Trail recently.
Wildflower enthusiasts have reported many spring ephemerals blooming or past bloom at Bartholomew’s Cobble in Sheffield. The 2024 dates on the photographs included here indicate that all might be budding in the mountains very soon. Let’s go out to greet the first ephemerals before their brief exuberance concludes as trees leaf out.
Red trillium, Trillium erectum, pictured above, also known as wake robin and, unfortunate but true, stinking Benjamin—a reference to its fetid odor—to be experienced only upon very close examination! The flowers attract carrion flies, which act as pollinators. Red trillium is followed by white and painted trilliums at intact, legacy forest edges in early spring.Trout Lily, April 27, 2024.
Photograph © Judy Isacoff.American trout lily, Erythronium americanum, its leaves painted with trout-like markings, is also known as dog-tooth violet. Photographs of fully opened petals appear at GoBotany.
Better yet, find trout lily at forest edges before trees leaf out and, occasionally, in full sun locations. Look for a spread of the typical dappled leaves surrounding the blossoms.Marsh Marigold, April 27, 2024.
Photograph © Judy Isacoff.Another first, marsh marigold, Caltha palustris, is native to New England, flourishing in wet woodlands and wetland edges and seeps in full sun or shade.Rose-breasted Grosbeak, May 15, 2024.
Photograph © Judy Isacoff.Rose-breasted grosbeaks, both the showy male and the female in her earthy plumage, arrived at my suet feeder a few days ago and continue to drop in. Both males and females sing a rich, sweetly whistled song.
As described in All About Birds, “Present-day bird watchers have variously sug-gested it sings like a robin that has had opera training, is drunk, refined, in a hurry, or unusually happy.” During the breeding season, rose-breasted grosbeaks eat insects, wild fruit, and seeds.In closing, look to the hillsides for flowering shadbush, small trees with a crown of white flowers beginning to blossom.
As described in GoBotany, “...
. sweet, edible berries in June (around the same time as the annual shad run in New England). The smooth, light grayish-brown bark has ver-tical dark stripes.
With a graceful, arching growth form as well as reddish fall color to the leaves and edible fruits, this species makes a pleasant backdrop planting for the garden.”Botanically inspired opportunitiesFisher Center, Sosnoff Theater, Bard College“Heaven in a Wildflower — The Earthly and the Divine,” Tomorrow, April 27, 2 p.m.
: A Graduate Conducting Degree RecitalBerkshire Botanical Garden Program CalendarSpring Fest and Tree Giveway — Earth Day Celebrations, May 4 and May 9Join BBG’s Horticulture Team on Sunday, May 4, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.
m., for Spring Fest, as well as Ron Kujawski on Friday, May 9, from noon to 6 p.m.
, for Plant Sale and to receive a bare-root tree with instructions on how to plant...
“Trees planted throughout the Berkshires will benefit the Earth, our people and our pollinators! White Oak, Eastern Pine, Silky Dogwood and Sugar Maple trees, all native to our region, available to take home to plant.”.
