It’s been a long time since I posted, even though there have been several encounters in our Cape Cod plant and animal world. We took a short break from the lingering winter, thinking that we’d have plenty of time to catch the first leaves. A good plan, but we did not plan on the fact the work would catch up to us once we arrived back home. Needless to say, I did not pay much attention to what native plant bloomed first this year, or when the peepers first sang, or when the ospreys came back to their platforms. I am guessing “somewhere around April 20â€. This would make the peepers extremely late, as they were in full orchestra mode in late March in 2013. The Rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) was at least 10 days late, so much so that the white trout lily (Erythronium albidum) almost beat it this time around. But as I mentioned, between traveling and catching up with work, some things may have been missed.
Now it is a few weeks later and both eastern and white trout lily have stopped blooming – we’ll enjoy their speckled leaves for a few more months before they go dormant into another 8 month long slumber; twinleaf looked spectacular, but only for about two days. A windy and rainy day was all it took to remove the flower petals. Luckily the leaves are a much more enduring reward. Bloodroot (Sanguinaria Canadensis) is much more plentiful than the year before, but they also have stopped blooming: Their signature leaf will be a constant reminder to “not wait until tomorrowâ€. The wood poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) and the Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) are in full glory, and every other plant seems to have emerged from the warming soil. Common blue wood aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) seedlings are starting to emerge everywhere in the garden, and I am already planning to give many away this year. The scourge that was the wood chuck late last year re-emerged once, but seems to have moved on, probably in search of love and a new family. The focus of my humane trapping cage is now centered on some less voracious rabbits.
Best of all, I am finally finding some more time to write about the woodland garden and the special place that is Cape Cod. It is good to be home!
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