Fun with Late Winter Sprouts!
Whenever I’ve moved into a new location, whether renting as a young adult or when purchasing new houses in later years, I’ve always been curious to see what plants might sprout up in spring. I wondered what the former resident(s) might have planted in the way of perennials or bulbs and excitedly anticipated the colorful flowers they might produce. These were usually attractive, but were often very common non-native ornamental plants.
While these still are some of interest to me, I am now much more excited to see what native species that nature might have planted. Some seeds may have been carried there in the recent years by wind, water, or wildlife. Others might be relict roots and tubers which have amazingly persisted from their days as members of a natural ecosystem that existed long before the site’s development. It’s exciting to watch as mysterious tiny green sprouts begin to poke through the soil, especially where parts of a yard have been long ignored, such as areas beneath a remnant forest canopy. And, it’s fun to play detective to try to identify late winter pioneers before they take on their adult characteristics!
Have you ever looked around your homesite in February for such early risers? And I mean looked really closely. You’ll find the longer, slower, and closer you look, a surprising number of such sprouts will almost certainly reveal themselves. It's important to wait a growing season, or even two, though, before digging around your site, so you willl know what attractive native plants you may have. These may be spring ephemeral flowers and/or plants beneficial to birds and insects. You'll want to keep these when planting future additions to your yard and garden.
Here are some that just might be in your little piece of rural or urban/suburban niche within the Southern Appalachian mountains ...
<<< These Greenbriar or Catbriar (Smilax sp.) sprouts will turn green as they mature.
Striped Wintergreen >>>
(Chimaphila maculata), known to native Americans as "Pipsisewa," will form two opposite bell-shaped flowers.
<<< Young St. John's Wort (Hypericum sp.) will grow taller and greener, eventually producing bright yellow flowers.
Partridgeberry >>>
(Mitchella repens) is an evergreen groundcover displaying old and newly formed leaves here, plus one of last year's bright red berries.
<<< The native Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor), exhibits green leaves above and purple below during winter months. These leaves will disappear in summer and slender orchid-producing stalks will then appear.
Palmately-shaped leaves >>>
of Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) can often be found near streams and in moist soils. Their flowers appear as showy white sprays.
<<< Shining Clubmoss (Huperzia lucidula) stands out among fallen leaves, even as small sprouts. This plant is a decendant of its tree-sized ancestors from the Jurassic dinosaur days, but which trace much farther back to the Devonian period.
Christmas Fern >>> (Polystichum acrostichoides) can be seen sprouting now, but mature plants appear all winter giving the fern its name.
<<< Hearts-A-Bustin' (Euonymus americanus) is a non-descript deciduous shrub during most of the year. But when in seed, it really shines with beautiful reddish hulls that burst open revealing bright reddish-orange fruits.
Southern Running >>>
Cedar (Diphasiastrum digitatum) is another clubmoss with prehistoric ancestors. This sprout is actually the vegetative tip from a creeping above-ground stem. Though they can spread over a forest floor, these plants are slow-growing and very difficult to transplant.
<<< Southern Grapefern (Sceptridium sp.) is a low-growing native with mature sterile leaf blades that give the plant a generally triangular shape. A single stem (rachis) grows much taller and produces fertile spore-producing blades.
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