Spring Ephemerals

noun (from dictionary.com)    1.  any of various woodland wildflowers that appear above ground in early spring, flower and fruit, and die in a short two-month period.  
​It is such fleeting season.  Trilliums are the first thing that comes to mind whenever anyone mentions “spring ephemerals.”  Well, actually the very first thing that came to my mind was that I needed to look up “ephemeral” in the dictionary for its definition and pronunciation. 

At first trilliums just appear as white spots in the woods until I realize they are trilliums.  Usually I’m shouting: “The trilliums are out!”  I have no idea why I am so taken with the notion of them emerging.  Maybe it has something to do with our long northern winters.
 
Once I began to pay attention to what grows on the woodland floor I noticed so much in early spring.  This post started out about that most prolific spring flower – the dandelion.  But then everyone knows about that one.  Allegedly the dandelion came over with the Pilgrims or maybe even with the Vikings. I recently read that it was purposefully brought here as:  a medicinal plant, for making wine, for an early season food source, and as a coloring dye.  There is even a website devoted to this plant:  www.mydandelionisaflower.org/  But this post is not about that plant, but our native plants that require a bit more sleuthing and are so important to our eco-system.
 
Let’s get back to Trilliums, they have a distinctive three petal flower that blooms above three broad leaves.  The most common, the Large-flowered Trillium, has a white flower that gradually turns shades of pink before it is finished and shrivels into the ground until the next spring.  I recall my Mother telling my sister and I not to pick these or any other wild flowers as it was against the law to disturb them.  Lately I became curious about that law and looked it up on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) website.  Well, things have changed.  Here’s what DNR has to say:
“The old wildflower law that protected plants such as orchids, trillium and bittersweet was taken off the books in 1978. Except for wild ginseng, wild rice and endangered or threatened species, all other plants are unprotected on private lands and may be taken, transported or sold - with the exception of noxious weeds and nuisance weeds. On state property, you cannot take any plants or plant parts except for edible fruits, edible nuts, wild mushrooms, wild asparagus, and watercress. These may be removed by hand without a permit for the purpose of personal consumption by the collector."

Isn’t that good to know? But there is more to being responsible with native plant conservation.  Be aware that there are additional regulations on federally owned lands, so it is best to check before harvesting plants. Even on privately owned land it is best left undisturbed unless it is threatened with destruction.  And it is always necessary to get the landowner’s permission. 


So how can we add native plants to our landscape?  The answer is to purchase nursery propagated native plants, not plants collected from the wild. It’s important to include native plants in our landscape so we can help our native pollinators who depend on these early spring beauties for a food source.  
 
I’m trying my best to both recognize what shows up naturally and to add early spring plants to my own landscape.  Some other spring ephemerals in my woody patches are:  Bloodroot, Wild Lily-of-the-Valley, Wood Strawberry, Bluebead, Canada Violet, Wood Anemone, Blue Phlox, May Apple, Baneberry, and Wild Columbine. 
 
I know that if I explore a bit there is more to be discovered.  ​