More Signs of Spring

Growing up in central KS, I read every nature themed book I could gather.  Most in those days featured natural history subjects from eastern North America–a few from the west.  I longed to see the Smokey mountains in the spring, walk along the C and O canal, or see warblers dripping from trees during migration.  Imagine my surprise  and elation when I identified my first bright yellow male goldfinch as a 12 year old in my own backyard—I thought those birds were “back East”.  Of course as my experiences grew I came to realize that much of what was discussed in nature themed books was indeed part of my own Kansas environment.  Still until I enrolled at KU in 1969, I had never seen any of the “woodland ephemerals” so talked about in any coverage of spring in eastern deciduous woodlands.  I saw my first ephemerals in my second spring at KU in Baldwin Woods.  I ritually, return every spring to check on these populations of small, early wildflowers.  Their appearance each year grounds me.  Here’s some recent photos:

False Rue Anemone

Rue Anemone

Dutchman's Breeches

Erythronium albidum

Spring Beauty