The Woodland Cure

Being inside today means being in some way connected to the news of the manhunt in Boston.  Even several states away, it is surreal and it saturates everything with fear and the feeling that bad people are everywhere.  Enough!  Into the woods!
I happily snapped as I went along, but the pictures are in no particular order.  They are all taken between my backyard and the far edge of the property.  Come on.  It'll make you feel better.  It sure did help me!

A tiny barberry plant growing right next to a dead nettle.

Blackberry canes have arched across some parts of the path.  They are very prickly.

Missed the blooms of the Bloodroot, but the seedpods are ripening.

In a few square inches, we have the leaves of Bloodroot, Jewelweed, and Trout Lily. 

The creeksides are waking up and really getting gussied up.

Overnight (seriously!) the dandelions have burst into bloom.

Dutchman's Breeches.  We introduced these, and love to watch them spread.

False Solomon's Seal are one of the most prevalent plants on the forest floor.

Standing in the forsythia by the pond turned the world bright yellow for a few minutes.

I've not identified the ferns in the woods, but this frilly little lovely caught my eye.

Garlic Mustard is already in bloom.  If we could convince people to eat this as much as we eat lettuce, we'd never run out of it.  Very invasive, it is very aggressively moving across the floor of the woods.

These actually have a sweet pink blush, but my camera isn't picking up some colors lately.  I'll have to look these up.  The Spring Beauties that carpet the other hillside across the creek have petals that are more oval shaped and separate.

Although this doesn't look impressive, it made me let out a little "whoop" when I saw it.  Ramps are another introduced species here, and this singleton showed up nearly 10 feet from the nearest spreading clump.  Awesome!

Mayapple preparing to unfold.  The center bud will become a flower and the "shoulders" are 2 individual leaves.

This is the pathway between our homes - my sister and I.  It is lined with fruit trees and bayberry bushes.

The lush, gorgeous, full spreading clumps of ramps.

Also introduced, the blood-red trillium has made herself at home and is spreading very slowly.

One of the 2 introduced wild gingers, this one shiny leaved, the other fuzzy leaves and stems.  Both are doing well and stretching out, covering ground.

Introduced white trillium is even slower to reproduce than the reds.  Still, it does seem to be forming clumps rather than single stems in close proximity like the others.

Spicebushes are everywhere throughout the woods and are in full bloom right now.  They are what spring looks like in my mind's eye.  That color, caught in the sunlight is the essence of spring.

Just in the past few years the trout lilies have found their way to the near side of the creek.  This is a nice clump right off the main path.  I appreciate their cooperation in helping me avoid falling in the water.  Maybe they can have a word with the red Trillium, the Dutchman's Breeches, and all the Spring Beauties.

We have also introduced Solomon's Seal (although we've recently found huge plants near one of the bamboo patches).  It started with one stem, and I counted 6 this morning.  The uppermost of these plants is a false Solomon's Seal.

All along the path, violets carpet my footsteps.

A nice clump of white Trillium.  It makes me so happy to see them getting comfortable here.

Yellow is a nearly impossible color to pick up for some reason.  It washes out for me, but there are tons of bright yellow violets all along the woodland floor, along with various shades of blue and purple violets.

Greater Celandine is just starting to bloom, and I was thrilled to see that 2 out of 3 of the Pawpaws we planted last year were not eaten, and have leaves.  Didn't see a single Jack in the Pulpit up yet, which seems odd, especially that they have been plentiful in years past.
I still think we need to put some VA bluebells in there, and we've got some native foxgloves ready to go in along the edges of the woods.  I have no doubt that an herb festival or visit to a garden center will bring other natives into reach, and we'll add them.  A third attempt at wintergreen is not excessive in my opinion, especially because we'd really like to have it handy.

There.  Doesn't it feel like you can breathe a little more deeply now?