Sunday, April 19, 2020

Where The Caged Orchid Still Blooms

The cold rain missed us this morning. Then the sun came out for a short visit. It was a perfect time for a delicate walk deep into the forest to visit the true native stinze. This is some of what I have been introducing back into my own garden.




















The big rock sits near the top of what is a very large, two acre, wet rocky bowl between the two gardener cottages. There is the main stream and two long wet seeps that join the stream lower down.




















An invader from across the byway has seeded itself into the bowl. I pull all that I find.




















This is the wild flower garden Sister #2 said we needed to plant.




















It does not need to be planted. It needs some nice walking paths and a good tidying of all the deadfall. The garden is already there.

Trillium sulcatum perhaps?




















Trillium grandiflorum




















Larkspur, Delphinium tricorne




















Diphylleia cymosa, Umbrella Leaf




















This piece of wet rocky ground was not suitable for apples or pasture a hundred and fifty years ago. Left alone, protected in a hemlock forest and uninvaded until humans returned, an intact native ecosystem grows on.




















There are thousands of trilliums.
















Trillium rugelii?




















There were two clumps of caged Showy Orchis protected from the deer. I think a big dead hemlock fell on the other. I couldn't find it. A huge branch missed this clump by a hair.




















With every gentle step there is the possibility of squashing a nice plant. Path making and deadfall tidying would have to be a late fall or winter chore. Trying to do that in the spring would be far too emotionally taxing.




















Asarum canadense




















Up above in the sunny utility easement is Bulbarella's meadow filled with Spanish Bluebells. In another week they will be aiming for peak bloom.




















The old chimney remains from a time gone by, beside water, on the edge between rocky ground and long since vanished pasture and orchards.




















Here the native and wild cultivated mix.




















The Buddha remains guard.




















And primroses bloom.




















The time of vegetation is underway.




















The barren time fades away in gentle hues.




















And Dandelions fill all of Creation. In the land where the caged orchids still bloom.