Fighting the Gray - Memories of an Ohio Spring

Today was warm, and I did some more outside work, but talk about gray and dismal! I was looking through some older photos to add to a post on the North Country Trail News blog, and was reminded of how many beautiful wildflowers can be seen in southern Ohio in the spring.

So I've just brought you a few of them in this dreary Thanksgiving week. The first one above is the Violet Wood Sorrel, Oxalis violacea. Common Wood Sorrel has striped petals. I bet you've seen the Yellow Wood Sorrel in your lawn if you live in North America or Europe. Just picture those shamrock like leaves with a small yellow flower, and there's our common weed!



Next is a cousin to the Bearded Iris of so many gardens. This is Crested Iris, Iris cristata a dwarf species. The color is just yummy, and it grows about 6 inches tall. It loves to "spill" down banks.



Finally, this is the Showy Orchis, Galearis spectabilis. This one you are less likely to have seen. It has been recently moved to the genus Galearis by the folks who do serious taxonomy stuff. As such it's the only member of that genus in the New World. But it's still the same plant! Michigan State University plant maps show it in southern Michigan as well as Ohio where I saw it, and surprisingly, also near Marquette in the Upper Peninsula. Once you see this little gem, you will never forget it. The picture doesn't do it justice at all!

Hope you enjoyed the short visit to Ohio.

See Two Trumpets, Different Tunes, and an Itchy Cow? for other Ohio flowers See Mini Iris in my garden