BlueShoe Nashville Guide to Wildflowers

Spring 2001

Jan. 1, 2001: Sleeping Green Dragons

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons--
That oppresses, like the Heft
of Cathedral Tunes

Nashville: I begin my notes on the Spring 2001 wildflower season today, the first day of the new year because, although it snowed overnight and is snowing again now in mid-afternoon and the three p.m. dimness reminds me of Dickinson's "slant of light" that oppresses--despite all this, it does feel as if we've turned a corner. Spring is, if not within sight, at least within thought. The shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, was met and passed more than a week ago. Every day pitches us incrementally back toward the sun and longer days.

In the spirit of looking ahead, I snapped a shot today of my terrace flower bed, where, along with Bleeding Hearts and Hostas, a Jack-in-the-Pulpit and a Green Dragon reside currently under a cover of snow. Below is a photo of the same terrace flower bed in bloom: you can see the Green Dragon and the white blossoms of a Bleeding Heart.

Green Dragon in warmer times.

>The Wildflower Tour Spring 2001

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)
Photo courtesy by Dee Ross, © 2000.

Jan. 6, 2001: Spring Ephemerals

Six to eight weeks from now the spring ephemerals will start appearing in the woods and hills of Nashville. The earliest blooming wildflowers, ephemerals shoot up before the deciduous trees and bushes can leaf out and block sunlight. They tend to be tiny, delicate flowers that are easy to miss on a hike. And, as their name implies, they are fleeting. Ephemerals don't linger until summer and many of the flowers will already be gone by the middle of April. Although they may be small, these wildflowers are among the favorites of wildflower enthusiasts--not only because they give early hope of spring, but because, like Jack-in-the-Pulpit, they can offer intricate and clever designs for propagation, or, like the Spring Beauty, are beautiful in their details. Among the ephemerals that can be found in Nashville's Warner Parks are Harbinger of Spring, Cut-Leaf Toothwort, Trillium, Spring Beauty, Trout Lily, Dutchman's Breeches, Yellow Corydalis, and Jack in the Pulpit.

>Next Page: March 11, 2001--The Show Begins!

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Updated Mar. 18, 2001. Material cannot be reproduced without permission. Copyright © 2001, Cheryl Hiers. E-mail address: editor@blueshoenashville.com