The strange looking creatures pushing up through the forest floor are Fiddle Heads, aka perennial native Fern in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some say they are quite tasty. I prefer to watch their unfurling. Copyright 2023 Pamela BreitbergThe forest floor holds a variety of spring blooming perrenials while the tree canopies have yet to block out sunlight on the forest floor. Here Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum) is sometimes mistaken for Lily of the Valley; but the blooms extend down the stem and produce no sweet odor. Drawing attention is the lushly colored Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica). Buds are pink while the flowers are a brilliant blue. These were outside of Asheville North Carolina and I had natives growing in my Illinois garden; so their habitat is much wider than the state of Virginia. Copyright 2023 Pamela BreitbergI spotted this blooming shrub in both the Blue Ridge Mountains as well as Franklin Tennessee. I don’t remember seeing it before. Fun discovery. Meet a Witch Alder (Fotherfilla). Copyright 2023 Pamela Breitberg
