Early May is a great time to go for a walk in the woods. Particularly hardwood forests. Before the canopy fills with leaves, the forest floor comes into bloom with spring wildflowers.
There are more wild flowers than shown below, these are the earlier variety, more appear in late May and a few during the summer months.
Hepatica is among the first to appear. Blossoms range from white to mauve.
Red trilliums appear before the white version.
Spring beauty often seems like ground cover, there are so many small plants.
Dutchman's britches can be quite prolific
Squirrel corn, with a similar plant leaf to Dutchman's britches, is not as widespread
Blood root (whose name is derived from the red juice in its stem) and marsh marigolds blossom.
Trout lilies were blooming. I found a few unusual (for me) blooms with yellow stamens.
Blue cohosh, that starts as a small knarled purple growth, produces tiny purple/yellow flower on its way to transition to a 12-15" tall green plant with blue berries. Blue/purple violets also bloom.
Hobble bush and honeysuckle (?) also blossom
Ferns quickly shoot up and unfurl
Wrens find a spot to nest in a bluebird box
Phoebes also are searching for nest spots
Canada geese continue their migration north
Trees that were damaged during last May's derecho are sawn into lumber
(See Walk in the Woods May 2022)
