Eighth time's the charm

Jeffersonia diphylla, aka twinleaf

Twinleaf, I am told. was named to honor Thomas Jefferson (Jeffersonia diphylla) and often blooms around the time of Jefferson's birthday (April 13)--but you have to look quickly, because the blooms last only a day or two. I've admired twinleaf foliage forming clusters at the edge of our woods for the past eight years, but I've never managed to see one blooming.

Until today. The blossoms are tiny and white, the leaves still reddish on the edges and only about six inches from the ground. Later the leaves will grow twice as tall and broaden out like elephant ears, but right now they're so small they're easily overlooked--which, I suppose, is why I've missed them at blossom time all these years.

And I might have missed them this morning thanks to the other distractions that drew my attention--a pair of wood ducks on our creek, a brown thrasher calling from the treetops, a pair of red-tailed hawks circling the meadow and then visiting their nest on the hillside.

There's just so much to look at right now that it's no wonder I miss things. I'm just thankful that sometimes I get a second chance. (And a third and a fourth and even and eighth.)

Duckies!

Brown thrasher

Hawk's nest with hawk