On fragility and resilience

bloodroot

I don't know what particular combination of flood, freeze, rain, and sun is required to produce the kind of wildflower season we're enjoying, but I'll take it.  Most years I'm lucky to see one blooming trout lily, but suddenly we have a whole patch of them, and today I scrambled up the side of a muddy slope to see dozens of bloodroot blossoms. On the edges of the meadow along the creek, in the areas that were underwater during last summer's flood, we suddenly have Solomon's Seal coming up where we've never seen it before. Meanwhile, up by the house, we're looking in vain for buds on our poor frozen rosebushes and azaleas, cheering on the few wimpy leaves adorning our Japanese maple, and hoping to save one section of the blasted rhododendron. Our hardy domesticated plants may be suffering from the effects of the long winter, but the delicate wildflowers seem to thrive on adversity. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

Trout lilies

perfoliate bellwort

Solomon's Seal, budding