The emergence of spring ephemerals
The Gardener's Corner
By Judith Rogers

Now you see them, now you don't.

It would seem almost that quick for the emergence and flowering of some woodland wildflowers before they go dormant for summer.

Spring ephemerals, as they are called, are opportunists that have learned to develop early in spring to take advantage of the amount of sunlight hitting the forest floor prior to trees and shrubs leafing out. They have flowered, set seed and are starting to fade before many of the other perennial flowers are preparing to bloom.

Wood poppy, trilliums, violets, bloodroot, trout lily and hepatica are some of the well known spring ephemerals and favourite woodland plants of mine. The wood poppy is perfect for a shade to partial shade garden and as long as the soil is kept moist over summer, the leaves will not wither away completely. Bright yellow flowers cover the 30 to 45 centimetre tall bushy plant and will brighten up any dark corner.

Trilliums need no introduction as they can be seen coming alive in forested areas by the dozens, which has taken many years to accomplish, as colonies are slow to increase. In the home garden, they need the rich organic soil as found in their natural habitat along with sufficient moisture and good drainage.

Photo by Judith Rogers A photo of Single Bloodroot.

Bloodroot gets its name from the red juice of the root and is a pretty 25 cm tall plant that emerges with the leaves wrapped around the stem that unfurl below white petals with a yellow centre. Double bloodroot is a much sought after cultivar that produces double petals resembling a tiny white powder puff.

Sharp-lobed hepatica sends up white flowers similar in appearance to bloodroot which are then followed by semi-glossy leaves with three pointed lobes. This diminutive native plant is only 10 to 15 cm high and will thrive in shade to partial shade and is able to cope with drier conditions than other ephemerals.

Trout lily, also known as dog-tooth violet, is from the lily family and a familiar sight in woodlands with its nodding yellow flowers. Also short at 10 to 25 cm, it is best planted in masses along with other woodland plants that will fill in the gap when they go dormant in early summer. Squirrels are notorious for digging up bulbs from one area and hiding them in another and possibly even on your neighbour's property. Bloodroot, trilliums and violets have a habit of showing up where they weren't planted either, often several metres away.

This is a result of myrmecochory, seed dispersal by ants. These native plants have a protein attached to their seeds which draws ants who then carry them off to their nests to feed to the larvae. After the protein is consumed, the seeds are abandoned elsewhere in the nest where quite often they will germinate.

Another interesting way some seeds travel is by attaching themselves to animal fur and either dropping or being rubbed off a good distance away to germinate and start a new patch.