My mother, an outdoors-woman at heart, knew her spring wildflowers well. When I was a very young child, she taught me to
recognize spring beauties, trillium, mayapples, bloodroot, jack-in-the-pulpit,
violets, columbine, buttercups, and yellow trout lilies – or at least those are
some of the ones I remember.
Now I live in a different ecosystem. Wooded swamps fringe marshlands where
cattails rule the roost. At this time of
year, new growth has not yet appeared to replace dry bulrushes – and yet the
floors of the neighboring forested swamps are peppered with beautiful, brash yellow: marsh
marigolds.
These profuse blossoms are delicate and perfect, providing
the first significant splash of color as the world wakes up. Like the spring wildflower friends of my
youth, their dynamic phases – dormancy, full bloom, and the stages in-between –
are all mysterious, spectacular evidences of ongoing life.
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