What’s Blooming | New York Flora Association Blog

Archive for the ‘What’s Blooming’ category

Early risers showing up

April 21, 2009

Late April is a good time to see our wildflower flora coming back to life after a long winter. You can spot individual species coming up before the rush of May and June when hundreds of species are blooming. In and around the red maple swamp at the end of my street in Schenectady County I have seen blooming coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara, hummock sedge, Carex stricta, skunk cabbage, and Symplocarpus foetidus. There are also the ever-present winter leaves of garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata. – Steve Young

: Coltsfoot flowers

: Hummock sedge spikes

: Skunk cabbage leaves unfolding

: Garlic mustard leaves

Categories: Plant Sightings, What's Blooming

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Alders blooming along the upper Hudson

April 17, 2009

Today I took my son fly fishing along the Upper Hudson at North River in the Adirondacks and along the banks of the river the alder catkins were blooming.

Also seen were the white fruits of poison ivy and the capsules of evening primrose, highbush cranberry fruits were still hanging on too much to my surprise. The ice was still along the meadows at South of the Glen but it is getting sparse and thin. See photo. An early sedge was producing dark male spikes on the banks but I couldn’t make out what it was yet. It was a beautiful day but very breezy. – Steve Young