5-18 Clintonia, Tower Mustard, Cleavers

 5-18

In damp shady woods Clintonia, AKA Bluebeard Lily, is in flower.

Tower Mustard favors roadsides 

and Cleavers takes advantage of disturbed areas and forest openings.

John

5-17 Blue-eyed Grass, False Lily-of-the-Valley, Starflower and Twice-stabbed Stinkbugs

 5-17

Blue-eyed Grass is dotting old fields.

False Lily-of-the-Valley is carpeting woods lawns and roadsides.

Along forest paths, Starflower is at its best.

And Twice-stabbed Stinkbugs, so called because of their two red spots, add their own touch of color to the world.

John

5-16 Autumn Olive, Dame's Rocket, American Barberry, Herb Robert, Am. Bladdernut

 5-16

Aggressively invasive Autumn Olive is scenting thickets while the equally invasive Dame's Rocket adds color to open woods and weedy areas.

Autumn Olive

Dame's Rocket

American Barberry is also flowering and Herb Robert - a geranium family member - is opening its first flowers.

Americna Barberry

Herb Robert

Meanwhile, in their somewhat unspectacular way, American Bladdernut's flowers fleck wooded riverbanks.

John

American Bladdernut

5-15 Star-flowered Solomon's Seal, Choke Cherry, Highbush Blueberries, Wild Azalea

 5-15

Star-flowered Solomon's Seal is just starting its flowering.

Choke Cherries are in full bloom as are Highbush Blueberries.

Highbush Blueberries

Choke Cherries

And Wild Azaleas are starting to color river banks and dry ledges.

John

5-14 Fringed Polygala, Chervil and Sand Spurry

 5-14

Fringed Polygala, AKA Flowering Wintergreen, which is actually a member of the milkwort clan is now flowering.

Chervil, an aggressive invasive, is showing up along Rte. 30.

And pretty but diminutive Sand Spurrey skirts the edge of the blacktop nearby.

John

5-13 Forget-me-nots, Lily-of-the-Valley, Greater Stitchwort and Rad Baneberry

 5-13

Forget-me-nots are opening flowers. 

White Lily-of-the-Valley

Blue Forget-me-nots

Lily-of-the-Valley, Greater Stitchwort and Red Baneberry are also in season.

John

Lily-of-the-Valley

Red Baneberry

Greater Stitchwort

5-12 Bulbous Buttercup, Bugle, Fleabane

 5-12

Bugle, a garden escape, is well into its flowering while Bulbous Buttercup is just starting to bloom. Common or Philadelphia Fleabane has just opened a few of what will oftne be colonies of flowers.

John

Philadelphia Fleabane

Bugle

Bulbous Buttercup

5-11 Pale Cordaylis, Dwarf Dandelion, Skunk Currants

 5-11

Pale Corydalis and Dwarf Dandelion are starting to flower in dry thinly vegetated areas and in cool woods Skunk Currants are in full flower.

John

Skunk Currants

Dwarf Dandelion

Pale Corydalis

5-10 Wild Sarsaparilla

 5-10

Wild Sarsaparilla, a Ginseng relative, is starting to flower.

John

5-9 Apple blossoms and 3 others

 5-9

Deep in thickets 'volunteer Apple trees are flowering. Goldthread dots the ground in damp often mossy woods. Yellow Wood Sorrel is opening a few flowers in gardens and waste places.

And a Pine Elfin butterfly nectared on bluets while I took a picture.

John

Apple blossoms

Goldthread

Yellow Wood Sorrel

Pine Elfin butterfly

5-8 Common Winter Cress and Speedwells

 5-8

Common Winter Cress, AKA Yellow Rocket, an agricultural pest, is flowering brightly.

And the tiny, obscure, blue streaked flowers of Thyme-leaved Speedwell can be found in species rich lawns. The even tinier flowers of Corn speedwell often grow nearby.

John

5-7 Germander Speedwell and Foamflower

 5-7

Along roadsides and in other waste places the pretty little paired flowers of Germander Speedwell are opening, and in damp woodlands with rich soil the frothy flower clusters of Foamflower stand above pale green leaves.

John

Foamflower

Germander Speedwell

5-6 Blue Mustard and Greater Celandine

 5-6

Blue Mustard and Greater Celandine, both native to Eurasia, are flowering.

John

Blue Mustard

Greater Celandine

5-5 Common cinquefoil, Golden Alexander and Japanese Barberry

 5-5

Common cinquefoil, Golden Alexander and Japanese Barberry are all staring to flower.

And a Ruby-throated Hummingbird made numerous visits to out nectar feeder throughout the day - but wouldn't sit still long enough for a picture!

John

Common Cinquefoil

Golden Alexander

Japanese Barberry

5-4 Cherries and 3 others

 5-4

Some cherries are in flower.

Wood Betony, a hemiparasite, is now in early stages of flowering.

Dog Violets and Lowbush Blueberries are also opening.

John

Lowbush Blueberries

Dog Violet

5-3 Painted Trillium

 5-3

A few Painted Trilliums are flowering - despite the lack of sunlight!

John