The other day we had a beautiful spring fog. After the cold dryness that accompanies winter, getting out into the damp heat of that weather felt great. Being from DC, high humidity always reminds me of home.
Out walking with friends, we came upon one of the most diverse areas of Spring ephemerals I’ve encountered. Trilliums, ramps, sarsaparilla, hepatica, wild ginger and blue cohosh were some of what were coming up and blooming. All winter, I craved seeing this new growth – truth be told any new growth. That said though, these plants hold a special place in my heart for their short life span, their heralding Spring and their indication of healthy, non-disturbed ecosystems. It takes years for plant communities like these to establish and to see them in such abundance was truly heartening – given all the news we get about plant and animal extinction and the effects of climate change on ecosystem function. Even better for me was seeing our kids taking all this in, singing songs to the plants and playing tree doctors to heal all the big trees that had tipped over in the winter storms.
