Welcome to Awesome Native Plants
Spring has Sprung!: Hiking notes: April 2
Plentiful blooming spring beauties, some trout lily flowers and host of leaves, several bloodroots flowers, and several rue anemones in bloom at Sourland Mountain Preserve, East Amwell Township. Also one yellow and one purple violet and many spicebushes in bloom.
They are Here!
Rue anemone - Thalictrum thalictroides
These delicate petite flowers come in pure white or with a obvious hint of pink. They rise a few inches above the forest floor. Rue anemone does not have petals; the showy parts of the flower are sepals. Just below the flowers are always a whorl of dainty leaflets. Flowers bloom in late April & early May. They are frequently found with your search for bloodroots and hepaticas. Keep your eyes open for them.
Learn more about
Rue anemone. Also see our Spring Plant Profiles & Photos
Do you Recognize this Flower?
Early Meadow Rue - Thalictrum dioicum
This inconspicuous flower is the female flower of early meadow rue. The male flower is distinctive too with its long dangling stamens.
Note that the stigma is sticky/active down the side of the style as oppose to being active only at the far end of the style. Flowers bloom in late April & early May. Keep your eyes open for them. They are not rare but not too common.
Learn more about
Early Meadow Rue. Also see our Spring Plant Profiles & Photos
SPRING is HERE / ALMOST
Twinleaf - Jeffersonia diphylla
In NJ, twinleaf is critically imperiled (S1). However, they can be found in shady spots in gardens. Twinleaf is not a spring ephemeral. Its snow white flowers are elusive but its leaves will make a distinctive ground cover into the summer. Keep this rare plant alive in NJ; plant one this year.
Read about its distinctive way of releasing pollen and its interesting fruit. Click here. Also see our 'Gardener News' article 'Flower For A Day'
Its a New Year and a New Spring
Trailing arbutus - Epigaea repens
Trailing arbutus is an early bloomer. You can find them on slopes where the leaf litter has slipped downhill to expose the leathery leaves. The flowers have been described as functionally dioecious because structurally they sometimes appear to be bisexual but are not. Their seeds are dispersed by ants but not as bloodroots and spring beautys. Learn more about Trailing arbutus. Look for these on your early spring hikes. Also see our Spring Plant Profiles & Photos
About AWESOME NATIVE PLANTS
This is the website of Millie & Hubert Ling. This site was created in September 2021 and is is dedicated to Native Plants mainly of New Jersey with a focus on the Plant Profiles & Photos pages. The goal here is to continue these. Also, we will be adding trip reports of our many hikes in NJ. Hubert is a regular writer for the Gardener News and we will be republishing some of his articles. Continued in 'About Us': Click Here
WHY all the FUSS about NATIVE PLANTS?
What are they and why they are important? Get the definitions and why they are important and how to find out if a plant is native or not. Also, NEW, added information on rarity in NJ. Click Here
in our 'Resources" section.
Looking around in NATURE: HIKES
Start planning where to hike for next year. NEW: Added: a list of conservation organizations that have preserves which are great places to see native plants. Click Here
BEAUTY and BEYOND
Get to know your native plants. Visit our Plant Profiles & Photos section for photos of not only the beautiful flowers but also their parts and what makes them work.
'GARDENERS NEWS' reprints
Hubert Ling as NPSNJ horticulture has been writing articles for 'Gardener News' since 2015. Some of his articles are being reprinted here. See them at Resources .
Autumn
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
(Anglican hymn)
Study and photography unfolds a whole new dimension of intricacies and interdependencies that commands deference and awe.
"The Lord God made them all"