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Appalachian Wildflower Bouquets
By Mary Dell Design
Frostburg, Maryland
medgerly@yahoo.com
301-689-3540
~~An inexpensive gift for any
lover of nature and beauty~~
Plant Descriptions, History, and Folklore
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Mostly Wildflower Bouquets
Some of the flowers listed below are garden, not wild,
flowers.
I will make bouquets solely with wildflowers if requested;
otherwise, I will also use some garden flowers.
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Bleeding
Heart (Dicentra
spectabilis). This Japanese
variety is from my garden. A wild variety grows in Appalachia, but it
is endangered and therefore will not appear in my bouquets. (The wild variety looks similar to but is
clearly distinguishable from the Japanese variety sold in nurseries, which
has more heart-shaped flowers than does the wild variety.) Blooms in early spring and may bloom a
second time later in the summer if cut back.
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Buttercup,
Common or Tall (Ranunculus
acris). There’s not much to say
about the familiar buttercup. They
grow in my “meadow” along the woods in my side yard. We generally take them for granted, but
they brighten up my wildflower arrangements, and they really are quite pretty. However, I can’t get the song “Build Me
Up, Buttercup” out of my head whenever I use them!
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Columbine,
Eastern or wild (Aquilegia canadensis). Native.
Buttercup family. The leaves
look just like the leaves of garden columbines. These grow in abundance in our area and
are sometimes known as “Lanterns” or “Little Lanterns.”
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Columbine,
Garden or European (Aquilegia vulgaris). I planted these in my garden, but I have
also found them growing in the wild.
It’s unfortunate that the name of such a lovely flower is forever
tainted with ugliness, but I suppose it’s a good example of yin and yang.
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The Common Lilac (Syringa
vulgaris) is a deciduous plant in the olive family, native to the
Balkan Peninsula. It grows freely in
undeveloped fields near my home, but the ones in the bouquet are from my
yard. Blooms in early spring. W.
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Daisy Fleabane
(Erigeron annuus). This begins blooming in May. I have a lot of it in the weedy area of
my yard along the edge of the woods (I let those weeds grow since most of
them turn into beautiful wildflowers!)
This looks like an aster, but asters do not bloom until fall. P
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Dame’s Rocket (Hespiris matronalis). These grow all over this area, and
can be purple, pink, or white. They
are no less gorgeous for being ubiquitous.
According to Peterson’s Wildflowers,
, “This garden escape resembles a phlox, but note the 4 petals, not
5.” It is a member of the mustard
family. I like how the common name
and the botanical name are similar, though I think if we translated the
Latin it means “lady of the evening”!
P
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False
Solomon’s Seal (Smilacina
racemosa) grows prolifically in my woods. This is not the endangered Starry False
Solomon’s Seal (Smilacina stellata), which
has fewer, larger flowers. The name
“Solomon’s Seal” refers to the root of the “true” plant, which has scars on
it for each year it sprouts. On
Memorial Day 2007, I drove through New Germany State
Park and surrounding areas, and the
large patches of these single stalks stretched out from the bank, with a
graceful downward curve, weighed down ever so slightly by large head of starry
white flowers. They are subtle, as
most woodland flowers are, but in colonies by the dozens such as those I
saw today, they are truly spectacular. P.
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Red or Purple Trillium, or “Wakerobin.” (Trillium
erectum.) This flower also grows
prolifically in the woods in my yard.
A relative is on the endangered list, but not this one. All trillium’s parts are in
threes—leaves, petals, etc. The
flower is supposed to smell bad, but it must not be a strong smell as I
have picked one or two and never noticed an odor. They are one of the first flowers of
spring, which explains its nickname, which I especially like. P
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Foam Flower,
False Miterwort (Tiarella cordifolia) has tiny
star-like flowers, which supposedly look like foam. The flowers are white with prominent,
orangish pistils. It grows in rich
woods and is about six inches tall, with long leafless stems. I
found mine near the Savage River. The
“genus name is from the Greek tiara, designating
a turban once worn by the Persians, and refers to the shape of the
pistil.” P
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Jack-in-the-Pulpit
(Arisaema)
I rarely pick these, as their shape is so strange and wondrous
it seems they must be rare. However,
they grow in abundance in my yard, so I will occasionally use them for
special occasions. The prominent
spadix within the curved spathe is its distinguishing feature. The underside of the spathe is often
purple and has a pretty striped pattern.
Some jacks-in-the-pulpit are also known as “Indian’s turnip.” These plants are now being sold by
nurseries. P
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Solomon’s
Seal (Polygonatum biflorum). These grow in the woods
in my yard and at the river place.
These are the “true” Solomon’s Seal, named for its root which has a
scar for each year it sprouts. Its
flowers grow beneath its leaves rather than at the tip, as the false ones
do.
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Star
of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbrellatum). These are aptly named,
as they showed up in my lawn like a gift from God. I noticed some prominent, striped grass
showing up in my yard and let it go to see what would happen. Before long, these beautiful little
flowers that I’d never before seen bloomed, and I figured it had to be a
sign that I was living right to be so blessed! It’s actually not grass; it’s in the lily
family. The plant spreads easily, so
some people don’t like it. But
that’s fine in my yard where it’s growing, a large bare spot that would
look good with a carpet of such beautiful blooming greenery! They bloom April-June. P
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Miniature Bouquets
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Bluets (Houstonia caerulea). These tiny blue beauties grow out of their
little nest of lacy leaves, often embedded in moss in colonies along the
Savage River at my sweetheart’s summer place. The first time I saw his mother’s cabin
was in early spring, when these were blooming everywhere in the mossy
backyard, just above the river we access by rock steps down the bank. I truly felt as if I were in a magical
place (and not only because I had met a pretty great guy!).
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Moss Phlox, or
Moss-Pink (Phlox subulata). Despite the name, these can bloom in
pink, violet, or white. They are
familiar from use in residential gardens.
Though they are native to the area, I have never seen what I have
always known as “creeping Phlox” in the wild. I pick from the several colors that I
planted next to the stone wall in front of my house. It was one of the first things I did
after I moved in; I’ve always liked creeping Phlox against stone, which my
childhood best friend’s mother had in her front yard.
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Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica). I
found these on the river property in early May, when the bluets, which are
about the same size, were also blooming.
These are white or pale pink with darker pink stripes … very
sweet! And very sweet when combined
with the bluets. The plant is in the
purslane family.
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Star of Bethlehem. See description
above.
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Common, or
Wild, Strawberry (Fragaria
virginiana). I used to pull
these out as weeds, but I now let them grow wherever they want to in my
yard. They are miniature versions of
commercial strawberries; the flowers are cute and the leaves are not
unattractive. The tiny berries are
very sweet, but it would take a whole lot of them to make a pie. If you have one of these in your bouqet,
look to see if you also have a tiny berry near-by, as one plant will often
have a berry or two growing on it as it flowers. This plant is native to Appalachia, but
there is a near relative known as a wood strawberry that is not.
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Viola. These volunteers
are coming up in my garden after I planted them as bedding plants last
year.
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Thyme-leaved Speedwell
(Veronica serpyllifolia).
Miniature flowers that carpet a non-Chem-lawned
lawn. Their leaves are quite pretty,
and the flowers are darling. They
close when not in sunlight, so if you have them you could put your bouquet
in a window to see them open.
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Common Violet (viola papilionacea). These familiar but under-appreciated
relatives of the pansy carpet my lawn and my woods. I used to tear out the heart-shaped
leaves but I no longer think of them as weeds. The leaves are pretty, and I spend a lot
of money on pansies, while these miniatures are free.
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White Violet (Viola pallens OR blanda)
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Sources: Many of the notes
are my own. However, I have used a
key to indicate sources of scientific or other information:
P – Peterson, Roger Tony and Margaret McKenney. Wildflowers: Northeastern/North-central North America. Peterson Field
Guides. Houghlin-Mifflin: New York, 1968.
W – World Wide Web.
Various sites.
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(301) 689-3540
www.oocities.org/medgerly
Email me at:
medgerly@yahoo.com
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