. When I was very small... maybe 3 or 4, I remember finding a sprig or two of dutchman's breeches. Now, I believed without a shadow of a doubt that there were tiny little fairy men somewhere nearby. I wished it with all my heart, and for that moment in time, I was transported with that belief. It was complete magic. Since that time, I've never seen them in the wild again. Once, I almost did... found a couple sort of dried up sprigs, but not really growing. Until today. Today I saw millions of them along with trillium, corydalis. Virginia bluebells, spring beauty, grape hyacinth, violets in purple, white, and yellow, and rock cress. Oh! What a day! We went riding down along the Susquehanna river finally winding up at Shenk's Ferry Wild Flower Preserve. The road leading to the preserve was rock walls 50 feet or higher, covered with bluebells and trillium, ferns, and dutchman's breeches. At one point I turned to my sister and told her that if one of the eagles nesting nearby happened to fly over AND I would happen to see lady's slipper (still haven't seen that one....), I would be content to die on the spot.
Fiddlehead ferns above, trillium and VA bluebells below.
There were also large stands of blue cohosh, not yet ready to bloom, huge patches of wild geranium, daylilies, and something called squirrel corn... all just on the verge of blooming, but not yet open.
The phlox was just starting to open.
The day started just a little on the shaky side. First there was the very healthy sized garter snake (2') that got away before I could get a decent picture of him, and then there was this lovely 3 or 4' water snake lazing on a log over the little creek, catching some rays. All in all it was one of my favorite days of the year so far.
