It’s been nearly 2 weeks since I made it down to The Pocket – my apologies for the paucity of status updates this year.  Even more species (38) are blooming now than two weeks ago (28), even though we’ve lost, or nearly lost, a few. I only saw a single Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) bloom, Harbinger-of-Spring is gone, Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) has completed its bloom, there are only a few Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) still blooming, Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) are essentially gone, and I couldn’t find the single Pennywort (Obolaria virginica) I saw two weeks ago.

The only remaining Dutchman’s Breeches flowers I could find.

Other than what was mentioned above, here is what I found blooming, more or less in order of finding it. I started in the area north of the parking lot, then walked the boardwalk, the trail to the falls, the cliff trail across the falls to the horse trail, and then came down the horse trail.

• Redbud (Cercis canadensis) –  Both the planted trees along the driveway down to the boardwalk and the wild ones along the creek near the parking lot are blooming.
• Field Pansies (Viola bicolor) are still blooming along the driveway between the ford thru the creek and the parking lot.
• Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata) – Blooming all over the place.
• Rue Anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) – On the decline but plentiful.
• Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia) – Violets were numerous.
• Long-spurred Violet (Viola rostrata) – Many blooming, probably just past peak.
• Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) – A few scattered around.
  

  Purple Phacelia

• Canada Violet (Viola canadensis) – Plentiful.
• Trailing Trillium (Trillium decumbens) – Probably peak.
• Downy Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens) – Plentiful.
• Purple Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida) – Probably peak. There is usually a plant near the falls with some unusually white blossoms.
• Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera) – Still plentiful.
• Carolina Spring Beauty (Claytonia caroliniana) – Still quite a few hanging it there.
• 

  Bent White Trillium – Trillium flexipes – are now blooming at The Pocket

  Virginia Bluebell (Mertensia virginica) – I’m going to call this peak.

• Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) – Just past peak. Quite a few are showing there fuzzy seedpods.
• Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) – Plentiful.
• Trillium flexipes – More yet to bloom than are blooming, but plentiful, especially up toward the waterfalls.
• Heartleaf Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) – I think these are probably at peak right now.

Heartleaf Foamflower blooming above the creek in The Pocket

• Largeflower Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) – Just a few starting to bloom along the boardwalk.
• Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) – Starting decline, but most plants still have few flowers left, a few still have many flowers.
  

  Bishop’s Cap are blooming along the trail to the falls.

• Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) – That Jack that I photographed along the boardwalk two weeks ago is fully formed now, but surprisingly I didn’t see any others.
• White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda) – I saw one plant along the boardwalk with buds, and one along the trail to the falls with a full inflorescence open.
• Bishop’s Cap (Mitella diphylla) – That spot where the trail comes down to the creek about halfway to the falls has several Bishop’s Caps in full bloom.
• Hepatica (Anemone acutiloba) – Just a few still blooming. Many of this year’s leaves are around to be found.
• Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) – Several plants with several flowers fully open.

Eastern Columbine

• Roundleaf Ragwort – Fairly plentiful along the horse trail.
• Plantainleaf Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia) – Many blooming up above
  

  Woodland Stonecrop

  the falls.

• Woodland Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum) – A few fully open on the walls along the horse trail.
• Cumberland Spurge (Euphorbia mercurialina) – Several of these unobtrusive plants in bloom along the horse trail.
• Robin’s Plantain (Erigeron pulchellus) – Several are blooming on the rock wall along the horse trail (Pocket Loop Trail.) The most beautiful of Georgia’s fleabanes.
• Trillium cuneatum – I was surprised to see only two of these fully open given the abundance of open Trillium descumbens.