Bloodroot – Native Plant of the Day 03/08/2024
Photo from 03/07/2009. Location: The Pocket, Walker County, Ga.
More photos / info at the Sanguinaria canadensis detail page.
Bloodroot – Sanguinaria canadensis
It had been 10 days during the ‘peak development period’ of wildflowers at The Pocket since I’d last been there. It was a beautiful day today, and in spite of the fact that the boardwalk past the loop and the trail to the falls were closed, I counted 31 species blooming. I suspect that had I been able to access those areas, I would also have seen Bishop’s Cap (Mitella diphylla), Heartleaf Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), and White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda).
Bloodroot – Sanguinaria canadensis
Rain and wind have kept me away from The Pocket, and when the sun broke through, my wife and I made a run down there today, 02/24/2019. This was a very abbreviated inspection – additional trees have come down in recent days, damaging and blocking the section of the boardwalk where repairs had just been completed, and causing upheaval and further damage in the section near the back where repairs were underway. UPDATE: Kathy Smith Hamill reports that the GA DNR has built a wooden barricade across the boardwalk just past the loop with signs ‘that say the boardwalk and spur trail back to the waterfall from that point are now “closed indefinitely due to soil instability” with the word “indefinitely” in bold, italic letters.’ This is very unfortunate.
That being said, the wildflowers are starting – as shown by this photo, the Bloodroot are starting to bloom!
Bloodroot – Sanguinaria canadensis
This is an incomplete update on the wildflowers at The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain – I got an “urgent” call from my wife as I approached the back of the boardwalk, so it covers only a very small part of the area. Fortunately, and I didn’t know until I got home, the urgent call wasn’t an emergency call – our granddaughter had returned a few days early from a months-long mission trip to Mexico and South America, and we were fortunate enough to get to have lunch with her – our middle granddaughter – and our youngest granddaughter. Sorry, but I’ve got my priorities.
Even with the much shortened walk, I spotted 13 species blooming along the boardwalk, including what I consider to be the crown jewel of the early wildflowers – Bloodroot.
Bloodroot at The Pocket
As expected with this warm weather, we’ve added a few species to what are blooming at The Pocket. As I was hoping, Carolina Spring Beauty are now pretty widespread. While 9 species are a far cry from the 40 that may be blooming at peak, we’ve got to remember, this is mid-February!
Carolina Spring Beauty – Claytonia caroliniana
As expected, the Hepatica were still blooming at the Pocket – they were starting to bloom the last few days of January, but after all, it is just mid-February. Also as expected, Harbinger-of-spring was blooming. Not surprisingly, Star Chickweed was blooming, but I was surprised that with the other plants in bloom, I didn’t find Toothwort in flower (although I did find one with buds.) But there were two other surprises for me, these on the positive side.
Look what was poking up through the leaves along the boardwalk:
Bloodroot at The Pocket – on Feb 12!
The warm weather has continued, along with a fair bit of rain. It’s been 10 days since my last trip to The Pocket (3/2), and I was expecting some significant changes in what was blooming. Some news – the Harbinger-of-Spring is almost gone. However, that’s not the only news… Wait for it…
Wood Poppy – Stylophorum diphyllum
Not just the Wood Poppy…
As reported a month back, Hepatica, Harbinger-of-Spring, and a Star Chickweed were blooming at The Pocket at the end of January as a result of our unusually warm winter. We had some cold weather in February, and nothing much had changed in mid-February. My wife and I were out of town for a couple of weeks, so when we returned yesterday, I was anxious to see what had developed in our absence. While the boardwalk itself doesn’t show too much action, there is a lot that is cranking up both on the trail to the bottom of the falls past the end of the boardwalk and on the Pocket Loop Trail (aka the horse trail) up to the top of the falls.
Bloodroot – Sanguinaria canadensis
Yes, Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is blooming along the horse trail – I haven’t see it this early in four years, implying (as expected) an early spring this year.
Today (3/16) was beautiful – clear skies and about 70 degrees by noon. The weather had been pretty warm for several days, with a lot of rain showers over those several days, so I was hopeful that things would have picked up a bit from my last report on 3/7. And had it! Of the 53 species on my current version of my wildflower checklist for The Pocket, we (my wife, a lovely homeschool group we met up with, and I) found 13 blooming right now.
Bloodroot – Sanguinaria canadensis
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Yesterday (3/27) was one of the rare days this spring – mostly clear skies and warmer weather – into the 60’s. As a plus a couple of my grandkids wanted to join me, so a great time at The Pocket was guaranteed. Several of the “signature species” at The Pocket – Virginia Bluebell, Wood (Celandine) Poppy, Dutchman’s Breeches (or, as my grandson called them, “Upside Down Pants from Holland), Trout Lily are blooming right now. I’m developing a checklist to use so I won’t have to photograph or remember what all is blooming, and of the 51 species on my current version of the checklist, 25 are blooming right now.
Trailing Trillium – Trillium decumbens
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