Can You Find These Blooming Now in Crow Island Woods?

Especially in the spring, Crow Island Woods is ever-changing, with new wildflowers coming into bloom every week. The following plants may be blooming right now in the Woods. Can you find them?

Virginia Bluebells
Mertensia virginica

Where to Find It:
Virginia Bluebells are native wildflowers which have become garden favorites. The largest amount are found at the north end of the woods along the combined western/central paths, mixed among the Ostrich Fern. There are also a large number to the south of the south path.

How to Recognize It:
Virginia Bluebells are familiar because they appear in garden settings in Winnetka. In early spring, pink/purple buds open into trumpet-like blue flowers on short slender stalks at the end of branching stems.

Why to Like It:
This native spring ephemeral has gorgeous blue & purple flowers in spring. Both flowers and leaves are edible and can be added to salads or a stir-fry.

Bloodroot
Sanguinaria canadensis

Where to Find It:
There is some Bloodroot in the Woods about 2/3 of the way towards the south along the middle path.

How to Recognize It:
In spring, the Bloodroot flower stalk emerges wrapped by one palmate, deeply-scalloped, grayish-green basal leaf. As the white crocus-like flower blooms, the leaf unfurls. The flowers (which open in sun, but close at night) last only a few days, but the distinctive leaves continue to grow, sometimes up to 9" across until the plant goes dormant in mid-late summer.

Why to Like It:
The lovely white flowers of this spring ephemeral are very showy if short-lived. The leaves have an unusual texture & shape.

Siberian Squill
Scilla siberica

Where to Find It:
Small patches of Siberian Squill can be found along the center path.

How to Recognize It:
You've seen Siberian Squill in yards across Winnetka. Initially bell-shaped blue flowers open to about 6 flaring blue petals with a light stripe down the center about 1 inch across. Leaves are basal, about 5 inches long, like a wide blade of grass.

Why to Like It:
One of the first spring ephemerals to bloom in Crow Island Woods, the blue flowers of Siberian Squill are attractive in appearance and they have a lovely fragrance. But, as the name implies, it is a non-native imported for landscape use (you've probably seen it elsewhere in Winnetka), and mildly invasive with clusters spreading slowly over time.

Lesser Celandine
Ranunculus ficaria

Where to Find It:
Lesser Celandine can be found at the very south end of Crow Island Woods (and on the path leading between Sunset & Apple Tree), as well as at the edge of the woods along Euclid. There's a lot of it along the Hibbard Rd. drainage ditch, and you can also find it in a few yards in Winnetka.

How to Recognize It:
Lesser Celandine blooms in early spring with bunches of yellow (and sometimes white) flowers on a carpet of green heart-shaped leaves which grow dormant as the trees leaf out. It is very similar looking to the native Marsh Marigold which has the same shaped leaves, and same bright yellow color flowers. One difference when blooming: Lesser Celandine has 8-12 skinny petals, while Marsh Marigolds have 5-9 broad petals. When you're digging up Lesser Celandine, you'll note the roots have many nodules, while Marsh Marigold has thicker, fleshy roots.

Why to Like It:
Where it has colonized, Lesser Celandine makes a lovely carpet of yellow flowers in early spring. Unfortunately, it's quite invasive, and the thick mound of leaves chokes out other understory plants, creating large monocultural areas. If you don't want your whole yard (or forest) taken over by it, remove it by digging up the plant and the small tubers from which new plants grow.

Periwinkle
Vinca minor

Where to Find It:
There is a small amount of Periwinkle south of the southernmost path in the woods.

How to Recognize It:
Periwinkle is a classic attractive, durable vine-like trailing evergreen ground cover which you see in many yards. It sometimes escapes cultivation, forming mats along the forest floor. Flowers have five blue or lavender petals, blunt at the tip, arranged in a spiral.

Why to Like It:
Periwinkle has spread around the world because of its durability and pretty, long-lasting blue flowers. It sometimes escapes from the garden, though, and ends up in wild areas like Crow Island Woods.