I love exploring the woods all year round, but especially during the spring, it’s always thrilling to see what has emerged since my last visit. There’s something about seeing the evolution of the plants peeking through the earth on one visit, to them struggling towards the sun on another and then, finally, blooming. In the past, I’ve been honored to experience them emerge on my daily hikes. Unfortunately, the last couple of years my schedule hasn’t allowed me to go into the woods as much I would like, missing too many of my friends in bloom.

This year has been particularly difficult for me to slip into the woods regularly. However, on my annual birthday hike, I was more than blessed with a spring bouquet. Typically, there is a progression of blossoms in the woods. I call the first ones Spring Indicators: Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara), Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens), Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), and Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). These tend to be the first arrivals and then as the weeks progress, others go into bloom as their blossoms disappear.  This year spring has been different on so many levels, and perhaps the plants knew they needed to take advantage of the fine weather to make their move all at once. Lucky for me, it felt like everyone waited to bloom for my birthday hike. Not only was everyone blooming in concert, there was an extraordinary abundance of them. In the past, I might see only few Bloodroot in bloom. This year, I saw more than four large patches of them.

Quite frankly, I am blessed with a fabulous day to be born ~ May 4th. There is nothing better than having a birthday in May, when everything is breaking out of its winter slumber and painting the woods with a rainbow of colors. Although, winter seemed to linger way too long this year, I was not disappointed when spring decided to show herself on the day of my birth.

Check out all the lovelies along the trail.