In the briar patch, April 16-17


The spring reading season and the spring blooming season are picking up speed. New books arrive daily. And the foliage in the briar patch promises more blooms soon.

Here’s what’s new now in the briar patch.

Common blue violet, or maybe a hybrid thereof.

My wildflower field guides say there are maybe 50 species of violets in the hills of North Carolina, and they can be difficult to identify because they often hybridize naturally. This is the kind that’s common in meadows and at the edges of woods, near the briar patches. I remember that they grew in profusion near my grandmother’s chicken pen, and we girls used to make necklaces of them by making small slits in the stems and pulling the next flower through to the point where the blossom would hold.

Red, trumpet or coral honeysuckle, aka woodbine.

This honeysuckle, unlike the more familiar kind with yellow-and-white blooms that grows about as abundantly as kudzu, is native to this part of North Carolina. The other kind, the one we used to drink the juice from as children, was introduced from Japan and spread vigorously.


2 responses to “In the briar patch, April 16-17”

  1. Thanks for the wildflower photos! Violets are survivors, even here in the suburbs. Someone was asking the other night about “confederate violets.” Are those the pale white ones with purple streaks that you see mixed in with the purple ones?

    • Hi, Valerie. I had never heard of Confederate violets, but I believe you are right, and I just took a picture of one in my “briar patch.”
      Thanks!
      Linda

Leave a Reply to Linda Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *