Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023 - 10

GIFTS OF THE LAND
YOUNG GRANDSONS EXPLORE
First Discovery of Spring Wildflowers
One of the charms of living on 38 wooded
acres is the wide-eyed reaction of a 7- and
a 5-year-old to their first identifying of the
land's many wildflowers.
Text and photo by BRUCE INGRAM
Photo styling by JANETTE SPENCER
uture historians will record that
the COVID pandemic began in
March of 2020 and likely further
note that not much good
came from the virus. But in these
mountains, even during the darkest
times, joys can arise if we take
the time to search for them. So what I will
choose to remember most from that time
period is that's when I introduced my grandsons to the
beauty and wonders of our native spring wildflowers.
The springs that have come since have only increased
our appreciation for what we discovered then and continue
to learn more about.
Sam and Eli were ages 7 and 5 when COVID began,
and many days when they were through with their
school's virtual learning and I finished teaching my
high school students online, we would head for the
creek hollow below our respective houses on 38 wooded
acres in the Virginia mountains. Often we walked the
nearly mile-long trail that winds around the property's
perimeter, the the focal point of which is a spur that
meanders down to Catawba Creek and the two springs
that trickle into it.
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10 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
Come spring, a rhythm exists to the coming and
blooming of wildflowers, and on many days the three
of us witnessed it. Field guides in hand, we would stop
to identify the flowers that had just emerged from the
dark brown loam that so characterizes bottomland soil
in our region.
The first flower we discovered was the early-blooming
bloodroot with its daisy-like white petals and their
buttery-yellow center. I also pointed out to the boys the
bees and other pollen-seeking creatures that take advantage
of this wildflower. After all, it was their first chance
Sam and Eli pause in their spring wildflower searches for a break on their
favorite sitting log.
to visit a blooming flower in many months.
While the bloodroots were sending forth their
charms, the three elliptical leaves of white trillium began
to poke forth through the creek bottom duff. I told
my grandsons that I would pay them a quarter each if
they could figure out the name of the wildflower that
would soon adorn those leaves. I'll never forget the day
they first glimpsed-and identified-the trilliums which
had turned our hollow into a sea of white flowers.
As enchanting as the white trilliums were, our favorite
spring wildflower became the Virginia bluebell.
The grandsons and I first encountered bluebells one afternoon
when we hiked down to the springs to gather
watercress for dinner. What had been a relatively barren
bank a few days before was bursting with color and vitality.
Really, who wouldn't be enchanted by the lavenderblue,
bell-shaped blooms that this wildflower flaunts.
As that spring progressed, the three of us came to
know a series of other wildflowers: buttercups, dog lilies,
hoary puccoons, fire pink, wild blue phlox and a host of
others. The boys even established a " sitting rock " where
they could view our entire hollow and what also became
a must-stop every excursion. Behind our houses and out
in nature, we felt safe from the virus, and my grandsons
first began to understand the tonic, blessings and beauty
of nature and of living in these mountains.
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Blue Ridge Country March/April 2023

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