The earth laughs in flowers. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
A week or so ago, I invited you to go wildflower hunting with me and promised that we’d go again. That’s the thing with spring. It gifts us with such a variety spread out over a couple of months. Early, early I had to go walking to find the hepatica blooms that are some of the very first flowers to push through last fall’s leaves. Then the bloodroot followed along with spring beauties and toothwort. When some of those drop their petals and begin to nurture their roots for another grand showing in the next spring, others pop up to take their turn at coloring the earth.
Up top is the wood poppy. When I was a kid, we always called that one a buttercup. But flower books say we were wrong. This other yellow flower with the shiny petals is actually the buttercup, but it’s the wood poppy that is more abundant 
on the cliff sides where we’re flower hunting today.
The twin leaf, the white flower that looks a lot like the bloodroot except it blooms on top of a tall stem and those leaves that look like twins are on taller stems too. Not like the bloodroot that spirals up out of last falls leaves with its leaf wrapped around its flower stem as you can see in this picture from our last wildflower hunt. No bloodroots blooming along the path on this walk in the woods.
I’m trying to get my new book written and so I told myself before I went that I would only stay a little longer than an hour, not quite twice as long as the normal walk Frankie and I might take in the middle of my writing day. Frankie, on the other hand, says the longer the walk the better. Here he is up high on one of the cliff sides saying hurry up. He can run up and down the steep hills with ease, but I just wave at him from the bottom. He’s not hunting wildflowers, but various and sundry critters. It’s best if he doesn’t find any of them! But I do like finding wildflowers because my allotted hour stretched to two and then more. But there were simply so many flowers to see.
One that I knew I had to hurry to see was the trout lily, so named because of the leaf markings that look like the brown trout. The yellow petals don’t take long to fall to the ground. But they were plentiful when we were walking this time. 
Another plentiful flower on these hillsides is the wild blue phlox. They are long bloomers too so a visual delight most any time I walk in the springtime.
The bent head trilliums were only beginning to come up and I didn’t spot any leaves of the jack-in-the-pulpit. May apples are all leaf and no bloom yet too. So another walk may be in the offing. Frankie says that’s okay as long as he can take a dip in the creek to cool off.
And so another walk must come to an end. I need to spill some more words across the computer screen to tell my story. But perhaps the walk in the woods will bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm.
Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder
Thanks for reading.
Which wildflower is your favorite?
P.S. Thanks to all of you who joined in the fun last week and commented on my posts and thus got your name in my drawing hat. I picked the winner by random number generator and the winner is Jean Ann. I’ll be doing more giveaways in the next couple of weeks with the release date for my book, The Refuge, coming soon. It will be time for a new mystery picture game! And a new newsletter with a very Shakerish prize.
Comments 15
I’d be honored to read your new book. I saw on your list I’d missed the latest in your murder series. I absolutely love your mystery picture contest. They are always so fun & entertaining. Thank you for bringing joy to so many. I love your wild flowers. I don’t know how you have time to write, while doing all these creative things & having family time. You are a blessed person. As always, Be Thankful in All Things.
Finished this fantastic book and hated to see it end! At one time you mentioned that your publishers liked your books in threes. Are there others in this series? Thank you, again, for sharing your God given talent! 😊
Author
Actually, now they are wanting me to write only stand-alone books. The ones that I have written about the same sets of characters are three books each. The Heart of Hollyhill books, the Rosey Corner books, and the Hidden Springs Mysteries. I think if the mysteries had drawn in more readers, I might have been able to keep adding to that series. Readers are the telling mark the publishers look at in order to decide what to publish since they are in the business of selling books.
Words Spoken True is a stand-alone book. No more about these characters, but I surely could imagine another story about them, couldn’t you? So glad you liked the story, Karen.
Hidden Springs Mysteries….does that include MURDER at the COURTHOUSE, MURDER COMES by MAIL, and one more which title escapes me at the moment. I read all three and loved them. I think publishers need to understand that there are millions of books written by a myriad of authors and that there are just soooo many hours in a day. I still haven’t read ALL your books, but I’m working on it. 😊
Author
The other Hidden Springs mystery was Murder Is No Accident. I appreciate you reading my books, Karen. And I understand about only so many hours in a day. I need to add a few extra now and again and never get all the books read I would like to read.
Good morning! The wild purple phlox is my favorite. Would love to be in an area to traipse through the woods. Enjoyed hiking with you.
Author
Great, Lisa. Fun to have you along. The purple phlox are very pretty.
Your wildflowers are so pretty. I went for a walk after your first pictures of wildflowers but did not find any here yet. Now I have spring beauties. I will have to walk again and see if any others are out.
Author
The spring beauties were still all over the place when I walked this last time, Birdie. They bloom early and bloom long. They are nicely named. Some of the flowers I find over in my cliff area don’t grow anywhere but there around here. Larkspur is another one that wasn’t blooming when I walked the other day, but it’s one you sometimes see on roadside cliffs.
Good Monday morning, Ann! I love the flower photos. I never remember their names, but enjoy looking for them each spring. My yard has those tiny lavender blooms popping up. Yesterday’s wind blew the blooms off my daffodils, but I noticed this morning the wild rose bushes are green. So it won’t be long before I have abundant pink roses. And I love the purple redbuds that surround the lake this time of year.
It’s chilly this morning, but the birds were singing a chorus to welcome a new week. I hope you and Frankie have a great one. And keep spilling those words…I’m eagerly awaiting the next book! 🙂
Author
I think you must mean violets. Our yard is full of them. I know people who really want the best lawns don’t much like violets, but they are pretty in the spring when they make purple patches in the grass. Too bad about your daffodils, Lavon. That wind was ferocious yesterday. I heard a tree fall while I was walking. We have a lot of dead ash trees on our farm.
I think we were definitely having redbud winter today. But it’s not supposed to last long. The weekend isn’t looking too good right now. I’m hoping they’re wrong.
Hey Ann,
Thanks so much for sharing the pics of these beautiful wildflowers! What a Beautiful reminder that God is making all things at the start of the Easter week! I can’t wait to read your new novel and participate in the upcoming mystery photo contest! 🙂 ✨Revelation 21:4-5,John 17-21✨
Author
I’ve been trying to find some mystery pictures, Emily. But so far I haven’t found anything too mysterious. So we’ll see if I can come up with some stumpers. Glad you enjoyed the flowers and hope you’ll enjoy The Refuge when it comes out.
Lovely wildflowers! How blessed you are to live in an area where the wildflowers are abundant! Frankie’s a beautiful dog and seemingly quite the rascal—-is he lying in water in the last picture? 😊😊😊
I am just finishing up your book WORDS SPOKEN TRUE. I definitely have enjoyed reading it. Not only has it been a pleasure to read, but I have learned some historical facts along the way! Thank you, again!!!
Author
Frankie was taking a little swim in the creek, Karen. Some of the pools in the creek after all the rain are deep enough he can swim. Frankie has dog company this week and is having a hard time settling down. Keeps going in and out, so I keep going back and forth to the door. Guess I might get my steps in anyway. 🙂
So glad you’re enjoyed my Words Spoken True story. Some very dramatic history in that story. Eye opening for me when I was researching that story.