Native Plant of the Week: Rue Anemone ~ Thalictrum thalictroides

Rue Anemone ~ Thalictrum thalictroides (Anemonella thalictroides)


Rue Anemone is poking through the leaf litter in our oak woodlands right now with the first flowers beginning to open. This is another tiny spring ephemeral native, easy to overlook as it slowly grows to about 6 inches in height. 


Often mistaken for the False Rue Anemone (Enemion biternatum), with its similar softly lobed, 3 parted (sometimes 2) basal leaves. The main difference is in the number of sepals between these two, the False Rue Anemone always with 5, and the Rue Anemone having anywhere between 5-10 sepals.

The flower color can range from pink to white, opening up as early as mid April but more typically end of April into May.

Rue Anemone is most often found in woodlands of medium to dry soil as well as along forest openings.

It is native to eastern North America, in a line from Ontario southwest to Texas and eastwards.

The Pollinators are Out and About

With warmer temperatures and sunshine over the weekend, the Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) and Hepatica opened up their petals to invite some early emerging pollinators to stop by.

These tiny insects were very easy to overlook, as they flew around and didn't perch for long.

I was excited to see several bee species, a parasitic wasp, and fly that that mimics a bee in appearance.

This Ichneumon wasp was the only insect taking its time to enjoy the spring day and perch on the Bloodroot petals. Ichneumon wasps parasitize other insects - laying their eggs in live 'hosts' such as caterpillars, sawflies and larvae of beetles.

Read an earlier post about the importance of Ichneumon and other wasps in the native landscape.

My first time seeing a Bee Fly, probably a Greater Bee Fly. These flies have long mouthparts that look like giant black straws. Their hairy bodies and yellowish coloring make them look very similar to bees. These flies parasitize larvae of solitary bees.
Read an earlier post on bee mimics.

Ichneumon Wasp and Bee species on Bloodroot.

Tiny (less than 1/4 inch) bees nectaring on Hepatica.

Another tiny bee (possibly a type of sweat bee) covered in white pollen from the Hepatica.

A type of Carpenter Bee which "excavate nests with their mandibles in the pith of broken or burned plant twigs and stems. Females overwinter as adults in partially or completely excavated stems. In the spring, this resting place (hibernaculum) is modified into a brood nest by further excavation." (BugGuide.net)

Read my post at Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens about the importance of leaving plant debris, leaves, rocks and logs to provide habitat for overwintering insects.

What early spring pollinators are you seeing in your yard?

Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens

I was honored to be asked to join a new collaborative blog formed by Carole Brown at Ecosystem Gardening called Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens.

The blog will feature postings about "native plants, wildlife gardens, sustainability, or ecological landscaping."

Be sure to stop by and check it out. Today, there's a posting by Douglas Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home.

Follow on Facebook too: Facebook Page

Phenological Photos - Third Week of April

Sandhill Cranes fly overhead

Chokecherries start to leaf out

Box Elders flowering

First Wooly Bear Caterpillar

Female Yellow Rumped Warblers join the Males

3 inches of wet snow  :(

Bloodroot carpets the woodlands

Chipmunks become more active foraging in the woods

Ruby Crowned Kinglets buzz in the trees searching for insects

Muskrats actively foraging along the creek

American Coots return to the wetlands from the south

Pennsylvania Sedge flowers

Egrets return to local lakes

Native Plant of the Week: Sharp Lobed Hepatica ~ Hepatica acutiloba

Sharp Lobed Hepatica ~ Hepatica acutiloba (Anemone acutiloba)


Still not many things flowering here in Minnesota. We had more snowfall only days ago and unseasonably cool temperatures. The Bloodroot and Hepatica are flowering although in our yard, a nice cheery sign of spring after this long winter.

Hepatica are a woodland spring ephemeral native, both the Sharp Lobed (see the pointed leaves in the second photo), and the Round Lobed (Hepatica americana) are native to the upper Midwest. The flower (sepals) can range from pure white in color to medium pink to a dark purple.

The hairy stemmed flowers emerge in a cluster from the woodland leaf litter in mid to late April and like many other spring ephemerals, the flowers open up in the warm sunny spring days. The mottled liver-like leaves from the previous year remain and new ones emerge when flowering has finished.

There has been a significant decline in Hepatica populations. One study conducted at the University of Minnesota tried to determine if non-native earthworms played a role in plant diversity due to the reduction of the quantity of leaf litter. Read the study here.

Sharp Lobed Hepatica is native from Ontario south to Arkansas and eastwards.

Common Garter Snake

Common Garter Snake ~ Thamnophis sirtalis


While walking in the woods the last week I've seen several Common Garter Snakes sunning themselves in openings. I love to see them reemerge in the spring after their hibernation.

I do not yet have Garter Snakes in my yard but I am working on providing the ideal habitat for them by piling some rocks, fostering vole and rodent holes and leaving all the leaf litter and branches on the ground.

Garter Snakes feed on a variety of things including amphibians, worms, small fish and rodents. What better residents to have in your yard?

In late April you will see masses of Garter Snakes writhing in the leaf litter, also called "mating balls". The males emerge first and wait to mate with the females. Males outnumber females so there is heavy competition. (Source)

Females give birth to 10-25 offspring in August and September. (Reptiles & Amphibians of Minnesota Field Guide)

Look for "mating balls" near water in mid to late April in Minnesota.

Garter snake habitat is highly variable including prairies, woodlands, grassy meadows and wetlands. 

In summer they hunt for prey during the day. I often see Garter Snakes taking refuge in rock crevices like this man-made stone pillar. 

Garter Snakes hibernate in winter in "underground mammal dens, crevices and foundations". (Reptiles & Amphibians of Minnesota Field Guide)

Do you have Garter Snakes in your yard?

Be Cautious of What's Greening Up in Your Yard

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca)

With our late spring and cool temperatures not many natives are emerging from the woodlands other than a few spring ephemerals. There are some suspect plants that are very green in the woodland openings and partially shaded areas however. Many of these are invasive exotics.

Invasive exotic plants tend to have higher photosynthetic rates, greening up much earlier than most native species. (Source) This was evident while walking in the woods yesterday, the only green herbaceous plants were Garlic Mustard, Creeping Charlie, Motherwort and Catnip.

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

This is a huge advantage for these exotic plants, growing, flowering and producing seed before many native species get a chance to and ultimately displacing them from their habitat.

Another competitive advantage for garlic mustard is that the rosettes develop large tap roots that act as food reserves allowing the plant to adapt to many conditions from very dry to wet.

Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa)

Exotic honeysuckles are also beginning to leaf out, much earlier than most other native woody species. Our native Elderberries and Currants are some of the few native woody species to leaf out as early as exotic honeysuckles.

We can take advantage of the early emergence of these invasives, for it is easier to see and remove them now before they blend with native species, flower and produce vast quantities of seed.

What invasive exotics green up early in your area?

Phenological Photos - Second Week of April

Sharp and Round Lobed Hepatica flowering

Bloodroot flowering

First Painted Turtle, sunning on a log

Female Red Wing Blackbirds return to join the males in the wetlands

More Hooded Mergansers congregate on the smaller lakes with open water

Overwintering Adult Butterflies emerge (Eastern Comma)

White Breasted Nuthatches prepare nests in a woodpecker cavities

Tree Swallows return and hunt for insects by flying low over the water

First Garter Snakes seen sunning in warm sunny spots in the woods

Fox Sparrows stop by on their way north

Eastern Phoebes hunt for insects along creeks and streams.
Their tails bob as they perch on trees.

The first warblers arrive from the south. (Yellow Rumped Warbler)

Fly species perch in the leaf litter

Many deciduous trees in full bloom. (Red Maple)

Male and female Pileated Woodpeckers seen foraging together

Native Plant of the Week: Bloodroot ~ Sanguinaria canadensis

Bloodroot ~ Sanguinaria canadensis


What isn't there to like about Bloodroot? It's usually the first spring ephemeral to flower in our yard - as early as late March. This year, it just started to flower mid-week.

The beautiful white petals are over 2 inches in width and open fully for the mid-day sun. The number of petals are usually 7 but not uncommonly more than 7. The blooms close up at night as temperatures drop and look like white candles, with the solitary blue-gray leaf wrapped around its stem acting as the candle holder.

As the common name suggests, the rhizome has a red juice when crushed or broken. I saw several small bee species hovering around our bloodroot this week, perhaps making it an important early flowering pollination source.

Long narrow seed pods form and break open revealing a row of seeds with a fleshy elaisome attached. The elaisome attracts ants who then carry off and help disperse the seed. Read an earlier post about this.

We had a small remnant patch of Bloodroot in our yard under large oak trees when we purchased our house. Since removing invasive European Buckthorn and Honeysuckle in this area, the Bloodroot patch has spread quite a bit and new clusters are emerging 10 to 15 feet away from the original bunch.

In our backyard, which was mowed for at least 20 years before we bought our house, Bloodroot is reemerging where we have restored the leaf litter and added native shrubs and trees.

Bloodroot is found in medium to dry woodlands in most of eastern North America, from Saskatchewan south to Texas and eastwards.