Door to Nature

Finally the merry month of May is upon us. Thomas Tusser (1524 – 1580) wrote, “Sweet April showers Do spring May flowers.” This saying, however slightly altered, is dear to the hearts of many people.

Even though there is a smattering of wildflowers in bloom during April, the real extravaganza of bloom can be enjoyed in May. Without fail someone will tell me during this magical month, “I have never seen so many trilliums in the woods as this year.”

A Giant Trillium.

If one were to make record of the various people, of many, who say this, I’m sure that several folks would be guilty of repeating this delightful and anticipated proclamation on an annual basis. Presumably what they really mean is, “May is so wonderful and the display of wildflowers is as spectacular as ever.” Late May in cool northeastern Wisconsin, the hardwoods dotted with trillions of Large-flowered Trilliums, is truly a time to give thanks for being alive.

Roses are red, violets are blue, and yellow and white and purple, too! Of the approximately 50 species of violets in the U.S. at least 21 species grow in Wisconsin. The Wood Violet, our state wildflower, is among them. The violet group is quite fascinating and highly satisfying to study and learn. Some are so common, such as the Dog Violet, as to grow freely, perhaps even within your own lawn.

Challenge yourself to discover an out-of-the-way sanctuary, small that it may be, a place to which you can escape to find that precious element so frequently missing in people’s lives today – solitude. Chances are you’ll discover at least several species of violets there too, growing in their quiet way.

I plan to have a long earthy talk in the woods with Jack this May, now that I’ve “retired” and have some extra time on my hands. Jack-in-the pulpit is to whom I refer. No doubt we’ll chat about his many wildflower companions in bloom, the arrival of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak wasting little precious time in taking up nesting nearby and especially how these splendid singers are already showering these woods with their liquid, bubbly, refreshing songs.

Finally, having had my sermon, I will bid “so long” to Jack in his striped pulpit and sleek reverence. I shall return home slowly beneath the lofty cathedral arches of new green foliage thankful that another captivating May has arrived to the North Country. My favorite preacher in nature, with his stirring vernal sermon, will have convinced me once again that the warm gentle spring woods awakening, with its tapestry of flowers, is our reward for a cold winter past.

The fiddlehead stage of the Ostrich Fern.

Lest one forget the snowstorm of the second week of May 1990, I will share with you a stanza from one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost, “Two Tramps in Mud Time.”

The sun was warm but the wind was chill.

You know how it is with an April day

When the sun is out and the wind is still,

You’re one month on in the middle of May,

But if you so much as dare to speak,

A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,

A wind comes off a frozen peak,

And you’re two months back in the middle of March.

Soon a plant form, beautiful like the Chambered Nautilus, will begin to pop up in cool shaded woods, on moss-covered rocks and in the springy bottomlands throughout the state. Call them “fiddleheads” and some people begin to lick their chops because some species have been known to be edible in small quantities. Refer to them as crosiers (CROW-zhers) and not many will know what you are talking about. The ferns are beginning to uncoil!

While you’re down on your knees admiring these spectacular little spirals don’t forget to look up to the tree flowers. A towering Sugar Maple tree viewed against the blue sky on a sunny day in mid-May presents a lovely scene. The tree’s dark branches and trunk are still clearly visible revealing its handsome silhouettes.

Adding sparkle to this fountain of life, the Sugar Maple, are the thousands of inconspicuous, light green, long-stemmed, wind-pollinated floral clusters appearing for all the world like foliage. The leaves are barely beginning to show above the dangling flowers while the miniature blossoms dance in the pleasant warm woods.

It is during the last half of May that the Serviceberries, Choke Cherries, Pin Cherries and Black Cherries grace the edges of woods and roadsides in Door County adding that final touch of delicate elegance to the gentle greening of the land. The fruitful four produce a show of white blossoms second to none. During this alluring season I am very satisfied to become a recluse, a homebody, to spend as much time in our own woods as is physically possible.

Wildflowers decorating many woodlands, ferns uncoiling, trees flowering and then leafing out, warblers, those “butterflies of the bird world,” returning to nest along with scores of other birds, Morel Mushrooms luring to their secret haunts those who relish their unrivaled goodness – these are only some of the dazzling highlights of this fantastic and endearing month. Get ready May, here we come!