Garden report
Sometimes the best discoveries are those closest to home, and when work and family make it impossible to hit the trail—a frequent occurrence these days, for better or worse—close to home is the best natural history touchstone I can muster. Happily, of course, there's still plenty to keep me in touch with the natural world and none of it is far from my back door. Today's reminder came from the garden—proof positive that the growing season is really beginning. Last week, the Rhubarb plants were rumors and then tight "eggs" just appearing on the surface. This afternoon, I noticed that the eggs had burst out of their papery shells and were now, like a foliage accordion, unsqueezing their pleated leaves. Strawberry-rhubarb pies are on the horizon! Perhaps even more dramatic is the emergence of what I'm told is Purple Corydalis. Yesterday, there was absolutely no sign in the garden of this variation on the plant's more natural, yellow-flowered theme; this afternoon, there it was, emerging in a rush and already in bloom. Unlike its yellow Corydalis cousin, which will be gracing—OK, occasionally overrunning (Corydalis can be invasive)—sections of the ridge until late fall, the purple variety is a genuine ephemeral: gone by the end of May, so to be enjoyed and treasured right away.
