A Website about Urban Environmental Restoration in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
FEB 28, 2012, along the east branch of Indian Creek, Morris Park, Philadelphia.
Photo by Brian Solomon. This Claytonia virginica was spotted in bloom on yet another unusually warm February day.
It is nice to see the flower, but it is worrysome that this is too early. Â Daffodils are blooming in the alley. Crocuses and snowdrops that have escaped out of cultivated yards into the natural woodlands are blooming as well.
It will be interesting to see how this spring unfolds.
A new poem has been added to our Poetry In The Forest page. Â We searched our photo archives and found pictures of the author standing amidst her subject matter. Â Here is the poem. Enjoy!
The  Witch Hazel Grove
Deep in the woods behind the house
past the streams and beyond the Mountain Laurel
there is a grove of witch hazel.
Oval and with space between the bushes
which stand tall and sway gently
as we move among them.
This grove is surrounded with an aura
of gentleness and silence. Not like
a single bush or a lone tree.
This is a meditation place
there is a center here and the woods
grow around it.
Time may slow down. Small forest
mice feel safe. Overhead the trees
lean in a simple bow.
July 2011
M. Solomon
The actual Witch-Hazel grove in Monson Massachusetts.
Just about six months ago! Â It was the very end of summer and the beginning of fall when these shots were taken. Â Usually at this time of the year, late summer and. Early fall is not given hardly a thought. Â Spring is highly anticipated and winter is rationalized, having finally gotten used to it. Â But, just to mix things up a bit, here is a snapshot of the very end of summer 2011.
Helianthus, in our back alley.  This is the native one and it grows really tall and produces a late summer show of bright yellow flowers. Really  fun to find them in the wild.
Lobelia cardinalis. Â This is our garden specimen that did nothing but bloom all summer, and throw seeds out. Â Now, in mid February, there is a nice healthy Rosette of green leaves soaking up the winter sun, signalling that the plant is still alive and ready for the upcoming season.
Goldenrod, a volunteer, graces our back alley on Morris Park Road. We get alot of native wildflowers in our yard just by weeding out the non native plants and letting things grow, and repeating  the process. Now our yard is more and more like what grew there many years in the past, sort of an heirloom wildflower yard.
This is a forest discovery, a parasitic native plant that grows off the roots of Beech trees. Â Always fun to try to find them below Beech trees in the fall. They are a bit camouflaged.
Some more blooms to look forward to in six months. At this time of the year, it is hard to believe these flowers exist. Â They are just living roots, waiting for a full growing season. The Swamp Mallow, a native flower that likes sun and moist soils, loves growing at the end of our drainpipe. Â Available for sale at your local native plant nursery, eastern North America.
