Field of Science

Friday Fabulous "Flower" - Winter aconite

Although our estate is home to a great variety of perennials, our former residence still had a few things still lacking. Mrs. Phactor is trying to remedy that situation. Here's one of her recent successes even with the diligent efforts of our sciurious wildlife to dig up everything planted. Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) is one of those plants sometimes referred to as "wolfbanes" and maybe you shouldn't try determining the edibility through trial and error (it might be your last mistake though). How very cheerful that this plant flowers as early as any spring flower, and because it's a woodland native (in Europe), it will do quite nicely in lawn and/or under trees, so almost everyone has space for this plant. The flowers are about 2 cm across, and while not huge, in masses, in early spring, they can produce quite an attractive display against the leaf litter. In looking at these flowers you will see the hallmarks of the buttercup family displayed quite nicely.

1 comment:

Eric said...

I planted a tidy little patch of these around 20 years ago. Winters with lots of heaving sometimes cut back the population, not to mention herds of marauding squirrels, although I suspect the squirrels disrupt them into oblivion rather than eating them. Most of the plants have migrated from their original spot, anyway, courtesy of said rodents, weeding, seedlings, etc. (Small but interesting variations crop up now and then.) Now they are happier out in the grass than in a more tended spot, and bring much joy, sometimes as early as mid-January. Congrats on your success--may they return for many years.