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A botanical spring puzzle
Honeybees have developed interdependencies with early spring flowers.
Why are there no native super early flowering plants in our area?By “super early” I mean flowering some five weeks before forsythia. All the ones I know are alien.Most are “bulbiferous” and go dormant in summer. Snowdrops, Galanthus nivalis, and Snowbells, Leucojum vernum, are both in the amaryllis family; crocus species, in the iris family; and scilla, in the asparagus family belong to this category. Others, like cyclamen coum, primrose family; winter-aconite, eranthis hyemalis; and adonis amurensis, buttercup family; grow from tubers, thickened roots.None of them is a native plant. Although all mentioned families exist in the New World as well, none have produced super early flowering species similar to what exists in Eurasia, nor have other plant families.
We wait for our beautiful native spring wildflowers — Virginia bluebells, Dutchman’s breeches, Trilliums, Trout lily, etc.In our garden, the earliest native will be Bloodroot, by mid-April. By then, a large cohort of alien plants are already in full flower for several weeks, in some cases for over a month.
Why is this roughly four to five week temporal niche in the annual cycle unoccupied? It’s a niche of very low productivity for sure, but nature, famously, abhors any vacuum. Could it be that the physical habitat niche is too small here? What I found, doing some research, suggests it is possible — larger areas are correlated with more speciation according to p. 1149 in Science from March 15, 2025. Eurasia, broadly oriented from west to east, has a very long, uninterrupted temperate and mountainous zone, stretching from Spain to western China. With its many grassland habitats, it provides a huge playing field for evolution. America, by comparison, geographically laid out north to south, contains much less continuous temperate environments suited for crocus.
Until now. Our small, short-cropped lawn at winter’s end mimics aspects of Eurasian alpine meadows. There, before any green grass is visible, crocuses break through the edges of the melting snow cover on the late winter lawn. Species crocuses have conquered that new habitat, first in European gardens, and now here too. Before the grass grows too tall, they benefit from abundant sunshine to nourish their bulbs for next year. That’s another reason to delay mowing as long as possible. A lawn may not be a natural habitat, but if free of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers, it is after all just another meadow.
Perhaps another reason for missing March flowers is a lack of early pollinators.On one of these rare sunny, warm days in early March, I wrote in my diary: “03/09/23 - many honeybees on winter aconite, also a fly …”and some honeybees on crocus as well. Like winter-aconite and crocus, honeybees are not native in America and I have never seen them again that early, ever since a nearby beekeeper gave up.Looking at the amounts of pollen in these crocus flowers, they must be an abundant food source for all kinds of bees and bumblebees. However, only honeybees — whose colonies survive the winter in hives — can quickly deploy a large number of pollen collectors. Flowers and insects co-evolved a myriad of interdependencies, so super early flowering plants, cold adapted, depend on enough pollinating insects to make flowering through the snow worthwhile. On high alpine meadows there may be other early up-and-about insect species, but here it is honeybees which profit most.
Snowdrops, snowbells, crocuses — they don’t compete with any natives, but fill a manmade, unoccupied niche.The very earliest to flower through the snow, adonis amurensis and cyclamen coum, grow in light shade and slowly form stay-in-place clumps. Unless in a controllable setting, I would stay away from squill — Scilla siberica — which is a very aggressive naturalizer and easily escapes.
As we wait for our many native beautiful spring flowers, how nice to have these aliens, such benign aliens for a change, to cheer up a March-brown lawn.
Fritz Mueller lives in Sharon.
Theropods spotted in Falls Village
The Falls Village Children’s Theater’s production of “Dinosaurs Before Dark” played topacked houses March 28-30. Directed by Michael Siktberg, with choreography from Amber Cameron and Darcy Boynton, the lively show featured shadow puppets, tree houses, lots of dancing and singing, and of course dinosaurs, including a splendid Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Helen Sung’s lyrical and virtuosic playing filled The Tall Barn at Troutbeck in Amenia.
Renowned pianist and composer Helen Sung took the stage for a rescheduled performance of Music Mountain’s Winter Concert Series at Troutbeck in Amenia on Sunday, March 30. Sung led the audience through a thrilling solo program that traced her journey from classical to jazz. Performing works by Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, and one of her own original compositions, Sung’s artistry and distinctive touch captivated listeners. She brought her dynamic interpretations and deep musical storytelling to each piece, seamlessly blending technical mastery with emotional depth. From the rich harmonies of Ellington to the angular brilliance of Monk, Sung’s performance showcased both reverence for jazz tradition and her own inventive spirit. The intimate setting of Troutbeck’s Tall Barn provided the perfect backdrop for an afternoon of inspired musicianship, leaving the audience mesmerized and eager for more.
Music Mountain’s 96th season opens on June 1 with a benefit concert and reception of Benjamin Hochman & Friends from the Met Opera playing Beethoven and Brahms.
More info at musicmountain.org
Hoggers take down Lions
Aidan Armilio plays midfield for Kent School lacrosse.
KENT — The Northfield Mount Hermon School Hoggers defeated the Kent School Lions 22-6 in the first boys varsity lacrosse game of the season Saturday, March 29.
NMH, located in Mount Hermon, Massachusetts, traveled to Kent for the game. The Hoggers displayed offensive strength immediately by scoring twice in the first two minutes. Kent attackman Tripp Christman managed an early goal, but the Lions trailed 8-1 by the end of the first period.
NMH dominated possession and put pressure on the Kent defenders. The second period showed no change in dominance: Kent scored again but NMH increased its lead to 18-2 at halftime.
Tripp Christman scored three for Kent March 29.Lans Christensen
Kent goalie Trey Lalonde was injured in the second period. His replacement, Varen Aggarwal, subbed in for the remainder of the game.
Kent kept battling in the second half and cut into the lead with more goals by Tripp Christman and Hayden Santry, but NMH maintained an insurmountable advantage.
The final score of the game was 22-6 for NMH. Kent’s next three games are on the road before hosting Trinity-Pawling School on April 11.
