Special Edition: May Wildflowers

My Top 10 May Wildflower Picks

April showers brought May flowers to my  woods! I love this time of year when the flowers and leaves begin to bloom and grow in my woods. In Michigan, Spring can happen very fast. One minute the woods are bare, the next it is filled with leaves, ferns, flowers and so much more! I created this Special May Wildflower Edition, to share with you what is blooming in my West Michigan woods. I kept this list to my top 10 favorites – I hope it inspires you to get out and enjoy the springtime! 

Wildflowers are all shapes, colors and sizes. They can be teeny-weeny like an ant or large and fragrant like you would find in a hooman’s garden. I created a sizing scale (as I see it) so you know what to look for as you go out on a wildflower seeking adventures of your own. The flowers are sorted into sections by color (my hooman helped with that part) to help you figure out what you’re seeing.  

• WILDFLOWER SIZE SCALE:
  • Small dog nose (size of a dime)
  • Medium dog nose (like mine – the size of a quarter)
  • Large dog nose (larger than a quarter)

• PLANT HEIGHT:
  • At the Paw (ground or up to 2 inches off the ground)
  • My dewclaw (3-4 inches off ground)
  • My dogleg (6 inches or more)

#1 Trillium (white)

Height: My full dogleg (6 inches or taller) 

Flower size: Bigger than a large dog nose

Trillium remind me of a flower you would see in the hooman’s garden. They are big and bold like a daffodil. Probably one of the biggest wildflowers that I have seen. I have found them growing on a wet hillside but also right along my trail in my sandy woods. Tri means 3 – so Trillium is easy to remember. It has 3 big petals and 3 big leaves to match. 

#2 Bloodroot (white)

Height: My dewclaw

Flower size: Large dog nose

Bloodroot are cool flowers that don’t have leaves. They only have one big stem that stand straight up out of the ground like giant clovers. The one white flower is pretty fragile (don’t ask me how I know) and you will want to be careful if you snap the stem. It contains red juice that can cause a rash or blister skin. These are one of the first flowers out in my woods. They tend to bloom when it’s still pretty chilly out.  

#3 Hepatica (white/pale pink/lavender)

Height: Paw 

Flower size: Medium dog nose

Hepatica are some of the first to show up in my woods. They may trick you into thinking they are wood anemone but if you look close they have cool little white bits jumping out of the middle of the flower. One of my favorites that make me smile when I discover them hiding under trees in wetter areas of the woods. Mostly when I find them they are white, but I have seen them pale pink and even pale lavender (I think). 

#4 Large-Flowered Bellwort (yellow)

Height: My dogleg

Flower size: Large dog nose

The Large-Flowered Bellwort is droopy and looks like it needs a drink. The leaves on the stem are pretty awesome – looks like they are sewn together. I find them close to the creek and growing in sandy soil. 

#5 Marsh Merigold (yellow)

Height: My dewclaw

Flower size: Large dog nose

Found these along the creek bank (very close to the water). Grows in clumps so usually find more than one flower together. Leaves are dark, shiney and round. 

#6 Swamp Buttercup (yellow)

Height: My full dogleg (or taller)

Flower size: Large dog nose

These look a lot like a marsh marigold but are taller and from what I’ve seen – usually two flowers to one stem. These guys are a bit late to the May party – they will most likely be blooming into June. 

#7 Wood Anemone (white)

Height: My dewclaw

Flower size: Medium dog nose

I usually find these guys in groups but every so often one may be off by himself. They have 5 petals on the flower. These are usually sprouting in old leaves in the woods. 

#8 Wild Geranium (pink)

Height: My dogleg

Flowersize: Medium dog nose

Wild Geranium are taller and skinnier flowers. You will spot them cuz their blooms are bright pink. These are just starting to pop in mid-May so they are a welcome to the woods after the trillium and a bloodroot begin to disappear. 

#9 Jack-in-the-pulpit (green/purple)

Height: My dewclaw or my dogleg – lots of sizes

Flowersize: Like a dog snout 3 inches long or more

These guys have a cool name but are also pretty cool flowers. The “jack” is the little guy inside and the “pulpit” is the canopy over him. Sometimes these are all green, sometimes they are striped purple. I even found a cool white one! They are all over my woods but blend in so it’s not until I am just about to squash them that I see them standing there. I’ve seen them between 3 – 6 inches tall. I am not sure why – buit these guys always make me chuckle. 

#10 Violet (purple/yellow/white)

Height: Paw

Flower size: Medium dog nose

I put these in the purple section but I’ve seen yellow and white blooms too. I found them in the sandy areas of the woods. They grow pretty low to the ground – easy for me to spot when I am sniffing around. They love the woods and bloom all through May and into June. 

I hope you enjoy this special edition of my Canine Adventures and take some time this week to stop and smell the flowers. Keep your eye out for more special wildflower editions coming throughout the summer and leave me a comment or send me a pic of what you are discovering in your neck of the woods!

Bark at you soon – your friend,