Heartleaf foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)

       More Saxifrage Family Native Alternatives:

      ALUMROOT. Flowers begin blooming in spring. See p. 82.

      BISHOP’S CAP, TWOLEAF MITERWORT. Genus: Mitella (M. diphylla). Height: 1 foot. Ornamental Attributes: Clusters of fringed delicate fairy-like flowers bloom for a month April to June. “Under a glass the starry blossoms of the Mitella become objects of wonderful beauty; in fact, they suggest the delicate crystals of snow,” wrote Harriet Keeler.¹² Clumps of heart-shaped long-lasting evergreen leaves. Cultivation: Light or partial shade. Medium moist or average well-drained garden soil. Each flower is replaced by an open capsule that contains many small seeds, which are distributed by raindrops. They strike the capsule and cause it to bend, flinging some of its seeds. Nature Note: Pollinators include pollen-eating syrphid flies (p. 14) and species of short-tongued bees that seek nectar and collect pollen for their larvae.

       More Native Alternatives:

      COMMON CINQUEFOIL. Family: Rose (Rosaceae). Genus: Potentilla (P. simplex). Height: Mat-forming. Ornamental Attributes: Bright yellow flowers April to June. Cultivation: Sun/light shade. Dry soil. Nature Note: Small butterflies seek the nectar. The endangered Karner blue butterfly (Plebejus melissa) uses common cinquefoil “as a nectar source when available.”¹³ Its primary visitors are small bees and beneficial flies. The larvae of a gall wasp (Gonaspis sp.) forms galls on the stems that are sought by birds, including woodpeckers, such as northern flickers,which eat the larvae.

      CANADIAN WILD GINGER, p. 76; FRINGED BLEEDING HEART, p. 17; GREEK VALERIAN, p. 10; VIRGINIA WATERLEAF, p. 48; WILD BLUE PHLOX, p. 38; WILD STRAWBERRY, p. 61.

       Common cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex)

       Northern flicker (Colaptes auratus)

       Karner blue butterfly (Plebejus melissa)

       Nonnative:

      BLEEDING HEART, COMMON BLEEDING HEART. Family: Fumitory (Fumariaceae). Genus: Dicentra (D. spectabilis). Origin: East Asia. Height: 1–2 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Racemes of pink heartshaped flowers. Cultivar ‘Alba’ is white. Cultivation: Light shade. Moist soil. Summer dormancy produces large barren areas. Invasiveness Note: Naturalized or invasive in parts of the Midwest.

       Bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis)

       Native Alternatives:

      FRINGED BLEEDING HEART, EASTERN BLEEDING HEART, WILD BLEEDING HEART. Family: Fumitory (Fumariaceae). Genus: Dicentra (D. eximia) Height: 6 inches to 1 foot. Ornamental Attributes: Racemes of deep pink heart-shaped flowers spring through fall. “A more floriferous species than common bleeding heart when optimal growing conditions are provided.”¹⁴ Lacy often silvery-looking leaves remain attractive until frost. Foliage conceals empty spaces left by ephemerals. Masses of wild bleeding heart are spectacular. Cultivation: Sun/part shade. Moist soil. Nature Note: Wild bleeding heart attracts small insects that in turn attract hummingbirds (p. 10) and nesting birds; DUTCHMAN’S BREECHES (D. cucullaria). Height: 5–9 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Creamy white, waxy heart-shaped yellow-tipped ephemeral flowers April, May. Distinctly dissected blue-green leaves create clumps. Name Note: Derives from inflated spurs suggestive of legs of tiny pantaloons seen “anklesup”;¹⁵ SQUIRREL CORN (D. canadensis). Height: 6–12 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Flowers and leaves resemble Dutchman’s breeches and smell somewhat like hyacinths. Roots resemble grains of yellow corn.

       Fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia)

      PALE CORYDALIS, ROCK HARLEQUIN. Genus: Corydalis (C. sempervirens). Height: 6–24 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Showy yellow-tipped single-spurred pink flowers. Cultivation: Sun. Dry soil. Nonnative Note: Do not confuse with the European yellow Corydalis (C. lutea). Nature Note: Spring flowers have a brief window of opportunity in which to attract pollinators, so they generally welcome most insects, but exceptions include Dutchman’s breeches, squirrel corn, and Corydalis, whose long spurs make reaching nectar a challenge. Bumblebees have long tongues that reach the nectar, but shorter-tongued honeybees don’t, so they gather the pollen. However, smaller bees sometimes poke holes in the sides of a bloom to access the nectar and so bypass pollinating the flower. The edible oily appendages of Corydalis seeds (elaiosomes) attract ants (particularly Pheidole bicarinata), which help to disperse the seeds. Hummingbirds visit all these flowers. Mammalian herbivores avoid the foliage.

       Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)

       Pale corydalis (Corydalis sempervirens)

       More Native Alternatives:

      VIRGINIA WATERLEAF,

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