It’s quite remarkable that two perennial plants can coexist right next to each other, but barely overlap in their above-ground time. The two I want to focus on today are Indian pinks and Dutchman’s breeches. Back in mid-May, many spring ephemera were either blooming or done, but there among them were the Indian pinks, just breaking ground.
We had a heat wave the last few days of May, which finished spring for some plants. On Memorial Day, the foliage on the Dutchman’s breeches starts yellowing.
Meanwhile, the Indian pinks began to fill out fast. They have a very neat, orderly growth pattern, and beautiful venation.
By the end of that week the most obvious sign of the Dutchman’s breeches existence were the pink corms showing here and there. The leaves are shriveled to straw, and much harder to see than the silver maple seed scattered around. Nothing else seems to go dormant as fast.
While the Dutchman’s breeches were going dormant in that heatwave, the Indian pinks were setting flower buds. By last weekend, the Indian pinks were blooming. The bare soil behind them was covered with Dutchman’s breeches just last month.
I am mystified by the name “Indian pinks.” There is no pink about them; they are scarlet and yellow, with generous touches of chartreuse to my eye. These are my Independence Day sparklers.