I participated in a 13 hour relay mountain biking race this past weekend. The race took place at a farm with trails going through 8.2 miles of wooded land, part of which lined the Potomac River. While I was riding I kept finding myself slowing to enjoy the flowers and would have to remind myself to look ahead and keep moving. I’ve never seen dutchman’s breeches before and was so excited to recognize them! I first noticed the ferny leaves that reminded me of my fernleaf bleeding hearts (same family, correct?). Then I saw a whole patch of them in full bloom! The problem is that there were some also peeking through cracks in the logs on the course and I’d cringe each time someone passed me and I was forced to ride over the flowers on the side of the trail. There were quite a few pretty white daisy like flowers about 2†across with leaves that looked like a heart cut down the middle. Does that sound familiar at all? The leaves were so distinct I thought maybe I’d be able to ID them without a picture. I’d love to hike the trails and get a better look at all the flowers I saw blooming, but it’s private property that was only open for this event. There were also quite a few tiny pink/purple flowers that I didn’t get a very good look at and couldn’t see their leaves hidden in the brush.
I tried to share my excitement with friends we were riding with but just got called a nerd. I figured you all could relate to the excitement for spring natives!
