Well it is not exactly “now or never” as there is always next spring. However, if you are like me and you enjoy native wildflowers you will want to get out as soon as possible to see and enjoy some of our most beautiful woodland flowering plants. Spring ephemerals is a general term for native plants that bloom early in the spring before the woodland trees leaf out. Now is the best time to see them because by mid-May much of the show will be over. These often small, delicate, but spectacular plants grow on the floor of mature woodlands; they are especially plentiful in the hilly Piedmont region of northern Delaware, nearby Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
Many of these plants can be observed growing along the trails of our State Parks and other natural areas. My favorite places to visit to search for these plants are the woodlands of Brandywine Creek State Park and White Clay Creek State Park in Delaware and White Clay Creek Preserve in Pennsylvania. Other natural areas like Middle Run Valley Park and the Ashland Nature Center are also good places to visit. Spring ephemerals can be fun to photograph but be very careful not to disturb them or the soil around them. The following are some of my photographs that illustrate some of my favorite species.
Bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis 
Cut-leaved Toothwort Cardamine concatenata 
Dutchman’s Breeches Dicentra cucullaria 
Nodding Trillium Trillium cernuum 
Red Trillium Middle Run Valley 27 April 2017 Jim White 2 
Round-lobed Hepatica 
Rue-anemone Thalictrum thalictroides 
Showy Orchis Galearis spectabilis 
Spring Beauty Claytonia virginica 
Trout Lilly Erythronium americanum 
Virginia Bluebells Mertensia virginica 
Wild Geranium Geranium maculatum 
Wild Ginger Asarum canadense