Spring Ephemerals, What They Are & Where To Find Them

Spring ephemerals are the earliest blooming wildflowers. In general, they sprout,bloom and die off before Summer gets here in earnest. They provide the Nature Photographer with the earliest chances of getting wildflower shots in the "wild". Virginia Bluebells, Twinleaf and most Trilliums are considered Spring Ephemerals along with many others. Different areas of course have different types of these flowers and some places are known for the variety of them that they have. Great Smoky Mountain National Park is widely known for their wildflowers of all kinds, including Spring Ephemerals. A trip there during late March into April will almost certainly yield a large number of these early bloomers for you to photograph. Another place well known for their Spring Ephemerals is The Core Arboretum/WVU Arboretum in Morgantown, WV.  April is usually a good month to visit the Arboretum for Spring Ephemerals. Another good place for Spring Wildflowers is The Whipple State Nature Preserve in Ohio. I always find interesting flowers here in the Spring and enjoy myself there. Parking is VERY limited however and the trail gets quite steep in places. Not usually a problem for nature photographers because we are stopping every few yards to take more pictures anyway :-)