Blooming in a lawn in Highland Park. Some homeowners apparently consider violets an infestation and pay good money to get rid of them. We speak words of encouragement to the violets whenever we see them.
For a full description, see the Viola sororia reference page.
Nodding Toothwort flowers in the rain along the Trillium Trail in Fox Chapel.
For a description, see the Cardamine concatenata reference page.
Also known as Purple Dead-Nettle, on account of a fancied resemblance of the stingless leaves to the leaves of stinging nettles. This little member of the mint family can bloom in literally any month of the year in Pittsburgh, but it puts on its best show in the early spring, when the pretty pink flowers are accented by the purple new leaves at the top of the stalk. The plants can grow almost anywhere; these were growing out of a sidewalk crack in Beechview.
For a detailed description, see the Lamium purpureum reference page.
A tiny but beautiful lawn weed that brightens our yards in early spring. Here we see a tiny black ant finding something delicious in the flower. Bees and butterflies get all the credit as pollinators, but ants do a lot of work, too.
For a more thorough description, see the Veronica persica reference page.
Bloodroot in the rain, which did not deter old Pa Pitt from getting these pictures. They were taken along the Trillium Trail in Fox Chapel.
For a full description, see the Sanguinaria canadensis reference page.
