A Golden Spring Walk on the Smith College Campus

Smith College Lawn 3-27-12

My walk across the sunny Smith College Campus yesterday was a golden spring garden.

Who can identify this flower growing in the lawn?

'February Gold' narcissus

Magnolia at Lyman Plant House

Forsythia

Magnolia buds

Corylopsis glabrescens - Winter hazel

Dandelion - even at Smith College

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Tags: Blooming shrubs, Bulbs, Our Community

Bulbs, Lawns, Spring, Wordless Wednesday | Pat March 28, 2012

17 Comments

By Donna B., March 28, 2012 @ 8:43 am

@ the plant identification: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranunculus_repens
It’s a VERY invasive member of the Ranunculus family. Very pretty, but very evil at the same time… [a dense groundcover for a shady area may seem like a good thing, but beware!]
Oh, that plant house… it looks so lovely w/ the magnolia! ♥
By Lea, March 28, 2012 @ 9:34 am

Thanks for the college tour! Beautiful flowers! Even the dandelion has pretty flowers and interestingly shaped leaves. My favorite is the magnolia buds and blooms against the deep blue sky!
Happy Wednesday!
Lea
Lea’s Menagerie
By Erika, March 28, 2012 @ 10:07 am

Beautiful photos, especially the magnolia! Thanks for dropping by Erika’s Wordless Wednesday
By Pat, March 28, 2012 @ 11:12 am

Donna – thank you so much for the plant ID. I will beware – and your comment will be a warning to others.
Lea – It was a beautiful day – if chilly. today we had hail! Briefly.
Ericka – The magnolias are just lovely.
By Pat, March 28, 2012 @ 11:13 am

Donna – I just looked at the wiki link – and I think we don’t have the ID yet. The leaves are quite different.
By Island Threads, March 28, 2012 @ 4:19 pm

I think the little yellow plant is Celandine over here in the UK it’s a native not sure if it is where you are, here’s a link to lesser Celandine
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=187

just followed the link Donna gave and no it’s not creeping buttercup another British native,

some beautiful flowers looks like it was a lovely walk, Frances
By Pat, March 28, 2012 @ 6:25 pm

Frances – I think you are correct. Lesser Celandine, Ranunculus ficaria it is. I’ve counted petals, and the foliage is just the same. Thanks for visiting and answering my question.
By Diane@BibliophileBytheSea, March 28, 2012 @ 6:38 pm

Such a pretty campus. Love the lake and gardens…it’s been a while.
By Sara, March 28, 2012 @ 8:51 pm

Yes, the little yellow flower is Lesser Celadine also known as fig buttercup. VERY invasive.
By Sally Conant, March 29, 2012 @ 7:11 am

Is the ground cover a marsh marigold? This is in the buttercup family.
By Pat, March 29, 2012 @ 7:35 am

Lesser celandine, Ranunculus ficaria is the yellow flower. Wikipedia has a good photo. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/RanunculusFicaria.jpg/240px-RanunculusFicaria.jpg&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_celandine&h=25
By Pat, March 29, 2012 @ 7:36 am

sally – I have marsh marigold growing at the edge of a stream. It really needs that wet, and it is a bigger plant. Equally bright and beautiful.
By Donna B., March 29, 2012 @ 9:27 am

Then a friend of mine gave ME the wrong ID! hahah!
She has this growing in the shade of a large area of Beach Plum. I asked what it was, because it was so pretty but blooming in the shade! She said it was a creeping buttercup! I apologize for the improper ID – but now I can go to her with the right answer! hehee!
This is why I love plant communities. ♥
By Layanee, March 29, 2012 @ 10:24 am

PAT: Someday, I will meet you there for a tour.
By Island Threads, March 29, 2012 @ 3:10 pm

Pat glad to help, it’s a wild flower I like but does spread, I have a double celandine under some pines and it is very well behaved and plays nicely with the other plants,
Donna B in the shade of a large tree or woodland edge is where celandine is happiest so your friend has the perfect place for it, in the right place it makes a lovely ground cover,
Frances
By Pat, March 29, 2012 @ 4:37 pm

Donna B. I looked up ‘creeping buttercup’ which is VERY similar but the leaves are more cut and the blossom only has five petals, not eight. Both are ranunculus, have similar growth habits and both are invasive. It is great to have so much help with this ID.
By Island Threads, March 30, 2012 @ 3:33 am

hello Pat and Donna B, I have creeping buttercup in my garden and I treat it as a weed in most areas because if I don’t it will take over, the leaves of these 2 plants are very different, not only is buttercup cutleaf but it is flat where as celandine is glossy it was the shine on the leaves in your photo that first told me it was probably celandine also celandine flowers in spring buttercup flowers in summer and autumn, there is another plant with similar habits and a buttercup like flower call here Silverweed it has lovely fern like silvery leaves,
I’ll shut up on the subject now Frances