Finding Spring in the Garden in the Woods

On May 4, 2019, I went to the Native Plant Trust's Garden in the Woods in Framingham Massachusetts to buy plants and check our their native plant sanctuary.

I was impressed on both counts, although they were absolutely swamped with customers and had limited people available to answer questions.  Even so, I highly recommend visiting this location, especially at this time of year when the trilliums are in bloom before the tree canopy closes and changes the forest.  It is really impressive.  Check these photos out.  I hope they do justice to this truly special place. 
 There are about 2-3 miles of trails at the Garden in the Woods.  A smaller loop is completely handicapped accessible and many of the plants are labelled like those shown here.  All of the plants are native but it is very much managed for display in this part of the sanctuary.

The ecology is interesting because it is a mix of eskers and deltas going into a glacial outwash plain, so there are unique species and habitats present that you would not see in most woods, even ones actively managed to elimiate invasive species.  I did see a few in the more wooded and remote sections on the outer trails, but what impressed me most of all was this feels like a voyage back in time to the woods of the 1960s or 1970s when forests were still forests and not polluted jungles of invasive plants.

 This is a beautiful little woodland shed that feels like it belongs in a Beatrix Potter story.  Obviously the stone work is modern but the building is so well integrated into the landscape that it just feels like it belongs exactly where it is.

The plants are not so bad either.  Check these out: