May 20 Fairy Ring of Flowers

The spring ephemerals are quickly fading from Bill’s Woods at the Lakeshore Nature Preserve now that the trees and shrubs are fully leafed-out. Now it’s time for the shrubs, like highbush cranberry (Viburnum triolbum) to show us their blooms. I caught my eye on this little fairy ring of flowers, noticing that the buds on the outside of the umbel of flowers bloom first. In a short time, this flat-looking cluster of buds will transform into a flowery snowball. Later in the fall, we can look out for red, cranberry-like fruits dangling from these shrubs and imagine the delicious things we could make with the edible fruits.