Amidst the dandelions, wild violets and wild onions that adorn our Columbia lawn each spring are clumps of spring beauty. This attractive perennial is common in woodlands and on suburban lawns, sometimes appearing as early as February.
Spring beauty overwinters as a corm and spreads by rootlets. It is in the diet of many mammals and attracts a variety of pollinating insects; humans have long used the corms as a source of food.
But most of us appreciate these flowers primarily for their beauty and we have been granted a bonanza in our backyard this spring. Conditions must have been just right to produce the impressive bloom.
