Spring

 Maryland's Spring begins with its woodlands. In the Tawes Garden, which has been described as "a forested urban park", the earliest manifestations of the season push up through last Fall's leaf litter. Among them are Daffodils naturalized in drifts under the trees, umbrella-topped colonies of Mayapple, and the iconically named Spring Beauty with its tiny but exquisite flowers. Above them in the greening canopy a Redbud tree pushes its flowers toward the light, while a Dogwood dazzles against its darker-foliaged companions. Surprisingly, it's in the open, sunny areas that Spring takes longer to arrive. It will be late May before the bare ground of the display garden is fully covered in lush new green. By mid-June, however, the woodland flowering is over, and the trees become a quiet background for the showy annuals and perennials that are beginning their brilliant Summer display.

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