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- Written by Clyde McMillan-Gamber Clyde McMillan-Gamber
Some short-grass lawns in southeastern Pennsylvania are made attractive and interesting with a variety of adaptable, flowering plants close to the ground.
Every year I look forward to seeing the beauties of their blossoms, starting early in April. Readers can also enjoy their beauties free, just by looking at lawns more closely.
Veronicas are the first of these plants to bloom in lawns, often as early as mid-March. And on sunny days in early April, the innumerable, small, light-blue flowers of veronicas form lovely carpets of themselves on many lawns.
Veronicas are aliens from Europe. They grow close to the ground to avoid cold wind but still receive warm sunlight. And they are so low to the ground that their leaves and pretty blooms are missed by mowers’ blades.
Dandelions are from Europe and bloom in April. Their cheery, golden flowers turn many lawns from green to yellow for a couple of weeks, which is an inspiring sight.
Though dandelions tend to grow long flower stems, this plant has adapted to regular mowing by also developing short stems that allow their blossoms to bloom and go to seed below mowers’ blades. Eventually, dandelions on lawns mostly produce short-stemmed flowers, as an adaptation to mowing.
Several kinds of adaptable creatures feed on parts of dandelions. Woodchucks and cottontail rabbits eat the leaves and flower stems.
And American goldfinches, house finches, song sparrows, house sparrows, chipping sparrows, and other kinds of seed-eating birds ingest dandelion seeds when they are available in early to mid-May. Surviving seeds float away on their wind-pushed parachutes to begin a new generation of dandelions.
Native to woodland floors in the eastern United States, blue violets have lovely purple flowers that peek coyly from the lush-green of their own leaves and short grass.
During the latter two weeks of April, patches of violets growing together produce clumps of their pretty blossoms on many lawns, beautifying those human-made habitats. Violet leaves and flowers are consumed by chucks and cottontails.
Yellow wood sorrels are also native to woodland floors in the eastern United States. This species of prostrate lawn plant produces small, yellow blooms from May into summer, which helps beautify lawns.
Indian strawberries are from eastern Asia. Each prostrate plant is a small, creeping vine with golden blooms. When pollinated, each blossom produces a small, red, strawberry-like fruit.
The yellow flowers and red fruits together make some lawns prettier. The fruits are eaten by squirrels and birds, including American robins and gray catbirds.
Ground ivy from Europe is a low-growing mint that has small, purple blooms that are beautiful on lawns from April into summer. But this plant has a pungent scent when damaged.
White clover is from Eurasia and begins to bloom by mid-May. Some lawns appear white in summer with the innumerable white flowers of this common plant. And these blossoms are regularly and commonly visited by honeybees that make honey from their sweet nectar.
Regular lawn-mowing benefits white clover and honeybees. Clover’s response to mowing is to grow new flowers every time their blooms are cut. Therefore, there is nectar on lawns for bees to collect and turn into honey all summer.
Most lawns don’t have all these flowers. But the blooms that are in lawns beautify them.
Clyde McMillan-Gamber is a retired Lancaster County Parks naturalist.