One morning last week I spent a few wonderful hours hiking along the C&O Canal in search of wildflowers. I started out from Carderock on the Billy Goat Trail and quickly found some wildflowers to photograph.

The first set of flowers I photographed was Early Saxifrage (saxifraga virginiensis) – a relative of some of the saxifrages I’ve photographed in Tennessee.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

After leaving Billy Goat Trail, I headed up the towpath for the C&O Canal toward Marsden Tract. Along the towpath I spotted an amazingly shaped purple flower. When I got home, I was able to identify it as Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum) – an invasive species.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Once I reached the Marsden Tract I found lots of wonderful wildflowers to photograph. Among the flowers I photographed was Cut Leaved Toothwort ( cardamine concatenata). I  loved the way the morning dew was still on the leaves of the Toothwort.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I found several patches of Dutchmen’s Breeches (dicentra cucullaria). The area I was photographing in at Marsden Tract had more Dutchmen’s Breeches than any other area I’ve seen. It was wonderful seeing it all growing wild in the woods.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

And then I spotted a patch of blue – yes there were several groups of Virginia Bluebells (mertensia virginica) growing down near the river. They were in full bloom and absolutely spectacular.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

This was my first visit to this part of the C&O Canal National Historical Park – but it certainly won’t be my last. I’m already planning another visit to see what other wildflowers I can find in bloom.