Seven Native Shrubs Offer a Progression of White Blooms in Spring

Why do gardens and nature diversify over time?  Since most flowers last only a week or two, any gardener seeking a steady progression of blooms will naturally seek out new additions to fill the gaps. This spring, I noticed a different sort of steady progression: of blooming trees and shrubs in nature's garden at Herrontown Woods. No gardener put this steady progression together.

Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) put on a show in late April.

Blackhaw viburnums (Viburnum prunifolium) dotted the understory with white pompoms for the first few days of May, their period of bloom shortened by the heat.

Alternate-leaved dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) followed in the second week of May, with scattered blooms in the shade,

and abundant blooms in the sun.

Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum) in the lowlands sustained flowers through cool days in the second half of May, 

along with maple-leaved Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) up on the ridge.

In the last week of May, abundant disks of elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) flowers began an extended residency.

Still to come is silky dogwood (Cornus amomum), 

which will look remarkably like its predecessors when it blooms.

There are many examples of how native plants that have co-evolved behave in an egalitarian way. Though there are exceptions, they tend to "play well with others," sharing the ground rather than bullying their way to dominance. Might this sharing have a collective advantage that benefits them all?

People trying to understand why invasive species can be detrimental will rightly point out that many invasive plants provide abundant flowers for pollinators. But if one species comes to dominate, its week or two of blooms will be preceded and followed by precious few flowers, leaving pollinators little to sustain them through the season.

An interesting experiment would be to monitor what sorts of insects pollinate the progression of blooms generated by native dogwoods and Viburnums. Have their visually similar blooms evolved to attract the same sorts of pollinators? If so, they could be thought of as a sort of tag team, collectively sustaining the needed pollinators through the season.