Signs of Spring: Connecticut’s Ephemerals and Early Risers

April 18 | Washington, CT | 10am–11:30am | $30 members, $40 non-members

Hollister House Garden kicks off its spring lecture series on April 18 with a talk from field botanist Heather Liljengren on the native plants that signal the season's arrival in Connecticut. Not the crocuses and daffodils of the garden center, but the subtler and more fleeting flora that emerge in woodlands and along roadsides before most people are paying attention.

The term "ephemerals" refers to plants that complete their entire above-ground life cycle in the brief window between winter's end and the forest canopy closing over in late spring, like bloodroot, trout lily, hepatica, and spring beauty. They're easy to miss if you don't know when and where to look, and that's largely the point of this session: giving participants the vocabulary and observation skills to notice what's already happening underfoot on their own walks.

Liljengren is the owner of Local Land Consulting LLC and brings more than 17 years of professional botanizing experience across New England and the Mid-Atlantic. She works with land trusts, farmers, landscape designers, and homeowners on native plant conservation and habitat restoration, and has managed native seed collection programs for government agencies and nonprofits.

Non-member admission includes entry to the garden, which opens for its 2026 season on April 15.

Hollister House Garden, 300 Nettleton Hollow Road, Washington, CT. $30 members, $40 non-members. Register at hollisterhousegarden.org