Before the leaf unfurls to its full size, it is doing something remarkable. It wraps itself tightly around the flower stalk, cradling the bud as it pushes up through the still cold soil, protecting it on its journey to the light. The flower blooms above the leaf, opens its delicate white petals, and then fades almost as quickly as it arrived. Only then does the leaf slowly expand to its full size, those extraordinary scalloped edges finally stretching out to take their place in the spring woodland. Two parts of the same plant, each one looking after the other in its own time.
The Bloodroot Story
Bloodroot is one of the most dramatic of all the spring ephemerals, and it earns that drama in every possible way. Its white flowers emerge so early in spring that they often bloom before the leaf has even broken the surface of the soil. The flower comes first, alone and unhurried, one of the first signs that the forest is waking up again.
The plant gets its name from something you would only discover if you looked very closely. Cut through the root or stem of a bloodroot plant and you will find a startlingly deep orange red sap, vivid and rich, unlike anything else in the spring woodland. Native peoples recognized this color as something extraordinary and used bloodroot sap as a beautiful natural dye for clothing and other textiles for centuries. That same striking color is still used as a natural dye today. It is a plant that has been painting the world long before anyone thought to name it.
And the leaves themselves are something to stop and admire. Each one is a little different from the next, with intricate scalloped edges that are unlike any other plant in the forest. No two are exactly alike.
The Earrings
I made these earrings to tell the whole story of the bloodroot plant in two stones and a leaf. The moonstone at the top represents the soft white petals of that brave early flower, glowing with the same quiet luminescence as a bloom in the early spring light. The deep red garnet at the bottom represents the vivid sap hidden inside the root, that extraordinary color that has been used to dye cloth and mark the world for hundreds of years.
The bloodroot leaves themselves were made by pressing a real leaf into sterling silver, giving each one the exact natural vein pattern and scalloped edge you would find on the forest floor. No two leaves in this pair are exactly alike, just as no two bloodroot leaves ever are.
- Length: About 3 inches long
- Stones: Rose cut garnet and white moonstone
- Material: Sterling silver throughout
- Weight: Lightweight despite being an eye catching statement piece
One of a Kind
There is only one pair of these earrings in the world. When they find their home they will never be made again exactly like this.
A Note from Tamara
I chose bloodroot for these earrings because I find it endlessly interesting that something so delicate and fleeting on the outside carries something so vivid and unexpected within. The white flower is gone almost as quickly as it arrives. But that deep red sap has been coloring the world for centuries. I love a plant that contains that kind of quiet surprise. I hope these earrings bring a little of that wonder with them wherever they go.
Shipping
Your bloodroot earrings are finished, tucked into a sweet gift box, and will be on their way to you within 3 to 5 business days, packaged securely and safely in recycled materials.