the first is a shade lover - tho it does get some dappled morning sun. I have been lightly watering the area (no april showers 'round these parts) because I planted some cardinal flower in the area.
This is not in bloom (obvious from the photo) but I was quite taken by the leaves of this plant.
the first two photos are before two of the leaves have opened, and the third is of a near-by plant I assume is it's "kin"

the next - without bloom
I think might be jewel weed???

the next i think is solomons seal -
see what you can find when you get rid of (the battle still persists) that pesky garlic mustard):

and this last is a VERY old shrub - it was here when I came to this house almost 15yrs ago and was leggy then. I cut it back years ago morefor the blooms than for it's "form", and pulled a bunch of wild grape off of her last summer. It's just past it's peak (bloom wise) has a deep, sweet, whaft-y (?) scent and likes the sun:

I just have to add this p.s
(it made my day)
I saw (what I strongly believe is) an Ivory billed woodpecker...sigh!
I thought it was a pileated, but it had white on its' back
...I think I startled it when my jaw hit the ground- ran in to get the camera, but it was gone. What a wonderous site!

thanks for listening, and for any assistance

In NY? That would be sumthin'! Alas, equivalent to seeing an alien spacecraft.

The first is my buddy Jack, Arisaema triphyllum, The second could be jewelweed impatiens capensis but since I'm a contrarian and it's just a seedling I'm going with Stylophorum diphyllum (but you are probably right). Solomon's seal, yes.

The fourth I'm guessing Viburnum but which one is blooming now?

my bad on our friend woody
Initially I thought it was a pileated, but when I went online to look I noticed the ivory billed had some white on it's back. I failed to check out the distribution, tho - no where near these parts. I guess I was just seeing the white of its wings?

I am very excited about jack in the pulpit - I was enamored of the leaves alone - I can't wait for the rest of the show!

the shrub has been a poser for quite some time- probably has no business being in the "woodlands" forum. I may post in another forum.

thanks for all your help

As for the Ivory billed woody... wouldn't that be a TRIP if you really had seen one. They are believed exterpated in North America and even outside there is only sketchy rumors as far as I know. The last place I heard of them rumoured to be in existence was southern CUBA in a large, dense swamp area called "Zapata something-er-other"...a national park or preserve or something like that.

Barb
southern Ontario, CANADA

I can't be-lieve I never thought of this as evergreen - YES, I think she is.
I always was focused on the flower/scent -
and I think there are berries too. I do remember, quite a few catbirds would hang out in her branches in summer time..
it's hard to say what a "prime specimen" would look like - she was time-honored when I got here - presently about 10 feet.

here are some more pics of the mystery shrub....
flowers have faded, so there's a better view of the ...???dunno the technical term -flower stems?? structure??

flowers were in tight clusters...

old berries??

arch-y somewhat droopy-ish (there I go bein' technical again) branches from underneath....

not pretty, I know - just to give you an idea of how old she is - very "leggy"...

reball
kwoods suggested vibernum as well -
the flowers remind me of vibernum?....
mid to late april she was at her peek (ny zone 6) - as you can see in the pics
I took today - flowers are gone now (may 10).

I found this image online (link below). seems a pretty close match to my above photo.
unfortunately it's just listed simply as vibernum...
http://members.tripod.com/mgrist/images/1024/flowers/vibernum.jpg

knottyceltic
omg... garlic mustard (shh! ... don't mention it's name - it'll start growing in this forum fer cryin' out loud!)
I'm pretty sure this is my friend jewelweed -
I have been pulling at/disgusted with garlic mustard for about 3 years now.
The little seedlings (not only do I see them way too often during the day -
but, these "things" have invaded my nighmares as well!) are more of a rosette(?) looking thing - sorta like violets.
I have managed to put a kind of dent in it around most of the house. There are days I get very dis-heartened by the whole process as there are sections I haven't gotten to yet - but I WILL continue to fight the fight!

I really don't mind jewelweed - I would imagine if I had a bunch of other things planted, I might pull some of it up. But i would much rather have the jewelweed than the garlic mustard growing.

thanks all for the response(s)
I'm still waiting for that woodpecker to come back for a visit.