Walking with Wildflowers...

Tim & Paula Lavey led a Wildflower Walk at the Hazel Willis Woods on Saturday, May 13. Here’s a recap of their day:

It had just stopped raining, the sky was overcast, and gray.  It did not look to be a good day for a wildflower walk, but we all know wildflowers don’t mind a little rain, so they were ready to put on a show.  All they needed was an audience to appreciate their wonder.

Seven wildflower enthusiasts assembled in the parking lot, and we became the audience for the show.  A few large flowered white trilliums were still in bloom, and were scattered along the trail.  The wild geraniums were also still in bloom, and the trail was lined with their purple flowers, all looking up to the sun.  Their peak bloom had past, so their numbers were down, but they were our constant companion throughout the walk. 

The mayapples were all in full bloom, and we saw them in abundance.  We stumbled onto a small colony of late blooming rue anemone which was a real treat.  A couple of tiny jack-in-the-pulpits were on the edge of the trail, they were barely 5 inches tall, so they were hard to spot, but we had some good ‘botanists’ in the group who spotted them. 

Around the bend, and down a ways was a large colony of purple wood phlox, and sure enough the sun peaked out to light them up.  It was nice to see how they lined the trail, and spread over the forest floor.  We noticed some woodmint growing in the trail.  The plants probably came up less than a week before, so they were yet to flower.  In a month they will be in full bloom, it will be nice to go back to see their flowers.  The waterleaf was in bud, and will also be in full bloom in a few weeks.  There is always something to see, you just have to look for it.

I think our first annual spring wildflower walk at Hazel Willis Woods was a success.  Hope to see you next year!