I finally made it to Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve in Pennsylvania last Saturday. It's a short drive and a world away! This time of year is all about spring ephemerals and the wildflowers there were putting on a nice show.There were a few wildflowers that I haven't been able to find in my haunts of the local woods, plus the more common ones were there in abundance. It was a real treat to see a path through the woods bursting with Virginia Bluebells, Spring Beauties, Trillium and Trout Lillies. The preserve is smallish and the trails are short, but there was enough diversity, even this early in the season, to keep me occupied for a couple hours. It's the kind of place I can see myself visiting again and again, just to see what's in bloom each week.
There's a bookshop filled with goodies for the nature dork in me and I bought a great book I'd like to recommend - The Secrets of Wildflowers: A Delightful Feast of Little-Known Facts, Folklore, and History by Jack Sanders. I imagine I'll make use of its bits of folklore and poetry often here in my blog.
This pretty flower was a new one to me: Early Saxifrage. It likes to grow in cool rocky places that are wet in the springtime. I found it growing all along the little creek that meandered along the Marsh Marigold Trail. Its flowers are tiny, tinier even than spring beauties. Very dainty and sweet!
6 comments:
We overlooked saxifrage for years, but once having noticed it, it's hard to believe we could've been so blind to one of the earliest native wildflowers - and one which is, as you say, kind of appealing in a low-key way.
Hi Laura: Bowman Hills is only 20 minutes from where I live. Shoot me an email or phone call next time and I will meet you there. It's a wonderful place, isn't it?
Beth
Bowman Hills is about an hour from me. I used to work near there at an eldercare facility, teaching preschool in the childcare. We would the kids on trips with the residents to Bowman's. Haven't been there for years, but I'm sure its still beautiful and magical.
Heather
Wayne, PA
That's a great book and a great place.
I'd drive there too--let me know next time!
Congratulations. I hope that it was everything that I said it would be. I really thought that you would like it. It's not that small, I hope you saw most of it.
It's also a great place to meet birds. My wife and I were there on Sunday morning listing to and finally seeing a wood thrush. Two weeks ago we had black and white warblers.
But the stars are always the wildflowers. At this time of year, we're always there at least once a week and there's always something new. If you can make it back there, on May 9th or 10th, they're having a plant sale where you can purchase native plants at very reasonable prices. At that time the native ladyslippers should be blooming.
Hopefully, we'll see you there sometime.
Post a Comment