New flowers in bloom!

Turtlehead
Indian Tobacco
False Pimpernel
Ditch Stonecrop
Cardinal Flower
Great Blue Lobelia
Goldenrod spp.

I started this post two days ago and this is how far I got..

“Today has been such a gorgeous day! Nice breeze, bright sunshine, warm but not humid. There are just a few more flowers in bloom, but like the other summer blooming flowers, they tend to stick around for awhile.”

I’m not so sure I would be describing today like that! It sure is back to being humid now. This weekend is supposed to be a lot nicer. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Back to the subject of summer wildflowers, there was a new bloomer this year. I feel bad not getting to tell you about it sooner because it’s pretty much done. I don’t think the hard rains of yesterday helped very much. The new plant is Wild Senna. It lives in the wet meadow at the start of the boardwalk. I spotted a couple years ago when I was harvesting some willow for my young caterpillars to eat. This is the first year it bloomed. Here are some pictures.

…well, now it’s Sunday and this is my third attempt at getting this post done! Let’s see how far we can get. A couple other new summer wildflowers that are in bloom are Seedbox, Mad-dog Skullcap, Thin-leaved coneflower, Rudbekia spp., and various Silphiums.
The Cranefly orchid is blooming nicely as well.

In other news, there are lots of cool insects taking advantage of the warm temperatures. Dragonflies, damselflies, bees, wasps, beetles, bugs, and butterflies are numerous in the sunny open areas. They are really neat to observe and can make for some great photos. Here’s one from earlier this season – a halactid bee on some orange butterflyweed.

And finally, Tom and I saw a small buck the other day outside the office window. His antlers were covered in velvet and he was munching away on some plants growing along the terrace. Just a small reminder that Fall is not that far away!

They really can. I will site two examples.

Earlier this year, I spotted a Cranefly Orchid leaf in a new location. It’s over near the end of the boardwalk. I thought it looked like it had potential to bloom, so for the past few weeks I’ve been checking on it periodically. Now, you need to know that this orchid sends it’s leaf up in the fall and persists all winter and into early spring until the trees leaf out. This is so the plant can more efficiently capture that all important sunlight energy. So by the time the plant might bloom, the leaf is long gone, and lots of other plants can have grown up near by. This is also a very small orchid. The flower stalk itself can be several inches tall, but the actual flowers are quite small and not brightly colored. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful plant, but not terribly showy. Okay, now it’s time for the plant to be in bloom (if it’s going to bloom, as they are not all the reliable) and I’ve already located other Cranefly Orchids that have sent up flower stalks. I just know in my gut that there is a flower stalk at this new spot. But I can’t find it!! So frustrating! I’m looking at all these different angles, and I even stoop down and right in front of my face is the dried up seed pods from one that bloomed last year! Arrrhhhggg! Finally, after feeling so stupid I spot the orchid. Ha! I knew it would be there. Then I felt incredible triumphant, like I had outwitted the orchid. I know that makes me a huge dork, but I don’t care!

Example number two: We have a list of all the plant species (and some of the animals) that have been identified here. We reference it when we think we may have found something new or perhaps a new location (some of the plants have general descriptions as to where they’ve been found). In our list of orchids there are 10 species. As you may know from last year, some of them aren’t seen all the time. (see this post near the end http://www.wahkeena-preserve.blogspot.com/2011/07/procrastination-is-my-middle-name.html ) One additional orchid that Tom has never seen in his over 30 years here is Green Wood Orchis Platanthera clavellata. Thanks to two guys named Tim this year, we have located it! We have found over a dozen plants so far, and several are in bloom. We’ve even spotted a flower stalk from last year, which just really gets to you. It’s right by the trail where we would have had plenty of opportunities to see it. So these orchids have evaded our eyes for a long, long time! I just know they were laughing at us!  🙂

With the rediscovery of this orchid and our early summer causing some plants to bloom early, you should be able to see 3 different species of orchids in bloom for the next week and some. They are: Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, Green Wood Orchis, and Cranefly Orchid. Now the Cranefly is not actually in bloom yet, but it is up and on its way. So if you are planning your visit this weekend, just the other two will be in bloom. I would expect by next weekend you will be able to see all three.

Happy Orchid-ing!

A great example of what, you may ask? Well, it’s none other than a great example of why we should plant native plants. I’ll explain:

We can all agree that it is quite dry out there, yes? Is your garden flower or otherwise suffering? I know I’ve been watering my veggie garden quite a bit! Well, my flower gardens at home and our native plantings here at the preserve are doing okay! I won’t exaggerate, they don’t look the greatest, but the plants are blooming and looking just fine, all without any extra watering. That is one of the benefits of planting plants that are indigenous to your area, they require less care. They are adapted to your environment, sometimes drought and all. Now if things got really, really, dry, then of course all the plants will suffer, native or not.

So I say all this to prepare you for the long list of summer wildflowers that are currently in bloom. There is lots of color and interesting shapes and textures!

Purple Coneflower
Pink and Red Bee Balm (Monarda)
Whorled Rosinweed
Rosinweed
Royal Catchfly
Fleabane
Waterlily
Trumpet Creeper
Lizard’s Tail
Monkey Flower
White and Blue Vervain
Joe Pye Weed
Swamp Milkweed
Button Bush
Tear Thumb
Obedient Plant
Wingstem
Heal All
White Snake Root
Ironweed
Swamp Rose Mallow

Okay, actual dragons aren’t, but dragonflies are! Have you caught the dragonfly bug yet? (pun intended!) Okay, if you haven’t, check out these two links and then come back, because I’m sure that you will be left with wanting more!

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/home_and_garden/2012/07/01/1-nothing-masters-the-skies-like-dragonflies.html

http://www.zenthroughalens.com/2012/01/bedazzled-by-dragonflies.html

…okay! Want more? You got it. Come out to Wahkeena on Saturday July 21, 2012 for a day-long Dragonfly Workshop with none other than OHS’s very own Bob Glotzhober! (For those of you who don’t know, Bob, along with David McShaffrey, has edited The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Ohio. Among some of us it is kindly referred to as Bob’s Big Book. Anyway, he is incredibly knowledgeable about all things Odonata (the order for dragons and damsels).

So here is what we’ve got planned. Starting at 10:00am here at the Nature Center Bob is going to take us through some amazing natural history of dragonflies and damselflies. Then we will break for lunch (bring your own!) and then resume in the afternoon for some field work. We will get some insect nets and try to catch some Odonates for some up close and personal investigations! We will conclude our day at 2:00pm.

If this all sounds like way too much fun and you don’t want to miss out, call us! You need to register for this program because space is limited. 800-297-1883

Well gang, we have a lot to catch up on don’t we? We’ve been up to our eyeballs in programming as of late, hence the inattention to the blog. Don’t worry though, I think I can make it up to you. 🙂

Let’s start off with a reminder of what a strange and crazy botanical season this has been. In March, this flower was in bloom…

Now it is June, and this flower is still in bloom! (Wild Geranium)

Some of our flowers are on time, while others are still blooming earlier than they normally would. Enchanter’s Nightshade seems to be pretty normal. This small, white wildflower is found in the woods this time of year. On the flip side, our native Rhododendron is in bloom, which is about two weeks early. It normally blooms the end of June/first part of July.

We are still in the typical month for green foliage and mostly white flowers. There are still lots of white flowers out there (in bloom list will be at the end as usual). Some of the more colorful stuff that we wouldn’t expect until July and going forward is going strong. Included in this category are orange butterflyweed, purple coneflower, and sundrops.

Also found on my foray this morning was a nice male box turtle. He was hanging out on the Casa Burro Trail.

Well, I had more, but it is now the end of the day. So I’ll try and post again soon, but for now here is the list of currently blooming flowers. Enjoy!

Hustonia spp.
Poke Milkweed
Spotted Wintergreen
Enchanter’s Nightsahde
Black Cohosh
Wild Geranium
Heal All
Sundrops
Purple Coneflower
Orange Butterflyweed
Fleabane
Monarda spp.
Green Adder’s Mouth Orchid
Rhododendron
Shasta Daisy
Deptford Pink
Swamp Rose
Silky Dogwood
Elderberry
Lizard’s Tail
Water Lily

Have you been hearing a strange yet familiar noise. A noise made by an insect. A fairly ugly insect? Well I have, and if you haven’t guess what the insect is…it’s the periodical cicada! No, it’s not quite our turn to have them emerge en masse, but there can be stragglers according to www.magicicada.org. This is a great website where you can see which broods emerge when and where, and even listen to the different songs and calls of these bugs. There is a link to where you can report sightings of periodical cicadas from places (like here) where they are not expected. I made my own report of the ones I heard and the one we found yesterday!

Moving on from insects to flowers – although totally related! I have a new list for you, and there are lots of new things in bloom. We have moved into the season where most of the flowers will now be found in our sunny open areas. The wet meadow at the beginning of the boardwalk for example will have lots and lots of flowers from now until the end of the growing season.

A quick note of what is still in bloom:  Twayblade orchid, foxglove (cultivated), waterlilies, blue-eyed grass, two lined cynthia, rattlesnake weed, mock orange, and pale violet. Here is what’s new:

Smooth Penstemon
Purple Meadow Rue
Sweet Flag
Moneywort
Partridgeberry
Stonecrop (cultivated)
Elderberry
Green Dragon
Honewort
Deptford Pink
Venus’s Looking-glass
Wahoo (native)
Indian Pipe
Mountain Laurel

The time for green and white is starting early this year, which is par for the course this spring. A few new things are in bloom, most of which are – you guessed it – green and white! Our fourth orchid is in bloom now, large-leaved twayblade. There is a nice specimen growing along the shelter trail. Not much else to report right now, but I’m sure that will change soon! Here’s the new list:

Spiderwort
Foxglove (cultivated)
Arrowwood Viburnum
Mock Orange
Multiflora Rose
Sweet Scented Waterlily
Carolina Rose (?)
Twayblade Orchid
Blue-eyed Grass
Two-lined Cynthia
Hawkweed spp.

Today, I have two lists for you. One will be for the new flowers in bloom, and the other will be for the flowers that are still in bloom.

Also, just like last year, you can see three different species of native orchids in bloom. They are Showy Orchis, Pink Lady’s Slipper, and Puttyroot. I’m not confident that the Showy Orchis will still be in bloom past this weekend, so this 3 for 1 deal is probably only good through this Saturday and Sunday.

Okay, the first list is the NEW flowers:

Flame Azalea
Puttyroot Orchid
Rhododendron (Cultivated)
Highbush Cranberry
Waterleaf
Canada Violet
Wild Comfrey
Cinquefoil
Rattlesnake Weed
Tulip Tree
Mapleleaf Viburnum
Deerberry
Black Locust
Spirea (cultivated)

These are the flower currently in bloom:

Cream Violet
Wild Blue Phlox
Golden Ragwort
Bugle
Foam Flower
Bishop’s Cap
Wild Geranium
Lily of the Valley
Wild Ginger
Aniseroot/Sweet Cicely
Greek Valerian
Forget-me-not
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Showy Orchis
Pink Lady’s Slipper
Mayapple
Spring Cress
Dog Violet
Japanese Primrose
Common Blue Violet
Solomon’s Seal/Plume
Fleabane spp.
Violet Wood Sorrel
Rubus spp.

This is the question I’ve been asking myself the past few days. I’ve put off writing this new post because I couldn’t think of anything else new that had bloomed! I’ve had to look back as the previous years’ posts to see what else is to come. The answer is, well, not much else that is really showy.

Typically, we call the month of June the month of green and white. This is because many of our flowering shrubs burst forth with white blossoms. It’s really looking like May is going to be “green and white” this year.

Now, having said all that, there is still a lot of color out in the woods right now. We still have lots of orchids to come (more on that later), and a few more showy colorful things that will bloom soon.

Right now, the azaleas are putting on a great show. The Flame Azaleas are just starting to open up their bright fiery orange flowers. Next week will be the time to see them. The Pinxter Azalea and the cultivated ones continue to be in bloom and are beautiful. Also, the cultivated rhododendron is also just starting to bloom. These large magenta flowers are always a treat to see.

We also have to look forward to are the dwarf crested iris, yellow iris, mountain laural, spiderwort, and some of the hawkweeds. Once the spring wildflowers in the woods are done, there are several other neat plants that bloom. They usually bloom more towards the summer, and their look is a little more subtle than their early spring counterparts, but they are neat nonetheless. A few examples would be enchanter’s nightshade, lopseed, and black cohosh.

Okay, onto the subject you have all been waiting for! (I know, I’ve seen how many times last year’s update on PLS was accessed just in the past week!)

The PINK LADY SLIPPER. It is in fact, in bloom. However – there is only one you can view on your own from the trail. This one is just up, and not pink quite yet. There are others that can be seen when on a guided Wildflower Walk. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the dates for the next walks.

Alright! That’s all for now, bird activity continues to be very good, and with the warmer weather coming up for next week, we should be seeing some new flowers and butterflies and dragonflies and ferns and…..