Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Spring Wildflowers at Riverside Park - Ottawa County, Michigan


 April 18th 2016, Betsy and I visited Riverside Park along the Grand River in Ottawa County. 

Mike and I were here on April 14, and found the water to be quite high.  Now, four days later, the water is down some.
 Photo above is the park road April 14th. 
Photo below is the same park road April 18th.
Again we walked through the park to what I call the "Wildflower Trail", four days ago we didn't make it very far before we were stopped by water over the trail.

This time we crossed here on logs and got to the other side easily. 
Eventually we were stopped again by high water, the actual trail was flooded.
And again there were logs to cross on, but it was just a little too far, and a bit unstable to cross safely.
Well this photo makes it look easy to cross but it was deep water with a lot of debris in it, so we just didn't take the chance.  There were many Spring Beauty blooming!  All of the white and pink along the trail in the photo below is Spring Beauty and some Purple Cress.


We were excited to find Bloodroot blooming!

    
There were several weedy wildflowers blooming, too. 

      Dandelion
      Speedwell

Storksbill
 
On that same day, April 18, we also stopped at Connor Bayou, another Ottawa County park.  I wanted to see if the Hepatica was blooming, and sure enough it was.  I think this is my favorite wildflower.
 
 Round Lobed Hepatica
 
 
That was about it for April 18th, which was a warm and sunny day.  Thanks for stopping by. 


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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 22, 2016 at 5:11 AM

    You have outdid yourself again with these photos! You made me feel I've been out there with you. I liked that you showed how far the water had gone down in a few days.
    Hepatica is my favorite, too. But then, all the rest come in a close second! Spring Beauty, Bloodroot, even the lowly but lovely Dandelion, Speedwell, and Storksbill.
    Oh, my. And the Willow tree in its spring color.
    Thanks for the walk, M :)

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  2. Plants Amaze MeApril 25, 2016 at 4:20 PM

    M :) you are welcome. Spring has definitely sprung. Well it IS almost the end of April!
    You are on every walk with me, because I can hear you, sort of. I miss your enthusiasm. But believe it or not, Betsy has come up with some names of wildflowers. Now she is the grasshopper!
    :-)

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  3. AnonymousMay 22, 2016 at 10:00 PM

    Following! muskegon, michigan. Awesome work! I found a lady slipper today and was like a kid in a candy shop! Discovering the pitcher plants and other orchids in our own back yard through your blog is amazing. I can't wait to get back out and see these things in nature. Orchids and carnivorous plants are my favorite and I hadn't realized how many we had here in michigan.

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