Monday, April 23, 2018

April 20 2018 Hepatica Hill in Bloom!

April 20 2018 Happy Boots and Hepatica Hill
This was the first warm day this spring and still there was snow on the ground in places.  The temperature was in the low 40's when we started out but later in the day we saw 55 degrees and sunshine.
First stop Happy Boots, a swampy woods in Allegan County, filled with wildflowers.

    Skunk Cabbage
     Marsh Marigold

     Trout Lily in bud
    Round Lobed Hepatica
 A jumble of Round Lobed Hepatica just starting to bloom

    Spring Beauty


We saw this red mite, I saw a Garter Snake, a unidentified butterfly, a few other bugs, and Water Striders.
Water Strider with shadow, Sand Creek Allegan County.

      Happy Boots

After two hours enjoying Happy Boots we were off to Hepatica Hill.  Hepatica Hill is a location that was shared, several years ago, from Mark Cassino (CalArti: A Photographer's Journal)


Here it is Hepatica Hill!  I know it doesn't look like much, until you look closely.
Then you start to see them everywhere!
 Hepatica!  Each one is special, a difference in color from deep purple, blue, pink, even white, some with just a few petals and some with many petals. 
They look very delicate, perched on such a rough and scoured hillside.  So colorful among the dry brown leaves.

 

Well that was probably enough for one day, but after spending almost two more hours at Hepatica Hill, we stopped in at Silver Creek County Park to check on the Trailing Arbutus.  But we found none blooming.
 

We also drove down 133rd Avenue, but found little blooming.  Some Spring Beauty, Hepatica, a Dandelion, and Trout Lily in bud.

It was a great day to be outside, and fun to see my favorite spring wildflower.  Hepatica
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 25, 2018 at 7:23 AM

    Happy Boots doesn't look like much, how did we ever come to like it so? Easy! The endless variety of plants which grow there - Marsh Marigold, Purple Fringed Orchid, Cardinal Flower, Liverwort, to name just a few. And the trees - Tulip Tree, Sycamore, Basswood, Ash, Red Maple, oaks galore, Black Cherry, Blue Beech, Hop Hornbeam, Witch Hazel, Spicebush, dogwoods, Hackberry, American Beech, Sassafras, Alder, White Pine, even Autumn Olive and Hawthorn and ouch Prickly Ash, and more. It has frogs and snakes, the water level changes, and no people!

    Hepatica Hill with its namesake perched on a wall of a hillside! Your photos show the variety of colors and shapes. The sloping old road with the swamp down below. The warblers singing like crazy. We didn't even mind the few bugs! At the bottom, the Kalamazoo River. What's not to like?

    133rd Avenue, another hillside facing the sun. The last photo of a Hepatica says it all - it was a great day! Thanks.

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  2. Plants Amaze MeMay 2, 2018 at 12:54 PM

    Marie, Happy Boots is a fun and interesting places. I think we first stopped here because we saw Marsh Marigolds blooming in the ditch near the road. Hepatica Hill is a place we only visit in spring, and it seems every time we go there we see the Hepatica blooming.
    We have been so many places around Michigan, it is amazing! I hope we can keep it up for many years.
    Chris :)

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