Family Walk at Rycenga Park- May 6 2018

Our first Family Walk this year was May 6 at Rycenga Park in Spring Lake Township.
It was a fun two hours of exploring.

 

   Trailing Arbutus,  Blooming!

      Goldthread,  Blooming!

 

                   Marsh Marigold

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Marie for getting us together, and thanks to all who were able to come!

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

In Our Woods

March 17 2012 The first wildflower showing here in our woods was Round-lobed Hepatica that I transferred from my parents property about 6 years ago.  When I was young I remember this plant would come up in the "lawn" and all through the woods.  I remember picking the flowers to put in little vases and I remember eating the petals of the hepatica.  After my parents died and we sold the property,  I dug up a big clump of the hepatica and they have done very well here on our property 3 miles down the road from my homestead.  And a funny thing is we live in the woods, mostly dry woods, quite like the woods where I grew up, but our woods have no hepatica, except for this clump that I planted, why? 
It's been hot here in west Michigan, record breaking temperatures, too hot, but there is nothing you can do about it except go with the flow and don't sweat it.  Ha that's all I have been doing is sweating!  Anyway, back to the wildflowers.  

Round-lobed Hepatica

 Round-lobed Hepatica just opening

Hepatica can be purple, blue, pink, or white, this group is always a deep purple.  
An exciting find I made a few years ago, here in our woods  (actually in the woods of my brother-in-law, who lives next door to us), is Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens)!   Trailing Arbutus has flowers that are pink, fading to nearly white and very fragrant.  The leaves are leathery and are green year round.

Trailing Arbutus

Well that's all for now, time for a walk.