Jim Salge Photography Blog

First Wildflowers…

A quick post, as a reference point to myself and other photographers…

I went on a hike with Kevin Talbot yesterday through the Pawtuckaway mountains.  The area boasts a rich assortment of wildflowers, some of them fairly rare in the state, and the hope was that some would be emerging. 

Our first goal was to find a location where the flower ‘Bloodroot’ was thought to grow.   It was still likely a few weeks early for this flower, but with the recent warm weather we were, perhaps unrealistically, hopeful.  A few miles of hiking, made a bit more difficult at times because of water and blowdowns from recent storms, we found the location…and nothing yet growing.  The woods, though awakening with birdsong, and bugs (TICKS!), showed only minimal signs of flora.  A few stalks of purple trillium, a few violet leaves…that’s it.   

Around that same area though, we did make a find that made the trip, as a large Blanding’s Turtle (endangered in the state) was up and wandering around.  Here’s Kevin getting his shot of the big guy!

From there, we headed back over to the cars for my more standard hike up on the beautiful north mountain, which makes the western rim of the ring dyke in the park.  Here we found the other species that we had hoped to find…Hepatica. 

Hepatica is a neat plant, as it sends up flowers from the dried duff on the forest floor, with hardly any other parts of the plant visible.  The leaves are often buried, making the flowers wonderful blue, purple and white highlights on the otherwise brown ground. 

These flowers are abundant in areas with rich soil, and many south facing slopes around the state should feature flowering hepatica for the next few weeks.  As a final note… for all areas where wildflowers are known to be abundant…please tread lightly!  Remaining on the trail or staying on rocks where you can will ensure minimal trampling and soil compaction, and allow these plants to be enjoyed year after year!