Plenty To See On Wildflower Walk

By Stephanie Paradiso
May 5, 2009

The sun was able to peek through the dreary gray clouds for the first ever Spring Wildflower Walk led by Dr. Holly Scoggins at Mid-County Park. With the walk being postponed from last weekend, participants were hoping for sun like last weekend.

"It looks like it was going to rain while we were on the walk, I'm glad it held off," participant Erin Dreux said. "The phrase April showers bring May flowers hopefully will be true after these past rainy days."

Upon arriving, participants in the walk received a list of Woodland wildflowers that could be seen on the trail in April and that the participants would hopefully be seeing on the walk. The flower that was seen most on the walk was the Trillium grandiflorum (large-flowered trillium).

These flowers were seen in abundance and they begin with a white colored bloom then age to a pink colored bloom.

"It's the number one call we receive back at Tech," Scoggins said. "People call in saying we found the pink trillium in all sorts of excitement."

The sight of all the different colors of trillium was fun for Dreux but she played her own game while seeing the trillium.

"I liked to guess the age of the flowers I saw along the way," she said laughing.

Walking on the trail, Scoggins would stop along the way to describe the different plants and answer any questions people may have had.

"I loved all the questions, even if the students were a little more quiet," Scoggins said sarcastically.

Other plants encountered along the way certainly had interesting traits.

"The skunk cabbage was the most interesting plant I think," Dreux said. Scoggins explained how this plant flowers in January, generates heat to melt snow away from it and while generating the heat it gives off a dead meat stench. Thus the plant's name, skunk cabbage.

Other interesting plants were seen, like the bear corn which sprouted up from the soil just in the time bears were coming out of hibernation.

The scenery on the walk was "absolutely gorgeous," said Dreux. Scenery not only included wildflowers and plants but also a little creek with a small waterfall. According to Scoggins it was "a perfect day for photography."

After the end of the hike, Scoggins asked the participants if they enjoyed themselves and everyone agreed it was a great way to spend the day. Scoggins was thrilled with the people that came to the walk and is hoping to do the wildflower walk again next year.

"Hopefully next year we can do a bigger walk and go on a bigger trail where we can see more wildflowers," said Scoggins.

At the end of the walk, Scoggins passed out potted bluebell flowers to all of the participants so they could plant them in their garden.

"It was definitely a productive way to spend my Saturday morning and I would go again next year," Dreux said. "Not only are the flowers pretty but I also learned a lot and now I have a plant to put in my garden."