Summer Times A'Coming

Summer is almost here, the temperatures have finally warmed up enough for the garden to begin to grow and the trees and shrubs are blooming, including one of my favorites; the Flame Azalea. This shrub is planted in many yards in our area, but I only had to leave them when I cleared brush from my front yard. There are four that line the road next to my yard and they bloom over a period of several weeks and in various shades. 

#105- Flame Azalea

#106- Black Cherry 

#107- Wild Blueberry 

#108- Common Speedwell

 Dewberries are similar to blackberries but bloom and ripen earlier. They grow in fields right on the ground and escape the mowers. They are a nice warm-up for blackberry season.

#109- Dewberry

Late Spring on Brush Creek

My two brothers who are in from Florida, my sister, dad and I had the opportunity to spend the day out and about. We went to Brush Creek Nature Preserve to see the falls and enjoy a hike on a cool but beautiful day. This is one of my favorite wildflower areas and today did not disappoint. The Dutchman's Pipe Vine is a flower that I had read about but never had seen anywhere. I kept seeing small vines with heart shaped leaves, but no other distinguishing features. Then I saw a small maple draped with it and when I moved some leaves aside to look closer, I saw this amazing bloom

#99- Dutchman's Pipe Vine

                                                                                                                                                                 












Here are the others seen today

#100- False Solomon's Seal 

#101- Lilly of the Valley 

#102- Dame's Rocket (non-native)

#103- Maple Leaved Viburnum

#104- Thread Leafed Toothwort

Wild Trout and Wild Flowers

Spent yesterday evening on a small Native Brook Trout creek with a fly rod and a camera. I was after trout and flowers and got a couple of each. The trout are native brookies and the stream is a catch and release, fly fishing only creek that empties close by into the New River. It is part of the New River Gorge National River and it's elevation is about 1070 feet, 2000 feet lower than my home 25 miles away.

The walk in was interesting in itself, this picture is me, walking on a steep hillside with the creek on the right. Yes, that is a serious dropoff.

Native Brook Trout are beautiful fish, especially in the fall with their breeding colors. This one was in the eleven inch range, which is very nice for this species. Photo is a little blurry, but you can see the yellow belly, bright red fins with white edges.

This was one of the largest Puttyroots I have seen; notice the small white spider on the left. He had web all over this plant. I had just endured about twenty minutes of a downpour hunkered down under a sycamore tree and was soaked. 

#96- Puttyroot 

Puttyroot

The following wildflower is a native and apparently not very common. It is listed as endangered in Pennsylvania and threatened in Tennessee. Trying to identify it was a bear. I had suggestions of Skullcap, Dragon head and others. It is Meehans Mint and I have found it at Brush Creek as well as on the trout creek the other day. It is also popular in home gardens for extreme shady spots and is commonly sold by native nurseries. I've added two photo's from Brush Creek as well. 

#97- Meehan's Mint

Meehan's Mint

Meehan's Mint on Brush Creek 

Meehan's Mint on Brush Creek 

Found this one at home a few days ago-Yellow Star Grass

#98- Yellow Star Grass

More Pink Lady's Slippers 

Grandview Again

News Bulletin: A tall, thin man, in a bright yellow shirt, blue slacks and fashionably coordinated tie, has been spotted in the Grandview section of the New River Gorge National River roaming around in the woods. No explanation can be offered for this; the only clue is that it is reported that he often is heard muttering things like, 'I know I saw Putty Root here last year' or 'Was that Pennywort in this holler or the next one over?' If you spot this man please gently remind him that he has a meeting later in the evening and to please not get his shoes or clothes muddy. His wife will appreciate that. 


Grandview has an impressive display each year of this Rhododendron, Catawba or Rosebay Rhododendron. Some are planted, but back on the trails and hanging on cliffs inaccessible to planting you will find the native plant that is thought by many to be the state flower. Actually the WV state flower is  Rhododendron Maximum or Great Laurel, a white variety that will bloom later in the year.  This was an excellent example that was hanging below one of the more remote overlooks. 

#95- Catawba or Rosebay Rhododendron

Most Showy Orchis is gone, I did find a couple of fresh ones that begged to be photographed 

And the Squaw Root is still going strong 

Busy Saturday

Started out turkey hunting, which just turned into a long walk. Then while doing yard work at my daughters house I found a few nice wildflowers when I walked to a small creek with the grandbabies so they could get wet and muddy.  All three were new for me. I don't remember them but maybe I had seen them before, though I had never identified either of these first three.

The Wild Sarsaparilla is used as soda flavoring and had many medicinal uses among Native Americans. It is closely related to Ginseng. We were walking along the creek and I noticed a large patch of greenery that resembled Mayapple from a distance. Only a few had the cluster of three flowers growing on a leafless stem from the base. They just did barely catch my eye. 

#84- Wild Sarsaparilla 

Wild Sarsaparilla

The Yellow Mandarin sort of caught me by surprise, the flowers were barely noticeable, being light green and under the foliage  I told my grand daughter they were Fairybells, another common name, to catch her attention. 

#85- Yellow Mandarin 

Yellow Mandarin 

 I had seen Mountain Bellwort earlier in the season and I was very pleased to see this one, it seems a little rarer that the other.

#86- Perfoliate Bellwort

The following were found while walking through the fields and woods while Turkey hunting.

#87- English Plantain

#88- Hawthorn

#89- Sassafras (Male Flowers)

#90- Tulip Popular

The next two are invasive non-natives. The occupy most grown over fields and roadsides. I have called them for many years Autumn olive and Russian olive. I believe now that the first one is a Japanese Honeysuckle, the double red berries help with that ID .The other is Autumn Olive and has one of the most pleasing fragrances .The berries are very tart but have an alum aftertaste. I have seen Turkeys jumping up along side the shrub to eat the berries when snow is on the ground. 

#91- Morrows Honeysuckle (non-native Japanese Honeysuckle)

#92- Autumn Olive (non-native)

#93- Cudweed

#94- Black Haw

Azalea and Magnolias

Started the day following a tip and spotted the Pinxter Azalea before 7 am. Flame Azalea are common here but it took a couple years to find a population of pink ones close to home. I see these and the Roseshell variety often along Blue Ridge Parkway. Roseshell Azalea should be in West Virginia as well. 

#80- Pinxter Azalea

The Magnolias are in perfect shape now and I can see this one from the kitchen window. It is the Mountain or Fraser Magnolia.

#81-  Mountain or Fraser Magnolia

Then after a brief, but intense thunderstorm, I went on one of my favorite logging roads two miles from home. I usually cruise along and get out and walk as well. This small Cucumber Magnolia had fallen into the road, making it easy to photograph. I think I know where an Umbrella Magnolia is, making it a West Virginia trifecta. 

#82- Cucumber Magnolia

The Mayapple are beginning to bloom, this is a very common plant and one of the first that kids can identify readily. 

#83- Mayapple

I do not normally pay a lot of attention to ferns unless very unusual; like the Walking Fern and Adders Mouth Fern. I spotted this plant tonight; it is fern like, unusual and the only plant like it that I could find anywhere. 

The Trillium are just about done for the year. I found this one hanging on deep in the shade of several plants. Others had seed capsules already. It seems like just a few days ago I found Snow Trillium, then Red and Large Flowering, and lastly, my favorite, the Painted Trillium. 

Yellow Lady's Slipper

 Yellow Lady's Slipper was probably my first exposure to Orchids. I vividly remember seeing a clump of them on the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee. It was before the days of internet, cellphones and digital cameras. Back then it was about hiking and camping. But after seeing these and a large patch of Dwarf Crested Iris, I began reading a little and becoming familiar with wildflowers. Then I would plan trips to the Smokies and Blue Ridge Parkway, looking for Trillium, Orchids and others. Then I found out they were in West Virginia as well. Now, I spend much more time searching out populations of wildflowers here in WV. It took a couple of years of running down leads to find Showy Orchis, which is within a few miles of home. Then Trillium (almost in my back yard ), Pink Lady's Slipper (five miles away) and this year, Snow Trillium after a couple years of trying. My most gut wrenching search was for Showy Lady's Slipper. I had leads, research papers and a kind WVU Botanist trying to help. I spent hours, over two or three years, hiking the mountains in the correct area and then driving the many miles home and comparing notes, marking maps and trying to narrow it down. Finally, many miles north, I literally stumbled on a population of them while traipsing through the area of one of the two known populations in WV. But Yellow Lady's Slipper remains one of my favorites.  A few pictures from today follow.

#80- Yellow Lady's Slipper