Wildflower Walks
By
Elizabeth Bassett

Peepers and wood frogs sing April's lullabies. and sap no longer
drips from branches. A sunny moment out of the breeze feels like
summer, until you round the corner. Most of us can remember at least
one snowy Mother's Day. Bundle up in hat and mittens if you must, but
take a wildflower walk. Spring's exuberance doesn't wait.
Consider these walks close to home:
Leavensworth Road runs south from Carpenter Road (O'Neil Road in
Hinesburg), eventually joining the Charlotte-Hinesburg Road. The woods
at the top of the hill spill with a mix of wildflowers including
Dutchman's-breeches, ramps, trout lilies, red and white trillium,
spring beauties, and hepatica. This spot is cooler than most Charlotte
locations, being higher and farther from the lake. It's a quiet road
with nice views, good for a walk any time of year.
Pease Mountain, UVM Natural Area accessed from Charlotte Central
School. The wildflowers of Pease Mountain benefited from the 1998 ice
storm. The University cleared blocked trails and knocked or sawed down
the widow-makers. Otherwise they left the woods undisturbed. Dead
trees decay where they fell (or were felled) and additional sunlight
has enhanced the floral crop. At the very least you will find white
trillium, hepatica, trout lily, spring beauty, bloodroot,
yellow-flowered barren strawberry, and hepatica. DO wait until the
trail dries out.
A different approach to storm recovery left Mt. Philo with fewer
wildflowers. The woods were more aggressively cleared and, despite the
added sunlight, there are fewer blooms than I remember before the ice.
Patches of wildflowers still bloom along the road, among them blood
root, trout lilies, spring beauties, and my favorites,
Dutchman's-breeches. The latter cling to a spare rocky pitch along the
steepest stretch of road. Can't help but smile at those perky white
bloomers waving in the breeze.
Allen Hill, Shelburne Bay Park. From the parking lot on Bay Road the
Clarke Trail hugs the lake but is usually muddy in spring. A gravel
path loops over a longer route to the west. Both lead north toward
Allen Hill which rises at the northern end of the peninsula. Trout
lilies carpet one stretch of the trail and on the thin, dry topsoil at
the summit, hepatica blooms early in the season. You'll also find
white trillium, bloodroot, false Solomon's seal, and early meadow rue.
Great spot for watching waterfowl on the lake.
The perimeter roads at Thompson's Point are blessed with patches of
trout lilies, white trillium, wild oats or sessile bellwort, and early
meadow rue, among others.
I've found this advice helpful: do NOT take a wildflower book on your
walk. Here's why. You spot a lovely blossom. It's pink. You flip to
the pink-bordered pages and thumb through until you find your posie. A
hairy beardtongue, you say. Now on to the next. This one is yellow.
Repeat the process. Short-term memory being what it is, chances are
when you get home, especially if you're over fifty, you won't remember
the names of the flowers you looked up. Was it fuzzy beardtongue, pink
beardtongue, or was it beartongue? Here's another technique. Learn
basic categories of wildflowers. Audubon uses only five: simple (poppy
or trillium), daisy- and dandelion-like, odd-shaped (iris, bellwort),
elongated clusters (goldenrod, larkspur), and rounded clusters
(milkweed, Queen Anne's lace). Logical, eh? Describe the flower to
yourself or make a few notes (in the handy little notebook you always
carry with you) of it's type, color, and a maybe few adjectives to
describe its leaves: heart-shaped, alternate, hairy, whorled, toothed,
opposite. When you get home look it up. I find that if you focus on
one or two new flowers on each walk you may actually remember them.
(No promises, but it works for me.)
Kingsland Bay State Park, Ferrisburg. The trail around MacDonough
Point features one great view after another. Mt. Philo looks stunning
from this vantage point. But the sea of white trillium along the
shoreline merits the trip.
If garden chores trump early May wildflower walks, don't despair. Two
spectacular venues offer late-season shows. Texas Falls trail, east of
the Middlebury Snowbowl on Route 125, clings to the flanks of the
Green Mountains. Along the well-maintained path painted and red
trillium share the canvas with wood anemone, Clintonia, Indian
cucumber-root, starflower, Solomon's seal, pink twisted stalk, wild
lily-of-the-valley, bunchberry, and more.
In Leicester, just north of Churchill House Inn on Route 73, cool air
sinks into Leicester Hollow, 700 feet above Lake Champlain. In the
narrow and shady valley, winter is extended and spring wildflowers
bloom into early June. Limy soil and marble bedrock support a rich
variety of plants including maidenhair fern, blue cohosh, herb Robert,
bulblet fern, red trillium and jack-in-the-pulpit. Look also for
Canada violet, Clintonia, ramps (wild leek), Virginia waterleaf,
jewelweed, stinging nettles, and Indian pokeweed.
Don't forget Green Up Day, May 1 and 2. Visit with your neighbors as
you scour the roadsides for winter debris. Or help load Junior Lewis's
trucks at the Quonset Hut. For details contact John Quinney at
425-3733 or via e-mail at johnq@gmavt.net.
Volunteer for the Vermont City Marathon on May 30. You will be among
the 1,600 who get a nifty t-shirt and make this 6,000-runner event run
smoothly. The festivities celebrate health, fitness, and the beauty of
Burlington and the lake and include Taiko drummers, bagpipers, great
food, and entertaining signs. Register on-line at www.vcm.org or
volunteer@vcm.org or call 863-8412.