Peak wildflowers 2025?

 

 

 

Spring wildflowers are near their peak in Kalamazoo.  Both Dicentra species are in bloom (Squirrel Corn, show here, and Dutchman's breeches.)

Spring Beauty seemed a little later than most years, but they always live up to their name.

Trillium are just starting to bloom.  I saw more plants with only buds or just leaves than in full flower, but that will certainly change in the next few days.

I don't see Blue-eyed Mary as frequently, but it is really eye-catching where it does get established.

Early wildflowers

Wildflower season in Kalamazoo has begun!  I visited the Kalamazoo Nature Center this afternoon and was surprised by the number of species in flower.  Most of these weren't at their peak, with just a few individual plants in bloom and many more almost ready.  Hepatica may be at its peak and Harbinger of Spring has been blooming for a few weeks and may be past its peak, but the rest of these have plenty of season remaining.

Blue-eyed Mary

Dutchman's Breeches

Spring Beauty

Harbinger of Spring

Dutchman's Breeches

Yellow Trout Lily

I did see a few other flowering species.  Marsh Marigold was just getting started.  Rue anenome and Toothwort had plenty of flowers.  Skunk cabbage were mostly done blooming but a few plants still showed their mottled maroon buds (or spathes.)

The most exciting thing I saw was an otter swimming across the Kalamazoo River, but I had the wrong lens for a decent photo.

Fall Flowers

Joe Pye Weed  Eutrochium maculatum (or Illinois Wildflowers  or USDA)



When I think of color in the Fall, I automatically think of  autumn leaves.  Most of summer's prairie flowers are finished, replaced by a variety of asters and goldenrods.  A walk at the Kalamazoo Nature Center reminded me that there are still some interesting plants in bloom, particularly in the wet soil along the Kalamazoo River.

Jewelweed    Impatiens capensis (or Illinois Wildflowers or MSU extension pdf)

White Turtlehead Chelone glabra  (or USDA link or  Illinois Wildflowers )

Great Blue Lobelia   Lobelia siphilitica 

Spring wildflowers 2016

Spring Wildflowers are in full bloom around Kalamazoo. 

Two sunny weekends in a row made it easy to enjoy them.  Last weekend, Russ Forest in Cass County was full of people walking, wading in the stream, and riding horses.  There were more flowers than human.  The Spring Beauty were so prolific, I could see their tiny flowers from the highway without slowing down.

Dowagaic Woods had fewer people but more flowers.  We saw everything from hepatica to bloodroot to trillium in bloom.  It felt like the season for ephemeral wildflowers had been compressed by the previous week's snow and that weekend's unseasonable warmth.

The Kalamazoo Nature Center had their Earth Day celebration this Saturday and their timing was perfect.  Dutchman's Breeches, Blue-eyed Mary, Marsh Marigold, Squirrel Corn, and Spring Beauty were all in flower.

Purple Fringed Orchid

 

The Purple Loosestrife, blooming along Portage Creek, caught my eye first.  While its flowers are pretty, it's an invasive exotic that easily dominates wet habitats.  Continuing along the trail at Bicentennial Park, I noticed many other purple flowers: Red Clover, Swamp Milkweed, Chicory, Bergamot, and Blue Vervain.  All the purple blossoms primed me to see a native flower I'd never noticed before: Purple Fringed Orchid.

Purple Fringed Orchids  (Platanthera psycodes) grow in moist soil, scattered throughout the eastern US and Canada.  They are protected species in parts of their range.  (It's possible this plant was the very similar, and closely related, Platanthera grandiflora.)  I was surprised to see such a beautiful wildflower in such an ordinary place.
   

Prairie flowers

While the spring ephemerals are long dormant, the long days of summer have brought lots of flowers to Asylum Lake's restored prairie.

Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) attracted lots of honey bees to its purple blossoms.

We didn't see any butterflies on this Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) although we did see Monarchs on some Common Milkweed.

Yellow Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) inspired, according to some, Western Michigan University's school colors.

Wild Lupine

Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis) is a late Spring wildflower of open prairies and meadows.  The spire of purple flowers on a single plant is beautiful and a field of lupines is impressive.  This wildflower grows throughout the eastern US and but is rare in some parts of its range.  Wild Lupines are a critical food source for the endangered Karner Blue butterfly.    

Lupines, like other prairie plants, need full sun to survive.  Historically, wildfires kept fields open. Today, preserves often use controlled burns to limit the incursion of brush and trees. 
 
Wild Lupines, near Kalamazoo, are currently at peak blossom.  Yesterday, we visited the Maas Preserve on the White Pine Trail just north of Rockford and it was full of lupines.

Wildflower season begins

Despite Kalamazoo's long, snowy winter, the 2014 Spring wildflower season is starting at a fairly typical time, perhaps a few days later than last year.  I visited the Kalamazoo Nature Center today and the blooms were just starting.  Hepatica were probably at their peak, with lots of blossoms open, only a few in bud, and almost none past flowering.

Harbinger of Spring were also near their peak, if this tiny flower can be said to have a peak.  Some years, they bloom much earlier.

The other ephemeral wildflowers are just getting started.  For the most part, Dicentras were just emerging, although a handful of early Dutchman's Breeches were in flower.

Marsh Marigolds were budding but they only had a couple of flowers.  A lot of the spotted leaves of Trout Lilies were up, but only a few flowers.   A few Mayapple umbrellas were emerging.  I saw one small Bloodroot in bloom.

Most of the Spring Beauty were still dormant but I did find a couple in flower.

If the weather stays warm, there may be many new blooms in the next few days.

Wildflowers at Warren Dunes

Like most people, I think of Warren Dunes State Park as a summer destination: swimming at the big beaches (with big parking lots), climbing Tower Hill to see Chicago across Lake Michigan, picnicking, or camping.  So it had been a few years since I'd visited during the Spring wildflower season.  On Thursday, I went to three parks in the southwest corner of the state: Grand Mere, Warren Dunes, and Warren Woods.  The three are only a few miles apart and each offered a different glimpse into Michigan's Spring.

Warren Dunes was at peak wildflower time.  I ate lunch in the picnic area, surrounded by hundreds of blooming Trillium.  The trillium continued all along the trail to the campground and on the slopes of the wooded back dunes.  As the trail turned uphill, other wildflowers came into sight: both Dicentra species (Dutchman's Breeches and Squirrel Corn), Rue Anemone, Toothwort, Violets, and a lone Jack-in-the-Pulpit.  Two other plants, with less conspicuous blooms also caught my eye: Blue Cohosh with its tiny green flowers and the hairy, ground-level flowers of Wild Ginger.

Other ephemerals, like Hepatica and Bloodroot, had already bloomed and their leaves were gathering energy before the tree canopy shaded them for the summer.

This beach will be full of people in a couple of months.

Warren Dunes State Park
12032 Red Arrow Hwy 
Lake Charter Township, MI 49125

State park pass or entry fee required.

Wildflower season continues

Yesterday morning didn't look like a promising day for wildflowers in Kalamazoo.  Then the skies got even darker and dropped big hailstones (mostly about a quarter inch but the biggest were a full inch across) followed by heavy rain.  But, by mid-afternoon, the sky was clear and bright.  When I finished some grading, I drove out to the Kalamazoo Nature Center to see how the season was progressing.

Lots of wildflowers were in bloom.  Spring Beauty, Toothwort, Trout Lily, Dutchman's Breeches, and Marsh Marigolds seemed to be at their peak.  Rue Anemone were widespread.  The Spicebush near the Kalamazoo River, were dotted with clusters of small yellow flowers.  With temperatures reaching 80 degrees, some of these may go to seed quickly.

The Hepatica, which were in full bloom last week, had already formed seedheads and their fresh leaves (that will last until next Spring) had emerged. 

There were some signs of the next wave of blooms.  Squirrel Corn, which bloom later than the closely related Dutchman's Breeches, were showing some immature green blossoms and, in sunny areas, a few were in full flower.  Mayapple umbrellas were open in big clusters.  Lots of Trillium had unopened buds.  Those may flower by this weekend.

Besides the flowers, it was a reasonable day for wildlife watching.  I saw a Wild Turkey from the parking lot, a Pileated Woodpecker near the river, and lots of turtles and one water snake sunning in the pond.  Not a bad end to a day in the woods.

KRVT wildflowers

Another week of April rain, hail, snow, and work kept me inside, but Saturday was glorious: sunny and warm.  I was torn between a trip to the Kalamazoo Nature Center to see wildflowers or my first bike ride of the season.  The bike ride won, but it turned out to be a good afternoon for wildflowers as well.

I think of the northern leg of the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail as the most scenic and the most likely section for nature but today I took the western segment that connects to the Kal-Haven Trail.  This part of the trail runs from Westnedge Avenue near downtown Kalamazoo to the 10th street trailhead with lots of street crossings, light industry, and it includes nearly a mile on the edge of Ravine Road.    

The westernmost part of the KRVT  (around trail marker 1.5 mi) had several nice patches of yellow Trout Lilies and a large number of Toothwort.  They continued nearly all the way to the trailhead parking lot. Mixed in, were a handful of Dutchman's Breeches in bloom.  (Apparently it's still before their peak.)

The highlight was the most impressive display of Bloodroot that I can remember seeing.  There were several large patches of brilliant white Bloodroot flowers, including one with more than 100 blossoms together.  The Bloodroot flowers were so bright and so big, relative to other Spring ephemerals, that I thought the first patch was some kind of domestic flower that escaped a garden.

Individual Bloodroot flowers don't last long so I was happy to have seen them at their peak.

Wildflower season 2013 begins

I hadn't had much of a chance to get out in the woods to look for Kalamazoo wildflowers due to a combination of work commitments, travel, and what seemed to be nearly constant rain (as well as Saturday's snow).  Last year, the wildflowers bloomed a full month earlier, so I was afraid I'd missed the start of the season.  But, a quick visit to the Kalamazoo Nature Center this afternoon, showed the 2013 season was just starting.  The early ephemerals were in flower; the Hepatica may be near their peak and the Spring Beauty seemed to be just starting.  Bloodroot was in flower.  I even saw a few Harbinger of Spring with late blossoms, although most of them had gone to seed.

 

I had glimpsed Marsh Marigolds in bloom along I-94 yesterday, and they were also flowering at the nature center.  Like the Spring Beauty, they seem to be at the beginning of their bloom.

 

Toothwort, Trout Lily, and Rue Anemone had buds but few blooms.  Mayapples were emerging, but their umbrellas were still tightly furled.  Most of the Dutchman's Breeches only had a few immature green flowers, but a handful of plants in sunny areas were in flower.

So far, this year seems similar to the 2011 wildflower bloom.  If that pattern holds, a period of warm weather could cause a condensed season where everything blossoms within a few weeks.  In any case, the next week or so should be a great time to visit some of the local wildflower hotspots or travel a bit to other wildflower spots in West Michigan.

Enjoy!

Hueston Woods State Park

Spring has sprung in Ohio.

Hueston Woods State Park is about 5 hours southeast of Kalamazoo in Oxford, Ohio.  Last week's rain had kept me indoors despite my eagerness to check our local wildflowers and I was going to out-of-town this weekend.  Yesterday, I was at Miami University of Ohio for an event and I had the afternoon free so I decided to visit Hueston Woods which was only five miles from the University.

Oxford is more than 100 miles south of Kalamazoo and the signs of Spring were visible in town with daffodils and magnolias in bloom, while Kalamazoo enjoyed crocuses and promise for the future.  The same was true in the woods.  As soon as I pulled into the parking lot for the Blue Heron trail  I saw thousands of flowering Spring Beauty, Dutchman's Breeches, and Toothwort.  Mayapple umbrellas were up and open.  The short trail to Acton Lake was through a mature maple beech forest and the wildflowers continued, with Toad Trillium being a highlight.  

 

The park offers several short hiking trails, a separate mountain bike trail system, horse trails, camping, a Nature Center, swimming, boating, and fishing, a lodge, a golf course, and a disc golf course.  (See the park map for details [pdf].) 

The park also allows fossil collection (for personal use) in two areas along Four Mile Creek.  The Ohio DNR provides a nice guide to the Ordovician fossils of the park [pdf].  I found a couple of nice brachiopods, a horn coral, and lots of mollusk shell fossils in just a few minutes.  (Dry Dredgers, a fossil enthusiast organization, reports on a field trip to Hueston Woods with lots of photos.)
 

While it was nice having a walk in the Spring woods while Kalamazoo had some end-of-season snow,  the park is a long drive from southwest Michigan.  If your travels take you to the area, I would certainly recommend it.

Hueston Woods State Park
College Corner, OH 45003

free admission