SPRING!

Ok so I know its not "offically" spring (3 more days!)but after the B-E-A-U-tiful weather today, how can one not be excited about it? I was able to get down to the gardens and clear away some of the debris that was leftover from this fall and finish getting seeds started. The snow came so fast this year I wasn't quite able to get it all. While out and about cleaning I noticed a lot of green, a lot of bad but also some good! Some of the herbs are already starting to grow again and its a nice splash of good green. Some of you know about the bad green we have here, the Star of Bethleham. You can read more about that horrible stuff here. But, on to the good! The wonderful skunk cabbage is in bloom andthe coltsfoot flowers are up along the lakeshore. In the wildflower bed we have some hepatica peeking through and some waterleaf showing up. In another bed, # 23, there is a beautiful purple flower poking through the underbrush. I can not remember the name of it for the life of me so if you know it, let me know! For now, enjoy some of the pictures of the site from today.

Skunk cabbage (thank goodness for zoom!)

Coltsfoot along the lake

The Waterleaf (with lots of the BAD green around it....)

Hepatica

That purple flower....crocus! (Thanks Martha!)

The Magnolia tree starting to bud out

Wednesday at Work

Everywhere I looked, another species of wildflower was blooming.


The twinleaf by the Cabin bloomed. I love the leaves even more than the lovely, short-lived flowers though. The leaves will be opening in a few days.


Dave Fox, the property manager, showed us the Jack-in-the-pulpit blooming in Sower's Woods, which is part of the site.


The marsh marigolds are blooming by the spring.




Just across the boardwalk, the large spice bush was in bloom. I like to chew on the twigs and I've heard it makes a wonderful tea.


Yes, that is a flower bud on the Mayapple or mandrake as Gene called it.


As you drive down Owl Avenue, watch for the patch of Virginia bluebells blooming on the east.


But I spent most of the drizzly day in the garden, entertained by the visitors in the trout lilies or dog-toothed violets. But the visitors were neither fish nor canine.

See them now?


And I enjoyed the hyacinths in the formal garden marching up the hill.

Opening Day

The site opened on April 1, a hot sunny day. There was a steady stream of visitors including these 5 lovely females. The picture proves that I am not biased even though these are brother's daughters and granddaughters.

There were other openings that day such as the bloodroot above.

And these Dutchmen's breeches. These are not quite open but will be very soon. I heard that trout lily blooms were sighted also.

Yesterday and Today

This is yesterday's plant marker.

This is today's plant marker. We are adding a few markers around the site, native plants and Gene's original plants. When you visit, tell us what you think of them.
Yesterday, water was not singing in Singing Waters. Today it is.

Yesterday the rue was not blooming.

Today the large bed of rue between the Cabin and boardwalk is starting to bloom.




Yesterday the hepatica started to bloom. Today it is in its full glory.

Come visit and then come back again. You will be surprised by the changes.

It's Spring!

It's spring at Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site and the wildflowers are busting out all over. The colt's foot (not a dandelion) has been blooming for over two weeks. This picture was taken March 17.


Then the scilla started blooming and every day they put on a better show.



And today I saw the hepatica in bloom.



It won't be long before the Dutchmen's breeches and trout lily are blooming as the foliage of both are coming on strong.


Come see what you can find in bloom.

shots from July

can't wait for Chautauqua this weekend!!! til then, here's some shots from July around sunset.

Photos courtesy www.aceofimages.com

Ohio Buckeye

One of the first trees to leaf out at GSP is the Ohio Buckeye, Aesculus glabra. The leaves are a beautiful maroon color!

Photo taken on 4/9/09

Scilla in a Sea of Star of Bethlehem

Scilla awash in Star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbellatum, foliage.

Photo taken 4/8/09.

Scilla on Waterleaf

A Scilla, Scilla siberica, blossom on Large-Leaved Waterleaf, Hydrophyllum macrophyllum.

Photo taken 4/8/09.

Cornelian Cherry behind Garden Shed

Here's a full-length shot of the Cornelian Cherry, Cornus mascula, in full bloom.

Photo taken 4/8/09.

Cornelian Cherry

The cornelian cherry, Cornus mascula, is in full bloom, awaiting the warm weather and pollinators.

Photo taken 4/8/09

Hepatica by Lake Sylvan

Two days after several inches of snow and an evening dipping into the mid 20's, many of round-lobed hepatica, Hepatica nobilis, were in bloom.

Photo taken 4/8/09

Coltsfoot

Here are two Coltsfoot blooms, Tussilago farfara, appearing near the boardwalk even before the skunk cabbage had popped up!

Photo taken on 3/12/09

Skunk Cabbage

Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus, near the Gene Stratton-Porter Spring and Surround.

Photo taken on 3/26/09

Scilla in Bloom

Here's an earlybird example of Scilla, Scilla siberica, just before the blooms opened. It may be found in many areas of the site near road and path edges.

Photo taken on 3/26/09.

The Boardwalk

As part of making the site handicapped accessible, a boardwalk was installed along the lake, from the pudding stone spring on the east to the dock on the west. Several benches along the walk provide places to view Boy Scout Island, to watch the wrens, to read a book or to eat your lunch.





















I'm working with the site naturalist to add native plants along the walk so visitors can see the wildflowers in Wildflower Woods up close. There is quite a fall display. Near the spring and the seep is a large stand of rather rare pink turtlehead or Chelone obliqua speciosa. Because these plants require consistent moist soil, the loss in the wild is due to wetland habitat destruction. I'm planning to dig a few starts from the edges and add more along the walk.



















Gene had a special fondness for fringed gentians. Judith Long in her biography of Gene Stratton-Porter writes:

"During her plant hunting expeditions, Gene Stratton-Porter was always on the lookout for rarities. She was especially interested in finding a fringed gentian, a dainty violet-blue wildflower that blooms in late summer."

As part of a development-related rescue effort, four fringed gentian plants were donated this fall. They settled in happily next to the turtleheads even though they were in full bloom. I am pleased that they have set seed now.




















Next to the fringed gentians and across the boardwalk is a large planting of first year Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), which I started from seed last spring. Next fall, I hope there are large stalks of bright red flowers. I received seven great blue lobelia plants (Lobelia siphilitica) last spring as part of the construction project and planted them next to the Cardinal flower. They bloomed and reseeded this fall.




















There were already lots of other fall-blooming wildflowers along the boardwalk, such as Joe-Pye weed, jewel weed, milkweed, small shade goldenrod and asters. Here are some pictures I posted last spring of wildflowers in this area. We will continue to add native plants as we have them available and to remove non-native invasive plants such as lily of the valley and vinca.

Come enjoy the boardwalk. Bring your wildflower and bird guides, binoculars and lunch. Of course, if you want to volunteer in restoring this area of Wildflower Woods, just let me know!

Late August Garden

I just gave two visitors from Wisconsin a tour of the Cabin and gardens, and they asked about this blog! I'm glad it inspired someone to visit, as they passed through this area on the way to the renowned genealogical library in Fort Wayne. Of course, they assumed nothing was in bloom because I haven't posted for a while (not really).

This garden totally amazes me sometimes. We have not had rain for weeks and it has been hot. Most gardens are bedraggled, but this garden still looks great. Pumping lake water through the irrigation system several times a week helps, but so does the use of Indiana native plants and heirloom annuals.

Last week we were visited by Kathi, marketing maven from our head office in Indianapolis. She posted several pictures and some information about Gene on her blog. Here's a sample.