27 July 2024

At yesterday’s annual Wissahickon Nature Club outing at Jennings Prairie we found many familiar plants in the expected places, but some that should be at peak in late July were already past their prime, probably due to this year’s heat. We found some other surprises as well.

We usually have to search with binoculars to find a lesser purple fringed orchid (Platanthera psycodes) nestled in the distance but yesterday we saw this one near the trail.

Hairy willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) was exactly where we expected it in the valley under the footbridge, but we also found some in the woods.

Jumpseed (Persicaria virginiana) flowers are usually white but these were pink as well.

Jack-in-the-pulpit fruit is still green. It won’t turn red until next month.

Here’s a two-step lesson on how halberd-leaf tearthumb (Persicaria arifolia) got its common name.

10 June 2024

Between the glory of woodland spring ephemerals and summer’s splash of native field flowers, June has fewer blooming natives. On a walk yesterday along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail near Millvale I found a host of pretty flowers, many of them invasive.

Orange day-lily (Hemerocallis fulva) is native to Asia and well established in Pennsylvania. You’ll see it blooming in ditches, along railroad tracks and in gardens. It pops up in so many places that it has at least 10 common names. Orange day-lily is considered invasive in Pennsylvania because its tubers create thick clumps that crowd out native plants in sensitive habitats.

Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) is listed as one of the world’s worst invasive species. Right now its flowers have just opened in southwestern PA. By the end of summer the flowers will be in long, sweet-smelling racemes, a favorite of bees and butterflies.

Crown vetch (Securigera varia), native to Eurasia and Africa, is in now full bloom. Read about its invasive qualities here.

What’s that popcorn-like smell? It’s poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) and it’s in bloom. You won’t want this plant anywhere you find it. Here’s how to get rid of it; expect a multi-year effort.)

(all photos by Kate St. John)

20 April 2024

Do you ever feel frantic in the Spring?

This week in Pittsburgh the highs were always above 60°F and three days were in the low 80s. Migratory birds came in a rush midweek while early-blooming flowers went to seed. Spring came so quickly that I couldn’t keep up. It’s enough to make you frantic.

On Monday we went to Cedar Creek Park in Westmoreland County where we found many of the flowers I’d seen at Barking Slopes. Wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata) was in full bloom. Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), that bloomed in Beaver County on 31 March, had gone to seed. There were so many flowers that I had little time for pictures.

There were some stunningly clear days this week but the partly cloudy ones were more interesting, especially at sunrise: Duck Hollow on 15 April and Oakland on 19 April.

On Thursday 18 April Charity Kheshgi and I saw great birds in Frick Park.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Charity Kheshgi (@charitykheshgi)

The trees in town began the week with tiny pale green leaves; Some ended the week with large dark green leaves. American bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia) was blooming yesterday in Schenley Park.

The pawpaw trees (Asimina triloba) had immature green flowers on Tuesday and mature dark red flowers on Friday. The flowers use their purplish-red color and a fetid smell to attract flies and beetles, not bees.

That frantic feeling will disappear in the next two days when spring slows down. There’s a Freeze Watch tonight and tomorrow morning.

(photos by Kate St. John)