The Chronology of Spring Flowers

Spring is on my mind!

I've been starting to plan my spring wildflower hikes and searches, and was hoping to get some input.

I'm always interested in photographing the big, showy spring flowers like Hobblebush, Trilliums, Lady Slippers (various colors), Rhodora, Trout Lillies and Lupines. Any others favorites I missed?...

I have a few locations for each of these, as well as approximate dates of bloom, but would be encouraged if people might want to share field notes and exif's of their experiences with these flowers from last spring.

Might be a good reference for the community here. Feel free to post photos as well.

Any notes on trails and flowers would be appreciated, but in an ideal world, these bits seem pretty comprehensive:
Flower, Phase, Date, Location, Abundance

Hobblebush...

I'll add more of mine over the coming days, but here's one:

Hobblebush, Full Bloom, 5-10-2006, Rocky Branch Trail near Jerrico Road, Understory of the woods full of blooms and Abbundant!

Same day I experienced plenty of blooms along the ellis river along rt 16 near the other end of the rocky branch trail!

Darren mentioned in the Spring Photos thread, but I'll repeat it here, as I've witnessed it myself many times (my mother-in-law lives near by)

SUGAR HILL for Lupines! There are lots of really good photo ops here - You get Madison through Monroe, Hale and S. Twin, Franconia Ridge and Kinsman Ridge.

A rather amateurish panorama... with N&S Kinsman cut off, but trust me, they are there...




Taken from outside the Sugar Hill Sampler (http://www.sugarhillsampler.com/). Be sure to eat at Polly's house of Pancakes.


Tim

On an early June (6/2?) hike back in '05 I remember lots of Trillium (painted and purple) on Greeley Pond trail b/t the Kanc and height of land, then lots of the Hobblebush on the lower part of the Osceola Tr. below the ledges of East Osceola.

Can't wait to hike again!!

The lower slopes of Waumbek / Star King is one of the best places I have found for trilliums (purple and painted).

- darren

I was just thinking about this...

Back in '02, on June 2, I found lots of pink lady's slippers along the valley trails east of Mt Cardigan and Firescrew. I plan to go back there and get some photos that, unlike the ones I took then, are properly focussed and exposed.

Other species you haven't mentioned:
clintonia (woods - May & June)
diapensia (alpine - late May, early June)

Many of the flower shots here have dates and coordinates.

Check out Maine Plant Watch -- Plant List for species descriptions and maps with dates when blooms were sighted in 2006.

oh boy, don't get me started... (I'm just leaving work today, maybe I'll check my past photos & write more tomorrow)

The spring ephemerals start around late April - early May at lower elevation. (things like trout lily, spring beauty, bloodroot, dutchman's breeches, squirrel corn, blue cohosh, wood anemone, wild ginger, etc. etc.) Good bloom time in the lowland bogs (larch, rhodora, andromeda, leatherleaf) is about Memorial Day. Those species which live both at low (<2000') and high elevation (>4000') e.g. clintonia, hobblebush, rhodora, seem to be 3-4 wks later at high elevation.

I just know this year is going to fly by

June 14 (2005) on the Goose Eye Trail - clintonia, false solomon's seal (Smilacina), ladyslippers, serviceberry (Amelanchier) trees, rhodora, blueberry, bunchberry, goldthread, violets, and even some bog orchids in a wet area after you've left the logging zone behind.

And don't forget the new lichens and mosses and mushrooms.

Excellent thread! Hope to see many posts.

Well, of the species mentioned in the op, I know there are lots of rhodora on the Sisters of Mt Chocorua, Mt Hedgehog and Mt Potash, and The Moats.

Lady slippers are abundant along the Sawyer Pond Trail and Sawyer River Trail. This was taken on June 18, last year.


As for hobblebush, I see it in great abundance in so many places when I'm searching for moose habitat. One great trail is Pine Bend Brook Trail.

Last year on 30th April I saw Dutchmen's Breeches on the East Royce trail,
pretty low down. Also Trilliums (red and painted if I recall) and trout lillies.
-vegematic

why wait?

Erda and I climbed Bald Knob in the Ossipees on Sunday. Almost zero snow on that southern exposure (until now).To mutual delight, we discovered tiny Hepatica blooms-- blue, white and pink. They were only located in one area half way up the trail. Had an Audubon New England Guide with us--a great book.

indian poke

I plan to get a good close-up picture of indian poke again. I took this last May 28th, but I didn't spent much time. I like the comp so I plan on trying to get a nice sharp image. This was somewhere b/w South Baldface Mtn. and Sable Mtn. I've also seen them high on the headwall of Tuckerman Ravine.




Happy Trails

In May the lower section of Blueberry Ledge Trail (Whiteface) has great trillium and some dwarf ginseng.

In June the first mile of Stony Brook Trail up Moriah has always had a lovely display of pink and white lady slippers, canada mayflower, starflower, wild sarsaparilla, indian cucumber root, clintonia and even some late trillium.

I like indian poke too, but I've only noticed it in bloom on the way into Mahoosuc Notch in July.

Ice Gulch is a great place to see wildflowers in July.

Oh, and another great place for wildflowers in July is the Wildcat ski slopes. I hiked up Wildcat Ridge Trail from Rte. 16 and then down the slopes one nice sunny day. In addition, you get some ripe wild strawberries, red raspberries and views of the northern Presidentials.

I'll post a link to my "PMINE" website again http://www.geocities.com/arghman/pmine5/pmine_entry.htm
(there is a password in my profile page; for now it only works w/ Mozilla & Firefox)
it has approximate dates listed for all photos so that might help w/ knowing bloom times.

I don't post specific locations on public websites, but if you have questions on where to go see some of these species you can ask me privately (and maybe I'll answer ).

<public service announcement>
Some of the plant species we encounter are state-listed as rare. If you find a plant and are not sure whether it is common in that state, please check the appropriate natural heritage program website first to see if it is rare. If it is, consider reporting the location to the state's natural heritage program & please do not post specific location on this or any other publicly-viewable website. There have been a few instances of plant thefts in NH on public lands, most notably species like ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) and the yellow lady-slippers (Cypripedium pubescens & others).

(Some rare species are locally common & it's less of an issue, e.g. there's no problem in mentioning that there's diapensia around Lakes of the Clouds Hut since it's abundant above treeline, but please be sure before you mention it.)
</public service announcement>

Any wildflowers yet??? The daffodils are about to bloom in my yard in Jackson, but I've yet to see anything in the woods around the whites!?!?!

Seems a little late!

things do seem late, probably due to the cold weather until a wk or two ago.

The early bloomers are still doing their thing; at my house in southern NH the red maples are in bloom along w/ some kind of sedge; the daffodils haven't bloomed quite yet but there's not much sun at my house.

I haven't seen any trailing arbutus yet.
give it time...

Hiked East Rattlesnake by Squam Lake after work Tuesday. A couple of flowers were in bloom. Red Trilliums are also working their way up in our neighborhood.

Trailing Arbutus


Round-lobed Hepatica

How about some skunk cabbage seen Saturday 4/28/07. Interesting plants.





Not exactly a flower but this is a Green Frog.


And if you just can't get enough of pictures of Skunk Cabbage, click here

J@J,

Great post and pics!

I saw nothing bushwacking around Hobbs Brook from the Kancamagus yesterday. Hobblebush has a long way to go.

Happy Trails