For a chance to be featured in next week's issue:
Post your nature photos with the tag #findyourcentre or email them to adventure@clearwaterconservancy.org.
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Dear friend,
April showers bring May flowers, and this week we're offering many ways to rediscover the native flowers in our region. Flowers and Mother's Day go hand-in-hand, but you don't have to pick or purchase a bouquet to celebrate. Admiring and enjoying the scent of a flowering plant or tree as it appears in nature can be equally, if not more, rewarding! Below you'll learn more about native flowers, places to find them, and an artistic activity for creating flowers without taking any out of the ground.
Also, we're excited to announce that ClearWater Conservancy will be launching its fourth season of Centred Outdoors this month! Starting next week, we'll be expanding this Adventure Guide by incorporating it into our Centred Outdoors program. You'll continue to receive information about exploring the outdoors and the natural resources around us each week, while also accessing additional tips and opportunities for engaging with people and places throughout Central PA. We look forward to continuing adventures with you throughout the summer!
As always, please remember that we can all help keep our communities safe during the COVID-19 pandemic by reviewing recommendations and guidelines for outdoor activity during PA's stay-at-home order, including
guidance on universal masking
and
outdoor recreation guidance
from PA DCNR.
Stress less, and explore more!
Sincerely,
Your ClearWater Crew
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Flower Power in Central PA
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Spring time is synonymous with flowers. The smaller spring-time plants produce a tremendous variety of colors, shapes, and textures within the span of a few weeks. These plants thrive in the period after things begin to warm up, protecting the plants from frost damage, and before the forest canopy fully develops, shading them out. Often seeds have been waiting since the prior spring for the right conditions to sprout and continue their life-cycles. Native varieties of flowers offer an impressive portfolio of benefits to the native pollinators that have co-evolved with them. These native plants often bloom in succession, allowing for food to remain plentiful for the pollinators that depend on them.
Here are some spring flowers to look for this weekend and throughout May:
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The
rue anemone
are some of most common and most gorgeous early spring flowers. Rue anemone blooms throughout the spring and makes for a wonderful garden plant as it fills in with broad green leaves before unveiling a flurry of white flowers. Many flowers related to the anemone produce smaller, and more delicate plants, but the rue anemone is much larger and more robust.
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Trillium
comes in many colors with whites and purples being the most common to see natively in our region. The triple-petaled flower often grows in patches with different members of the colony blooming sporadically throughout the spring. Interestingly, trillium are primarily dispersed by ants so their patches are easily wiped out as the plant naturally does disperse its seeds widely.
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Another three-leafed plant, the
jack-in-the-pulpit
, can be easily confused for a trillium in its early stages. Jack-in-the-pulpits are incredibly fragile plants ecologically. While the stalks and flower are rather robust, it takes the plant several years to establish before it flowers, and in that time the young leaflets can be munched, mulched, or otherwise out-competed. After they are established they can survive up to 25 years, as they prefer shady and wet areas with acidic soils that would otherwise prove too difficult for other flower species to thrive.
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Wild columbine
is a vibrant plant that produces a truly dramatic inverted flower that towers over the base plant on spindly maroon stalks. Though you would never guess, it is a member of the buttercup family. Columbine form aggressive patches that reliably self-seed year-to-year with each plant usually serving two years. Once you have identified a colony, it is very easy to return to that same spot each year to find the little flowers nodding back to you.
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Where to find May flowers:
Many of these early-blooming species can be found on trails throughout our region. In wild places like the
Spring Creek Canyon
many of these plants form established colonies that may have to compete with introduced invasives, like garlic mustard or dame’s rocket. Jack-in-the-pulpit, for example, has a couple established plants along the trail but encroachment of invasives threatens to stifle any further spreading.
Other areas actively manage or cultivate gardens featuring some of these native plants. The
Hartley Wood
behind The Arboretum at Penn State and
Millbrook Marsh
both feature native plants (often with placards making identifying them much easier). A demonstration area such as the
Barrens to Bald Eagle Wildlife Corridor
is managed to feature dozens of native plants.
Special Tip:
The spring flowering period for many species can be as short as a handful of days, often transitioning to seed before others have produced flowers. These transitions make revisiting the same trail a treat, as new blooms can popup after a particularly wet or warm series of days.
What to Bring:
- A refillable water bottle
- Sturdy and water-resistant footwear capable of walking on a forested pat
- Long pants and high socks may be preferred for additional protection from insects and ticks
- Child carrier/backpack is recommended for very young children
- Binoculars for bird and wildlife watchers
Remember:
- Pack out whatever you bring in
- Follow local rules and guidance
- Be considerate of others
- Stay local
- If parking lot is full, consider entering the site from a different location
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Indoor Adventure: Create a flower of your own
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Happy Mother's Day! Make these cool flowers from at home materials for your mother, with your kids, or just because! Click the image above to get started.
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Love where you live? Give where you live!
Centre Gives: May 12-13
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There are TWO chances to connect with the ClearWater Crew LIVE and help the organization win prizes during Centre Gives, Centre Foundation's 36-hour online giving event!
May 12th at 9 am: TUNE IN
May 13th at 4:30 pm: VIRTUAL SOCIAL
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