Hey folks,
Although the main blooming event of 2017 is almost over, there are still plenty of flowers to be seen at the grove this week. Some of you may have seen in this posting from last week how I mentioned how unlikely it would be to get some cold rainy days in July? Well, Monday’s rain event shows how much I know – oh well. Unless we finish out the week with blistering hot weather (who knows?) the blossoms might just last a bit longer. In any case, there will be a good number of flowers to see this coming weekend. I would say that a visit to Rhododendron State Park is a good idea for the next week or so for those of you looking for flowers in bloom.
And there are a few other plants to look for as well – nothing in particular that can’t be found in other deep dark moist woods. I have included just a few photos of the most easily seen ones – I really haven’t ever strayed more than five feet or so from the trail for all the pictures I take, so anything I see can be seen by anyone who is interested enough to look – the trick is to train your eyes, but don’t ask me how – perhaps it’s practice along with a burning (or in my case smoldering and about ready to catch fire) interest that gets me there.
I have also included a small number of pictures to show some ways that the plants take damage – nothing alarming or new – I see no current threat to the grove – maybe some time in the future, but I will make no predictions here – there are too many variables.
Even though it’s not too buggy in my opinion, there are still enough biting insects that you may want to be prepared for them.
Until next week, Ted Lenk
