A Walk in the Woods at Nolde Forest in May
Those of us fortunate enough to live near Reading, PA, can take advantage of a beautiful smaller state park in the area - Nolde Forest. I recently hiked along the Kohout Trail and the Coffee Pot Trail, where I came across an astounding variety of wildflowers - many of which we carry in the nursery - which gave me a whole new perspective on their beauty and durability.
My
journey started at the Sawmill parking lot, where there was a beautiful
stand of Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), spreading
Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium repens), wild geranium (Geranium
maculatum) and foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia). It was
a stunning sight, and I had just stepped out of the car! I took lots
of pictures there, but none of them came out...you'll have to take my
word that the scene was amazing.
A few steps into the Kohout Trail, I came across a slope covered with the graceful arching stems of Smilacina racemosa (False Solomon's Seal, or Spikenard, right), in flower. Seeing it in all its glory in the woods, I suddenly realized why everybody seems to pass by this plant in the nursery without a second glance - because a stem in a pot simply doesn't convey the elegance of the plant in the wild. I saw Smilacina racemosa all along the rest of my hike, looking well-adapted to the conditions on the forest floor.