What has been happening on the trails in September? We’ve had over 12 inches of rain this month, and a lot of interesting things have been happening.
As expected, the midwestern tickseed-sunflowers put on quite a show during the first half of the month. The common partridge pea was also at peak bloom at the beginning of the month. As these flowers started to fade away, the goldenrods began to bloom. The goldenrods are very showy right now, but will hit their peak bloom in October. The consumption weed bushes are also starting to bloom.
Dense blazing star, blue mistflower, frost asters, golden asters, tick-trefoils, smartweeds, agalinis, and swamp sunflowers are blooming in small patches everywhere.
The strawberry bushes are full of fruit right now. The fruit is not edible to humans! Creeping cucumbers are actively flowering and producing fruit. There is a large patch of them on the Indian Creek Greenway. The tiny cucumbers are not edible, and will turn black when they are ripe.
The rain has brought out the mushrooms. How many different types have you seen?
The rain has also brought out some flowers you’d expect in the spring. On one sunny afternoon, I saw a small clump of annual blue eyed grass! The yellow wood sorrel comes back as the weather cools, but have you seen the violet wood sorrel? Apparently, after a rainy period in the fall, violet wood sorrel might have a few flowers without any leaves. I found several places where this was happening.
What are you seeing on the trails?