Little Transcendentalists Visit the Wildflower Preserve

The Wildflower Preserve was a treat for the Little Transcendentalists, even an actual edible treat at times.  Gus ate some dandelion and mugwort, and had some mugwort tea when he got home.  We all had some wine berries along the trail.  Gus even tried a grape leaf.

Here we saw Swallow Tail butterflies, bees, and other insects having a banquet on the meadow flowers.

Along the loop of the trail we visited the vernal pond, a pond that naturally dries up in the summer, and saw phragmite, an invasive specie soaking up the mud.

Other invasive species are japanese stiltgrass,

devil's walking stick,

and garlic mustard.


We saw native plants such as Jewel Weed, which Tricia explains grows next to poison ivy and can be used to relieve one from the itch of poison ivy.

We picked mugwort, which Gus later steeped for a tea.

We saw goldenrod and tree of heaven,

 skunk cabbage, which is one of the first plants to grow in early spring and is important for animals,

as well as knotweed and woodfern.

Woody, Hannah, Isaiah and Gus pose by "Nature's Resolve" by Larry Dell.

We took a break from our long walk through the Wildflower Preserve.