The beauty of the Appalachian spring is an annual treat with few equals. In the deciduous forest, most of the small and fragile herbs on the forest floor burst into bloom in a narrow window of time. They wait for spring, but they must complete much of their growth and reproduction before the sky above is closed off by the dense leaves of oaks, hickories, maples, tulip poplars, and other canopy trees. In the Laurel Highlands, late April to mid-May approximates the window, meaning a walk in the woods at that time is most rewarding.
In the Laurel Highlands, Bloodroot (opening photo) and Hepatica are among the early bloomers. We found these blue Hepatica on April 14 in Indiana County. Beside a small creek we also saw an unusual variety of trout lily that has a rusty red corolla rather than yellow corolla.
Most spring wild flowers don’t last long, sometimes just a couple of days. This characteristic gives the spring “ephemerals” their name. It can be fun to visit the same patch year after year, does it move around the forest floor or stay put? Other favorites you may see in April are the yellow halberd leaf violet, dwarf ginseng, and spring beauties.
In the Laurel Highlands, the timing of wildflower blooms varies over short distances. The south-facing side of the gorge is way ahead of the north-facing side. Blooms in the valleys can be a week ahead of the same plants up on the ridges. A nice catalog of local wildflowers on a timeline for when they generally bloom in our area is available (here).
Our wildflowers will be among the latest bloomers of their kind across our region. This is because the elevation of the Laurel Highlands means that spring comes later, and autumn earlier, than on the lower landscape nearby. In fact, from the point of view of a gardener, parts of the Laurel Highlands have an average winter low between -10F and -20F. This is the same as central New York State (gardener’s Zone 5), and different from Pittsburgh or Bedford, whose winter low is between 0F and -10F (Zone 6).
A big determinant of wild flower richness in our area is whether the soil is neutral or acidic. Neutral soils have a great diversity of spring wildflowers, while areas with naturally acidic soils have few. An exception is the whimsically named Dutchman’s breeches (above) which tolerate acid soils well. Acid soils also typically have a lot of evergreens, such as hemlocks, rhododendrons, and the creeping clubmoss some people call “ground pine.” So, if you are walking in the woods looking for wildflowers, skip the places with the evergreens, despite their charm!
