The Orange Trail

This trail is becoming my favorite to walk. It's the one that is more open, in the Great Meadow. As you would expect, there are many more flowering plants to see. Friday, I remembered my sunscreen, and was ready to meander.

You have to walk a little of the Blue Trail to get to the Orange Trail. That trail is full of multiflora roses, most of them white. But, every great once in a while, you'll find one that produces roses with a pink tint. Pretty, eh?



The first part of the Orange Trail is wooded, and I found this pretty little dewberry flower in bloom there.



There were so many flowers blooming, once I got to the Great Meadow.

Ox-Eyed Daisies



Cow Vetch



Campion



Yarrow



White Clover (complete with a real bee. With that disease wiping out large populations of bees, I'm always glad to see one of these guys)



Red Clover



I'm pretty sure that this seedhead is from Yellow Goatsbeard. I first noticed the closed flowers from this plant last week. It is funny, but, though there are lots of them in the Meadow, I have never found one open. I wonder if they are night blooming? Anyway, this time there were these beautiful seedheads and everything I can find indicates that it is, indeed, Yellow Goatsbeard.



And, wait a minute, what's this dianthus doing blooming in the middle of the Meadow?



I seem to be the only one who walks these trails slowly. People on bikes, runners, and even walkers, speed by me. But, if you go so fast, how do you have time to see all of the things that surround you?

Like these ant hills. We had some rain the night before and the sand was just damp enough so that it made these neat little mounds where the ants dropped the grains.



Or this Common Mullien. The plant, when it is mature, will be coarse, and kind of ragged looking. But right now, as it is still growing, the leaf head forms a delicate pattern.



Even this prickery looking plant, that I wouldn't like to come in close contact with, has its own strange beauty.



I saw this little plant in a few places. It may be in bloom by next week, and I'll give identifying it a stab.



Someone has put some bird houses up in the Meadow. Didn't see anyone using them, though.



There were butterflies everywhere. I saw a couple of Yellow Swallowtails, lots of small butterflies with an orangish tint and many that I couldn't even begin to identify. I must have looked like an idiot, stalking a butterfly that had landed, only to have it flit away, just as I was ready to take a picture. I did manage to get a picture of this guy, though. It's a Little Brown Satyr, and there are tons of them in the meadow.



After you leave the meadow, you go back into woods for a way. There is a tiny stream running through this part of the woods, with a little wooden bridge over it. The bridge is clearly marked with this sign.



Doesn't stop the horses, though. They just go right through the mud and water.



There is a clearing in this woods, quite a good sized one. In that clearing I found these purple-flowering raspberries. That was an unexpected flash of color.




It didn't seem like I had been on that trail for an hour and a half. But, my walk was over and it was time to leave. I walked back to the car, got a much needed drink of water, and started to pull out of the driveway.

Wait a minute! What's that by the side of the road? I hit the brakes and took a look. It turned out to be a pretty little flower, but I have absolutely no idea what it is, so I deem it our mystery flower of the week.

Edited to add that I just found it. It's a Rough-fruited Cinqfoil.



I grabbed a couple of quick pictures and was on my way, back to the everyday world.