Wild about wildflowers in Bucks County
Our ancestors described wondrous scenes
Where I grew up in California nature signaled spring’s arrival by drawing back the night’s curtain to reveal a fantastic wonder. Overnight, millions of golden poppies bloomed simultaneously on nearby foothills to the east, turning the rolling, sand-colored mounts into a brilliant orange. For us, it was magical. Nature’s gift.
Here in Bucks County, history is replete with descriptions of untrammeled carpets of spring wildflowers bursting forth all at once. Take for instance the Virginia cowslip. Bucks historian George MacReynolds in 1940 described it as “the most beautiful of all the plants in Bucks County’s flora.” They once were so picturesque that the plants were dug up and exported in large numbers to England to beautify estate gardens and public parks. A British botanist termed the cowslip as “handsomest” of all flowers. Yet, as noted by MacReynolds, the plant scientist never witnessed “the mass perfection of the meadows of the lower Neshaminy Creek, the cowslip’s native home where large areas are blued by its showy bloom.”
The trailing arbutus is a native flower that has declined due to over harvesting. In the 19th century, it grew in abundance at 500-foot- high Buckingham Mountain in Central Bucks, turning the northern slope pink and white. People were so enchanted they trekked to the mountain for “arbutus parties” to snip the blooms and dig up the roots to replant in home gardens. Result: No more spring splendor on the hill. If you search carefully however, you can still find the delicate flowers back in the woods in sunny niches.
Phenomenal wildflower sightings in Bucks dot the historical record. They include Dutchman breeches that once bloomed on sunny slopes of Almshouse Hill below Doylestown. The plant is distinguished by stalks of white flowers whose seeds are spread by ants. Further up county, wild orchids, including a very large, purple-fringed variety grew in profusion on 820-foot-high Buckwam- pum Mountain in Upper Bucks. It’s harder to find these days. However, the trailing arbutus thrives on the hillsides.
When it comes to wildflower aficionados, the late Bucks County garden designer, author and photographer Derek Fell had few peers. He preserved wildflower meadows at his 20-acre Cedaridge Farm in Tinicum. His favorite time of year was late summer, when marshlands were, as he put it, “a sea of self-seeding golden yellow daisy-like blooms of the swamp sunflower.”
If you’re looking for wildflowers in a more controlled setting, I suggest you visit Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve off River Road on the Upper Makefield-Solebury border. Every imaginable indigenous flower is carefully nurtured and showcased inside the 134-acre sanctuary established in the 1930s. Wild geraniums, marsh marigolds, bluebells, Solomon’s seals and trilliums in just about every hue of the rainbow are among hundreds of species blooming at the center. Nature trails abound. Naturalists based at the preserve’s museum lead daily field trips along stream beds, around a spring-fed pond and up the hillside to observe the wildflowers. The center also hosts a large nursery to propagate native plants and flowers for sale to area gardeners.
In the world of nature, timing is everything of course. In our younger days, my wife Mary Anne and I enjoyed a place we lovingly call Firefly Valley on Pidcock Creek in Central Bucks. On a winding, less-traveled farm road in late June we’d pop the tailgate, sip a fine wine and enjoy artisan cheese as the sun set. Gathering darkness lured deer out in the open from hilltop woods as a glowing canopy of fireflies rose from the wildflower-crested marshland hugging P. Nature’s blinking love lanterns brightened the country road for a romantic stroll. As they say in France, “Profitez de la vue!”
Bowman’s Hill State Wildflower Preserve regularly posts what’s in bloom. For information call 215-862-2924 or go to www.bhwp.org Carl LaVO can be reached at carllavo0@gmail.com. His “Bucks County Adventures” coffee table book series is available a bookstores in Doylestown, Lahaska and Newtown.
