Nature: Spring wildflowers pop up around nature preserves in Ohio

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19-04-2025

Mother Nature is shaking off the throes of a long, cold winter, and there's no better evidence of this than the explosion of spring wildflowers.
For me, an early April trek to wildflower-rich southern Ohio haunts is a necessary rite of passage to officially see winter off and welcome spring.
April 12 was a sunny but chilly day, and Shauna and I set off well before dawn, heading for Adams County. This Ohio River county is home to an amazing preserve known as the Ohio River Bluffs, which is owned by the Arc of Appalachia, an incredibly effective conservation organization.
The Bluffs is a steep, south-facing wooded slope that overlooks the hills of Kentucky across the big river. The sun-soaked slopes produce Ohio's first big crop of wildflowers, with various hardy plants sending forth blooms by late February.
White trout lilies lead off, and the elfin lilies are quickly followed by numerous other species — weeks before they bloom in central Ohio.
Dense drifts of Virginia bluebells carpet the slopes, and one of our few native poppies, the spectacular wood poppy, sends forth large orange flowers.
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Legions of trilliums — both large-flowered trillium (Ohio's state wildflower) and toadshade — are present, along with many other species of early wildflowers.
After marveling over the botanical riches of the Bluffs, we headed north to another Arc of Appalachia site, the Gladys Riley Golden Star Preserve in adjacent Scioto County. The star of the show here is the preserve's namesake, the golden star lily.
The preserve harbors Ohio's only population of this state-endangered trout lily, and it occurs by the thousands. The golden star was past peak flowering, but there were still plenty of the rich-orange-yellow flowers to be found.
A small pioneer cemetery adjacent to the preserve caught our eye, due to expansive drifts of spring-beauty flowers carpeting the grass. Adding to the colorful palette were scores of common blue violets.
Next stop was the Arc's Chalet Nivale Preserve. 'Nivale' refers to the snow trillium (Trillium nivale), which occurs there in profusion.
Snow trillium is one of our first wildflowers to bloom, and it was already past flowering, but lots of other wildflowers were coming in strong, including Dutchman's breeches, yellow fumewort, creamy white violet and many others. A special treat was early buttercup, an Ohio rarity.
Not far from Chalet Nivale is an interesting prairie knob that sits atop cliffs along Scioto Brush Creek, one of the state's most ecologically intact streams.
A primary target was our smallest violet species, Walter's violet. A mature plant could fit comfortably on a quarter. We were not disappointed. Many plants have boom and bust years, and the violet was booming.
We estimated around 250 plants — far more than I have ever seen there. Also of great interest was a rare mustard, the diminutive Michaux's gladecress. A large one tower to perhaps 3-4 inches in height.
For those with a yen for wandering, I would highly recommend visiting the Arc of Appalachia sites that I mentioned, or any of its other sites. Especially good spots for wildflowers in May are the Arc's Highlands Nature Sanctuary, nearby Fort Hill (managed by the Arc) and Miller State Nature Preserve.
All three sites are near each other and easily visited on a day trip.
To replace lost calories after your hikes, I'd suggest the Amish-owned Country Crust Bakery at 4918 state Route 41 in Bainbridge, just down the road from Highlands Nature Sanctuary.
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For more information about the Arc of Appalachia and its preserves, visit arcofappalachia.org.
Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first and third Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at jim mccormac.blogspot.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Nature: Spring wildflowers are blooming in Ohio