Quick Visit to Orra Phelps

I've been dashing around to local nature preserves the past couple of weeks, not spending much more than an hour (if that) in each one, since my healing knee still barks at me if I stay upright for too long.  My Facebook Memories showed me photos of some of the gorgeous flowers that should be blooming now at Orra Phelps Nature Preserve in Wilton, so that seemed definitely worth the trip.  And that Memory was certainly right!

The most spectacular was the giant Rosebay Rhododendron shrub (Rhododendron maximum) in full bloom. Although this shrub is native to New York State, we don't usually find it growing wild around Saratoga County, so I expect Orra Phelps herself planted it on her property many years ago.  And it has thrived:

Gorgeous!

A second really showy wildflower was a solitary plant of Canada Lily (Lilium canadense).  Since the nasty Scarlet Lily Beetle has decimated most of our county's population of this lovely native wildflower, I feel really lucky to find it growing here along the creek, with not a single sign of beetle damage.

Another wildflower that prefers the cool dampness of the creekbank is Tall Meadow Rue (Thalictrum pubescens).  Not quite as showy as the previous two flowers, but definitely with a delicate beauty all its own.

On my way to the sandy meadow part of this preserve, I passed many stems of yellow-flowered Agrimony (Agrimonia gryposepala) swaying gracefully along the path.

Here's a closer look at the Agrimony's delicate yellow florets.

When I reached the sandy meadow, it seemed that the population of Spiked Lobelia (Lobelia spicata) was smaller now than in other years.  Not so surprising, since sapling pines and poplars keep crowding this once open sunlit meadow, stealing both the sunlight from above and the dampness from below. But I did find a few, lifting tall spikes of pale blue flowers erect.

And there they were: each early-July wildflower I'd hoped to find in bloom at Orra Phelps!  Definitely worth the trip, and my knee didn't have a chance to complain about it.