Mountains seem to be a universal attraction to people no matter where they come from. To those who were born and raised in them, they are especially endearing because they were the constant backdrop of our lives: their beauty, their challenges, and their molding of the culture of our ancestors that was passed on to us. Mountains are special, but what is it about them that everybody falls in love with? This will sound over-simplistic, but the answer is their three-dimensional terrain. Let me explain.

Paulownia is most often noticed when it blooms in the Spring, right now in fact. Its large tubular purple blooms are quite showy along roadsides.

Paulownia (Paulownia tomentosa) is also called royal princess tree, empress tree, and lilac tree. It is not native to the U.S. but was introduced as an ornamental landscape tree around 100 years ago. It’s a very prolific seed producer and has since spread until it can now be found everywhere, especially along roadsides and other disturbed areas.

Violets are very abundant this time of year and are probably the most common and the easiest to identify family of spring wildflowers in our area. You can find them about anywhere, especially even in your yard right now unless you’re a grass purist who uses herbicides.

It’s time to be on the lookout for Pink Lady’s-slippers, which normally bloom from late April to mid-May. They are one of the most striking flowers of the woods, but for all its beauty, has a bit of a sinister side, especially if you’re a Bumblebee.
Pink Lady’s-slipper, also called Moccasin Flower, does indeed look like a roundish shoe with its large, pink, bowl shaped flower, making it hard to miss on a hike in the woods. The flower has a slit opening in the front for pollinators to access, and always has two large, twin-like leaves with deep, parallel veins growing at the base of the plant. It prefers to grow in dry woods under a mix of oak and pine trees. Pink Lady’s-slipper is in the orchid family and is one of two shoe-like wildflowers, the other being Yellow Lady’s-Slipper, which prefers moist sites found in hollows and near streams.

By Steve Roark
Volunteer, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

I like looking over topographic maps, and I got to pondering all the different forms of water flow that show on a map. We have rivers, creeks, streams (also called brooks), and springs. I found myself asking what makes a creek a creek and a river a river? I assumed there was some size classification set up so that if a body of flowing water was so many feet wide it was a river. Research revealed that a creek is a vague concept.

By: Steve Roark
Volunteer, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

You may not be familiar with Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea), but I know you’ve seen it. It’s the earliest native tree to bloom in the woods (late March to early April) and is very striking on a hillside forest still barren and brown from winter. There is another unfortunate early blooming white flower produced by Bradford pears that are being spread by birds and is a bad invasive plant that competes with native trees.

I’m going to sound like an old cranky dude for beginning a sentence with the time worn phrase “when I was young, I would…” fill in the blank. Well so be it. When I was young, we played outside, not necessarily because we wanted to but because that was all there was to do and our mom often shoved us out the door. I got exercise and was appreciating natural systems like forests and streams and didn’t know it, I just thought I was having fun. Kids today are the most technologically connected generation ever, but also the most disconnected to the natural world. That bodes ill for their long-term health and happiness, as well as the health of the planet.

Spring is a great time of year, when the dull brown of winter gives way to fresh grass, soft greens of newly opened leaves, and lots of flower blooms. Actively seeking out wildflowers in their varying habitats is an enjoyable way to spend warming spring days, roaming the woods and fields for some fresh air, exercise, and the challenge of the hunt. An additional challenge if you’re so inclined, is wildflower identification.

Each Spring many lawns, gardens and pasture fields grow a crop of wild onions, a plant considered by most to be a weed. However, to the American Indian the plant was considered an important food, using it both as a seasoning and a staple.

By Steve Roark
Volunteer, Cumberland Gap National Park

March is considered a blustery month, with winds being kicked up by the seasonal changeover. And you probably haven’t thought about it since 8th grade science, but it might be interesting to review why we have wind at all.