Nature's first green is gold

Between the last gasps of winter and the first full sighs of spring, there is an evanescent space. As the ground warms and just before the tree canopy leafs out, some of the most exciting wildflowers in the state live their entire lives - budding, flowering, and going to seed in just a few short weeks. Bloodroot, trout lily, rue anemone, mertensia. We call them the spring ephemerals. They are nature's first green, its gold, and as the poet Robert Frost opined, it's her hardest hue to hold.

On this walk, we will meet some of these flowers and discuss their ephemeral nature, investigate their ecological niche, explore their novel adaptions, and witness their fleeting beauty.

We will likely cover about a half mile of trail. The terrain can be a little rocky and the first 100 yards or so is tad steep, but no worse than a flight of stairs.