Brookside Gardens - June 2014

We parked at Brookside Nature Center after finding the lot at the Brookside Gardens Conservatory full. On the boardwalk between the Nature Center and the Gardens, I saw wood hydrangea (image 1 in the slide show below) in bloom and the immature fruit of both May apples (image 2) and Jack-in-the-Pulpits (image 3). Both were in bloom last time I was on that path. It was greener along the boardwalk with the spring wild flowers gone to seed and the ferns unfurled.

Our walk around Brookside Gardens was truncated by the construction projects that have been starting (and not completing) over the past year and a morning wedding….but even a limited walk around Brookside has appeal. I particularly enjoyed the ivy bed around the river birches (left image above - the tiny red speck in the lower right of the picture is a hibiscus!). The gardens often have tropical plants set outside once it is warm enough. This year there seems to be a lot of taro (right image above); my daughter had talked about taro recently when she was summarizing her geology/astronomy field trip to the Big Island.

Some of the beds had been planted with clumps of dahlias and other summer flowers. Peonies (image 5) were beginning to bloom. There was a vine hydrangea that was climbing a tree (image 6), leaves that have colors other than green (image 7 and 10), fragrant roses (image 8) and lots of buds (image 9). Enjoy the little bit of Brookside slideshow below!

Letchworth State Park (New York)

Letchworth State Park is probably a crowded place on weekends in the spring…and all the time during the summer. We were there on a week day that was a bit cool last week - when the people in the park maintenance crew were more numerous that the visitors!  There was plenty of water for the 3 major falls in the park to be spectacular. I’ve included my favorite views of the park below.

We entered at the Mt. Morris (east) end of the park. The drive is along the top of the gorge. There are overlooks of the river.

And then there is a view of the middle and upper falls from one of the overlooks!

We stopped to take the path for a closer look. Part of the path was closed but we got close enough to see a portion of the lower falls.

I took a zoomed view of the rocks of the gorge carved by the water.

The upper falls and middle falls are within easy walking distance of each other. We parked and hiked first to the upper falls. The shape of the falls is a horseshoe.

The sheer volume of water plummeting over the edge throws mist up

And keeps the cliff very damp. The vegetation looks very green but the scars of rock slides on the edges of the gorge near the falls are obvious.

There was a large patch of May apples flowering near the path to the upper falls. I took front and back pictures of them.

And there was a huge dandelion!

We walked back to the middle falls. The path was close enough to the falls that the mist kept it damp (too wet to open up the camera too). It was very much like the mists at Niagara Falls. I waiting to take this picture from further up the gorge.

I also liked the little streams that were trickling over the sides of the gorge to get to the river. The rocks in this one were thick with bright green algae.

The picnic tables built by the CCC of stone (pedestals and tops) were numerous in the park and we rewarded ourselves with a picnic lunch after are hikes to the falls.

Brookside Boardwalk

There is a boardwalk between Brookside Gardens and the Brookside Nature Center. It crosses over a wet area and a small stream. Earlier this month I photographed goslings on an early-life swim in the stream. Last weekend I focused on the lush vegetation on both sides of the walkway.

It is a transition from the formal gardens to a natural area. Clearly the area has some tending to encourage the variety and density of the plants….and some of the plants are identified with small signs. It is a place to walk slowly and enjoy the delicate looking plants….the smells….the sounds of water moving through a forest. It is easy to forget that it is surrounded by dense suburbs.

The trees keep the area shady most of the day. The leaves from years past make thick mulch that the plants (jack-in-the-pulpit, cinnamon fern, and may apple to name a few) need to thrive. This year they seem particularly lush; the late winter has not harmed these low growing plants of the forest floor as much as it did the understory trees like the dogwoods.

A large tree that toppled has been left in place. Some pieces that were cut from it as part of the repair after it fell have been around long enough to have shelf fungus growing on them.