Wildflowers at the Indian Well Overlook

Sorry about the crappy cell phone pictures, but while Terry was working on cleaning up the Indian Well Overlook the past few weeks, I had to hang out up top in case there was a chain saw accident. While I was waiting, I ran across some spring wildflowers along the edge of the cliff that we don't usually see in this part of the state. The geology and microclimate there seem to be pretty close to Sleeping Giant.

Columbine

These types of wildflowers tend to hide in the nooks and crannies of the rocky cliffs. None of them were visible from the trail. A grassy slope held a single Wild Pink plant.

The upper slope and ledges are home to species usually
found in places like Sleeping Giant

Wild Pink (Silene caroliniana) is also known as Pennsylvania Catchfly. This is a species we planted at the Eklund Native Species Garden early on. It last a year or so and then died out. But here it is, growing on the grassy slope. I'm not sure if I've ever seen this growing elsewhere in Connecticut, but it is native to the state.

Wild Pink

Pale Corydalis is lot like Bleeding Heart, except it's pink and yellow and grows in places you don't expect. Always a pleasant surprise while out hiking. 

Pale Corydalis

Some people tend to get competitive about hiking, like it's some kind of march to accomplish as fast as possible. I encourage people to ask themselves what they saw on their hike instead. Enjoy the trail like a fine wine. There is so much to miss if you go too fast.