Category Archives: The Pocket

Early Report on The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain 02/16/2016

2 Replies

As reported a couple of weeks ago, we’ve had a VERY warm winter, with Hepatica and Harbinger of Spring blooming when I visited The Pocket on January 30 – the earliest I’ve ever seen native wildflowers blooming at The Pocket. We finally had some “real winter” in the weeks since then, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I visited The Pocket today. That cold snap slowed things down, but there is some progress. If your “thing” is to see Harbinger of Spring at peak, or to see the waterfalls with a really good flow, this is a good time to visit The Pocket.

Harbinger-of-Spring, Pepper and Salt - Erigenia bulbosa

Harbinger-of-Spring – Erigenia bulbosa

Continue reading →

Wildflowers at The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain – In January!

Leave a reply

Who would expect Hepatica to be blooming in January? Today my wife and I wanted to enjoy a beautiful day with some time outside, so we decided to go down to The Pocket for a walk on the boardwalk. The earliest I’ve seen Harbinger of Spring blooming down there previously was Feb 9 (back in 2009), but as warm as it’s been I wasn’t going to be surprised if we found that early bloomer with flowers. But I wasn’t expecting this:

Sharplobe Hepatica - Anemone acutiloba

Sharplobe Hepatica – Anemone acutiloba

Continue reading →

The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain Status Update 4/9/2015 – Still looking great!

2 Replies

While some of the early bloomers are gone – no more Dutchman’s Breeches, for example – this is STILL a great time for a visit to The Pocket. My growing wildflower checklist for The Pocket is up to 59 species now, and 41 of them are blooming now, even though a few of those are almost gone. If you want to see Bluebells, better hurry; they are declining fast. The Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) are gone, and I only saw one small patch of Carolina Spring Beauty (Claytonia caroliniana). All three Trillium species are still in full glory, but probably the dominant species blooming right now are Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata), and Purple Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida), which you’ll see all along the Pocket Road on your way in to the parking area.

Eastern Columbine and Purple Phacelia

Eastern Columbine and Purple Phacelia

 

For the full story…

Continue reading →

The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain Status Update 4/3/2015 – Signature Blooms!

3 Replies

This is a great time for a visit to The Pocket; I hadn’t been able to get down there in nearly 3 weeks (apologies to those that were looking for a status report last week) and so many species are blooming now! Bluebells, Wood Poppies (Celandine), Purple Phacelia, and all three Trillium species are at peak, along with a couple of others that aren’t considered “signature species” for The Pocket.

Wood Poppy

For the full story…

Continue reading →

The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain Status Update 3/16/2015 – Game On!!

3 Replies

Today (3/16) was beautiful – clear skies and about 70 degrees by noon. The weather had been pretty warm for several days, with a lot of rain showers over those several days, so I was hopeful that things would have picked up a bit from my last report on 3/7. And had it! Of the 53 species on my current version of my wildflower checklist for The Pocket, we (my wife, a lovely homeschool group we met up with, and I) found 13 blooming right now.

Sanguinaria canadensis

Bloodroot – Sanguinaria canadensis

For the rest of the story…

Continue reading →

The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain Status Update 3/07/2015 – It’s Picking Up, Just a Little…

Leave a reply

Today (3/07/15) was one of the rare days so far this year – mostly clear skies and warmer weather – into the 60’s. That made for a great day to get down to The Pocket for a status update. There’s not a lot of change concerning which species are blooming (with an exception) – but those that have been blooming are picking up the pace a lot. The one new species I found blooming – Carolina Spring Beauty; a single plant along the trail to the falls.

Carolina Spring Beauty, Wide-leaved Spring Beauty - Claytonia caroliniana

Carolina Spring Beauty – Claytonia caroliniana

Continue reading →

The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain Status Update 03/01/2015

Leave a reply

Even though it’s been 2 ½ weeks since the last report, there is little change to report from then. Probably shouldn’t be a surprise considering the last couple of weeks have included long stretches where it didn’t get above freezing, multiple nights with lows in the single digits, and a snow of over 7”. Still, I was hoping for a little more action.

Continue reading →

The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain 02/11/2015 – It’s Stirring…

Leave a reply

Today (2/11) was sunny and unseasonally warm (62 degrees by late afternoon) for February, but much colder weather is forecast – tomorrow topping out in the 30s. Since we’ve been out of town for several days, I figured I should take this opportunity to check to see if the wildflowers are starting to show up at The Pocket. I was expecting to see Harbinger-of-Spring and that other harbinger of spring, Hepatica blooming, and kind of expected to see some Toothwort blooming. Well, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.

Harbinger-of-Spring - Erigenia bulbosa

Harbinger-of-Spring – Erigenia bulbosa

For the rest of the story…

Continue reading →

The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain Status Update 4/16/2014

Leave a reply

It’s been nearly two weeks since I have been to The Pocket, and things are changing.  Several others of the “signature species” are waning – Virginia Bluebell, and Wood (Celandine) Poppy are almost gone, but all three of the Pocket’s three Trillium species are still blooming right now. Now is the time to head to The Pocket if you want to see the Trillium flexipes display – they’re at peak, but beginning to show some signs of age.

Bent White Trillium - Trillium Flexipes

Bent White Trillium – Trillium Flexipes

For the rest of the story…

Continue reading →

The Pocket at Pigeon Mountain Status Update 4/3/2014

2 Replies

This is a great time for a visit to The Pocket. (See end of this post for my guess on 4/10 status.)  On Thursday, 4/3/2014, my wife and I walked up the Pocket Loop Trail, and then went back down to the parking area to meet up with a homeschool group who had invited me to join them for their visit to help identify the flowers they saw.  We walked the Shirley Miller boardwalk and extension trail up to the falls with this great group of moms and their children.  Several of the “signature species” are still blooming – Virginia Bluebell, Wood (Celandine) Poppy, Dutchman’s Breeches, and all three of the Pocket’s three Trillium species are blooming right now.  35 of the 55 species on my current version of the checklist are blooming right now.

Eastern Red Columbine, Wild Columbine - Aquilegia canadensis

Eastern Red Columbine – Aquilegia canadensis

We also ran into Clayton Webster and some more of the Over the Hill Hiking Group that I met last week.  We had a nice visit exchanging information on what to look for blooming – they were coming from where we were going, and vice versa…

For the rest of the story…

Continue reading →