After working almost all day I needed to relax. With the cherry blossoms in bloom and the weather clearing up nicely by the time I was ready, I headed down to Price Park for a little down time. I know I’ve only briefly touched upon the park’s resident flora before, so this time around I knew I wanted to dive a little more in depth on just what inhabits the park. Needless to say, the expedition was a success as I saw not only the cherry blossoms in full swing but numerous other wonders within the park trails.
As I walked down the trail, with sweet gum balls scattered all around me, I noticed a peculiar piece of litter off the beaten path. It was a half broken glass bottle that looked like it still had some mysterious substance inside. Upon a closer look I was rather surprised to find not just dirt but some type of algae growing inside the bottle. Almost like some kind of vegetative ship in the bottle. It left me wondering whether or not this was purposeful on someone’s part and if not, exactly how long has that bottle been there to reach such a state. Needless to say, it looked awesome though, to the point where I found myself examining it for a solid two minutes before finally deciding to take it back and properly recycle the bottle later on.
As I continued on the trail, I came across a familiar sight with a vast array of flora near some trees, complete with a sign identifying the types of plants by assigning them all illustrated appearances and different colored shapes that they would make signs for and hang on the trees. The two that were most prominent at the site were the orange, hexagon-coded American Hornbeam flower and the yellow, circle-coded Flowering Dogwood, both of which were fairly present and eye-catching in an otherwise bland selection of the scenery’s vegetation.
While I couldn’t get any great pictures of the Flowering Dogwood, there were plenty of Hornbeam flowers all congregated around a particular area, that made for the perfect shot and with the park’s management plan now at my disposal, I wondered if there was anything to note about the plant. Strangely enough, there was nothing really to note and I realized a quick google search was in order. By far the most fascinating thing I learned is the fact that they are actually a slow growing tree. Really makes you realize that there’s more to flora than what meets the eye.
And so, with some new flora knowledge and a stress free activity over and done with, I was ready to call it a day and whip this post up for you guys. I wanted to bring a little more awareness to the park’s trails if anyone’s ever looking for a nice, quiet place to take a walk. The scenery’s downright beautiful with some nice fact signs and flora along the way, perfect for nature lovers of all kinds. Next time I’ll try to find some more flora and fauna to emphasize and discuss, but that’s all for now folks.
