As the days grow longer and the dormant plants ripen from warm sunshine and plentiful rain, Greene County’s rolling fields and forests are blooming with color. Most of it is green, but the rest of the rainbow can be found in the variety of plants and wildflowers found in southwestern Pennsylvania.
A sure sign of spring each year are the Eastern Redbuds blooming along Route 21 as you’re entering or leaving Waynesburg from the east. This harbinger of spring blooms in a profusion of delicate pink blossoms, with leaves that emerge a reddish color before turning dark green. Anyone driving along this stretch of road during spring is always in for a beautiful sight. (See sidebar for more about the Eastern redbud.)
The area’s trails – such as the Greene River Trail and the Warrior Trail – take you through scenic countryside. The State Game Lands and Ryerson Station State Park also offer ample opportunities for wildlife and wildflowers. And our country roads are a great way to get out of the house and explore, with wildflowers becoming their own roadside attractions.
For those interested in a wildflower walk with knowledgeable guides, both the Enlow Fork Wildflower Walk and the Mason-Dixon Historical Park Wildflower Walk are exactly what you need.
First up this year is the Mason-Dixon Historical Park’s Wildflower Walk. The park’s free Wildflower Walk will begin at 1:15pm on April 29 in the parking lot next to the Red Barn. In case of inclement weather, the walk will be canceled. If you can’t make it to the guided walk, the park’s trails – especially the Bluebell Trail – can be enjoyed any day of the year. Find the Mason-Dixon Historical Park on Facebook for updates and information on other events throughout the year.
Next, the Enlow Fork Wildflower Walk is held at Enlow Fork Natural Area, part of State Game Lands 302. The event brings large groups of birdwatchers and wildflower enthusiasts.
This year’s walk will be held on Sunday, April 30. The bird hike starts around approximately 8am and the first guided wildflower walk starts at approximately 10am. Guests can take independent, non-guided walks at any point during the day. The trail follows a closed dirt road, making it an easy hike. Along the way, you’ll pass two iron bridges along the nearby stream.
The trail is located at the end of Smoky Row Lane which is in State Game Lands 302; GPS coordinates are 39.961076, -80.462700. There is on-site parking and access to the trail is located at the end of the parking area. FMI, visit https://enlowfork.tripod.com.
Along your walks, you’ll see an abundance of local wildflowers, including wild geranium, red and white trillium, Virginia bluebells, blue-eyed Marys, Solomon’s seal, false Solomon’s seal, bluets, violets, phlox, Sessile bellwort, and Larkspur.
For the birdwatchers, commonly seen birds include robins, warblers, sandpipers, ducks, vireos, orioles, and even some Midwestern and Carolinian species of birds.
If you’re looking for something less beautiful to the eyes, but delicious to the stomach, look no further than the Appalachian specialty – ramps. Ramps (Allium tricoccum) are a delicacy available only for a short time each spring, around late March and early April. These one or two leafed plants are one of the earliest wild edibles to emerge each spring, making them staples in early spring Appalachian diets. Their arrival meant that the long winter had finally ended. Harvesting the ramps grew into a celebration of cooking and music, a tradition still held today in various ramp festivals across the eastern United States.
Ramps unique flavor – stronger than the mild onion flavor of a leek and more garlicky than a scallion – make them a delicious additive to many dishes. They are a foraging favorite in the area.
If you’re not into foraging, you can get your fill of ramps at the Mason-Dixon Historical Park’s Ramp Dinner, held the same day as their Wildflower Walk. From 9am to 2pm, they’ll be serving up the finest ramp dinner the Appalachians have to offer. The dinner, held at the Red Barn, will include ramps, fried potatoes, soup beans, ham, salad, chicken ‘n noodles, sausage gravy, biscuits, applesauce, corn bread, deviled eggs, picked eggs and cakes. An adult meal is $12, age 6-12 is $5, and age 5 and under are free with adult.
Another sign that spring has sprung in Greene County is Opening Day at the Greene County Historical Society museum. Opening day this year is April 29 – the same day as the Mason-Dixon Historical Park’s Ramp Dinner & Wildflower Walk. Reenactors will be leading presentations and demonstrations, concessions from the historic brick-oven will be available, and attendees can visit the museum to see what’s new for the season and revisit their favorite displays of the past.
If it’s just about getting outdoors and enjoying them – either to marvel at the variety of wildflowers, catch glimpses of avian wildlife, or even to forage for your own local edibles, Greene has many areas to enjoy, some public and some private. Remember while out admiring the flowers or foraging for edible delights this spring to be mindful of where you walk, and don’t pick the wildflowers, ramps, fiddleheads, or morels along the trails and on private property without permission.
Other local foraging favorites include fiddlehead ferns and morels. Fiddleheads are a popular spring ingredient in spring salads or alone sauteed or roasted. A fiddlehead is not any particular type of fern. It refers to young ferns, still coiled. While there are many types of fiddleheads in the wild, not all of them are edible. Foragers must be very careful in only harvesting edible fiddleheads; if you’re inexperienced in foraging for the correct ones, forage with someone more experienced.
The morel has nutty or meaty flavor and generally emerges after ramps and fiddleheads, between mid-April and mid-May. During the early part of morel season, look for them on south-facing hillsides; attempt north-facing slopes in May.
The common morel (Morchella esculenta) is about 4-8 inches tall and 2.5 inches wide. They can be found in chalky soil under living trees and have a yellow/brown cap, brown gills, white spores, and white/cream stem. Cut the morels close to the ground with a sharp knife. A mesh sack is recommended for foraging; the mesh allows the morel’s spores to release back into the wild, making it more likely you’ll find morels in that spot again later.
Other popular edible mushrooms in Pennsylvania are field mushrooms (Agaricus campestris), chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius), winter oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus), and chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus). If you’re unsure about foraging locations or uncertain of your identification skills, many types of edible mushrooms, fiddleheads, and ramps can be cultivated at home.
This last weekend in April is a great way to reconnect with what makes our little corner of southwestern Pennsylvania so special: history and nature. Grab a ramp breakfast, take a wildflower walk, and support our local historical society while enjoying the beauty of a Greene County spring.
The Eastern Redbud
The Eastern redbud, or Cercis canadensis, is a small deciduous tree that grows from southern Canada to northern Florida, with some varieties reaching all the way west to California; various varieties of the tree grow in almost all of the continental United States, only avoiding the coldest and hottest climates.
Known as the “harbinger of spring” it is one of the first trees to bloom each spring, with flowers blooming between march and April. The showy, delicate flowers are a rosy pink with a tinge of purple. The flowers last two to three weeks and, by mid-summer, are replaced with seed pods (legumes). Both the flowers and legumes are edible!
The broad, heart-shaped leaves are approximately three to five inches high and wide. Giving the tree its name, the leaves emerge a reddish color, eventually turning green, then dark green, and eventually yellowish in the autumn. The trees typically grow 20 to 30 feet tall and have a short trunk and spreading branches.
If you’d like to include redbud in your home landscaping for early spring color, there are both wild and cultivated varieties available. Alba and Royal White produce white flowers, Appalachian Red has bright pink flowers, and Flame produces double rose pink flowers, among others. Other varieties have differences in leaf color. Eastern redbud grows best in full sun for the best blooms, but can grow in partial shade, and does best in moist, well-drained soil. Regular watering is beneficial and pruning while the tree is young helps with structure; pruning a mature tree is not generally necessary. Eastern redbud has few insect pests and is not favored by deer but is vulnerable to some diseases.
Not only is the tree a beauty in most seasons, it has other useful properties. The buds, flowers, and legumes are edible, and can be eaten raw or cooked. Green branches can be used to season small game. The roots and bark of the Eastern redbud were used for medicinal purposes in the past.