Get out and enjoy – spring wildflower show is about to begin

By: 
Art Weber

        Get ready, the show is about to begin.
        It’s almost time for spring wildflowers and Ohio’s natural areas are extraordinary places to enjoy them. From the aptly named harbinger-of-spring to hepatica and spring-beauty and on to trillium and a host of others, it’s a natural gift that keeps on giving.
        Our local Metroparks and preserves offer ideal, close-to-home places to enjoy the parade of colors and varieties. If you’re feeling the urge to hit the road for the day, overnight or a long weekend, Ohio is loaded with those possibilities as well.
        Among the great destination choices is Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve in southeast Ohio. Its 200 acres of virgin beech-maple forest are surrounded by Hueston Woods State Park.
        The wildflower show begins this month, sometimes greeted with near-freezing temperatures while the chilly winds make the entire forest and its carpet of wildflower appear to be shivering.
        You’ll see them everywhere - veritable carpets of Dutchman’s-breeches and squirrel-corn, their blossoms filling voids among the spreading umbrellas of mayapple.
        Above the wildflowers is a canopy of old beech trees.
        “Those big beeches may approach 300 years; that would be absolutely a guess of mine,” said Tim Snyder, retired West Central District manager for the Ohio Department of Natural Areas and Preserves. “The maple trees are pretty old, too. A number of the trees in the woods definitely pre-date Euro-American settlement.”
        The ancient trees make great homes for pileated woodpeckers, which greet walkers with their maniacal laugh-like chatter.
        Together, the park and preserve are an island in a landscape of rich rolling agricultural lands, often with big wooden barns and stately old colonial farmhouses – venerable symbols of generations of successful farmers. Five miles
south is the college town of Oxford, home to Miami University, called one of America’s public “Ivies,” both for its architectural beauty and academic excellence.
        The state park and preserve have roots in our backyard. In the 1790s, when George Washington signed the mandate to establish Miami University, Matthew Hueston and his brother were serving in the frontier under General “Mad Anthony” Wayne. In 1797, after Wayne had forced peace with the Native Americans, Hueston, who had remembered the fertile soil of southeast Ohio, began to buy land in what is now Butler and Preble counties.
        Praised as being among Ohio’s earliest conservationists, the Huestons also profited from keeping the woods, which was valuable as a sugar bush for production of maple sugar products.
        Eventually the Huestons acquired about 2,000 acres of land that became the park. The oldest of the woods is preserved in Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve, an enclave of the larger Hueston Woods State Park. The preserve is
characterized by virgin forest growing in a setting of deep ravines, a more exaggerated terrain than the rolling countryside that characterizes the rest of the park and surrounding area.
        A visit to the area is a great getaway.
        For lodging look no further than the 92-room resort lodge complex and facilities, family cottages, premium cottages, and a 228-site modern campground. Also offered is a golf course and bike rental. Add fossil hunting and fishing to the long list of activities.
        The picture-perfect campus of Miami University, the welcoming feel of the town of Oxford, and a host of other possibilities, including meals at the venerable Golden Lamb in Lebanon, make it a visit to remember.
        For more information visit ohiodnr.gov, cityofoxford.org, and Butler County tourism at gettothebc.com.
 
 

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