Mini-vacation #2

(After ABVD)

Episode 4

On Sunday morning, Pix fixed her famous breakfast. YUMMY! We cleaned, packed the cars, and left Seebert around 11 A.M. It was decided that we would stop by Cranberry Glades to see if the orchids were in bloom. I am very glad we did. The boardwalk at Cranberry Glades is a wonderful experience that welcomes one anytime of the year.

The first orchids we saw were the rose pagonia orchid. This plant is also known as the snakemouth orchid. These plants make good companions to pitcher plants and other bog plants

Speaking of pitcher plants - they were also in full bloom. One has to love these wonderful insect trapping plants. Actually if you look in the liquid in the "pitcher", the trapped spider population may out number the six legged critters.

The bog rosemary was doing well. Pix is looking for an other insect loving plant - the sundew.



Cranberry Glades proves an excellent habitat that sustains large colonies of sundews.

The largest population of grass pink orchids were in flag glade.

The lip of the grass-pink flower is covered with many yellow hairs. The flowers of most species bear the lip uppermost. The grass pink can range in color from lavender and deep pink to white. I have only seen the deep pink ones in the glades. The blossoms are about 2.5 cm wide.

Many other plants were also in bloom. The meadow rue below exhibits its white star burst flowers. Meadow rue flowers don't have any petals; the white starbursts are made up of stamens.

It will not be long before these elderberries will be in fruit. I love elderberry jam (not to mention elderberry wine)!



As we exited the boardwalk, the white flowers of mountain laurel greeted us.



What a super nature walk! It was now time to head home. We met Dan and Pix at the Ranch House in Craigsville to have a snack. We arrived home and as you know by our June 29th blog what greeted us! End of Mini-vacation #2 after ABVD.