Ms. Adventure

There was a big change for week four ( week of April 13 , 2026 ) at   Tubmill Run Trolley Trail . Last Friday and this Monday, Peoples Gas volunteers cleared the trail, making it more of  an established trail than an overgrown footpath. They also connected the trail to the top of the hill at the end, which connects via an alley to Ford Cliff. They did a great job. There was little disturbance to the wildflowers and surrounding vegetation. The native and invasive wildflowers are really thriving this week. The spicebush blooms unfortunately did not carry over to this week, and the cutleaf toothworts looks like they died. I think with more light reaching the path, those near the path had too much sun and heat from the hot weather and died. This was another great week for the trillium and dwarf ginseng as well as for the newly blooming two-leaved toothwort.  New arrivals included two-leaved toothwort, chickweed, phlox, and the super exciting Jack-in-the-pulpit! I have ne...

Th e third week  (week of April 6 , 2026 ) at   Tubmill Run Trolley Trail brought with it a lot more plants . I mentioned it in my week 3 West Leechburg post as well, but now that things are really starting to grow, I'm going to continuously question what it is I'm looking at. I'll focus on things that I think are neat or that will be a flower. This is a great week for the dwarf ginseng, northern spicebush, and cutleaf toothwort.  It'll be the last week for the yellow trout lilies. New arrivals included violets, Solomon's seal, and trilliums, though most of these won't be blooming until later on. Another note for Tubmill Run: After this week, the trail will be cleared by People's Gas earth day volunteers. This should be the last week for crawling over and under logs and skirting through privet.

We are onto week 4  ( April 13th, 2026 ) at   West Leechburg Native Plant Preserve   with some hot and humid weather.  There continues to be an increase in new plants, and I continue to focus on those that will be blooming or are of notable interest. The bloodroot, yellow trout lily, blue cohosh, and Dutchman's breeches are all done blooming. I expected longer from the dutchman's breeches, but oh well. Maybe the heat got them like the red trillium? This was the best week for the white trillium and two-leaved toothwort. I am super excited to announce that I found Jack-in-the-pulpit for the first time (for me) here!!! Some other new plants include bluets, foamflower, and poison ivy (I won't include that, it's just an important thing for me). I'm thinking next week will be good for the Solomon's seal but I think the other budding plants like mayapple and foamflower will need another week. I'm not sure.

It is week 3 ( April 6th, 2026 ) at West Leechburg Native Plant Preserve already! This week the bumblebees, flies, and butterflies were extra noticeable with the warm temperatures, bringing with them a true spring feel that was mostly missing the last two weeks. This is not normally something I would observe, but paying extra attention to nature every week has really brought a new awareness for the changing of seasons. It seems cliche, but I feel it, and I like it. As with last week, there is an increase in new plants and growth on the trees and shrubs. This week will probably be the start of me becoming extra confused with what I'm witnessing. Each year I get better, but I am still most common with flowering plants only during the actual bloom. Leaves are rapidly appearing, and it is a challenge to ID them before the blooms start. I'll do my best. Again, this is a good place for a reminder that this is just an observational blog to share what is happening and how the area cha...

It's time for week two (week of  March 30, 2026 ) at   Tubmill Run Trolley Trail . Not very much was present last week, but this week will bring more plants and blooms. I think I blew through too fast last week, so this time I took more time on the trail. New arrivals included mayapples and dwarf ginseng.

I wasn't sure what all I would encounter so early in the season for my first hike at Tubmill Run Trolley Trail during the week of March 23rd 2026 . This was my first stop of the two locations. Was it too early for flowers or for my favorite finds, snakes and salamanders? Either way, an early start was what I wanted to make sure I could see the full cycle of many of the plants. Some quick notes about Tubmill Run Trolley Trail: This was part of an old trolley route from Ford City to Ford Cliff with waste glass from PPG as the ballast. It has been an informal path for decades and has been recently maintained through the help of volunteers to establish a more formal trail.  There is an easement with  Armstrong Trails  to keep the trail available for the public. The landowner has been working tirelessly to control invasive species, especially privet, both in the surrounding woods and trail. Please respect the hard work to maintain and keep this property beautiful.

Many more wildflowers appeared for my second venture to West Leechburg Native Plant Preserve during the week  of  March 30th 2026 .  I'm dubbing this the week of the bloodroot and trout lily as they were by far the most impressive this week.  It was neat to see how much had changed in the development of those I saw the week before and also to see some new appearances including trilliums and cutleaf toothwort. I should also declare this the start of tick season. I found 2 or 3 ticks crawling on my leg while walking the trail. There are lots of barberry plants, a tick favorite.

During the week of March 23rd 2026 , I ventured out for the first time in search of wildflowers and emerging snakes, salamanders, and frogs at the West Leechburg Native Plant Preserve . This is earlier than I normally start, but I wanted to be able to see a complete cycle for some species I only ever notice as they're flowering. I also felt it might be a bit early for most snakes, salamanders, and frogs that I like to catch but still worth a shot. Some quick notes about the West Leechburg Native Plant Preserve: It is interesting that there is such a wide variety of wildflowers in this scrappy area. The whole ravine is an eroding pile of old mining spoil and overburden essentially thrown back into the ravine after mining and road construction that then eroded down the steep ravine. Invasive plants take over the area after early spring wildflowers are done blooming (and during the bloom) including k notweed, barberry, garlic mustard, stiltgrass etc. Kiskiminetas Watershed Association...