I love traveling to different places and getting to see the wildflowers and botanical gardens there. It’s especially fun when the native plants are different than the ones that grow in Mississippi. It’s fun to see how many I already know and then try to identify the new ones.
Loda Lake Wildflower Sanctuary
On a recent trip to Michigan, we walked the Loda Lake Wildflower Sanctuary Trail. The Michigan Garden Clubs provided an excellent map that included a list of wildflowers you might see at each of the 40 stops along the way. We supplemented their information with our iPhones when we couldn’t identify a particular plant.
Pink Ladyslipper (Cypripedium acaule)
Of course, the ladyslipper was my favorite wildflower that we saw along the trail. We don’t have this plant in Mississippi, and the first one we came across on the trail was well hidden. Next thing you know, we were seeing them everywhere!
Starflower (Trientalis borealis)
This tiny little star-shaped flower is very low to the ground, but in some places it was abundant, creating quite the show.
Wild Geranium or Cranesbill (Geranium maculatum)
I have a different wild geranium growing in my garden in Mississippi which is how I knew this was a geranium – but we had to look up the species.
Phlox (Phlox spp)
I adore the colorful phlox that can be seen along the roadways and in sunny spots in the forest in Michigan.
Trillium
This plant wasn’t on the Loda Lake Trail, but we saw it on another trail and I had to include it, because, it’s a trillium!
Other Wildflowers on the Trail
Loda Lake Boardwalk
This was an awesome boardwalk over part of the lake. It was made even more amazing by the fact that I saw my first ever Pileated Woodpecker there! He was calling while we were in the woods and when we entered the boardwalk, he alighted on a cavity tree and started banging away. Fabulous!
