Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-05-20

! 1916 Mt any rate--is seven or eight
! mile trip out of midsummer into early
| spring. with each stage of the season
| proclaimed by marvellous gardens OF
wild flowers.
! AS We were working up ravine
! toward pass yesterday. for instance.
/ through dense forest at times, where
! the trail was path of black mud in
the leaf mold at times through open
/ Elades beside a tumblnE green stream
| we saw goldenrod on one side of the
! trail. thanked by pipsisSina and self
| heal. while directly opposite was q
/ twcnty-foot-sQ bed of deep blue
/ annual larkspur, larger and richer in
| color than any We can grow from
/ store seed in our own massachusetts
| garden. Down in the hollow the
| stately blooms of the Indian baske,
| grass or bear grass. as it is variously
called. were fading. But beside the
| tiny brooks which crossed the trail
were masses OF monkey flower, n
striking plant about sixteen inches
high, with dcep-rcd blossoms like
small pctunias 1t ought to live, one
would suppose, in England. at least i'm
the hills. and would be an addition te
any water side garden. There were
also pretty borders of the asterilkr
flea -bane and beds Of vctch, and others
of bunchberry blossoms. like little dog
wood blossoms. on the ground. i;u.
the prettiest of the wood flowers were
the li;tlc pink bells OF the twin flowers.
EIGHTEEN VARIETIES
OF WILD FLOWERS
Presently our attention was dtvc.,1
fr"r' the fora L. The fauna. by the
sight 81 a fresh beaver dam clos. 10
the trail. ~ !, rich meadow ho::om
iri;gcd with willow between the s:.at
fortress walls Il the canon RE
beavers mad raised the level of wat.r
nearly two feet with dam at least
sixty feet long. and the flooded ridge
above was fun OF their canals But.
unfortunately, no beavers were In
sight.
As We began 20 climb. the earlier
flowers appeared in greater and greater
abundance. In ono little hollow,
dozen feet wide and not over thirty
long. We counted eighteen varieties
while sitting in the saddle. There
were. among them, pink spirea. tall
blue false forgctinc-nots beautiful
bushes OF golden shrubby cinuuefoil
tthc curse OF the Berkshire farmers.
who call it hardback). lavender wild
onion. several stately clu,nps of yell
low long Squared columbiue much wild
valcrian iarkspur. paint brush. and
head after head OF the bear. or basket,
Grass.
This peculiar grass. which grows In !
cIumpS and is so coarse and sharp the !
horses Will not touch il, hears tho |
most conspicuous flower in the Rooky |
,y;,
half an inch in diameter and from two !
to four feet tall. This stalk, in turn.
bears raccmc of cream white bios
SONS which is often "A foot from base
TO crown. and so thickly clustered that
Il looks from a distance like Il Erea.
white lSaTtletr- pear wrong end up on
a stick, THE. red hot pepper plan: is
:hc nearest analogy in our gardens. |
but il lacks the delicacy of individual
blossoms in the cluster and the peculiar
shape These bear-grass blossoms arc |
everywhere in the upland meadows. |
growing even among the stunted
Spruccs or under the trees. They wave
their white plumes in the wind against !
the background of the frs like little |
forest armies on the march
For lunch we reached a high INLAND !
among the lower edges of the snow |
fields. Here the timber pines were
dwarfcd and twisted into Japanese
prints, tee water ran down in sparkling
rivulets. and over the green and Soid
lawn and the twisted pines doomed
the great rock crags or the moro re-
mote blue SUBMITS. ROBBED in snow and
blue with mystery
DoGTooTH vIOLETs
FROM CARPET or GOLD
The gold was everywhere for A car
Petite gold Of millions of dostooth
riolets. The doGtooth violet IS the first /
flower that comes In the up,ands after
,he snow has melted. We even found |
the lily allcy-like leaves com |
Ing Up through two inches OF snow /
covering With little time and care
one could reckon exactly on the date
On Thich the snow had gone FROM !
Si'An spot on these upland gardens by I
tho Ho7'e.s blooming there. The bright /
i"'!"" dog'ooth violets come first.
1h~n other flowers follow-lovely
cHalice cups iupins. forget-me- no,s,
y"i'o" violets. everlastings. paint
brush. sk%-blue cienatis. columbiana.
and nc more distinctly Alpine plants.
a A.
zinc with drift, OF snow stilI on the
bottom. you can sec a month OF flowers
al blooming at the same time In a
space Of nfty feet
We ate lunch surrounded By a score
al iGast OF Tat Eroundsquirrels. which |
became almost as tame az gray SOUR |
fcIs on the common. and ate out Of
your hands They are about the size
OF gray squrrel-rufous and green
ish-gray in co!or-and they arc omn,-
present in the Northern Rockies. They
SIt up on their launches and look ut
you. like Prairie dogs, press their front
paws against their stomachs. and with
each pressure emit = peculiar. bird
IKE peepinS squcal-cxactly as II they
were mechanical toys with n noise
maker in the middle
almost TO the summit. too, we found
inc whistling marmots-big fat fei.
lows looking much like their Eastern
cousins, the woodchucks in all hut