A hike in the Hocking Hills

[JudyB]

We are lucky to live near a lot of preserved forests and natural areas, one of which is the Hocking hills. Many cliffs mostly sandstone, and large rock formations. Tons of older growth hemlock. Too busy in the summer, but come winter, no one but us! Some pictures to enjoy.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Hocking Hills was a home away from home. That root mountain I have my boys sitting at the top. Great inspiration found there. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jimib]

Love it down there.... rented a cabin September and did a lot of kayaking in the area.

 

[JudyB]

Hocking Hills was a home away from home. That root mountain I have my boys sitting at the top. Great inspiration found there. Thanks for sharing.

It's so nice this time of year, you see so much more. Hidden grotto gems everywhere.

 

[JudyB]

Love it down there.... rented a cabin September and did a lot of kayaking in the area.

It has a lot of areas not just in the parks, we've found some really great nature preserves that we never knew existed. One of them has a large area of very mature beech.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@JudyB - Beautiful photos, I wish the area was closer to me. It was well worth the 350 mile drive, but I don't visit Columbus very often any more. I've only been to the Hocking Hills area once, back in 2004, during spring. Timing was perfect, saw a number of native orchids flowering. I was guided to these areas by a friend of a friend. I could not find these locations again, as I was a passenger, I wasn't driving, so I did not pay close attention to exactly where I was.

One particular hillside had thousands of Cypripedium acaule, each pink & brown flower is 3 to 4 inches from top petal to bottom "nose" of its pink pouch. This is one of the native orchids that is holding its own in forest preserves, parks and other areas where habitat disturbance is limited to perhaps logging once every 50 years or so. You may have to zoom in on the forest photos, as the pink pouch is not as visible as one might think against the leaf litter. The photo with black background, one of our group carried a black cloth just for photos, he's standing behind the plant holding the cloth. Each photo is a different patch of Cypripediums that we found.



Our hike took us past a small lake, with a boat ramp, and a couple teen age locals were hauling in dinner. Yes, they said dinner.


Rock undercut with waterfall.



Galearis spectabilis - another uncommon, but holding its own wild orchid in Hocking Hills.



The "Holy Grail" of this trip was getting to see the very rare, or at least seldom seen, Large Whorled Pogonia, Isotria verticillata. It is fiendishly difficult to spot against the background of leaf litter. But it is also believed to be rare and populations are declining. We also were looking for the even more rare, Isotria medeoloides, small whorled pogonia, but alas, we could not find it.



We then drove to an area to picnic for a bit, and walked to Hobart's Cave. So these orchids are somewhere within about 10 miles of Hobart's cave, but I could never find them again.

Sorry to hijack your thread Judy. But thought you might know the area well enough you might be able to find the orchids again. It was the second week of May, so if you are out in the woods beginning or second week of May, keep an eye out for the Pink Moccasin Flower, Cypripedium acaule.

 

[JudyB]

@JudyB - Beautiful photos, I wish the area was closer to me. It was well worth the 350 mile drive, but I don't visit Columbus very often any more. I've only been to the Hocking Hills area once, back in 2004, during spring. Timing was perfect, saw a number of native orchids flowering. I was guided to these areas by a friend of a friend. I could not find these locations again, as I was a passenger, I wasn't driving, so I did not pay close attention to exactly where I was.

One particular hillside had thousands of Cypripedium acaule, each pink & brown flower is 3 to 4 inches from top petal to bottom "nose" of its pink pouch. This is one of the native orchids that is holding its own in forest preserves, parks and other areas where habitat disturbance is limited to perhaps logging once every 50 years or so. You may have to zoom in on the forest photos, as the pink pouch is not as visible as one might think against the leaf litter. The photo with black background, one of our group carried a black cloth just for photos, he's standing behind the plant holding the cloth. Each photo is a different patch of Cypripediums that we found.

View attachment 344820 View attachment 344823 View attachment 344824 View attachment 344826 View attachment 344831

Our hike took us past a small lake, with a boat ramp, and a couple teen age locals were hauling in dinner. Yes, they said dinner.
View attachment 344832

Rock undercut with waterfall.

View attachment 344833

Galearis spectabilis - another uncommon, but holding its own wild orchid in Hocking Hills.

View attachment 344834

The "Holy Grail" of this trip was getting to see the very rare, or at least seldom seen, Large Whorled Pogonia, Isotria verticillata. It is fiendishly difficult to spot against the background of leaf litter. But it is also believed to be rare and populations are declining. We also were looking for the even more rare, Isotria medeoloides, small whorled pogonia, but alas, we could not find it.

View attachment 344835 View attachment 344836

We then drove to an area to picnic for a bit, and walked to Hobart's Cave. So these orchids are somewhere within about 10 miles of Hobart's cave, but I could never find them again.

Sorry to hijack your thread Judy. But thought you might know the area well enough you might be able to find the orchids again. It was the second week of May, so if you are out in the woods beginning or second week of May, keep an eye out for the Pink Moccasin Flower, Cypripedium acaule.

That is some amazing stuff you were able to see, thanks for sharing those photos and the memory of your hike. I have been able for the first time this year since I was a kid to be able to truly spend time back in these areas on a regular basis. My work life before the pandemic meant few days off in spring fall and winter, and summers were starting to be just about as bad. This year I’ve seen things I have only seen pictures of, like trilliums! I never understood what the big deal was with them, but there are several places we go that have literally thousands of them, so awesome! And all the following spring blooming was so wonderful to see the progression to summer. We truly live on a diverse and amazing planet. I will see if I can find some of these treasures next spring, about what time do orchids bloom in the wild?

 

[JudyB]

@Leo in N E Illinois today we went to an area that is a bit north of the Hocking hills, and did a good hike there, Still lots of good snow coating everything. It made me think of you as there is a small wire and wood enclosure on the trail there, for a single specimen of Yellow Lady slipper. They are trying to keep the species from dying out in the area. They put a wood placard explaining what it was and why it's enclosed. I've read that they line some of the trails there in the season it must be quite the sight... Here is a pic of the enclosure I pulled off the web.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@JudyB
Nice photo of Cypripedium pubescens, the large yellow lady slipper. The good news is, that there are several nurseries who have developed methods for producing Cypripedium orchids from seed, and details have been worked out for growing them in your back yard. Seed raised Cypripedium pubescens are available and less the $100, small ones can be had for less than $50. I kept a seed originated patch going in my back yard for 10 years, got blooms maybe 3 of those 10 years. They have a delightful, sweet, peach-mango fragrance to the flower. Deer browsing and unscrupulous gardeners collecting wild plants are the 2 main issues wild populations have. Deer browsing is probably the biggest issue. We need more hunters to keep the cloven hooved vermin in check.

In the wild, the native orchids have a staggered blooming. I will have to dig up a book, when I find it, I'll post an image of the "calendar". The early orchids would start around the last week in April or first week in May. The photos I posted in this thread were all taken May 9. This is toward the middle or end of Trillium season. At this time most of the "earlies" will be in bloom, Cyp acaule, Galearis, Isotria, and a few others

The bog orchids usually are open right around the last week of May. The large yellow slipper orchids would also be end of May also. The "putty-root" orchids bloom early June, genus Aplectrum. Then the orange flowered "ladies tresses" and the white flowered "ladies tresses", genus Platanthera, these tend to bloom middle or end of June. July and August is when the saprophytic myco-heterotrophic (no chlorophyll) Corallorhiza orchids bloom. Just a simple flower stalk with no leaves coming from the forest floor. They feed on mycorrhiza. Beginning in August the Spiranthes orchids will bloom, some of them will keep blooming until first frost in October. So there is a whole cycle of different species. I believe Ohio has between 17 and 22 different species of orchids that are native, each with its own, slightly unique timing for blooms.

Aplectrum and Goodyeara orchids have very attractive leaves, and are not overly difficult in cultivation. These small orchids could be used as kusamono. Both need a light, forest leaf litter derived type soil. Kanuma with decomposed leaf litter & some perlite would be fine.

 

[Paradox]

Some of those wild trees have some nice nebari!

 

[JudyB]

Some of those wild trees have some nice nebari!

Yes, root over very large glacial erratics is a big thing in this area. I should've taken the photo a little further back, as these trees are all atop a huge rock that they have completely overtaken. It's probably about 10' or so tall and you can see how wide it is.

 

[JudyB]

@JudyB
Nice photo of Cypripedium pubescens, the large yellow lady slipper. The good news is, that there are several nurseries who have developed methods for producing Cypripedium orchids from seed, and details have been worked out for growing them in your back yard. Seed raised Cypripedium pubescens are available and less the $100, small ones can be had for less than $50. I kept a seed originated patch going in my back yard for 10 years, got blooms maybe 3 of those 10 years. They have a delightful, sweet, peach-mango fragrance to the flower. Deer browsing and unscrupulous gardeners collecting wild plants are the 2 main issues wild populations have. Deer browsing is probably the biggest issue. We need more hunters to keep the cloven hooved vermin in check.

In the wild, the native orchids have a staggered blooming. I will have to dig up a book, when I find it, I'll post an image of the "calendar". The early orchids would start around the last week in April or first week in May. The photos I posted in this thread were all taken May 9. This is toward the middle or end of Trillium season. At this time most of the "earlies" will be in bloom, Cyp acaule, Galearis, Isotria, and a few others

The bog orchids usually are open right around the last week of May. The large yellow slipper orchids would also be end of May also. The "putty-root" orchids bloom early June, genus Aplectrum. Then the orange flowered "ladies tresses" and the white flowered "ladies tresses", genus Platanthera, these tend to bloom middle or end of June. July and August is when the saprophytic myco-heterotrophic (no chlorophyll) Corallorhiza orchids bloom. Just a simple flower stalk with no leaves coming from the forest floor. They feed on mycorrhiza. Beginning in August the Spiranthes orchids will bloom, some of them will keep blooming until first frost in October. So there is a whole cycle of different species. I believe Ohio has between 17 and 22 different species of orchids that are native, each with its own, slightly unique timing for blooms.

Aplectrum and Goodyeara orchids have very attractive leaves, and are not overly difficult in cultivation. These small orchids could be used as kusamono. Both need a light, forest leaf litter derived type soil. Kanuma with decomposed leaf litter & some perlite would be fine.

Thanks for all this info Leo, I'll bet I saw some this past spring and summer, but didn't know what I was looking at. I'll have to get a native flora book for next season. I did see some of the darker colored trilliums at the end of their bloom time, didn't even realize they had other colors.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Getting into native wildflowers is fun, and can be a deep dive. There are lots of "pretty little things" in the forest and prairies.

 

[ShadyStump]

As a kid we spent a good number of years living in Ohio, mostly the Dayton area, before moving back to my mom's hometown here in Colorado. Glenn Hellen and Carriage Hill Farm were family favorites for getting out in the summer. Nothing quite like this though. Gorgeous!