Cool Days, Bright Colors: Come Visit Volo Bog
Cooler days have arrived, and Volo Bog is glowing with fall color. Come walk the boardwalk and see it for yourself! Water covers part of the metal section near the end of the trail, so put on your rain boots or waterproof shoes and enjoy the splash.
Follow the boardwalk through the marsh, shrub, and tamarack zones, and the colors change with every step. Cinnamon ferns have turned gold, glowing among the shrubs. Cinnamon fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) takes its name from the cinnamon-brown spore stalks it raises in spring, and its fern family dates back to the age of the dinosaurs.
Winterberry hollies are ripening, their berries turning a bright red that will last into winter. Unlike the evergreen holly of Christmas wreaths, winterberry (Ilex verticillata) drops its leaves in fall, and only the female shrubs carry berries, which feed birds through the winter. Look down for mushrooms in surprising colors.
In early summer, wild calla (Calla palustris) opens white blossoms in the wet marsh. Each white "petal" is actually a leaf wrapped around a spike of tiny flowers, and each tiny flower becomes its own berry. Now the green clusters have ripened into bright red ones. Admire them, but don't taste them!
At the eye of the bog, the open water lies still and quiet. Stand for a moment, listen, and watch the sky, clouds, and trees reflected on its surface. As you leave the boardwalk, look to your left for wild cucumber (Echinocystis lobata) climbing over the shrubs. Its name means "spiny bladder," and you'll see why: its puffy green pods are covered in soft spines. Come back in a few weeks to see them dry into lacy, papery shells. Despite its name, this cucumber is not for eating! Tamaracks are just starting to turn. Watch them change to gold over the coming weeks, and reach out to touch their soft needles. Tamarack is one of the few conifers that lose their needles in fall.
Join a guided bog tour on Saturdays and Sundays in October at 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM. Tours last 45 minutes to an hour. Sign up on Eventbrite. See you at the bog this fall!
Comments