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Bluebells spring forth in Poland Forest
By Denise Dick
Bluebells spring forth in Poland Forest
By DENISE DICK
POLAND
Photo
A blanket of bluebells covers the ground at Poland Forest, bringing fl ower lovers to the woods. The bluebells bloomed about two weeks early this year due in part to heavy February snow.
Photo
A blanket of bluebells covers the ground at Poland Forest, bringing flower lovers to the woods. The bluebells bloomed about two weeks early this year due in part to heavy February snow.
It was February snow — not April showers — that coaxed Poland Forest’s most popular flower into an early bloom.
A blanket of bluebells covers the ground in the forest.
“They’re about two weeks early,” said Robert Zedaker, forest board chairman. “We had a mild winter and a lot of snow in February.”
Usually, the blue, bell-shaped flowers with a purple cast hit their peak in early May.
If you wait until then, though, you may miss them. Zedaker said the flowers last about three weeks.
Joan Newman and her daughter, Sara Bottorf, both of Columbiana, have been coming to the woods to see the bluebells since Bottorf was a child.
“It’s a family tradition,” said Newman, a Poland native.
Not many places have the concentration of bluebells that Poland Forest does, she added.
“When you look out, it looks like a Monet painting,” Newman said, indicating the field of flowers.
She has a photograph of Bottorf as a child standing among the bluebells.
“And when the grandchildren came along, we got pictures of them in the bluebells, too,” Bottorf said.
But a lot of people who live in the Mahoning Valley don’t know about Poland Forest, she said. “It’s like a hidden treasure.”
If the forest isn’t well-known among many who live close by, the spring flowers bring many visitors from farther away. Buses from Ashtabula and Pittsburgh make a trip to see the bluebells each year, Zedaker said.
He regularly brings his grandchildren with him when he visits the park. His grandson, Robin Zedaker, 4, came along this week.
Robin says he likes the woods and thinks the bluebells are pretty, but he was more interested in tossing stones, investigating trees and walking along the creek banks.
The popular flowers are Virginia bluebells, also called oysterleaf or Virginia cowslip, according to the Web site davesgarden.com. While those in the woods stick to a bluish-purple, bluebells can also be pink or medium blue, the Web site says.
To help keep the streams within the woods pristine, a stream cleanup is set for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Participants, who will pick up trash, should meet at the College Street parking lot. Gloves, bags and water will be provided.