Bluebells are in bloom in Poland Forest

By JESSICA HARDIN

jhardin@vindy.com

POLAND

Flooding is bad news for basements in Poland, but it’s key to the survival of Poland Municipal Forest’s iconic Virginia bluebells.

Mertensia virginica, which is in full bloom this weekend, thrives in floodplains. “They crave flooding and they crave nutrients,” said Ian Renne, a member of the forest board and professor of ecology at Youngstown State University.

There are patches of the flowers near the entrance to the forest, but walking down Bluebell Trail along Yellow Creek, bluebells blanket the banks of the creek and the surrounding fields. The plants are about a foot tall, with clusters of tiny bell-shaped blue flowers at the end of each stem.

“People delight in seeing their beauty and intensity and vastness. Visitors come from far away to see the bluebells,” said Elinor Zedaker, forest board chairwoman.

The best way to see the bluebells is to walk the forest, Zedaker said. But she reminds visitors that wildflowers should not be removed from the forest.

Those who want to see them in bloom should venture to the forest soon because bluebells don’t last long.

Renne called bluebells a “spring ephemeral.” They bloom briefly in early spring and are gone before the forest canopy fills in.

“I would say, they last three weeks. ... We’re certainly nearing the peak. Within now to the next week is the peak. This is the time to see them,” Renne.

The flower is so plentiful in the Poland Woods, in part, because “They’re off the menu for deer,” Zedaker said.

A chemical defense renders bluebells resistant to deer browsing, Renne explained.

“We cheer and hope that the deer do not develop an appetite for bluebells,” Zedaker added.

This weekend’s weather forecast is not promising, but that won’t deter Zedaker from spending time in the woods.

“I’ll be out there even if it is raining,” she said.