Late-Summer Joys Large and Small at the Barden

The Barden is the nickname for Princeton's Botanical ARt garDEN: 160+ native plant species informally gathered along whimsical pathways next to the main parking lot at Herrontown Woods, 600 Snowden Ave. By combining the signage with a cellphone app like Seek, you can use the Barden for one-stop learning of local flora. 

One of my annual joys at the Barden is getting to show kids and adults the exploding seeds of jewelweed, which has lately been producing beautiful tubular orange flowers that segue into pods with spring-loaded seeds. Find a swollen pod, pluck it gently from the plant, put it in the palm of a kid's hand and let them touch it lightly with a finger of the other hand. Kabloosh! The seeds go flying. It is really hard not to feel surprise and delight, no matter how many times you've witnessed this.  

An unexpected opportunity to share this experience came this past Sunday morning. We showed up to host our monthly pop up May's Cafe at 9am only to find the parking lot already full. Turned out that Boy Scout Pack 98 had driven down from Kendall Park for a two mile hike in the woods. 

When they returned from the trails, I showed them the exploding seeds, and also introduced them to the charismatic green frog that calls a little round minipond home, near the kiosk. Though the natural vernal pools have dried up in the late summer's long drought, we have a number of frogs participating in our Barden frog-in-residence program, which consists of a few plastic lined miniponds. 

Other joys are of the botanical variety, and probably wouldn't have held the scouts' attention like the frogs, but here they are in photo form. 

Two or three years ago, friend Stan gave me some little plants he had grown from seed. Among them was showy goldenrod--a kind of goldenrod I remember from Michigan as a beautiful accent in prairies, but had not seen in NJ. It makes long spires of yellow and, most endearingly, doesn't spread aggressively underground like some of the other goldenrods. This is the first year it has bloomed in the Barden.

When late summer meets early autumn, black gum leads the way with its brilliant red leaves.

This staghorn sumac looks a bit like a painted vulture drying its outstretched wings.

Woolgrass is not a grass, so let's call it woolsedge, Scirpus cyperinus. Admire its elegant seedhead, and feel its triangular stem that, like papyrus, prompts us to proclaim "sedges have edges." 

Very thoughtful of Autumn Helenium to wait until now to bloom. 

It's been a great year for ironweed, the relatively cool weather having extended its bloom.

I think of evening primrose as blooming through the summer, but didn't notice it until now, for some reason.

Our native euonymus, Strawberry bush, is developing its fruit, which will burst open later, revealing bright orange berries.

Late-flowering thoroughwort can look elegant or weedy. This year, perhaps due to the cooler weather, it has looked elegant, attracting many pollinators and exuding a wonderful honey-like fragrance.

Pokeweed, too, combines elements of elegance and weediness. The pendulant berries and bright red stems are attractive, but the leaves are a decadent jumble.

An unexpected delight this year was a plant that decided to grow near the gazebo. 

The name, rattlesnake root, Nabalus altissimus, doesn't capture the beauty of the pendulant flowers, each opening in turn, attracting a crowd of green/gold bees. 

Thanks to my entomologist friend David Cappaert, who quickly offered a name and a detailed closeup of the little bees--"one of the 'green halictids,' a set of several genera with green-gold coloration. They can be hyper-abundant at this time of year. Image here is of one in hibernation – you can find these under logs in the winter."

The show of asters has begun with woodland aster. Summer is not done yet!

You can visit the award-winning Barden any time, by driving down the lane across Snowden Lane from the Smoyer Park entrance. Say hello to the frogs, play a game of chess, or bring a lunch to eat in the gazebo. The address is 600 Snowden Lane, and we generally host a May's Cafe from 9-11 on first Sunday's of the month. Check HerrontownWoods.org for details.