Wildflowers

The sun beckons us out-of-doors. Celebrate springtime by dropping by the B & A Trail Park Ranger Station on Earleigh Heights Road for a copy of the new illustrated wildflower guide.The $4 guide identifies more than 40 varieties of wildflowers found along the trail, discussing folklore and other plant features.You can order by mail. Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope with check or money order, made out to Severn River Lions Foundation, to: B & A Trail Park, P.O. Box 1007, Severna Park, Md. 21146.

Spring is a little showier around here these days, thanks to the efforts of plant specialists at the University of Maryland, College Park.  The staff at UM's Arboretum and Botanical Garden have tracked down and rescued or preserved dozens of patches of an increasingly rare wildflower known as the sundial lupine. The meadow-loving plant with tall clusters of purple flowers has been under siege from mowing, herbicides, invasive plants, deer grazing and development. As with much in nature, the wildflower's decline has affected frosted elfin butterflies, which prefer lupines for food and habitat.

Each year, the advent of spring is heralded by an array of flower and garden shows around the country.A floral display of a very different kind recently blossomed in our nation's capital -- not, as one might expect, at the National Arboretum, but inside a museum.American artist-naturalist Mary Vaux Walcott spent her creative life depicting through watercolor paintings the colorful wildflowers she encountered on extensive travels to the America and Canadian Far West.Today, 50 of her wonderful wildflower paintings, drawn from the 791 of her works held by the museum, highlight the Smithsonian Institution's own celebration of spring, in a display now on view at the National Museum of American Art.Born in 1860, Vaux Walcott was the eldest child of a prominent Philadelphia Quaker family.

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, Mont. -- The late July storm broke over the valley like a wave over the prow of a ship. Hikers, emerging from the forest, dashed across stretches of lawn as lightning cut across the darkening sky. Couples in canoes awkwardly zigzagged their way toward the dock as thunder rumbled overhead. In front of the Many Glacier Hotel, picnickers packed up their lunch and scurried toward the first open door. Inside, a hastily built fire gained strength and filled the lobby with the scent of burning pine.

Hike with scientist Dennis Whigham and meet author and naturalist Cris Fleming on Sunday at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary in Lothian.Dr. Whigham, a plant ecologist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, will lead a search for woodland wildflowers from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.Ms. Fleming will sign copies of her new book, "Finding Wildflowers in the Washington-Baltimore Area," from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Wetlands Center.The wetlands sanctuary is at 1361 Wrighton Road.Information: 741-9330.

Wildflower popularity is going wild. Bright yellow lance-leaved coreopsis and black-eyed Susans, as well as white oxeye daisies and purple rocket larkspurs are popping up in beds and meadows everywhere -- in back yards, along sidewalks and driveways, and even as decorative trim along the front of houses -- adding spectacular color and beauty to home landscapes across the country.The key to growing wildflowers successfully is understanding the conditions they require in their native habitats.

For the first week or two of May, the woods of Harford County will be splashed with color as trillium, Virginia bluebells, woodland phlox and other delicate wildflowers that grow on the forest floor burst into bloom.More woodland wildflowers will blossom during this brief period than at any other time of the year.But the brilliant display won't last for long. Already the canopy of trees has begun to fill with leaves and it won't be long before the sunlight has been blocked out. Soon flowers will fade and seeds will fall.

Even if you don't know a purple coneflower from a lance-leaved coreopsis, you must have noticed the spectacular wildflowers along our state highways this summer. Thanks to the State Highway Administration (with a little help from Mother Nature in the form of adequate rainfall), this has been one of the best years for blooms since the wildflower planting program began 11 years ago. a Give credit also to Lady Bird Johnson, wife of the former president. She helped get the native wildflower requirement into the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987.

IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The dirt is dry, the grass is dry, the alpine pond that normally glistens here is a pathetic puddle. But as he pulls off the road and scans the scene, Bill Bonebrake notices what's not in the picture. "This would normally just be all flowers," he says, looking at the field unfurling beneath him. "A sea of color." Normally. But not much is normal in Colorado, as the worst drought in 70 years continues to squeeze the Rocky Mountains, wringing the last drops of moisture from an already arid landscape.

Saul Chaplin,85, a three-time Academy Award winner who shared Oscars for scoring the musicals "An American in Paris," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "West Side Story," died Saturday. The composer, arranger and producer, who worked on 60 motion pictures, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from injuries he suffered in a fall.Dr. Aaron Jack Sharp,94, a botanist and co-author of a popular guidebook on mountain wildflowers, died of cancer Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn. The author of more than 200 publications, his "Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers" guidebook had eight printings, sold nearly 200,000 copies and became one of the UT Press' best-selling titles.

IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The dirt is dry, the grass is dry, the alpine pond that normally glistens here is a pathetic puddle. But as he pulls off the road and scans the scene, Bill Bonebrake notices what's not in the picture. "This would normally just be all flowers," he says, looking at the field unfurling beneath him. "A sea of color." Normally. But not much is normal in Colorado, as the worst drought in 70 years continues to squeeze the Rocky Mountains, wringing the last drops of moisture from an already arid landscape.

It's a paradox of our factory-processed world: Our shampoo smells like herbs, our air freshener smells like wildflowers, our mouthwash smells like mint and our gardens smell like . . . well, in many cases, nothing much at all. Time to wake up and smell the scented geraniums. More and more gardeners are rediscovering the role that fragrance can play in a garden. It beckons our attention, wafts through our windows to freshen our homes, perfumes our summer evenings and evokes pleasant memories.

Here's a sampling of wildflower walks around the state. Many places also offer self-guided walks. Call for information. APRIL 5 1. Nature walk Chris Manning of the Baltimore Bird Club leads walkers through Cylburn's trails for signs of spring plants and more, at 9 a.m. at Cylburn Mansion, 4915 Greenspring Ave. Walks also take place April 12, 19 and 26. Free. Call 410-367-2217. APRIL 10 2. Kids' wildflower walk Look for the first signs of spring, learn to identify wildflowers and learn about their history, 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. at Brookside Gardens, 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton.

Virginia pine and greenbrier grew wild and unchecked, smothering native grasses and choking rare wildflowers. Then, torched, the scrub gave way to a charred wasteland. Now, not even a year later, a prairie: acres of Indian grass swaying in the breeze, drifts of rust and gold that seem more Great Plains than Owings Mills. "Can't you just see the buffalo coming across the horizon?" says Laura Mitchell, an ecologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. "This is a whole different spot." Different, and ecologically healthier than at this time last year, say Mitchell and the other conservationists who gathered yesterday to assess the results of a "controlled burn" at Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area.

We're trekking through the asphalt inner city with Danny Saffer, searching cracks in the sidewalk for wildflowers, plucking blooms from roadside trash, finding rare weeds in the gutter and along the tracks at the Streetcar Museum.Lanky, loose-limbed and exceedingly energetic at 77, "Wildflower" Saffer ambles along scanning the ground like a man looking for lost $100 bills. A self-taught botanist, Saffer's ability to ferret out unusual plants is praised by Jean Worthley, one of Maryland's pre-eminent naturalists.

NORFOLK, Va. -- Holly Cruser's heart flutters when she spies a butterfly, especially if it's feasting on the sweet nectar of a blossom."A swallowtail can work one buddleia panicle a day," says Cruser, referring to the flower clusters of the plant commonly called the butterfly bush.Talking with visitors about the recent opening of the new 2-acre Bristow Butterfly Garden at Norfolk Botanical Garden, Cruser leaves the group to walk over to where she can get a better look at a butterfly she can't readily identify.

Great Cacapon, West Virginia.--It's taken me five years to wrestle a civilized, well-manicured lawn along the river into a magnificent scramble of wildflowers.Today I walk through the sunlit meadow beside the cabin and see and hear the wild and wonderful exuberance of native wildflowers with their itinerant bugs and butterflies. Honeybees drone on red clover; dragonflies stitch; swallowtail butterflies quietly suck on purple coneflower; hummingbirds whiz and bong each other as they sip from the red bee-balm.

Richard Pais turned his yard into a wildflower meadow and never looked back -- except to admire the blossoms. Come each spring, the 1/4-acre lot beside his Mount Airy home erupts in natural, if unruly, splendor. Thriving stands of coreopsis, poppies BTC and wallflowers burst into color, carpeting the field with a profusion of brilliant, waist-high blooms.The meadow is the envy of the block. When neighbors start trimming their lawns, Mr. Pais' mower stays in the garage."I must save 30 hours of mowing a year," he says.

Even if you don't know a purple coneflower from a lance-leaved coreopsis, you must have noticed the spectacular wildflowers along our state highways this summer. Thanks to the State Highway Administration (with a little help from Mother Nature in the form of adequate rainfall), this has been one of the best years for blooms since the wildflower planting program began 11 years ago. a Give credit also to Lady Bird Johnson, wife of the former president. She helped get the native wildflower requirement into the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987.