GPOD on the Road: Cincinnati Wildflowers

03.05.2024 - 14:27 / finegardening.com / Joseph Tychonievich

Joseph here, your GPOD editor. Last week I was in the Cincinnati area for a work project, and I took some time to hike in a few area parks. It was perfect time for spring wildflowers, and I saw some real beauties!

This was my hands-down favorite plant on the trip: Delphinium tricorne (Zones 4–8). The familiar garden delphiniums are hybrids of European species, but we have some native species in the United States as well. This one is a small spring bloomer that then goes dormant in the summer—and what a beauty it is! Ranging from white to dark purple, each plant was a little different, but all were beautiful. I’m not sure why it isn’t common in gardens; it would be a great spring-blooming change from the normal daffodils and tulips.

A terrible picture, but the butterflies were enjoying the delphinium flowers too!

It’s always fun to see the strange little brownish flowers of the pawpaw (Asimina triloba, Zones 5–9). These little flowers will develop into delicious fruit later in the summer.

How fitting for a trip to Ohio, the Buckeye State, to see a buckeye tree (Aesculus glabra, Zones 4–9) in bloom! The greenish yellow flowers are easy to miss from a distance but quite beautiful up close.

Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana, Zones 4–9) is a plant I’ve seen many times in gardens, but it was fun to see it growing in the wild. The purple flowers are so velvety and perfect.

In one park the spiderworts were lining the path, making a display that I am itching to try in my home garden.

Blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia verna, annual) has the sweetest little blue flowers. This wildflower is a true annual—the seedlings germinate in the fall, overwinter, and then bloom and die in the spring.

Woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata, Zones 3–8) was