In Which I Hunt Bluebells on a Whale of a Ride

Bluebells in my garden. A nice flower that appears after the early flowers of spring have faded. I was seeking wild plants of this type on today's bicycle ride.

Over the course of two years, I have planted maybe 10 bluebell plants in my gardens. They’re a nice flower for several reasons—the flowers themselves are pretty, blue being a slightly unusual color for flowers. The buds are a pretty pink, and the transition from pink bud to blue flower is nice. And the plant itself is a burst of spinach-like greenery that shoots up quickly in the spring—leaves appear as little red tabs before going dark green.

Bluebells are a color shifting species—and a native flower in North America, too, if you plant the native kind (there are English and Spanish bluebells, which are pretty blue spring flowers, too, but not native).

Sky was mixed--sometimes mostly blue, sometimes milky, sometimes with baby thunder clouds. Sun has just gone into hiding during the final mile of my ride.

Anyway, one of the trails I ride fairly often is the Krumbholtz Trail, which now serves to connect the Boyson Trail in Marion to Menards. Plans are for this little stub of a trail to become more important—a connecting trail which should tie it into the main trails running through Cedar Rapids is in the works.

But for now, this limestone trial, best ridden with a mountain or hybrid bike and only when the ground is dry, is a pretty, quiet, partly wooded ride not far from my house.

Today was sunny and warm in Iowa, but also Monday. As far as work productivity goes, it was not one of my best. I did work today, but my heart was not in it.

Pretty spring sky on Boyson Trail.

On the Lindale Trail, final leg of the ride, some clouds start to hide the sun.

So by 5 p.m., I was willing to write off Monday as a sad, lost cause, and enjoy the sunshine. I knew I wasn’t going to take a long ride, and the weather has been dry lately, which means my hybrid bike could easily handle the limestone of the Boyson and Krumbholtz trails. So the nearest trails to my house were the choice today.

I also expected that this trail may be fairly heavily used, so I tied on a face bandana after getting my bike out.

I knew form previous years that the woods at the west end of the Krumbholtz Trail has clumps of bluebells, and I hadn’t seen them in bloom, yet. So my quest today, besides riding to get away from manic, moody Monday, was a quest to find the wild bluebell.

Well, the quest was successful. Those pretty little harbingers of spring were commonly visible on this fine spring day.

Along the Krumbholtz Trail, above and below, bluebells in the woods beside the trail.

 

Why it was a "whale of a ride." The picture on my riding app.

In Which The Bluebells Bloom In Woods By The Bridge

Bluebells in bloom beside a bike trail in Marion.

It’s been getting further into spring in Iowa, the grass is green now, daffodils and tulips coming into bloom. I took a morning ride on the Boyson Trail, just to get on the other side of the Brentwood hill for RAGBRAI hill climbing practice.

Same plant, second view.

I was thinking how much more green it’s looking, but beyond the crocus and daffodils, I haven’t seen many flowers, especially outside of gardens.

And suddenly, they were there. In the low wet soil, a bunch of pretty bluebells. And once I had spotted them, it seemed like flowers were everywhere. Dandelions are suddenly dotting lawns, violets peek out from forest cover, there are anonymous small pink and white flowers among the forest grass.

Small trees are just starting to leaf out. Maples are beyond blooming and showing their tiny first leaves.

The morning ride was a bit odd—I ran into some sort of organized race along the trail that I didn't expect—but in the quiet of the woods it was nice to see confirmation that spring is fully underway.

And today I got in 19 miles--did not have time for more, but that wasn't bad. Just over 300 so far in April, and with rain coming, that may end up being it for the month.

View from the trail bridge is getting more and more spring green.