Horror Sites

Rod Simmons led a plant walk May 27, 2006, through Leakin Park, located just inside the Baltimore City line. While we looked for species of Carex to identify, we treked through this section of the forest where a huge expanse of hillside above and below us was carpeted almost entirely with Vinca minor, otherwise known as Periwinkle. This plant is commonly sold in garden centers as a groundcover, and cover the ground it does very well, as you can see from these photos.

Photos were donated courtesy of Beth Johnson.

Vinca minor carpeting Leakin Park forest.

Long-distance view of Vinca minor carpet. The plants smother all but the largest plants, such as Podophyllum peltatum (May Apple). Smaller more delicate plants can't poke through.

Close-up of Vinca minor carpet.

Sara Tangren stopped on the shoulder on Central Avenue near Davidsonville one sunny day in August, 2005, to shoot this picture. You can see a close-up of the day lily flowers, and if you look really carefully, you can see that the day lilies are a huge orange expanse in the background. Also mixed in are Kudzu and Mile-a-minute.

Hemerocallis expanse along Central Avenue.

Bradford Pears (Pyrus calleryana 'Bradford') are opportunistic trees which easily grow in disturbed areas. Some places where they invade quite easily are the areas between highways, often adjacent to a storm water pond. From here, they can continue to produce fruit, which is eaten and dispersed by birds to other areas.

The Bradford Pears are in full bloom with white flowers. No one planted them there - they just sprung up. Photo by Christa Partain, taken 4/15/2005, in one section of the "clover" of the intersection of Montrose Road and I-270 in Montgomery County.