Disaster at Daisy Trail

Daisy trail cedar glade spent nearly 2 weeks entirely under as
 much as 6 feet of water as a result of all the flooding over the
 1'st and 2'nd of may here in Tennessee.

This land should actually be high and dry ,as most cedar glades are,
 but Percy priest reservoir changed that when it was constructed in
 the 1960's bringing the shore live within 100 yards of the cedar glades,
 and occasionally flooding into the lower glades, never this badly.

It is not known at this point whether the glades will survive,
 i can confirm that the autumn onions, limestone fameflower,
and ruellia have survived, however many other plants boiled
 or suffocated in the shallow sunny water, 6 feet of standing
 water was a bit to much for many of the plants which are specially
 developed for dry spring summer conditions, and have perished.

I estimate a loss of 30 plant species in this glade for st least this year,
 time will tell what the seed bank held on to.

Right now it is a mucky brown mess full of dead baby fish and minnow, 
and has certainly changed the chemistry of the shallow limestone soils. 

Camera is in the shop so pics to come later, perhaps we will document
 the recovery of this cedar glade, as this has never before happened
 here and who knows if it can recover or if it will be lost forever.

Diversion~Spring ephemeral~ Karstlands

I've decided to provide a little diversion here at cedar glades of the Nashville basin and do an entry covering spring ephemerals in the karst lands at bakers grove

which is very near the couchville, mt view, and daisy trail cedar glades.

Karstland at bakers grove trail

An ephemeral plant is one marked by short life cycles, usually six to eight weeks. The word ephemeral means transitory or quickly fading. In regards to plants, it refers to several distinct growth strategies.

Early saxifrage and spring ferns enjoy the sun on the bluffs

click to enlarge

Spring ephemeral describes a life habit of perennial woodland wildflowers which develop aerial parts (i.e. stems, leaves, and flowers) of the plant early each spring and then quickly bloom, go to seed and then quickly die back to its underground parts (i.e. roots, rhizomes, and bulbs) for the remainder of the year. This strategy is very common in herbaceous communities of deciduous forests as it allows small herbaceous plants to take advantage of the high amount of sunlight reaching the forest floor prior to the leaf-out of woody plants.

 Yellow Corydialis , a spring ephemeral

related to Dutchman's breeches and bleeding hearts .

Tennessee has is one of the richest and most diverse environments for spring ephemerals

on the entire planet, lets take a look at some of the things i saw

today on this 4 mile medium difficulty hike at bakers grove trail,

i strongly recommend taking the walk soon if you are in the area,

especially if you are fond of trout lilies and dogtooth violets

yellow trout lily

they are thick on the north slope of the big hill 

this trail winds around

 And when i say thick i mean THICK

they cover the forest floor.

 There are also white ones,dogtooth violets,

 just as thick and lush as the yellow

  On the south side it is drier and leafier, and there is less moss.

things like trillium and may apples are at home here

Trillium

 mayapples stretch into life already full sized

rue anemone

 a large colony of cranefly orchids,
i have yet to catch these in bloom.

cutleaf toothworts grow through out the trail.

The gem of bakers grove trail is definitely the bluffs, a sturdy but rocky

in places foot trail winds along these 100 foot bluffs over

Percy priest lake, and face the sunset, a lovely and romantic 

view for an afternoon hike or a picnic. 

sailboats viewed from the bluffs, nice and breezy here.

 sweet fragrant Chickasaw plum flowering along with cedars on the bluffs.

soft spring fern foliage blankets the pathway as 

you stroll through the boulders

an underground stream emerges from a pile of boulders full

of mossy grottoes

Here we have Mr Hugh "bullfrog" Hefner lounging

in his mossy grotto waiting for some lunch to happen along

please enlarge this pic to spot him near center.

this is a porthole to an underground stream,

and you can hear the water trickling softly

through the mossy earth.

the same stream emerges completely and flows

into the lake, there is a large footbridge over it, 

the only large footbridge on the trail, so you can follow 

that stream only a few hundred feet uphill 

to see these things for yourself!

If you like old graveyards or vinca minor, then

you are in luck at bakers grove trail!

there is an area several acres across that used to be a graveyard

where the vinca minor has run amuck, as it does, being

a terrible invasive, although still quite beautiful.

this amazing and horrifying area is quite near the entrance,

but its nothing compared to the amount of privet 

that crowds the first 100 yards or so. 

I hope you've enjoyed our Nashville basin karst

woodlands spring display, get out there and see it for yourself

if you can! spring is here! spring is here! at last at last!!

Wildflower Wednesdays ~ Cedar Glade Cress

Leavenworthia stylosa, or cedar glade cress,

also known as Nashville mustard,

is blooming away signifying the start

of another blooming season here in

the Cedar glades of the Nashville basin.

They have such a sweet musky small that just says

Tennessee springtime to me , as if

it were taylor made to the area.

Interesting fact about leavenworthis stylosa,

plants in the cedar glades in the southern half

of the nashville basin have pink or white flowers.

Plants in the northern edge have blazing yellow 
to even orange/yellow blossoms,
and a much stronger smell. 

I hope you'll stay tuned, we will be exploring some 

new to the site glades this year!

 

Winter Light

This photo for contest, my 
entry for this months picture this photo contest, "winter light"

the shadows reach for the dark warmer shelter of a certain
weathered crack in the bedrock I have featured on this blog
before-

 

Same crack in summer,this photo not for contest.

Snowy Glade

 

Snowy Glade

Some pictures of the late January snow,

2010

Tyler Alley Sykes memorial trail

 

the sky was so blue

 

the colors popped through the snow

 

the stream trickled through the ice and snow

 

an ice shelf overhangs the channel of the stream

 

Here and  there the moss peaks through the snow

 

Some prickly pear, O. humifusa,

peaking out through the snow,

cacti in the snow!

the glades are really a place

of working contradictions !

 

Here and there there are small sinkholes in the limestone

releasing warmth from deep in the ground

 

it melts the snow from the stone

 

delicate and rarely seen ferns like this

  pellaea thrive in these chasms

 

I do wish it would snow this way each winter,

I actually find the season tolerable

so long as there are bright snowy days

to cheer up the gloom of our winters,

Thank you all for reading in 2009, 

here's to many more years of cedar 

glade beauty for me to share with you all!!

"Nashville snow" and a success in Daisy trail cedar glade.

"Nashville snow" and a success for Daisy trail cedar glade.

  

Daisy trail cedar glade is a beautiful

and diverse area at the end of my own street,

I have been visiting this glade since 

we moved into this home and this

is the first time I have seen it in the snow

albeit a "Nashville snow" that's barely

dusted the grass.

 

While their leafy friends are deeply dreaming,

These stunted eastern red cedars

are wide awake and playing in 

the snow.

 

The exposed bedrock has a nice

white covering of fresh snow.

 

As do the karst areas between the hickories

that surround the glade.

 

Amazing textures in a broken sheet

of ice that had covered a pool which drained

away, deer most likely broke the ice.

 

Snow dusted moss covers the rocks in the

margins of the glade.

 

Frozen mud creates textures in the 

ice by a frozen pool.

 

Most of the nearby percy preist lake has 

been drained to winter low levels

and frozen over.

*And now for the small success*

 

That's right, Daisy trail cedar glade is now protected!

not that I can officially  take any credit,

but i don't know anyone else who has been

blogging about this out of the way unknown

cedar glade ,cataloging its rare and

endangered endemics, and sending emails and

letters to the state of Tennessee on it's behalf (eh hmm).

In reality the area spoke for itself when

surveyed at some point, it is a small

but diverse glade area and

one surrouded by flooded

out caves which  surely harbor

their own oddities.

 What this brand new sign basically means 

 

Is that people are now prohibited to damage stuff 

up in Daisy trail cedar glade,a subject which

has frustrated me for 3 years of

watching people dump,drive through,cut donuts

on atv's in,burn,steal from,and(gasp) even MOW

once two years ago. yup someone MOWED this cedar glade,

the area abutts several neighborhoods

and the kids play there often,

someone was also overly happy with their riding mower.

None of these people even know what a cedar glade is!!

well THAT is the point of this blog.

Because this area borders the lake,and hunting

and fishing are allowed there, it won't become 

a Glade reserve area such as Flat Rock,

Mt View, or Couchville glade, but there

is now a hefty fine for anyone doing 

the aforementioned actions.

so it's a happy day for Daisy Trail Cedar Glade