Virginia Native Plant Society September Wildflower Walk at Ivy Creek

Tony Russell

Welcome to the September edition of the montly series of self-guided plant walks, sponsored by the Jefferson Chapter of the Native Plant Society and the Ivy Creek Foundaiton. This month’s leader is Tana Herndon, who we have recorded walking the South Field of Ivy Creek. We marked each plant she speaks about with a numbered orange flag so that they are easy to locate. We have also taken a photograph so that you can check to see if you have found the correct plant. The photographs are also useful as this tour will be posted for a two week period and some of the flowers that were blooming when we recorded the walk may be faded by October 2nd.

There are many ways to take this walk.

1. We have provided a Plant List which has numbered the plants to correspond with the flags you find along the trail. Print out this list and bring along a field guide to tell you about the plant as you find it.

2. If you want to walk at Ivy Creek with Tana’s narrative, you can download the free Izi travel app from your Play Store or iTunes onto your phone and it will guide you by GPS along the tour providing Tana’s narration with accompanying plant photograph. It is helpful to download the walk before you come to ICNA, just so you are not reliant on cellphone service. You will also need to have your location turned on. To access all the photos on the app, just touch the box of images and scroll through them as you walk. Start this walk at the intersection of the Red Trail and South Field, near the parking lot.

3. If you prefer not to download the app or you prefer to do the walk from home, you can follow the tour on your home computer from this link: https://izi.travel/en/b71a-september-vnps-plant-walk-at-the-ivy-creek-natural-area/en. You can “walk” with Tana, hearing her narration, following the map of the walk and seeing the photographs. To scroll through all the photographs on your computer, use the red dots below the image that begins each section of the walk.

We would love your feedback after you experience this walk—in whichever version you choose. Please feel free to contact catherine@ivycreekfoundation.org.