Wildflower Walk

This afternoon the sun was out, and I decided to return to Riverside Park to photograph some of the wildflowers I saw a couple days ago on a hike I took with my husband.  That day was cool and overcast, and all weekend it rained, but today was perfect.  Over the past few years volunteers here in Janesville have spent hundreds of hours rehabilitating the park, and especially rebuilding this segment of Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail.

There are lots of steep stairs to climb, though the sturdy handrail is helpful on the old stone steps.  

The path itself is narrow, and has not railings, though there is a steep slope that falls to the Rock River below.  In the spring before the leaves are all the way out, the path is strewn with hundreds of wildflowers.  

There were many more of these Dutchman's Breeches last week.  Apparently the rain we had on Saturday and Sunday beat the tender while blooms to pieces.  I found this little clump, though.

These white flowers carpet the hillsides and bottoms of the limestone outcroppings in the park.  I am not sure, but think this might be a false rue anemone.  

 I really need a wildflower guide to the upper Midwest.  Is this a type of buttercup?

This is another flower I need help in identifying. I'm leaning toward woodland phlox.

This one is easy because I have it all over my back yard, and it is Wisconsin's flower symbol, the blue violet.

I think this is a yellow bellwort.  Not a pretty name, though the blossoms are elegant.

A couple of my flower portraits didn't turn out - the wild geranium and the spring beauties were simply out of focus.  I was too late for the blood root flowers, and too early for the trillium, trout lily and May apple  That's fine, because it will give me an excuse to return to the path and see what treasures are there to be found.

Also, the Hedberg Library  has an exhibit of more professional wildflower photos, so maybe I'd better go there for help in identification.  Or, maybe I'll go on the guided walk this Saturday, May 1, at 10:00 AM.