Summer Wildflowers of the Jennings Environmental Education Center Prairie

If you happen to be about 45 minutes north of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania near the end of July and love wildflowers, then the prairie at the Jennings Environmental Education Center is the place to be. This is when Mother Nature shows off her most glorious sampling of wildflowers in purples, whites and yellows.

Jennings is home to a relict prairie ecosystem and luckily there's a trail right through the middle of it to really get in among the flowers.  

The star of the prairie is the Blazing Star flower (Liatris) which puts on it's very own show every summer.  The education center holds an annual festival to "celebrate the bloom" and folks come from all around to see this area.

This summer, the prairie was particularly beautiful, with blooms as far as the eye could see.  

Add caption

The combination of the purples and yellows was striking, but look closely and you could see all sorts of wildflowers in bloom.  It was pretty amazing and the collection of pictures we have here doesn't even cover every variety that was there.

Go at different times throughout the year and you'll see even more varieties.

Here are some of our favorites:

Early Goldenrod (Solidago Juncea)

I always think of goldenrod as a fall flower, but as you can see in some of the pictures, they are out in full force in the summer.

Yarrow

I just love the tiny individual blossoms that make up a larger flower on the yarrow plant and the white color adds a nice calming place to rest your eyes after being wowed by the brighter colors.

Smooth Ox-eye (Heliopsis Helianthoides)

The golden color of this ox-eye really caught our attention.

  Poke Milkweed (Asclepias Exactata)

The milkweed were coming to an end in late July, but this one was still hanging around.

Nodding Burr Marigold (Bidens cernua)

This nodding burr marigold was a much more orange color than the predominant golds that we were seeing around the prairie.

Downy Skullcap (Scutellaria incana)

This downy skullcap was one of our favorites, so soft and gentle looking and a cool break from all of the golds and yellows.

Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginiamum)

We weren't familiar with this flower and it got a little lost with all of the taller flowers around it.  Up close it really had some interesting details.

Common Teasel (Dipsalus Fullonium) 

This bumblebee was loving this teasel and from the looks of his legs, there was plenty of pollen to be found.

Green-headed coneflower (Rudbeckia lacinata) 

The green center of this green-headed coneflower is a showstopper and makes for easy identification.

Culver's Root (Veronicastrum Virginicum)

Another white flower to add some calm to a see of gold.  The shape adds some more interest.

Whorled Rosinweed

It got harder and harder to distinguish all of the golden flowers, but we are pretty sure that this is the whorled rosinweed.

Blazing Star (Liatris)

The star of the Jennings prairie is this blazing star and boy did it put on a show this year.  

Tall Sunflower

This tall sunflower was a lot taller than we were so it almost formed a canopy over us.

What more can be said about this glorious sight.  The prairie at the Jennings Environmental Education Center puts on a show almost any time of year, but it pulls out all of the stops in late July.

Directions:

Jennings is located at the interception of route 8 and route 528 near slippery rock.

Tips:

• Jennings has a number of trails and nature programs.  Visit the education center building for maps and information.
• The Old Stone House historic site is located just across route 8 and is often open for tours on the weekends.

More Information:

DCNR Jennings Environment Center