Showy Lady Slipper Orchids and Grass Pink Orchids can usually be found at Cedar Bog Nature Preserve during the month of June. Cedar Bog will be hosting an Orchid Walk led by Cedar Bog Naturalists on both Saturday, June 3, at 11 a.m. and Sunday, June 4, at 2 p.m. this year.
Cedar Bog claims the largest population of Showy Lady Slipper Orchids in the state of Ohio with over 450-500 blooms typically each season. The Showy Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium reginae), also known as the Pink-and-white Lady’s Slipper or the Queen’s Lady’s Slipper, is a rare, terrestrial, temperate flower native to northern North America. Found in wetland areas such as alkaline fens, like Cedar Bog, this rare plant has vanished from much of its historical range due to habitat loss and watershed impacts.
Cypripedium reginae contains an irritant, phenanthrene quinone or cypripedin, which causes dermatitis on the hands and face.
Admission for the Orchid Walk is $5 per person and $4 for Ohio History Connection and Cedar Bog Association members and children.
Moth Nights return
If you enjoy the sights and sounds of nature at night, Cedar Bog has several events lined up for the insect enthusiasts from May through August.
Entomologist Jim Lemon will be leading our “Moth Nights” at Cedar Bog on the following Friday night dates at dusk: June 9, July 7 and Aug. 11. In the event that a Friday evening is stormy, we will move the Moth Night to the following evening. Admission is free to attend these Moth Nights at Cedar Bog, which will be held at the Education Center or the Bog House at Cedar Bog. Bring a flashlight, your camera, insect repellant or insect shield clothing and meet us at dusk at Cedar Bog. UV lights will be used so if you have UV glasses, bring them along, too.
Visitor from the Everglades
As part of our Second Saturday programs, Dr. William Mitsch, Eminent Scholar and Director of the Florida Everglades Wetland Research Park, will talk about wetlands on Saturday, June 10, at 10 a.m. at Cedar Bog’s Education Center. Dr. Mitsch is an ecosystem ecologist and ecological engineer who received the 2004 Stockholm Water Prize in August 2004 as a result of a career in wetland ecology and restoration, ecological engineering and ecological modeling.
Presented annually since 1991, the Stockholm Water Prize is a prestigious award that recognizes outstanding achievements in water-related activities, and recipients have come from across the world and represented a wide range of professions, disciplines and activities in the field of water.
Dr. Mitsch was the founder and editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Ecological Engineering, created the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park, and has contributed toward the development of the field of wetland ecology, particularly as first author of five editions of the standard textbook Wetlands, a book that continues to be used around the world to teach wetland ecology. Dr.Mitsch’s research has emphasized wetlands for nutrient removal and focused on the importance of natural and restored/created wetlands in climate change.
Admission for the “Wetlands” talk with Dr.Mitsch is $10 per person and $5 for Ohio History Connection and Cedar Bog Association members.
The Cedar Bog Nature Preserve is located at 980 Woodburn Road, located 4 miles south of Urbana off South U.S. Route 68. For more information on events at Cedar Bog, please call 937-484-3744 or email [email protected] or visit our website at www.cedarbognp.org.
