Chandler Park hosted our annual Wonders of Wildflowers event on May 1-3 this year. This limestone ridge offered plants like smoke tree, columbine and trilliums that are a rare treat. Pizza, scones, and BBQ fed our bodies, and friends and the park nurtured our souls. Friday evening, Ashley Clouse gave us a marvelous talk on the uses and history of some native plants and brought some for us to nibble on. Patrick Hayes, Chandler Park’s Naturalist gave us a fascinating history of Tulsa and the park and how the good and bad aspects of history blend together to produce a wonderful city park.

Wild columbine growing down a rock wall
The wild columbine was stunning cascading down the rock wall of the Lost City canyon at Chandler Park. Photo: Shalini Chitturi
A group walking a paved trail
Patrick led this morning group along the ADA lower trail before taking those brave souls willing on into the Lost City canyon. Photo: Lynn Michael

Patrick Hayes, Naturalist for Chandler Park, led tours along the ADA trail and into the Lost City canyon. All agreed that he did a fantastic job alerting us to the history of the place and its plants.

A narrow passage between rock walls
Entering Lost City canyon at Chandler Park.

Groups also walked the trails at Keystone Ancient Forest, where Joe Roberts and Debbie Drinko used the Forest Trees of Oklahoma book to help identify a tree, and Donna and Robert Horton and Lynn Michael each led a group along the trail. Nancy Truelove sat on a blackjack oak that had been shaped as an Indian Trail Tree, also known as a signal tree: as saplings, these trees were bent to point to a trail or something of significance.

White beardtongue flowers in the woods
Beardtongue, Penstemon digitalis, at Keystone Ancient Forest. Photo: Kim Wolfinbarger

On the trails

Walks at Chandler Park and Keystone Ancient Forest. Photos by Kim Wolfinbarger, Lynn Michael, Shalini Chitturi and Nancy Truelove.