Adkins Arboretum is fabulous! Situated just west of Denton, MD in the middle of the Delmarva Peninsula where the Northern and Southern Coastal Plains overlap, Adkins features the native plants of Delmarva wetlands, meadows and forests.We left DC Saturday, June 30, about 8 a.m. to beat the beach traffic on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and arrived at Adkins just as it opened at 10 a.m. [There was very little traffic returning on Saturday evening.]
Adkins comprises 400 acres of the 4,000-acre Tuckahoe State Park and was founded in 1980 with a "generous" grant from Leon Andrus. Since Adkins concentrates on native plants, it's work is primarily restoration and preservation. Our docent said they spend a lot of time removing invasive, non-native species.
The spade-shaped leaves (right) are of the edible duck potato. The white dot in the lower right is the duck potato blossom [click on any photo to enlarge or right click to open in a new window or new tab].
We looked to our left and there was a blue heron fishing. For the second week in a row, we spied an indigo bunting! There were also dragonflies in the wetlands and damselflies in the forest.
The meadows are cut or burned every three years to prevent establishment of the forest. Adkins has 23 boxes in the meadows to promote the eastern bluebird. Blooming in the meadows were milk weed and Maryland's black-eyed susans.
Adkins is by far the best documented of any arboretum we have visited. For the $3 admission, one can take a laminated trail map and a radio listening device to explore the arboretum trails with narration at points of interest. Also available are laminated cards with color photos showing what's in bloom this month, and another showing what birds, butterflies and insects are "on the wing." There are also docent guided tours at 11 a.m. on Saturdays (and 1 p.m. on first Wednesdays).
The meadows are cut or burned every three years to prevent establishment of the forest. Adkins has 23 boxes in the meadows to promote the eastern bluebird. Blooming in the meadows were milk weed and Maryland's black-eyed susans.
Adkins is by far the best documented of any arboretum we have visited. For the $3 admission, one can take a laminated trail map and a radio listening device to explore the arboretum trails with narration at points of interest. Also available are laminated cards with color photos showing what's in bloom this month, and another showing what birds, butterflies and insects are "on the wing." There are also docent guided tours at 11 a.m. on Saturdays (and 1 p.m. on first Wednesdays).
In addition, along the trails there are many small placards identifying various plants and occasional signs covering more general topics. [Insufficient plant labels are a huge problem in American arboretums, but not at Adkins.] We saw the fruit of the Mayapple that is favored by box turtles and the developing fruit of the Pawpaw that is favored by foodies.
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