I’ve been to Fitzwilliam many times. One of my favorite places to go for a quite walk is Rhododendron State Park, home to largest grove of wild rhododendrons in New England. The flowers bloom in mid-July. I missed the bloom this year, but there is still plenty to see. A myriad of other flowers and plants can be found along the trails.
Trillium berry
The grove is very dense. I love how the branches go every which way.
After the blossoms are gone
Pinesap
Orange slime mold
Bloodroot leaf – love the shape
Rattlesnake Plantain
Flower of the Striped Wintergreen
The rhododendrons completely cover the trail, it is like walking through a tunnel
I’ve seen a fair amount of wildlife there, deer, rabbits, owls (none of which stopped long enough for a good photo. But this toad seemed quite happy to pose for me…
I would highly recommend bring bug repellant, the mosquitoes are ferocious…
As I was headed over to Rockwood pond, I found quite a few other plants and flowers that caught my attention…
Dogwood berries
Fly agaric mushroom
Black eyed susans
The shades of blueberry
Wild sarsaparilla fruit
When I got to Rock wood pond, I found I wasn’t the only one out enjoying the beautiful weather. I watched Sadie for quite a while, she was very energetic for a 10 year old…
Rockwood pond is a lovely spot to visit. I was amazed at how clean and clear the water was…
The Fitzwilliam Rail Trail goes by Rock wood Pond. It is an awesome place to walk, bike, enjoy!
“Wait for me!”
Of course I was drawn to all of the flowers and berries I found along the pond and trail…
Milkweed
“If I’m on the under side of the leaf, you can’t see me”
Spotted Jewel Weed
I saw an amazing variety of dragonflies
Joe Pye Weed
Blue Bead Lily berries
Steeple bush
You can tell how small this mushroom is by looking at the oak leaf near it
From the trail, you have a beautiful view of Mt Monadnock…
And on the opposite side of the trail is a smaller pond called Little Rockwood Pond…
As I meandered around other parts of Fitzwilliam, I found more great marshes and plants…
Glossy Buckthorn which is very invasive
Rabbit’s foot clover
Cardinal Flower bud
I also found other views of Mt Monadnock…
I don’t remember which road I was on earlier this year when I found several antique firetrucks…
So, as you can see, there is more than enough in Fitzwilliam to keep you busy for a day or a week or more. I’m going to head back and see if more of the blueberries are ripe!
Once again “Thank you” to New Hampshire Garden Solutions for the plant ids!
To find out more about Fitzwilliam, visit the town’s website or the state’s website.
Next week, I’ll be headed back to the Great North Wood Region to tour Stewartstown, I hope you’ll join me!
Touring NH 
You’ve got some great shots here! I see that I’ve mis-identified the indian cucumber root berry-that’s actually a trillium berry, which aren’t seen that often. Also the purple flowers that I thought were canada thistle aren’t, so I’m glad you didn’t use that caption. I’m not sure what those are-I’d like to see them in person. I never found the cardinal flowers-I’m very colorblind and red is one of the hardest for me to see when it is near green. I’ll see them someday! I climbed Gap Mountain over the weekend and found a huge patch of downy rattlesnake plantain, so it was a worthwhile climb.
Thanks for the correction, I changed the caption. Sorry you didn’t find the cardinal flowers. I thought about climbing Gap Mountain when I was there, but didn’t get around to it. Great find on the downy rattlesnake plantain!
Great variety of photos of plants. You really writes great blog!
Thank you. Sometimes I get stuck on plants, sometimes animals, sometimes barns…it all depends on what I find in the area!
Hi Laura. Your photos just get better and better! Loved the first mushroom shot and thought that was my favorite but the Jewel Weed is a close second. We should kayak the ponds when you have time.
I’d love to get out in the kayaks!!! Maybe we should just pick a day and make time 😉
where is that last shot of monadnock with the river in front of it? its great!
A:hover { COLOR: red } A { TEXT-DECORATION: none; COLOR: #0088cc } A.primaryactionlink:link { COLOR: #fff; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #2585b2 } A.primaryactionlink:visited { COLOR: #fff; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #2585b2 } A.primaryactionlink:hover { COLOR: #fff !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #11729e } A.primaryactionlink:active { COLOR: #fff !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #11729e }
Thank you, I believe it was right on Rt 12 near Stone Pond.