🌻 Frolic through the flowers | Outdoorsy Newsletter

Last year, they were unavoidable. Today, I was beginning to think they were a thing of the past, at least in my neighborhood.

Then I recently saw one on a pool deck. Another, dead on the ground. And then one casually perusing through my pepper plants!

I’m talking about the spotted lanternfly. By this point in the season, the invasive pests are fully-grown adults and resume their yearly reign of terror over our region. They may not bite or sting, but their agricultural impact is disastrous.

Depending on where you live, you may have noticed the bugs are now gone, or much fewer in number. On the flipside, I’ve heard from friends and some on social media say they are hard at work getting rid of the crawling insect at their local park.

One thing is for certain: They aren’t gone forever, and still pose a big problem for crops and trees. I think we should stay vigilant for now, and know how to identify and squash them.

📮 What do you think about the spotted lanternfly? Are you seeing less or more of them these days? Any hacks on combating them? Tell me about your experience by emailing me back.

☀️ Your weekend weather outlook: Friday should be nice and warm, but Saturday may see some storms starting in the afternoon. Sunday will reel summer back in with mostly clear and sunny skies.

You’ve heard April showers bring May flowers. But just because we’re well past spring doesn’t mean we can’t buy ourselves flowers, so today we’re picking our own bouquets. We’ll also learn more about Pine Barrens culture, and later throw on a lab coat for a scientific detour.

— Paola Pérez

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For those of us living in Philly, we’re lucky enough to live next to the Garden State and in the farmland-filled Delaware Valley.

Wherever you may be in the region, if your soul is craving some florals, there are plenty of flower farms and festivals that allow you to pick a few bouquets to take home.

From relaxing lavender and peony farms to endless tulip fields, these farms and fields offer picturesque scenes, full of vibrant and bright colors from horizon to horizon.

Plus, many offer more than flower-picking — they also have family-friendly activities, live music, beer gardens, food, and animals to visit. Take Dalton Farms for example:

🌻 Located just off Route 322 on a property that dates back to the 17th century, this 100-acre farm has a six-acre lake, 10 active beehives that produce honey (which is for sale at the farm), and 30 acres of tulips.

🌻 You can pick your own bright, yellow beauties during The Festival of Sunflowers (coming up on Aug. 24 through Oct. 8th). You also get to enjoy a bit of farm life, take a paddle boat ride on the lake, and eat food from local vendors. There’s no time limit — but they ask that you bring your own scissors or knife to cut your flowers.

🌻 More info: 📍660 Oak Grove Rd., Swedesboro, N.J., 📞 856-628-7313, 🌐 daltonfarms.com, 📷 @daltonfarmsnj, 🎟️ $13 admission (ages 3+), free for children under 3

There’s much more floral fun to be had well into the fall. Get the full list of pick-your-own flower farms and seasonal events that are just a few tolls away.

Paola’s pro-tip: Be sure to call ahead and check location dates and hours before you head out.

🎤 Now I’m passing the microphone to Jason Nark. You’ll always find his work here.

A mason jar stuffed with a bouquet of tawny cottongrass sat on a table in a historic general store in the heart of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens.

William J. Lewis, 49, knows the plant by another name. It’s the name his father learned from his late grandfather, Joseph ‘Roy’ Lewis, a lifelong plant gatherer and tinkerer educated in the Jersey woods, called it.

“I’ve always known it as cat’s paw and there’s probably still a few people out there who call it that,” Lewis said Friday morning in Buzby’s General Store. “I don’t want people to forget those words.”

Lewis, a lifelong resident of New Egypt, is a self-professed “piney,” a word that’s been used as both a putdown by outsiders and a badge of pride by locals over the last couple centuries. He spent childhood summers in Browns Mills and Chatsworth, deeper in the Pinelands.

He’s spent the last couple of years trying to reclaim the word “piney,” to expound on it in ways he feels John McPhee, author of the seminal “The Pine Barrens” didn’t in the 1960s. Like most others, Lewis feels McPhee’s book helped save the Pine Barrens from development, but it was the first time he’d seen the word “piney” used in a negative way. — Jason Nark

Continue reading about how Lewis hopes to tell the history of the Pine Barrens through the eyes of its people.

I recently visited Longwood Gardens to celebrate my birthday with their iconic illuminated fountain show. This time, we’re stopping by in the name of science.

Catch up quick: Located about an hour west of Philly, Longwood boasts nearly 200 acres of formal gardens and lush meadows for guests to enjoy and explore. Aside from sharing the splendor of nature with the public, they promote science-based research and conservation.

What they do: “Our Research and Conservation team focuses on finding and evaluating new plants, improving plant characteristics through breeding efforts and cultural techniques, and enhancing the sustainability of our horticulture practices.”

One such effort: Reproducing the conservatory’s giant crown jewel, Encephalartos woodii. This plant is extinct in the wild, and only male specimens exist.

Watch conservatory manager Karl Gercens explain how scientists are using plant cloning on the “king of the conservatory” in our latest series on Local Science.

🎤 Jason says: I took this on Lake Eden in Vermont.

Bliss.

Here’s a special memory from Guido Gaeffke of Haverford:

“I just took 18 people to Glacier National Park. We did the Glacier Challenge organized by Glacier Guides. Was a life altering experience for many of us.”

A breathtaking view on a rewarding adventure. Thank you for sharing.

📮 What have you been doing outdoors lately? Give us a review of your experience for a chance to be featured in this newsletter by emailing me back.

Are we past the dog days of summer? We’ll explore even more next week. Take care, outdoorsy friends!