The Wildflower Flower Table at the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium is a living exhibit that reflects the abundance and diversity of flowers, grasses, berries, ferns and evergreens found in the Northeast Kingdom.
It has been part of the Museum since 1903, when it began as a simple arrangement of vases set out by Museum staff. With time, the Flower Table has grown to include some 400 species displayed throughout the year, in both fruit and flowering stages.
Since its earliest days, the Museum’s wildflower collection practices have depended on dedicated and trained staff and volunteers who collect and catalogue the specimens twice a week. A logbook contains over a century of entries that document the first local bloom date for each species of plant.
The seasonal cycle begins in late winter with early blooming pussywillow and continues through December with winter evergreens. Annual entries record some dwindling species, such as club mosses, partridge berry, some spring wildflowers, and many orchids. Other plant varieties have been introduced to the area that were not present a century ago, such as purple loosestrife or Bird’s-foot trefoil. Some non-native plants such as chicory reflect the flow of European migrants to New England. One such plant, the red clover (Trifolium pretense), is now such an accepted wild plant in Vermont that is has become Vermont’s official State Flower.
What wildflowers grow in the fields and forests where you live? Become a Fairbanks Observer and join the conversation about the colors and character of our landscape ... and how it is changing.
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