Department of Tourism
"Wildflower Watch" Spotlights Colorful Flora at Kentucky Parks

FRANKFORT, Ky.  – With the arrival of spring, the Kentucky Departments of Tourism and Parks are teaming up for the eighth year to provide travelers with tips for trips to state parks and nature preserves where wildflowers and trees are splashing the countryside with color.

“Kentucky boasts literally hundreds of wildflower species, and they vary greatly from east to west,” said Carey Tichenor, state naturalist with the Parks Department in Frankfort. In addition to the profusion of wildflowers, he also noted that trees such as dogwood, redbud, black locust, serviceberry, buckeye and magnolia also will be showing off their dazzling blooms.

 Starting April 4 and running for four weeks, the Wildflower Watch program will provide weekly updates on the stages of wildflower and flowering tree activity reported by 13 park and preserve naturalists throughout the state and provide a list of events for the coming weekend.

 The weekly Wednesday reports with photos of native wildflowers will appear on the Department of Tourism’s website, www.kentuckytourism.com. The public can also obtain updates by calling the tourism department’s travel consultants at 1-800-225-8747.

 Many park naturalists have special events planned during the flowering season. Log on to www.kyparks.gov to find out what’s scheduled for a park near you. For more information on a particular park’s events, contact the individual park directly. 

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