Fall in the Bog

Bogs such as Saco Heath are unique and fascinating natural areas and they are home to some fascinating plants. In fact, Saco Heath was featured in Tom Wessels’ book New England’s Roadside Ecology, featuring 30 of New England’s most interesting natural areas. The Heath was created when two adjacent ponds filled with decaying plant material called peat. Eventually, the two ponds filled completely and grew together to form a raised, coalesced bog where the surface of the bog is perched above the groundwater. The bog is home to some interesting plants such as the carnivorous pitcher plant, cotton grass (actually a sedge, not a grass), cranberries, winterberry holly with its bright red berries, and the tamarack or American larch, a deciduous conifer. What’s best is that we will stay high and dry upon the bog boardwalk as we explore the bog. Come join Boot Boutwell to explore Saco Heath in autumn! Children 10 and up are welcome if accompanied by an adult.

About the Presenter

Roland “Boot” Boutwell is a freelance itinerant naturalist who taught the core course in “Native New England Shrubs” and lead field trips for the New England Wild Flower Society for nearly 20 years and was a part time teacher/naturalist for the Massachusetts Audubon Society. He teaches nature programs and leads nature walks for a number of other organizations including: Arlington, MA Community Education; Wright-Locke Farm in Winchester, MA, The Winchester, MA public schools; The Friends of the Middlesex Fells (Greater Boston) and numerous other organizations. His hobbies include photography, acting in community theater, and the guitar.