Treat yourself to outdoor beauty Wednesday evening at the final installment of the Natural History Museum of Utah’s Wildflower Walks. These walks, which have been running since April, incorporate the knowledge of plant expert Elizabeth Johnson and bug expert Christy Bills, both collections managers at NHMU, to provide engaging information about Utah plant and bug life along the Bonneville Shoreline trail.
Echo Paixao, assistant gallery programs coordinator at NHMU, said, “It’s a great opportunity to get to be with not just one, but two, of our collections staff in an intimate setting. And our collections staff are brilliant people; they’re educators, they spend a lot of time out in the field. To get this sort of daytime with them is actually rare and special.” Paixao also explained that these tours provide participants with the opportunity to ask any questions they may have had about local plant and bug life, as well as about the life of a museum anthropologist. “It’s kind of a cool window of insight into a little bit of behind-the-scenes action,” she said.
Unlike the other three walks, which have all taken place in the afternoon, this last walk will take place in the evening, allowing participants to enjoy not only the flowers, the bugs and the company of experts, but also the picture-perfect image that is a Utah sunset.
“What’s really cool is it’s now finally light enough at night to do an evening walk, so this one will be at 7 p.m.,” Paixao said. “We tried that for the first time last year, and it was a really beautiful time of day to be out there.”
You can still enjoy this wildflower walk even if you have been on one of the past afternoon ones. For one thing, you’ll be able to see a sunset as you go, which is always a good reason to be outside with a good view; for another, the plants that are blooming don’t stay the same from month to month. Paixao explained, “Just within a month, with the amount of rain and sunshine, we’ve had there’s things that pop up that weren’t there week one.” In other words, it would be hard for you not to find something different.
As an added plus, Wednesday nights are usually pretty quiet around NHMU since fewer children tend to be up there at that time. You can make it a date night: start with the walk, and then if you’re up to it you can also visit the museum before ending the evening with a quick drink at the museum’s café.
Everyone is invited to participate in this final Sunset Wildflower Walk free of charge. Just show up to NHMU before 7 p.m. and tell the nice person at the lobby desk that you are interested in participating. And look out for the return of the wildflower walks next April.
@casey_koldewyn