Grace K. Salmon Park
Imperial Avenue and Baker Avenue, Westport, Fairfield County, Connecticut
Medium-sized open green area.
Directions:
US 95 north to Exit 17; turn left onto Route 136 (Saugatuck Avenue); cross under US 95; turn right onto Riverside Road and cross the bridge over the Saugatuck River; take the first left turn, onto Imperial Avenue; follow Imperial Avenue and just past Baker Avenue on the right the Park will be on the left. Park.
History:
There is a plaque on a rock in the park:
"In memory of Virginia Sherwood who inspired the creation of the Park. Westport Garden Club. 1986."
Facilities:
Riverside views of the Saugatuck River, benches, gardens, shoreline
Trails:
11/05/2005. On a warm, beautiful day (very much above the usual seasonal temperature, Rosemary Cooney, Sarah-David Rosenbaum, dog Sonar and I toured the small park. This is a rounded peninsula on the banks of the Saugatuck River. The walk goes around a marsh area in the center of the peninsula that is surrounded by a small wire fence. I was able to note down some of the marsh plants, but this could only be done by looking into the marsh from afar, behind the fence.
The walk is a loop around the marsh and along the riverbank. This is a "real" park with green lawn and lots of planted plant specimens, many of which we did not recognize because they are horticultural species. Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.
PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick Cooney, Sarah-David Rosenbaum, Rosemary Cooney
* = plant blooming on date of field trip, 11/05/2005
Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharinum (silver maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula nigra (river birch) planted
Crataegus sp. (hawthorn)
Gleditsia triacanthos (honey locust)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Pinus thunbergii (Japanese black pine)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus calleryana (callery pear) planted
Pyrus malus (apple)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Salix sp. (willow)
Ulmus sp. (elm)
Shrubs:
Amorpha fruticosa (false indigo)
Cornus kousa (kousa dogwood)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Ilex sp. (holly bush) planted
Iva frutescens (marsh elder)
Juniperus sp. (horizontalis) ? (juniper)
Leucothoe sp. (leucothoe) planted
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Myrica pensylvanica (bayberry)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rosa rugosa (wrinkled rose)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Spiraea sp. (spiraea)
Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vincetoxicum nigrum (black swallowwort)
Herbs:
Ajuga reptans (ajuga)
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed)
Aster spp. (aster) *
Atriplex hastata (halberd-leaved orach)
Atriplex patula (orach)
Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle)
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower)
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod)
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag)
Lechea sp. (pinweed)
Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort)
Linaria vulgaris (butter and eggs) *
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Rumex sp. (dock)
Silene latifolia (white campion) *
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade)
Solidago sp. (goldenrod)
Trifolium pratense (red clover)
Typha angustifolia (narrow-leaved cattail)
Urtica dioica var. procera (tall nettle)
Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)
Sedges:
Scirpus cyperinus (woolly grass bulrush)
Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Panicum virgatum (switch grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Spartina alterniflora (salt marsh cord grass)
Back to the w. Connecticut Page
Back to the Main Page