It’s getting to be that time of year again – when the Marl Bed Flats part of the Lake Jesup Conservation Area along HW 417 north of Lake Jesup usually fills up with wild swamp sunflowers. It’s a late September / early October event and lasts for a couple of weeks. Lynn and I drove by yesterday to scout the area.
Swamp Sunflowers (from 2012)
The good news is that we already saw a few sunflowers blooming. The bad news is that we also saw a lot of standing water, especially near the lake. Flooding or standing water in the flower fields usually means fewer flowers.
There’s more bad news. This morning while putting this post together, I checked the Lake Jesup Wilderness Area website. It says:
“The Lake Jesup Wilderness Area is currently closed due to high water levels …”
It seems we’ll have to wait until next year to photograph these flowers. Sorry about that.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay safe! Take care of yourselves, your friends, and your families! And if you can, make some photos – although probably not Lake Jesup sunflower photos this year.
©2020, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved
thanks so much for the update.
You’re welcome, Jean
Thank you, Ed! We were planning to scout it out later this week. Sigh.
🙁
You’re welcome Wally. Maybe another time.
Any news this year??
Hi Janette,
I drove by this morning. The bloom has started and looks to be quite good. I’d estimate it’s still a week or two from peak.
The problem is that The Lake Jessup Wilderness Area website says “The Lake Jesup Wilderness Area is currently closed due to wet season conditions.” You can re-check it at this link:
https://www.seminolecountyfl.gov/locations/Lake-Jesup-Wilderness-Area.stml
Perhaps it will re-open soon.
Ed
10/3/21 Update: I looked on-line, but couldn’t find out whether the Marl Bed Flats area is closed or not. Lake Jesup Wilderness Area is close by, but on the other side of HW 417.
It seems like it’s been extra rainy this year so I was curious if anyone thinks the flowers will have a good bloom this year? Maybe down the yellow trail?
Hi Brittany,
I haven’t been by there recently – I’ll try to check on it an post and update towards the end of September. I did check the Seminole County websites and there’s not statement about the area being closed.
Ed
Hello again Brittany.
We did drive by the flower fields on 417 last Monday (9/26) and the flowers had started to bloom. We haven’t been back since the hurricane. I’d think that with all the rain we’ve had that area is going to be very wet, if not flooded. I didn’t see any updates on the official website when I checked this morning (https://www.sjrwmd.com/lands/recreation/lake-jesup/).
If you decide to go, please check the site first and be careful out there!
Ed
Thank you for your reply! Yes I’m sure it’s extra squishy. Will probably wait till next year.