By Erik Keller

As tomorrow is the Fall equinox, I thought that a scavenger hunt at Ann’s Place would be a great way to celebrate the changing season. I have put together a video with the rules and the objects that people should search for in the different gardens and around the exterior of Ann’s Place. My ‘Where’s Wilda?’ challenge is an obvious rip-off of ‘Where’s Waldo?’. Wilda and Waldo do have a few things in common: they both wear glasses, are well-traveled and their names differ by only a single letter. Wilda is much more clever and cultured than Waldo and has a much more diverse wardrobe, however, and is a good sport to boot. She is a dear friend and the person who brought me to Ann’s Place over a decade ago to design the gardens and run the horticultural-therapy program.

In putting together the hunt I was a bit challenged with my selection of plants. If you look for some of these plants a few weeks from now, they may have changed dramatically. Some will have gone to seed, some will flower out, others will darken and fade. Wilda will be the same. Regardless, most will still be easy to identify for the two-week period that the hunt is on.

I hope you can find everything in my video. Below is a list of the 19 items mentioned for your convenience.

American holly (Ilex opaca)
American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens)
Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)
Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Golden rod (Solidago altissima)
Hops (Humulus lupulus)
Japanese beautyberry (Callicarpa japonica)
Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum)
Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis)
Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
Montauk daisy (Nipponanthemum nipponicum)
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)
New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
Pitcher plant (Sarracenia)
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
Sea oats (Uniola paniculata)
Wilda (Pulchra domina)
Winterthur viburnum (Viburnum nudum)

Enjoy the search!