Silver Creek Park, named after the creek of the same name, is located directly on the Alabama River, a wide stream that winds through the Red Hills here. These got their name from the often rust-red soils of this hilly area. Mostly the hills as well as the small valleys in between are covered with forest. R. alabamense tends to thrive in the somewhat drier, higher areas in this landscape, while R. colemanii tends to be found in somewhat lower, wetter areas. When we were there R. alabamense was in full bloom, while R. colemanii still had tightly closed winter buds. Only near Big Flat Creek, the type locality of R. colemanii, were we lucky enough to find two very early flowering plants. On the way, we encountered R. canescens along the road. Its flowers were almost completely faded except for one last flower truss ready for us. Along a dirt road leading to the former Davis Ferry on the Alabama River, high up on one of the hills and thus in a somewhat drier location, we found R. minus.
