above: a very unusual hybrid trillium.
Gobey Wildflowers 2026 & John Cowan Trio Concert
April 4, 2026
Kenny & Dana Koogler
Gobey Directions
Friday April 3, 2026 we went on date night to see John Cowan Trio at the Laurel Theater. I had long wanted to see him in person. I got to fulfill that wish this night! Kenny and I had great seats and enjoyed a wonderful performance in a fairly packed house. It was every bit as good as I hoped.
Below: the front of The Laurel Theater
Below: iris bloom on the front lawn of the theater.
above and below: the John Cowan Trio starting Left to right Luke Bulla, John Cowan and Ethan Ballinger
above: John Cowan
above: Luke Bulla tunes up
above: Ethan Ballinger warming up.
Below is a short video clip of the John Cowan Trio playing Wheel Hoss and joined by 15 year old Jacob Thomas, a bluegrass mandolin picker from Kingston TN!
Another great song they performed that I had never heard before was Sometimes Strangest Dream written by Hal Ketchum and Rivers Rutherford . The video is a short clip of it, but click this link for the full song.
My deepest wish was to hear John Cowan sing "Tomorrow Morning" which is one of my favorite songs.
They did perform it and it was every bit as lovely as I hoped. John has a strong voice of unusual clarity and a pure tone. Below is a video of the performance. It is the only one of the night I recorded completely.
It was a great weekend for us with romance, a fun date to a concert, rest, a change of pace from the home remodel and getting outside to experience nature on Saturday.
Gobey Wildflowers on Saturday
I had not originally planned to go visit the Gobey trilliums at all, but I had a change of heart. I had a strong pull from whatever leads me. I knew better than to ignore it. Kenny was more than happy to agree. We headed out to Morgan County and the scenery was pretty as ever. I first thought I might be too early, but upon parking and heading into the woods I saw that all the flowers I hoped to see were indeed bloomed out. I spent time checking out the hybrid patch and then moved on to see another spot further out the road. I again was happy to have come for I saw stuff that was totally new to me for this area. I will be using the material collected on these trips to write a comprehensive Hybrid Trilliums 2026 so I won't delve too deeply into this trip. Just an overview.
Above: patch of hybrid trilliums of red, cream, and a couple different shades of pink!
Below: white trillium aged pink with a little extra material there.
Below: a patch of normal Great White Trilliums with purple phlox.
above: one of the prettiest and oddest finds of the day was a true mutant "Quadrillium:
It has four leaves, four petals, four sepals, and instead of the normal six anthers it has eight!
I will keep an eye on this feller going forward, but I already know from a previous encounter that next season it may not present this way! It may go back to its normal form.
above: little brown jugs on a bank.
One of the prettiest things we encountered today that was new to us was the Greasy Creek Baptizing Place. I grew up a Baptist and was baptized by immersion.
Below: Greasy Creek Baptism Place sign
One of the last places we checked out was the old Highway 27 bridge. I wanted to glance up and down the river to see if there was anything blooming there which would make it worth a closer look? While the bridge is cool and the stream was pretty the snarl of weeds and trees revealed no Spring wildflowers worth investigating. I couldn't see nary a one!
Below: looking downstream on the bridge
It was a fun day and I'll tell you more about it soon. I love this area. It is a place where we just keep discovering history and natural beauty and no crowds! We saw plenty of people four wheeling today, but never encountered any where we were trying to check stuff out.
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Dana 🐝