The wildflower plants are tucked away until Spring but it’s always nice to remember they will be back again. We don’t plant them, weed them, deadhead them, or water them. They do all the work themselves and we merely enjoy them. That is if we remember to pay attention. As I have done for many years, many of us are so busy with our lives that we don’t notice them on the side of the road or purposefully go on walks to fields, meadows and marshes to find these free spirts Seeing them up close to me is the goal. Sue Coakley, Nancy Crocker, Sharon Parker, Anne Langsdorf and Amelia Lantz alerted me when particular wildflowers were in bloom—the Wildflower Posse.
One of my favorites was the ragged robin. To me they look like mini fireworks, albeit all pink. Its name is associated with Robin Goodfellow (or Puck), a fairy trickster who is charming, sly, amoral, and rather dangerous to encounter. Some cultures discourage picking the pink bobbing flowers lest you invite unwanted attention from the fairies. Others say they’re lucky to pick. I like the idea of taking away their image on my camera but leaving them where they decided to grow.
Here are some more musings to go with the pictures:
Lady’s Tresses are actually wild orchids. They’re difficult to spot, but when you do, you’ll see a flock of them. They are delicate and sweet.
The Rosa Palustris, or more prosaically named Swamp Rose, grows near brooks in Grantham. They reward us with their color and their lovely fragrance.
Trefoil is a shortbread Girl Scout cookie shaped like their emblem. Here’s a little-known fact: Trefoils, Thin Mints and Do-Si-Dos are the only types of cookies required by the organization each year. This year I learned that the Trefoil is also a gorgeous yellow wildflower.
The asters are everywhere in Autumn—zillions of them. I even came across a calico aster which doesn’t resemble its cousin very much though both are beautiful.
Blue-eyed grass is neither very blue nor a type of grass. These shy flowers are very difficult to spot which makes finding one that much sweeter. Here’s an interesting observation--the flowers bud from the side of the stem rather than the top.
I’ll end with Crown Vetch because it the a perfect example of a wildflower that grows so widely and is so often overlooked but, on close inspection, is actually quite gorgeous.
One of my favorites was the ragged robin. To me they look like mini fireworks, albeit all pink. Its name is associated with Robin Goodfellow (or Puck), a fairy trickster who is charming, sly, amoral, and rather dangerous to encounter. Some cultures discourage picking the pink bobbing flowers lest you invite unwanted attention from the fairies. Others say they’re lucky to pick. I like the idea of taking away their image on my camera but leaving them where they decided to grow.
Here are some more musings to go with the pictures:
Lady’s Tresses are actually wild orchids. They’re difficult to spot, but when you do, you’ll see a flock of them. They are delicate and sweet.
The Rosa Palustris, or more prosaically named Swamp Rose, grows near brooks in Grantham. They reward us with their color and their lovely fragrance.
Trefoil is a shortbread Girl Scout cookie shaped like their emblem. Here’s a little-known fact: Trefoils, Thin Mints and Do-Si-Dos are the only types of cookies required by the organization each year. This year I learned that the Trefoil is also a gorgeous yellow wildflower.
The asters are everywhere in Autumn—zillions of them. I even came across a calico aster which doesn’t resemble its cousin very much though both are beautiful.
Blue-eyed grass is neither very blue nor a type of grass. These shy flowers are very difficult to spot which makes finding one that much sweeter. Here’s an interesting observation--the flowers bud from the side of the stem rather than the top.
I’ll end with Crown Vetch because it the a perfect example of a wildflower that grows so widely and is so often overlooked but, on close inspection, is actually quite gorgeous.
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