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Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Wildflowers in the Meadow and Marsh
The wildflowers that I watch for in spring are those of the woods, which I've posted pictures of already. But also in spring the first wildflowers of the meadows start blooming. There will be many more later in the summer.
Perhaps the simplest, found both in the woods and the meadow, is the Wild Strawberry. These ones are out back in our own meadow.
And of course the most ubiquitous wildflower at this time of year, the Dandelion. Admittedly there are more of these in the lawn than in the meadow, but a lawn is a sort of meadow anyway, isn't it? We've never sprayed a lawn to keep it 'perfect', and now that we understand how helpful Dandelions are for bees, we don't even make any effort to remove them by hand. We've almost reached the stage where we enjoy the yellow lawn for 2-3 weeks!
The marsh is a different story. Wildflowers are not so plentiful there over the summer, but for a brief 2-3 weeks right now, they are often yellow with Marsh Marigold. I always watch for these coming out about the same time as the Trilliums in the woods.
They're a simple five-petaled yellow flower, with large shiny green leaves, and they like their feet wet - often growing right in the water (and therefore sometimes hard to photograph). Nature likes variety though; note the four-petaled flower on the right.
But they add beautiful colour to the wetlands for a brief time in spring.
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Love the marsh marigold, beautiful bright yellows in your post.
ReplyDeleteNice macro shots, well captured!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I post repeats of favorite shots, but that's ok! I love your wild flowers. It's always nice to have such surprises for the camera.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful flowers! The marsh marigolds are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI see marsh marigolds here in the High Country during the summer, and they bring back memories of seeing fields of them in the Colorado mountains years ago. Gosh, it's been seven years now since I was in Colorado, but the memories are strong, as I look at your pictures. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting post here (just read the one on fiddleheads). So glad you allow the dandelions to grow. Just supports what I've always believed best, though I had no evidence to support my theory. I love that you know when to watch for certain flowers and have taken the time to be so knowledgeable about them. Noticing the four-petaled Marsh Marigold a case in point. Though I am much more observant than in my former life, and really get excited about new plant that pop up in familiar haunts, my knowledge is sadly lacking.. though it improves a bit when i stop by here :)
ReplyDeleteWith so much rain, we have had abundance of pretty wild flowers.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Spring has really shown up nicely.
ReplyDeleteGolden yellow so brilliant, and wild flowers or weeds as they are down here add so much colour to any day. Lovely to have the flower with the 4 petals, if that was a stamp, would be a collector's dream come true.
ReplyDeleteOh I think a lawn covered in dandelions looks beautiful. The people who lived in our house before us used to put weed killer down and theirs was the only lawn around with dandelions. We are now slowly getting more and more of them. : )
ReplyDeleteso nice to see some colour after winter isn't it? I'm looking forward to more from your neck of the woods :-)
ReplyDeleteLovely wildflowers! Nicely captured.
ReplyDeletei despise dandelions, but photographed, they are lovely!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLots of bright yellow! Pretty!
ReplyDeleteAlways enjoy the spring flowers!
ReplyDeleteCarolina Mts
Hi, and many thanks for your words on Hugh's op and the wait. I didn't realise you had more surgery to follow on, is this a scheduled second one? When Hugh had his heart attack and 2 stents inserted, there was one other artery that was too difficult, and I am guessing when this narrows to the same extent as the RCA., there will be another procedure. but maybe with a general anaesthetic. The one they did, local, and wires up from his wrist, and he could see it all on the big screen. How miracles are done these days, and we are so very,very thankful, even if a 4 month wait is next. Hope you are well, and those walks every day will be so good for blood circulation!!! Specially when it's cold.
ReplyDeleteA yard half wild is actually a good one. We don't always need to pull out grass and wild flowers. We a garden in our summer house and we keep it wild. Those yellow beauties add so much liveliness in the view.
ReplyDeleteI do love all the wildflowers coming into bloom!
ReplyDeleteI applaud your attitude towards dandelions.
ReplyDelete