Sunday, July 19, 2015

Meadow Wildflowers

New wildflowers have been popping open in the meadow quickly the past week or two.  Hot and sunny, it really feels like the middle of summer now; it's actually warm enough we could sit outside until late in the evening yesterday when a lot of family were here.

There's a patch of the real Brown-eyed Susans in one corner.

And lots of Queen Anne's Lace, named after Queen Anne of England, who ruled from 1702 - 1714.   My favourite view is from underneath.

We're glad to see quite a lot of Milkweed, and hoping for lots of Monarchs to come.

I even let a few Mullein grow in the garden if they get started there, but there are more in the meadow.

And the unusual Viper's Bugloss or Blueweed (an appropriate name!), which seems to prefer dry gravelly sites.

There's a fair bit of Goat's Beard, opening in the sun, and soon leaving behind these complex seedheads, like giant Dandelions, which blow away in a puff of wind.

Some of my favourites are the ones that produce burs, because we're far more likely to notice the burs in the fall than the flowers now.  This is the tiny Agrimony, which produces those little triangular burs already forming on the right here.  They'll cover my sox later on.

And this is the Rough Avens bloom, which you rarely notice - very small and it rarely lasts long.

But it eventually produces thousands of tiny singular burs from this round seedhead.  The short straight green bits on the end of each brown spike curl up as it dries, and form tiny hooks.  The bur disintegrates as you brush against it and each seed clings to your pants with its hook.

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18 comments:

  1. Lovely photos ! Lots of our wildflowers have bloomed and gone and bloomed again , no signs of Monarchs yet here even though there is a lot of milkweed around and we have a butterfly garden with their favorites in but others have been enjoying it to thank goodness ! It has been really humid and sticky here 28C feeling like 40C YUK ! . Thanks for sharing , Have a good day !

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  2. Nice flower photos & even nicer to know all their names. I've noticed a dramatic drop off in Monarch Butterflies these past few years. There were once so many & now so few.

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  3. so lovely. We have many of the same blooming!

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  4. What a beautiful collection of flowers and photographs!
    I have never seen a Queen Anne's Lace and l love it and your photo of the same.
    Have a Great Week!
    Peace :)

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  5. A nice little collection, most of which we also see in the UK. Shame on you for peeking up Queen Anne's lacy bits from below!

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  6. Lovely photos! My favorite is the Queen Anne's Lace!
    You should link this post to Clay and Limestone for Wildflower Wednesday. It's a once a month meme celebrating wildflowers, and this Wednesday, July 22, is the date this month.
    Have a wonderful day!
    Lea

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  7. Such wonderful macro shots! That Queen Anne's is also backlit, and very stunning. Thank you for sharing all the great pictures. :-)

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  8. I love the Queen Anne lace it is such a pretty flower

    Mollyxxx

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  9. Wonderful pictures. I did know about the milk weeds and the monarchs.....the local gardeners group is planting some, as they have diminished in the last few years' drought. Hopefully all the rain in Texas will bring them back.

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  10. Such a marvelous post. Thanks for identifying all the flowers. I recognize the ones that bloom here in MA.

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  11. The brown eyed Susans certainly stand out to me.

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  12. I love them all but the bonus history mention on the Queen Annes Lace was especially appreciated by this retired history teacher...:)

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  13. As a kid I would call the mullein, cow's tails. They were spotted here and there in the pastures on those southern Iowa hills. I am bet the cow's tails was a handed down misname. I liked to break them off in the fall. You do have a great variety of wild flowers and the colors are so diverse.

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  14. Such lovely images - well captured!
    Hope you'll come by and link up at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2015/07/bug-eyes.html

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  15. Aren't they beautiful. I love the wildflowers.

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  16. Really beautiful wildflowers! Some are familiar and some not.

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  17. It will be interesting to see this area in about a week!

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  18. I really like wild flowers but know very few by name. Thanks for the lovely pictures and for sharing your knowledge.

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