Friday, September 10, 2021

'Wildflowers of the Roadsides''

I have missed doing my post on the wildflowers of the roadsides (otherwise known as weeds to some dedicated manicurists) this summer.  The main reason is that the un-mowed stretches of roadside I counted on for finding them have been taken over and mowed by people who like to manicure things too much!  I've been left noticing tiny little bits of roadside where there might be a flower or two, and scrolling back through two months of photos to find individual pictures.

The Bird's-foot Trefoil has been in bloom for months, but I noticed this one just yesterday.

Goldenrod is of course the harbinger of fall, and started blooming in early August, but finding a plant I could get close to was a challenge.

Sweet Pea is one of the most beautiful, but again you have to be close to get a good picture.

These bright yellow Sow Thistles were in a narrow boulevard beside a hydro pole.

This tiny False Strawberry popped up right by our front door and then was gone as soon as Mrs. F.G. noticed it.

I found this Chicory in a crack in the pavement down by the harbour.  It's one of our most widespread wildflowers at this time of year.

This Yellow Sweet Clover was growing in a field beside the raspberries Mrs. F,.G. stopped for.

And this Queen Anne's Lace was growing in a narrow two-foot space dividing two parking lots downtown.

The more I think about these tenacious flowers the more I think we have horticultural things turned upside down.  We love the garden flowers even though they take a lot of babying, and weeding to remove any competition, while we far-too-soon despise the 'flowers of the roadside' that bloom for months, and find a way without any care at all, to grow through a crack in the pavement or the gravel of a ditch.  It should be the other way around!     

Here's an example of spots I formerly saw wildflowers of the roadside, all mowed, several times this year.

Then there was also the rain....

We also had a serious storm this week, with lots of rain, though all I had to show for it the next morning were these raindrops.  It started with a loud siren warning in my ear which turned out to be a Tornado Warning!  I checked the radar quickly and read that a major storm front was passing, mostly a little further south.  It turned out that Port Elgin over on Lake Huron got some damaging strong winds, but I'm not sure that anything qualified as a tornado.  We did get lots of rain though.


18 comments:

  1. I have mostly stopped removing ‘weeds’ from my garden. Some of them are very pretty and all of them are loved by the bees and hover flies. I don’t fret about them in the street either. It’s sad that many people seem to fret more about weeds making the streets untidy, than about litter.

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  2. These are lovely.


    We had some active weather here in the last few days too.

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  3. I'm glad you were able to find some wonderful wildflowers, even if some overzealous people want to eliminate them. I also love sweet peas and am glad you got close enough to these to get great shots of them. Kudos!

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  4. Almost cold days for you, and those colours are such bright spots along the footpaths. Plants I don't see down here, and the Trillium is much valued in all plant centres, much treasured, you have seen it in abundance under forest trees.

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  5. A beautiful collection of wildflowers!!

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  6. I just came in from a brisk walk (with the dog) along my back country road. I was noticing the proliferation of wild flowers! Other years, our township has mowed the road allowances. This year, they've only done along the highway

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  7. Beautiful photos. Makes me wish everyone would stop mowing!

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  8. I have been noticing more roadside ditches mowed as well whether by the county or private land owners. Yes, it looks all neat and clean and stuff but it sure ruins all the ditch wildflowers. Personally, I like to see the wildflowers.

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  9. Lovely wild flowers!
    I'm glad the tornado didn't materialize.

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  10. You found a nice selection there. Some of the roadside verges around here have been declared "conservation verges" and have signs deterring over-enthusiastic mowers.

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  11. Love the wildflowers. Such beauty, unnoticed by many, despised by some.

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  12. I always enjoy seeing wildflowers.
    Many thanks for sharing these photographs.

    All the best Jan

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  13. That is sad to see all the mowed areas. I like neatness but wildflowers are so wonderful. I'm amazed that you know all the names of the flowers. Did you teach botany?

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  14. Oh man, it just infuriates me to see those closely mown roadsides, so sterile and useless to wildlife, who thrive on wild seeds as well as the shelter the high plants provide. Thank you for searching out what few spots of beauty you could find, and recalling those lost from view.

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  15. Powered lawnmowers, weed-wackera and chain saws have been the downfall of many a wildflower and tree -- unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any end of the neat-nick's desire to eliminate things natural.

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  16. i always enjoy seeing the wild flowers growing along the side of the road. we have so many patches along the garden state parkway!!

    sweet pea is one of my favorites and my favorite aunt always called me that!!

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