More Summer Wildflowers

Here's another group of summer wildflowers, or as some would say 'weeds'.  They're not weeds to me, they're simply more beautiful flowers, though these ones don't have to be pampered like garden flowers.  This group includes the later blooming flowers that you see mainly in August/September.

The first is Knapweed, with its intricate mauve bloom right at the end of our street beside the mailbox.

And just 50 feet further along are these Garlic plants, starting to form seeds. with the lovely shape of the scapes - in this case obviously a garden escape.

Queen Anne's Lace is the queen of these late summer flowers, the flower that was used in my mother's bridal bouquet - how could we possibly call it a 'weed?

Queen Anne's Lace was first described by Linnaeus in 1753, at which time the most recent Queen Anne would have been Queen Anne of Great Britain, who reigned from 1707-1714.

This is an unusual flower, native to the prairies and called Cup Flower.  Here it's actually growing in a garden.

The plant is quite tall, over 6 feet, with lots of leaves and the small yellow flowers at the top.

And this close-up of the leaves where they come off the stem shows the 'cup'.  The leaves usually grow in opposite pairs, and where they grow the opposite leaves are fused together forming a tiny depression which catches rainwater.

Sweet Peas are one of the most colourful of the summer wildflowers.  Often we see them overflowing the ditches around here.

Wild Sweet Clover is the last flower I have for you, almost impossible to get a completely clear picture of.  Like the photo of Queen Anne's Lace above, here a combination of white and the blue of Chicory.