Native flowering raspberry (Rubus odoratus) is in the rose family but they look like roses that didn’t have time to iron their petals before they put them on. Still, they are one of my favorites. Each blossom is an inch and a half to two inches across. Later a red fruit that looks like a large raspberry will form, but the fruits are on the dry side and don’t taste much like raspberries.
Crown vetch (Securigera varia) is terribly invasive but also very beautiful, with its rounded clusters of pea like, purple and white flowers. Native to Africa, Asia and Europe, it was imported in the 1950s to be used for erosion control and almost immediately began to spread until today it is present in every US state except North Dakota, and throughout much of Canada.
June is the month when our native mountain laurels (Kalmia latifolia) bloom. The wood of this shrub twists and turns and can form dense, almost impenetrable thickets when it grows in suitable locations. An older name for mountain laurel is spoon wood, because Native Americans used the wood to make spoons and other small utensils.
The pentagonal flowers of mountain laurel have ten pockets in which the male anthers rest under tension. When a heavy enough insect lands on a blossom the anthers spring from their pockets and dust it with pollen. You can see a flower with relaxed anthers in the upper left part of this photo. Once released from their pockets the anthers don’t return to them. Though related to the blueberry, all parts of this plant are very toxic.
What once may have been five petals are now fused into a single, cup shaped blossom on mountain laurels. This side vies shows the cups that the anthers fit into. The way that these flowers work to make sure that visiting insects get dusted with pollen is really amazing.
I have mixed feelings about black eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) because, even though I like seeing the cheery flowers they remind me of how fast time is passing. It’s as if they mark the half-way point of the warm weather, if only in my mind.
Heal all has been known for its medicinal value since ancient times and has been said to cure everything from sore throats to heart disease, and that’s how it got its common name. Its tiny flowers have an upper hood and a lower lip which are fused into a tube. Tucked up under the hood are the four stamens and forked pistil, placed perfectly so any visiting bees have to brush against them. Native Americans believed the plant improved eyesight and drank a tea made from it before a hunt.
There are Botanists who believe that there are two varieties of the species; Prunella vulgaris from Europe, and Prunella lanceolata from North America.
Another plant that was known well in ancient times for its medicinal qualities is common yarrow (Achillea millefolium.) It is mentioned in the Chinese I Ching, which is said to pre date recorded history, and yarrow has also been found in an excavation of a Neanderthal grave site. I think yarrow must be the plant with the most common names, probably because it has been known for so long. Some of them are: Bad man’s plaything, bloodwort, carpenter’s grass, carpenter’s weed, devil’s nettle, devil’s plaything, dog daisy, fern weed, field hoop, herb militaris, knight’s milfoil, little feather, milfoil, nosebleed, old man’s pepper, sanguinary, soldier’s woundwort, squirrel tail, staunch grass, staunch weed, thousand-leaf, thousand-seal, thousand-weed, and yarroway.
The tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) gets its common name from the way its flowers resemble tulips, at least from the outside. As the photo shows, the inside looks very different. The fruit is cone shaped and made up of a number of thin, narrow scales which eventually become winged seeds. Another name for this tree is yellow poplar. It is the tallest hardwood tree known in North America, sometimes reaching 200 feet. Native Americans made dugout canoes from tulip tree trunks.
Spiderwort flowers (Tradescantia virginiana) are usually blue or violet blue, but not this one-it looked very purple to me. Since I found it in a local park I wondered if it might not be a cultivar of the native plant. This plant always reminds me of my father who, when I was a young boy, used to wonder why I was “dragging all those damn weeds home.” I often found plants growing along the railroad tracks and transplanted them to our yard. This was one of my favorites, but he didn’t seem to care much for them.
Maple leaf viburnums (Viburnum acerifolium) have started blooming. The size of the flower heads on this shrub can vary greatly depending on how shaded they are. This one was the size of a golf ball but I’ve seen some as big as a grapefruit. They are valuable plants to wildlife. Many songbirds eat the berries and beavers, rabbits, deer and moose eat the bark, twigs and leaves. What I like most about this plant is the way its leaves change colors in the fall. They can go from deep maroon to orange red to light, pastel pink and can be mottled with several different colors at once.
If you’ve ever seen sulfur then it will make perfect sense why this plant is called sulfur cinquefoil (Potentilla recta.) The flowers are pale yellow, just like the mineral they were named for. This very hairy plant is a native of Europe and Asia and is considered a noxious weed in many parts of the U.S., especially in states with a lot of pastureland. Sometimes its flowers can be white or deeper yellow.
Another sulfur colored flower is found on wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), but these blossoms have only four petals instead of five like sulfur cinquefoil. The flowers of wild radish can be white, sulfur yellow, or light purplish pink. The petals often have purple veins, but they weren’t very noticeable on the ones in this photo. I find this plant growing at the edges of cornfields.
I could spend a lot of time and effort explaining how complicated the process of pollination is for a milkweed blossom, but I won’t do so today. That information is easily found elsewhere and I’d rather readers just appreciate the beauty of these blossoms, found on a plant that so many consider a weed not worth looking at. Sometimes by losing ourselves in the natural beauty of this world we find ourselves, and begin to see that the observer and observed are one and the same.
Little things seem nothing, but they give peace, like those meadow flowers which individually seem odorless but all together perfume the air. ~George Bernanos
Thanks for stopping in.
Beautiful post, Allen.
Thanks Scott!
Most welcome!
It’s easy to miss the little wild flowers but such a joy when you find them. A weed is just a flower growing in the wrong place after all.
It is really easy to miss some of them. I can’t think of a single flower that isn’t worthy of a look. Even “ugly” ones are often very interesting.
I have loved Mountain Laurel since a friend brought me a flowering twig, I was in the hospital having a baby, June 23 is her birthday. It was such a nice gift from my friend, and the flower is so interesting. I’d say that the shrub needs acid soil (plenty in NH!) and prefers shade; might even die in bright sun; I know one in a sunny spot, though, and it’s been growing nicely for 30 years or more.
Thank you Charlotte. Though they grow naturally in shade I’ve seen them growing in full sun too. I’ve also seen one of two plants slowly die while the one beside it flourished, so whatever it is that causes their demise is very difficult to identify.
You have thoughtful friends! Nothing says June like mountain laurel.
Such interesting plants and amazing pictures. It makes me wonder if you have chiggers. They can be real problems here in grassy areas (not usually yards).
I wouldn’t be surprised if we had them, but the real danger here is ticks. You have to be wary of them and mosquitos, so I use a lot of bug spray.
I think we have 4 kinds of ticks. I’m allergic to the lone star tick. Ugh. I’m not out much where they’re at any more.
Such an informative post. The photographs are so good too. Your interest in the plants and their history and uses coincides with mine – wonderful!
Thank you Clare. I love history and sometimes plants have a lot of interesting baggage. It can be fascinating.
I love seeing flowers through your lens and your eyes. Only 5 of these live where I do.
Thanks Montucky! It’s interesting to see how quickly some plants have spread from coast to coast, and how many of them don’t seem to be very interested in doing so. You have to wonder why.
Your photography is stunning and the background information was superb, I found the post to be very informative.
Thank you Charlie. I’m glad that you and others really get something from these posts.
The mountain laurel is beautiful, I always love to see it bloom. We have a lot of it on the shaded north side of the mountain and it was also beautiful this year. Nice pics as usual Allen!
Thanks Michael. There isn’t much that’s prettier than a hillside of mountain laurel in bloom! You’re lucky to have them.
I have lately taken to eating milkweed leaves raw. They are better when cooked, but they are still excellent when raw. A lot of edible wild plant books say that you have to boil them in several changes of water “to remove the bitterness”, but this is simply not true. They are not bitter at all. I have Samuel Thayer to thank for setting the record straight on that one.
Luckily, the colony I refused to mow in my backyard has established itself pretty well now, so I think I could have a dish of milkweed several times a week and not make much of a dent. That’s my favorite kind of garden – wild plants!
That’s interesting. I’ve always heard they were bitter too. Personally I prefer wild over cultivated too, and so do the insects.
The Mountain Laurel is fun. I like the idea of a plant being able to select the right size of pollinator for itself.
There are a surprising number of them that are quite selective. It’s fascinating.
Reblogged this on Dawn of Divine Rays.
Thank you again Agnes!
You’re very welcome, Allen. You don’t have to thank me .. just enjoying reading and sharing your posts. Have a great weekend. Namaste
I just took a photo of the crown vetch, thinking it was rare to find it on the prairie. Imagine my dismay when my husband told me the pretty thing was a terribly invasive plant!
I can imagine how people felt when they knew it was poised to invade that beautiful prairie land. I hope it can be stopped.
I remember my mother had mountain laurel in her garden in downstate NY. I used to squeeze the buds open. People reacting to wildflowers as weeds is still a problem I run into with neighbors now and then.
Your mom must have been quite a gardener if she could keep mountain laurel alive. It’s always a 50/50 chance whether it will live or not.
I would think, after seeing your gardens, that your neighbors would see “weeds” with a new outlook.
OK, then I’ll bet it was some other kind of related plant, because I remember it grew in a shady passage between the house and garage and did not require much attention. The flowers were similar to what you have there, though.
I don’t doubt that it was mountain laurel. I was just complimenting your mom’s gardening skills. It’s not one of the easiest plants to grow.
Thank you for another great post! I do have to take issue with one thing though, you forgot to mention how wonderful the scent of milkweed flowers is. 😉
I love the mountain laurel, my ex and I planted several of them in our yard over the years, but not one of them ever lived. We must not have had the right soil for them.
You’re welcome, Jerry. You’re right about the milkweed scent of course but to be honest I never even gave it a thought when I was putting this one together. I guess I’ve been smelling too many flowers lately!
Mountain Laurel is one of the fussiest plants that I know of. I’ve planted it before and made sure it had everything it could need, and it still slowly faded away. I’ve also seen it do the same in parks. I don’t know what causes it but you’re right, it could be minerals in the soil that are missing.
Beautiful post! – yes I can feel with your father in respect of tradescantia viginiana. I also liked the flowers, but it became a real pest in my bed of perennial flowers in the following years. I still am at war with it, because it spreads out rapidly and each short piece of its rhizom remaining in the ground will invariably become a plant in the next year.
Thank you. Yes, I spent a lot of time as a gardener trying to keep this plant from spreading for people who were determined to have it. My father thought any plant that wasn’t bought and paid for, or given by a friend was a “weed.”
Nature is outdoing herself up there and your pictures are amazing!
I’ve never seen a spiderwort so purple! You’ve piqued my curiousity so I’ll def be googling for the cultivar name today.
I share your feelings on the Black eyed Susans as a signal of the midpoint but they’re such a fun flower I forgive them for it!
Thank you. I try to let the flowers show their best side.
The color of the spiderwort blossoms was really surprising. I’ve never seen them so purple either, but I think I like the blue better.
It’s hard not to like a black eyed Susan.
I think the colour of the spiderwort is depending on the minerals in the soil. Here in my garden it is also more purple than blue.
That’s interesting. I’ve never heard that but it certainly is possible. I’m reminded of certain hydrangeas, for instance.
So many wonderful finds! Mountain laurel is one of my favorites! There is an area in Wilton where it grows in a massive thicket. So beautiful when they are all in bloom. I wonder why common yarrow has so many other names. I know plants can be know by 2 or 3 different names, but that is ridiculous. I have been trying to eradicate a large patch of spiderwort in my yard (with very little success!) It is pretty, but when it’s growing where you don’t want it, it is a pain! The milkweed flowers are wonderful close up!
I love mountain laurel too, Laura. I think I’ve seen those thickets in Wilton. There are also some in Fitzwilliam, I think.
I think yarrow has so many names because it has been known and talked about by humans for so long.
Good luck with the spiderwort. It really can spread! I think digging it out is probably the only way to get rid of it.
Great pics of the flowers and fascinating information.. Particularly enjoyed learning about the mountain laurel.
Thanks! Mountain laurel is one of my favorite shrubs. Its flowers are fascinating.
Loved your quote and the beautiful flowers of which you take such good pictures. It is a great pleasure to read your posts.
Thank you Susan. We have so many flowers blooming here now that it was hard to decide which ones to put in this post.