Most wildflowers will be found in full sunshine away from the forest now and meadows and roadsides are just coming into bloom. The maiden pink (Dianthus deltoids) in the above photo was found at the edge of a meadow. It might look like its cousin the Deptford pink (Dianthus armeria,) but that flower doesn’t have the jagged red ring around its center like this one does. Maiden pinks are originally from Europe and have escaped cultivation but aren’t terribly invasive. They seem to prefer the edges of open lawns and meadows.
Puffy little bird’s foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) is suddenly everywhere. It’s in the pea family and grows about a foot tall, and is a common sight along roadsides and waste areas. It gets its common name from its clusters of brown, 1 inch long seed pods, which someone thought looked like a bird’s foot. The plant has 3 leaflets much like clover and was introduced from Europe as livestock feed, but has escaped and is now considered invasive in many areas. It can form large mats that choke out natives.
Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) was imported for cultivation from Japan in 1830 and is now one of the most invasive shrubs we have. It’s a plant that’s hard to hate though, because its berries are delicious and their content of lycopene is 7 to 17 times higher than tomatoes. Also, the pale yellow flowers are extremely fragrant just when lilacs finish blooming. It is a very vigorous shrub that is hard to eradicate; birds love its berries and spread it far and wide. Its sale is prohibited in New Hampshire but that will do little good now that it grows along forest edges almost everywhere you look.
Autumn olive was originally introduced for landscaping, road bank stabilization and wildlife food. The undersides of the shrub’s leaves are scaly and silvery and grow alternately along the stem. A closely related shrub, Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), has narrower silvery leaves with a smooth underside that appear oppositely arranged along the stem.
I think Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) is the only plant in this post that grows in the shade of the forest and, as the above photo shows, it does very well there.
Since it is native to North America it’s hard to describe Canada mayflower as invasive but it does form monocultures and also invades woodland gardens, where it is almost impossible to eradicate. Its tiny white four petaled flowers will become speckled red berries that are loved by many birds and small animals.
Beauty bush (Kolkwitzia amabilis.) originally came from China and is popular as an ornamental, but it has escaped cultivation in this area. I found the above example growing at the edge of a forest in dry, sandy soil. I find it only in this spot so it doesn’t seem to be at all invasive. It gets quite tall-sometimes 8 feet or more-and can get as wide, so it needs a lot of room. It is sometimes used as a hedge but it is difficult to trim once it gets above 6 feet tall, so it’s best to keep it on the short side. The trimmings are very itchy if they get inside your shirt as you’re trimming overhead.
Fleabane continues to bloom and always remind me of spring blooming asters. I believe this example is Robin’s plantain (Erigeron pulchellus,) which is our earliest blooming fleabane. It has inch to inch and a half diameter showy white to purple flowers. One way to identify this plant is by its basal rosette of very hairy, oval leaves. The stem and stem leaves (cauline) are also hairy. The flowers can be white to pink to lavender and are made up of ray florets surrounding yellow disk florets in the center.
Our rhododendrons follow the native azaleas into bloom. This one blooms in my yard. I’ve never known its name but I like it.
Invasive multiflora rose originally came from China and as the old story goes, almost immediately escaped and started to spread rapidly. It grows over the tops of shrubs and smothers them by hogging all the available sunshine and I’ve seen it grow 30 feet into a tree. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was imported more for its scent than any other reason, because to smell it is like smelling a bit of heaven on earth.
It’s easy to see why it is in the rose family but if it wasn’t for their heavenly scent you might as well be looking at a raspberry blossom because multiflora rose blossoms are the same size, shape, and color, and raspberries are also in the rose family.
Upright bedstraw (Galium album) is also called upright hedge bedstraw, and that name is perfect because it describes where this plant is found growing. Where the meadow meets the woods there can be found millions of tiny white, honey scented flowers lighting up the shade. Bedstraws hail from Europe and have been used medicinally for centuries. In ancient times entire plants were gathered and used as mattress stuffing and that’s where the plant gets its common name. The dried leaves are said to smell like vanilla in some species of Gallium and honey in others.
When I see it’s foliage before it blossoms the plant always makes me think of sweet woodruff, because its leaves grow in whorls along the stem just like sweet woodruff, which is also in the Galium family.
Smooth arrow wood (Viburnum dentatum) has yellowish white, mounded flower clusters and is blooming along stream banks and drainage ditches right now. Native dogwoods are also beginning to bloom, but they have four petals and the viburnums have five. Dogwood flower clusters also tend to be much flatter on top and seem to hover just above the branch. Smooth arrowwood viburnum has a much more rounded flowering habit. Later on the flowers will become dark blue drupes that birds love. It is said that this plant’s common name comes from Native Americans using the straight stems for arrow shafts. They also used the shrub medicinally and its fruit for food.
There’s an awful lot going on in a viburnum flower head but taking a close look and counting a single tiny flower’s petals is the best way to tell it from a dogwood.
Heal all’s (Prunella lanceolata) tiny hooded flowers always remind me of orchids. The plant is also called self-heal and has been used since ancient times. It is said to cure virtually every disease known, and that’s how it got its common name. Some botanists believe that there are two varieties of the species; Prunella vulgaris from Europe, and Prunella lanceolata from North America. Native Americans drank a tea made from the plant before a hunt because they believed that it helped their eyesight.
Fragrant white water lilies (Nymphaea odorata) have just come into bloom. Last summer I was with someone who crawled out on a plank to smell one of these beauties and he said the fragrance was very pleasant but impossible to describe. When I told him that others thought the fragrance was close to that of honeydew melon he said yes, maybe that’s it. Each beautiful blossom lasts only 3 days before the stem coils and pulls it underwater to set seeds. After several weeks the seeds are released into the water so currents can carry them to suitable locations to germinate. The stamens that glow at their center always remind me of a golden fire, and I love to see it burn.
A flower’s appeal is in its contradictions — so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect. ~Terri Guillemets
Thanks for stopping in.
Wonderful flower photos but my favourite is the water lily. They really are beautiful.
They are beautiful, and one of my favorites.
So much great information here! I have begun to notice the Beauty Bush on my walks. Don’t know how I missed it in the past but it seems to be a favorite of the birds. I LOVE Autumn Olive. The scent wafts over the roads this time of year and reminds me of the start of summer. On a side note, the Mountain Laurel is remarkably abundant this year as well. Lovely post!
Thanks Martha. Autumn olive is fragrant, that’s for sure.
I haven’t seen any Mountain Laurel in bloom yet but I hope to this weekend. I’m glad to hear that it’s blooming well!
Thank you for another beautiful, informative post! The photos are lovely, and take me back to days in New England. I remember autumn olive, and when it was being sold for attracting birds and wildlife. Multiflora rose! I know that one well. Hedges of it were everywhere back there, and yes, it smells heavenly and bees love it. I have not run into it here in my area of western Oregon, yet. Invasive non-native blackberry seems to be filling that role here. The government web site I found indicates it is found in Oregon and Washington, as well as back east. It is interesting that it can form living fences, like hawthorn, which is found all over my area.
https://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/midatlantic/romu.htm
You’re welcome, and thank you Lavinia. I also remember when autumn olive was being sold by the state. Now they’ve outlawed it but we’ll never learn because we’re still importing thousands of plants each year.
Multiflora rose would make a fence that nobody would get through, of that I’m sure. I wouldn’t even try.
It seems odd to think of blackberry as invasive but someone probably said the same thing about multiflora roses at one time. I hope you don’t have them there!
We have a native trailing blackberry, as well as two foreign species which are also tasty, but troublesome ones. On the flip side, blackberry is also very important to beekeepers in our area, and is part of the main early summer honey flow here in the Willamette Valley. Washington’s King County web site has a good page on the subject. We don’t try to eradicate here on the farm, just keep it in check by pruning and mowing. They can throw 20 foot canes, with really nasty thorns. It can take over an area in no time.
http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/animals-and-plants/noxious-weeds/weed-identification/blackberry.aspx
I’ve never heard of either the Himalayan blackberry or evergreen blackberry, but I don’t envy you. Years ago a lady wanted me to remove a large stand of blackberries and it was quite a tough job.
But at least the honey producers are getting some benefit from the situation. Unfortunately though, that means better pollination and more fruit, which means more seeds.
I learn so much from reading your posts. I don’t think I’ve ever seen heal all but it sounds like a good herb/weed to have nearby! By the way, that top flower – the deep pink one — what a stunner.
Thank you Cynthia. I think you probably do have heal all but it’s a lowly weed that grows in the grasses at the sides of the roads so it’s easy to miss. Plus it’s very small. The flowers shown are probably half the size of a pea.
The deep pink flower is a pink; a maiden pink, which is in the same family as the pinks we grow in our gardens. Soon Deptford pinks will be in bloom, and they look much alike.
The shot of the Maiden Pink is lovely and makes we wish I could see one in the wild. They and the Deptford Pink are so rare here! As others have already mentioned, you have so many non-natives in flower at the moment and it makes me wonder what it would have been like at this time of the year before all these new plants were introduced.
Thank you Clare. I remember your saying that last year, and how surprised I was to hear it because both maiden and Deptford pinks are everywhere here, even in lawns.
There is a short period where non natives seem to take center stage and right now is that period. I went out today and saw few natives, now that I think about it. But our dogwoods, viburnums and other native shrubs are just coming into bloom as well as grapes, water lilies, roses, milkweeds and others. Part of our problem right now is dryness, and some plants are holding back.
That is really interesting as I’ve noticed that the really successful non-natives seem to take advantage of areas or times where the natives aren’t plentiful. I remember Jerry saying that non-native Mute Swans do well because they nest earlier than the native Trumpeter Swans. I am sorry there hasn’t been enough rain in New Hampshire – I hope it sorts itself out soon. We have had more than enough rain here – I hear it rattling on the window as I type!
Yes, that’s very true. Some like the multiflora rose climb up and drape themselves over other shrubs and trees, hogging all the sunlight. Other invasives grow in disturbed ground while some native won’t grow in soil that has been disturbed within a hundred years. Many invasive plants are very good at finding a niche and then expanding on it, choking out the natives.
Maybe the weather patterns will change and you’ll see some of our dryness soon. It’s too bad to see that much rain in summer.
Thank-you Allen 🙂
You’re welcome!
You have such beautiful wild flowers, many are flowers I buy for the garden. I planted a Elaeagnus angustifolia last year as I hope to get the senjed fruit in time if it thrives. Do yours fruit? The bees love all the Elaeagnus. Amelia
Thank you Amelia. Yes, the Elaeagnus angustifolia have an over abundance of fruit, and that’s what makes them so invasive. I’d be surprised if yours wasn’t heavy with fruit later on. If it’s covered with blossoms and there are bees there then I think you’ll see plenty.
I’d say that the new camera is working pretty well for you, I loved the shot of the Maiden pink at the top of the post, they don’t get much better than that!
It’s hard to think of any rose as invasive, as difficult as the hybrids can be to grow, but the multiflora rose is, they grow to huge sizes here too. Even so, they still smell like a rose, so they’re not all bad. 😉
I loved the quote also, it sums up flowers very well as far as how I feel about them.
Thanks Jerry! That camera will never be a Lumix but I’m learning how to get around its deficiencies. It’s image stabilization is nowhere near as good as Panasonics is.
I do love the scent of multiflora roses but when you see them 30 feet up a tree you have to wonder if they aren’t bent on taking over the forest.
I thought that was a great flower quote. I’ve never heard it before now.
Another very interesting post with lovely photos. I love reading about flowers.
Thanks very much, I do too.
Oh, dear. It’s dismaying to see so many invasives among the June wildflowers. They can be beautiful, though.
I agree. June seems to be “invasive month” when most of them bloom.
Reblogged this on Dawn of Divine Rays and commented:
The blooms are all beautiful ..even if some of them are ‘invasive’. They do provide food for the birds and animal ..and that’s a good thing. Thank you, Allen. Happy weekend. Namaste
You’re welcome and thank you. I think we forget sometimes that plants that we call invasive were all brought here for a reason and many time the reason was because they were so beautiful. Have a great weekend!
A lovely collection, coming across the Canada mayflower would be a real treat!
Thank you. Be careful what you wish for-it’s virtually everywhere here and is very hard to stop or eradicate. Pretty flowers though!
I’ve seen areas completely taken over by multiflora roses. It sure is pretty when it’s in bloom, but I know it chokes out everything in its way. Quite the climber! How are you liking the new camera?
Yes, I see that rose everywhere. I usually smell it long before I see it though!
The new camera seems like it’ll do the job but it has moments when the macro function doesn’t seem to work at all. It’s annoying but as long as it doesn’t happen all the time I’ll get by. I sure do miss that Lumix though. That was a great camera, and it’s too bad Panasonic decided to go with a bunch of selfie gimmicks instead of keeping the quality they had.
A lovely display of what is available if you have eyes to see.
Thank you Susan. It’s hard to miss them at this time of year. They’re everywhere!