Nothing says summer to me like lilies blooming, and we’re lucky to have them blooming in fields and along roadsides right now. The flowers of Canada lilies (Lilium canadense) are as big and as beautiful as the garden lilies I think we’re all familiar with, and they come in red and orange as well as yellow. Their habit of nodding towards the ground can make getting a photo difficult, but I (very gently) tilt the stem back with one hand while I take the photos with the other. It’s not the ideal set up but it lets me show you the brownish purple spots on the inside throat of the trumpet and the huge red anthers. I had a hard time finding them this year though. One spot I know of where a large colony grows had nothing but chewed stems, and I think deer might have eaten them. Another spot near a stream had many lilies blooming 2 years ago and now there is no sign of them. I’m not sure where they could have gone.
These big lilies don’t toil or spin but they thrive out in the fields, sometimes reaching 7 to 8 feet tall. They always remind me of arts and crafts period chandeliers. These examples had a lot of orange on their outsides which is something I don’t often see. They’re usually bright yellow. The flower buds and roots were gathered and eaten by Native Americans. The scaly bulbs were cooked and eaten with other foods, such as venison and fish. They were also cooked and saved for winter use. They are said to have a very peppery flavor.
Lilies say summer but black eyed Susans remind me that summer will end all too soon. This plant will always be a fall flower to me, probably because they have such a long blooming period and are seen everywhere in the fall. I’m always happy to see them but at the same time not so happy that another summer is flying by. At least this year they waited until July to bloom.
For some reason chicory (Cichorium intybus) likes to grow in places that get mowed regularly, like along our roadsides. I’m always dismayed when I see such beautiful flowers being cut down but I have seen normal size flowers can bloom on a plant no more than three inches tall, so though the plants may get mowed they aren’t being killed. I’m glad of that because I love their blue color.
One day I was walking on the banks of the Ashuelot River up in Surry, which is north of Keene, and came upon a plant that I had never seen. It turned out to be herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) and my question, once I had identified it, was: Robert who? As it turns out Robert was a French monk who lived in 1000 AD and cured many people’s diseases using this plant, and that leads to another common name: Saint Robert’s Herb. If you crush its leaves they are said to smell like burning tires, so yet another common name is stinky Bob.
Stinky or not herb Robert has a pretty little flower, but they’re much smaller than other geraniums. Each one seems to be no bigger than a standard aspirin.
Blue, bell shaped flowers all on one side of the stem can mean only one thing; creeping bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides.) The pretty flowered plant was introduced as an ornamental from Europe and has escaped gardens to live in dry places that get full sun. It is a late bloomer but is usually finished by the time the goldenrods have their biggest flush of bloom. It is considered an invasive plant in some places because it is hard to get rid of once it has become established. It can choke out weaker native plants if it is left alone. It isn’t considered invasive here in New Hampshire though, and in fact I usually have to look for quite a while to find it. When I do it is usually growing on forest edges.
American basswood trees (Tilia americana) are members of the linden family. Though they are native trees I rarely see them. They belong to the same genus as the lime trees commonly seen in Europe and England. Its flowers are very fragrant and it’s a nice looking shade tree but unfortunately it is also an insect magnet and among the insects it attracts are Japanese beetles in the many thousands. Bees are also attracted in great numbers and the honey produced from basswood foraging bees is said to be choice and highly sought after.
Each of the basswood’s flower clusters (cymes) clings to the middle of an elongated whitish green floral bract. Each small flower is about a half inch in diameter with 5 cream-colored petals, 5 cream-colored sepals, a pistil with a white style, and several stamens with yellow anthers. They are always hard to get a good photo of for some reason, and I usually have to try several times. The seeds of this tree are eaten by squirrels, chipmunks, and mice. Native Americans had many medicinal uses for the tree and made rope from its tough inner bark. Freshly cut bark was also used as bandages. Syrup was made from the sweet sap and young leaves were eaten in the spring. Not a single part of the tree was wasted.
Many plants that can tolerate a lot of shade have large, light gathering leaves and the shade tolerant purple flowering raspberry (Rubus odoratus) is one of those. This plant is in the rose family and the 2 inch wide flowers might look like a rose at first glance, but one look at its large, maple like leaves will show that it isn’t. Flowering raspberry has no thorns like roses or raspberries but Japanese beetles love it just as much as roses and it’s common to see the large leaves looking like they’ve been shot full of holes. The fruit looks like a large raspberry but is on the tart, dry side. Native Americans had over 100 uses for this plant, both as food and medicine.
I thought I’d show a rose blossom so those who have never seen a flowering raspberry flower could compare the two of them. The flowering raspberry really doesn’t look anything like a rose except maybe in size of bloom, but they do get confused occasionally. This is a “wild” rose; beautiful and fragrant enough that I wished it grew in my own yard.
I’ve seen this plant before but I’ve never seen it bloom because the single example I know of grows near a shopping mall and in the past it has always been cut down before it could blossom. But it is persistent and keeps growing back, and finally this year it was able to blossom in peace before being cut. At first I thought it was some type of vining honeysuckle but the tiny flowers and its white latex sap pointed me in the direction of milkweeds.
But the flowers weren’t really right for a milkweed so I tried dogbane, which is in the milkweed family. Finally I found that it is called Indian hemp (Apocynum cannabinum,) which is also called dogbane hemp. It is a poisonous plant which can cause cardiac arrest if ingested but it’s also a great source of strong fibers and was used by Native Americans to make nets, bow strings, fishing lines, clothing, and twine. Some tribes also used it medicinally despite its toxicity to treat rheumatism, coughs, whooping cough, and asthma.
One of the chief identifiers for Indian hemp are the pretty plum colored stems.
Tall thimbleweed’s (Anemone virginiana) white flower sepals don’t seem to last very long. Every time I see them they have either turned green or are in the process of doing so, and you can just see a hint of green on two or three of these. There are usually plenty of yellowish stamens surrounding a center head full of pistils though. The seed head continues growing after the sepals have fallen off and it becomes thimble shaped, which is where the common name comes from. These flowers are close to the diameter of a quarter; about an inch. Though the plant is poisonous Native Americans used the root to ease whooping cough and the smoke from the seeds was used to treat breathing difficulties.
Meadowsweet (Spirea alba) grows in the form of a small shrub and is in the spirea family, which its flowers clearly show with their many fuzzy stamens. The flowers are fragrant and have a sort of almond-like scent. I almost always find it near water. It is another plant which for me marks summer’s passing.
Tall lettuce (Lactuca canadensis) can reach 10 feet tall, towering above other plants in the area. This makes it easy to see but sometimes it’s not so easy to get a good photo of. The leaves of this plant can be highly variable in their shape, with even the leaves on the same plant looking different from each other. Native Americans used the plant for pain relief, as a stimulant, and for calming the nerves. The milky white sap contains a compound called lactucarium, which has narcotic and sedative properties. It is still used in medicines today but should be used with caution because overdoses can cause death.
Though tall lettuce can reach 10 feet tall its flowers are very small; no more than a 1/4 inch across, and appear in loose clusters at the top of wiry stalks.
The pale yellowish green flowers of tall lettuce (Lactuca canadensis) are often tinted by red or pink on their edges and are really quite pretty, but I think they are flowers that most people miss. This one was offering up a lot of pollen.
Last year I followed a trail through a swamp and was astonished to see a two foot tall greater purple fringed bog orchid (Platanthera grandiflora) growing right there beside the trail. This year I’ve been following its progress off and on for months, watching it grow and produce buds, hoping all the while that a hungry deer wouldn’t come along and eat it. The deer left it alone and finally it bloomed at exactly the same time it had last year.
Gosh what a beautiful thing it is; like a bush full of purple butterflies. It is something I’d happily walk many miles to see because such a sight is so very rare; truly a once in a lifetime find in these parts. It grows in black, very wet swamp mud where for part of this spring there was standing water, so it obviously likes wet feet. Last year I was confused about its identity because the middle lower petal didn’t show any fringe but this year as you can see they are fringed, so that clinches it. The flowers are pollinated by large butterflies and moths, but I’ve never seen an insect near them. I do hope they get pollinated and produce plenty of seeds. I was stunned to read that the Native American Iroquois tribe actually dug this orchid up for its roots! They made tea from the roots to protect them from ghosts. Maybe there were a lot more plants then. I could never dig up something so beautiful and rare.
How I wish everyone could become lost in nature at least once. A camera is a good way to experience it because a camera makes you focus intently on what you see, and often when you do that you find that all other thoughts will fade. Your mind and heart open and then it is just you and the incredible beauty of what is before you. You become lost in that beauty and become part of it, and time slips away. It doesn’t matter that you are kneeling in mud because you can’t care about such things. It’s just you and what your attention is focused on, and for that moment in time there is simply nothing else. I’m often astonished to find that what seemed like just a few minutes has actually been an hour or more. That’s how I know that I have been taken away to that other place. It’s a place where, once visited, you know you’d love to stay, and I do hope you’ll find that out for yourself one day.
Silently a flower blooms,
In silence it falls away;
Yet here now, at this moment, at this place,
The world of the flower, the whole of the world is blooming.
This is the talk of the flower, the truth of the blossom:
The glory of eternal life is fully shining here.
~ Zenkei Shibayama
Thanks for coming by.
HIDDEN MEANING
The rose withers in days
Photos and paintings fade
But the essence endures
Forever and ever
Thank you Ben. I don’t know what the hidden meaning might be but since we are all made of the same cosmic stuff I think we all endure forever and ever.
If so then we are doing so. Hoping your ongoing journey is a pleasant one. Or as much as possible anyway. 🙂
I hardly ever came across a Canada lily in my area, but we did see a lot of the orange and brown speckled tiger lilies, sometimes called Turk’s cap lilies.
Summer is passing by at an alarming rate. Thank you for taking your readers on a tour of your area. It is good to see so many old plant friends, and make new ones.
Thank you Lavinia. Interesting. I never see the Turk’s cap lilies here but I’d like to.
Yes, summer is flying by, but I’d bet winter won’t!
What a beautiful post, Allen! The heavenly bog orchid flowering again after you had waited patiently for a year was a wonderful ending to your account of all the plants you have seen so far this month.
Thank you Clare. That orchid is easily one of the most beautiful wildflowers we have here. I’d love to see a swamp full of them!
I’m sure that would be a glorious sight!
My favorite part of this post was your wish that everyone should get lost in nature, at least once. That’s a very kind, thought-provoking sentiment.
Thank you Judy. I think this world would be a very different place if that wish came true.
So true, but we probably shouldn’t hold our breath while we wait for that to happen.
I agree!
I heard this segment on NPR this morning. You’re not alone out there….http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/07/17/536676954/forest-bathing-a-retreat-to-nature-can-boost-immunity-and-mood
Thanks very much Judy, that was great! I’m very happy to know that such things are going on!
I hope that your bog orchid does seed and replicate. You couldn’t have too many of such a beautiful flower.
Thank you, I agree!
I have a couple of Rubus odoratus, but they have only a few blooms. Perhaps too much shade? The leaves are nice, though. Those Canada Lilies are very beautiful.
It could be too much shade but they can take quite a lot. I’ve also seen them growing in full sun too, so don’t be afraid to give them more sunshine.
I wish the Canada lilies weren’t disappearing. I went from being able to see about a hundred plants last year down to 2 plants this year.
My first experience finding rubus odoratus was in a rough patch of soil at a former tourmaline mine in western Maine. I had the impression this plant loved sandy soil, possibly of an extreme pH or high abundance of some mineral, and loved abuse! Good luck with your plant. Its one on my list and Im glad to learn that I maybe have a chance trying to grow it on my not so sunny property.
It’s a tough plant for sure. I find it here along stream banks and rail trails where the soil is light and sandy but mostly stays moist.
Absolutely love the greater purple fringed bog orchid! What you have shared about being in nature is so true.
Thank you. I wish everyone could experience it. I think this world would be very different if they did!
Herb Robert is one of my favorites. It grows on the edges of the paths here, and in the spring before it flowers the plant is a cluster of red leaves; very lovely. I was very excited to see a solitary helleborine for the first time. Do you have those?
Thank you Cathy. I didn’t know about the red leaves on herb Robert. I’m going to have to go see it next spring. It seems to like that spot beside the river and is spreading nicely.
Yes, we do have broad leaved helleborine orchids and they’re almost ready to bloom. I’ve been watching them closely, hoping for a few pink ones.
My sister gave my mum some creeping bellflower to put in her garden. I guess that was 25 years ago … and I’ve been trying to get rid of it ever since. It certainly is invasive in her yard.
I know how you feel, Lee. I worked as a gardener for a woman who had the same problem years ago. I’m guessing the plant is still there, even though I tried everything.
Reblogged this on Dawn of Divine Rays.
Thanks very much!
My goodness, that orchid is gorgeous! I really enjoy seeing so many flowers that we don’t have in this region! Beautiful! I wish we had that orchid, and those Canada lilies!
Thanks Montucky! That orchid is one of the most beautiful flowers I’ve found, that’s for sure.
I wish you had them there too. They’re big, beautiful and easy to see.
So interesting, you should write a book.
Thank you Jane. I do have one planned but I’m going to need a lot more free time than I have right now, so it probably won’t happen for 4 or 5 years yet.
The orchid is breath taking! Seems you got to see a couple new things. Isn’t it always neat when you find something new!? I’m hoping to help work on a nature trail here in the park. I may have to call on your expertise to help me identify some of the wildflowers here! Great post.
Thanks Laura. Yes, I love finding plants I’ve never seen!
You don’t say what state you’re in but send me some photos and I’ll see if I can tell what they are.
It is glorious right now 🙂
Yes! Let’s hope summer decides to stay a while.
Another bundle of flowers from NH, one more beautiful than the other. – Chicory is called here in German “Wegwarte” which translates to “Wait on the way” and there are some very touching tales told about a maid waiting futile for her far away lover to return who was finally turned into this beautiful flower. Besides: Chicory root was in the hard times after the wars used as an “Ersatz” for coffee.
Thank you Zyriacus. I’ve heard of chicory root coffee but I’ve never tried it. I used to make a kind coffee from dandelion root that was quite good, but a lot of work went into roasting and grinding the roots.
Your story of the maid who was turned into a flower reminds me of many Native American tales which have similar themes.
Of all the wonders in this post I particularly enjoyed the lily at the beginning and the bog orchid at the end. They look so good through the lens of your camera,I wouldn’t see them so well with my naked eye even if I was able to be there!
Thank you Susan. Both of these plants are quite large, so they might surprise you if you could be with them. The orchid has the smallest flowers but there are so many of them they can be seen from quite a distance.