WILDFLOWERS AT HOME ( part 10 )

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PINEAPPLE WEED

If you don’t bend over and look hard you will miss these little gems.  They appear in July and can be found often in the middle of the driveway, popping up out of the gravelly areas less travelled on.  The flower tops turn yellow and the plants themselves are only about 2 inches tall or less.  This little flower has a very sweet pineappley smell, one that you won’t forget once you take a good whiff of them.  I fondly remember smelling them as a child and still look forward to their arrival each summer.  

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LOCOWEED

This is a cute little flower in the yard that lasts all summer.  It has deep purple buds and lavender flowers that come and go.  If the grass is mowed short in the yard you may not see them.  They seem to like full sun and spread well.

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PURPLE MILKWEED

These maroon/purple flowers are somewhat like Joe Pye Weed but appear a few weeks earlier than Joe in July.  They are few in numbers but can be found on the inner dike and in a few marshy areas.  Butterflies love them and they grow 4 feet tall or more, similar in height to Joe Pye Weed.

I find them quite beautiful, with their pinkish to rosy hue.

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GARDEN LOOSESTRIFE

This type of loosestrife is invasive, but striking, with its tall clusters of golden yellow flowers.  It can be found in July along the inner dike of the pond on the east side before the fenced off area begins.

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BLUE VERVAIN or SWAMP VERBENA

One of my favorites, this type of vervain begins to bloom in late July and lasts into August.  Its numerous spikes are adorned with tiny purple flowers.  It grows in full sun on the inner dike and reaches up 3 to 4 feet tall.  Its flowers have a rather delicate appearance.

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FIELD MILKWORT

There’s a spoiler in the background of this photograph!  I found this little purple flower near the basement drain by the pond.  It likes part sun/part shade and blooms about the end of July and into August.  It is about 6 inches tall and grows in small groups.  

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FROST WEED/ HEATH ASTER

Late July to early August find these miniature daisies in full bloom.  They like full sun and can be found all around the dike and along the driveway.  They branch out and grow to about 3 feet tall.  They are a sign of the dog days of summer.  

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JOE PYE WEED

In late July to early August you can find Joe Pye Weed in large gatherings along Tom’s Creek.  Its purple blossoms have a strong cinnamon like odor when fully open.    It is a wonderful smell and makes a great vase flower.

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TANSY

This very tall plant produces flowers in August.  It grows  4 to 5 feet tall and can be found south of the garden near the lumber piles.  I have not noticed it anywhere else on the property but have seen it in the road ditch a half mile east of our driveway.  Tansy has a long history of use for medicinal purposes.

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AMERICAN HOG PEANUT

These little vines have a pink/purple flower appearing on them in August, somewhat like the blossom on a pea or bean plant.  The plant is low to the ground and grows in shaded woods on the east edge of the yard.  The vines wrap themselves around nearby grasses when growing next to them.  

The blossoms are a bit pinker than the photograph portrays them.

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CONTENTMENT

In a woods… shady, mossy, and green

With soft, scented pine needles under my feet

A deer twists his neck to look at me,

While squirrels chaise each other up a tree.

And cool breezes drift through the pines.

Summer is my favorite time to ponder

And walk among the ferns over yonder

But the maple trees know it won’t be long

‘Til their leaves are red, then brown, then gone.

Across the creek where the big pines whisper.

The rattlesnake plantain shows itself here and there

While the mushrooms litter the pine needled floor

Of the woods I love not far from home

Where the red ferns dance in the morning sun.

And the deer’s white tail waves goodbye to me.

As I walk along in this shady woods

With the pileated woodpeckers gliding ‘tween the trees,

Where the Indians camped so long ago

In summertime warmth and wintertime snow

I thank them for sharing this land with me.

For I’m just here passing my life and time

In a woods that I’ll never truly own

But without a doubt, in my heart I know

As I walk in these woods, where the wintergreen grow

I belong… here.