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After writing my column last week about little moments of wildlife observed, I found myself still in that frame of mind - noticing and appreciating summer flowers.
The fields are bursting with a colorful patchwork of midsummer flowers: oxeye daisies, black-eyed Susans, clover, Queen Anne’s lace and the roadsides with chicory, partridge peas, vetchlings, phlox and smaller more humble wildflowers.
I noticed an increase in St John's Wort abloom around my family's property, and this week its little yellow flowers still open every morning.
The early summer flowers are still hanging on, in smaller numbers than a month or so ago. The common milkweed (on which the monarch I spotted last week laid its eggs) has faded in color, its fragrant flowers past their prime. Blue eyed grass also still lingers here and there.
But in their place, another wave of flowers has appeared. They aren't blooming as densely around my property, but are just as beautiful.
The common milkweed flowers are already turning into seed pods, but I was lucky enough to come across a swamp milkweed patch. The leaves are narrower, and the flower heads smaller and more intensely pink, and still blooming.
Nearby, ironweed has started to bloom showing an intense shade of purply pink. Like the aforementioned daisies, ironweed belongs to the aster family. It grows four to six feet tall, with clusters of those vibrantly colored little flowers.
I found iron weed growing in various areas around my property, in different soil types, but always in full sun. It is definitely a pollinator-friendly plant.
Blooming on even taller stems, in a muted purple shade similar to milkweed, is the Joe Pye Weed. Growing five to seven feet tall, this is another member of the aster family. Is it just me, or are just about all wildflowers around here Asteraceaes?
Joe Pye is solitary when growing wild around my property, not clustered in patches as the milkweed (and other midsummer flowers).
It's a striking plant, especially at full height. I often see butterflies and native bees visiting its large clusters of small flowers.
Next, I finally found a flower in a different family. The bright orange, exotic looking, Turk's cap lily, belongs to the Liliaceae (lily) family.
I only found two Turk's cap lily plants growing along a stream bank. I expected to see more, because in the spring I see loads of lily leaves in the loamy areas around the seasonal streams which run through our property.
The orange and speckled petals of this flower curl backwards away from the flower center, which nods downward towards the ground.
Turk's cap lilies can also grow quite tall, although the two I found only reached four feet. In addition to being a showstopping native lily (so of course, pollinators love it), reportedly it was grown at Monticello by Thomas Jefferson.
I've spotted it in a few area gardens; if looking for a lily addition to add interest to your garden this time of year, I recommend the Turk's cap - based solely on seeing two plants growing wild, not on any experience of my own in cultivating them.
Walking through the fields, I noticed a few different smaller flowers growing amongst the taller grasses and goldenrod foliage. I still have to identify them.
Earlier this summer, I enjoyed the masses of blooms, and a cursory glance around the fields and forest edges seem much more green lately. However, I thoroughly enjoyed taking a closer look lately, and spending a moment with each vibrant flower.