About half of these photos were taken on our property, and the other half were taken at Carter Caves State Park in KY. We love the way native wildflowers herald Spring, but it's taken us a while to learn even just a small handful of them. We use the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers and also Newcomb's Wildflower Guide.
This is a Common Blue Violet:
What I originally thought was just a mutation of the Common Blue Violet turns out to be the Northern White Violet:
I think this is the Smooth Yellow Violet, but I'm not positive:
Cutleaf Toothwort:
This looks suspiciously like Garlic Mustard; if anyone knows for sure, please tell me!
Rue Anemone:
I haven't a clue what this one is, so, again, if someone knows, please tell me. :)
Dutchman's Breeches:
Spring Beauty:
Wild Blue Phlox:
This looks similar to the above phlox, but has split petals and looks like an odd cross between the Wild Blue Phlox and the Ragged Robin:
Large-flowered Trillium:
This grape hyacinth is not in the hyacinth family, and, alas, is not even native to North America (it originated in the Mediterranean region), but it does cheer us up with its pretty color every spring:
Even a dandelion can be beautiful. While many consider this a weed, it is actually a lovely plant, full of uses. We just don't particularly want it in our garden beds where we're trying to grow another vegetable.
The kids want to make sure I include the Daisy Fleabane**. They have a most peculiar saying and habit. Whenever they see these, they say, "Daisy Fleabane: must whack", and then proceed to hack it off with a stick (or at least they used to). Yes, I'm well aware my children are insane. ;D
**Apparently, Daisy Fleabane is another name for Philadelphia Fleabane. Ds#1 noted that this year's crop is a very pink variation on the other years'. Not sure why though. Oh, and for those in Indiana, here's a quick guide to some common wildflowers: http://www.huntington.edu/thornhill/checklist/commonwildflowers.htm"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams
29 comments:
You have lots of beautiful flowers on your property T! I like that yellow violet, wish I had those. I'm going to plan a bunch of clover seeds and hopefully they cover a good portion of our yard.
Thanks, M! I wish they were all on our property, but that gorgeous yellow violet was in Carter Caves State Park. Clover is a terrific plant: fixes nitrogen and the chickens love it! :)
Beautiful spring flowers T! I love procrastinating, it's one of my favorite past times.
Love the photos! And I had to laugh at your sons' flower whacking ritual. Tell me - do they get their crazy from you or their dad?? ;D
Hey Suds, nice to see you! Procrastination is like junk food: tasty (er, yeah) but evil. :}
Firefly Mom, I swear it comes from dh's side of the family, but looking at my parents, I'm not so sure. LOL! And I know for a fact that it skipped a generation...ahem. LOL!
Lovely photographs of beautiful flowers. I tried to grow trilliums (trillia?!) unsuccessfully. Think some creature ate the bulbs :-(
Diane, thanks! Curse those creatures that eat our flowers and veggies... ;}
great pictures!
Thanks, Misty!
OH! Beautiful!! I'm enjoying searching the propertythis year finding what grows here...There is a particular flower down by that pond that I need to take a pic of now that the 3ft of snow is melting.
I love dandelions, even though people go out of their way to kill them. :)
I love the boys saying for fleabane lol..too funny! :P
so lovely - especially the grape hyacinth. you take such pretty pictures T!
Stace, I'd love to see what the flower by your pond looks like! I remember being enthralled with dandelions when we first moved to Canada; had never seen them in Hong Kong before. :) Don't encourage the boys...LOL!
Meg, thanks! I was surprised at how well that little camera did with capturing the flowers.
You have some beautiful wildflowers down your way. I will be going on a forest field trip in June...I'll take some photos of our local wildflowers!
I would love to see what's at your neck of the woods for wildflowers, Alli!
Thank you for this, Teresa! i saw my first spring beauty last week! i wouldn't have had any idea what it was without the help of my friend, sky.
i have been hearing how dandelion is very beneficial to some garden plants, but we are so accustomed to weeding it out, i feel like it looks like sloppy gardening to have dandelions in with the vegetables!
i had been thinking that the one you called daisy fleabane was called ox-eye daisy. shows what know!
trillium is my favorite.
Cake, neat! What a good friend to have. We don't want dandelions in our veggie patches because they would out-compete most things. In the lawn, they have free reign! ;)
This fleabane is definitely not ox-eye, which is a lot more daisy-like, but I'm starting to think that what we have is actually the Annual or the Philadelphia Fleabane.
It's so hard to ID things! LOL!
Another update: Philadelphia Fleabane is also called Daisy Fleabane. Just to confuse me even more.
Oh so pretty- what a beautiful time of year for all these flowers...
Carrie, it does make Spring even more special, doesn't it? =)
Haley was just saying how she missed the violets. not many wildflowers in our area. Hey, do the Spring Beauties come out early? John saw something that looks similar awhile back and got down to take a pic of it. Unfortunately he got poison ivy and a tick for his troubles. I should have him post that pic to see if you guys recognize it.
How pretty!
Wonderful pictures!! So pretty!!
Beautiful pictures. Hooray for spring!
I've got a whole list of food to eat in NO!
Cool! I have a friend who uses native plants as food. She really likes dandelions, but I don't care for them, myself.
Grace, yup, Spring Beauties are one of the first to emerge. :) Hope J didn't get poison ivy too badly! Ticks have been all over our house recently. I blame the dog. LOL!
Blonde, Together, Anne-Marie, thanks!
Maureen, we've not eaten or used dandelions either. Not sure why though. :}
Do chickens eat ticks? Ticks really are nasty little bugs. How is the pooch holding out?
G, I don't know if chickens eat ticks; due to the killer neighborhood dogs, we don't let them free range as much as we used to, so they can't cover the entire property anyway. The dog is on a strict Frontline regimen (ick, ick, ick...) ever since that year (you remember?) when she had so many ticks, they were inside her ears.
Violets are edible as well. Dandelions are also edible and have vast medicinal properties.
Thanks for the post, I miss American wildflowers.
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