I finally saw some wildflowers open in the woods, but this bloodroot might have wished it waited a another week with snowflakes flying today and freezing temperatures the nest few nights.
Season’s First Bloodroot
Picture of the Day for September 27, 2023
The native flower, Turtlehead, named because of the blossom’s lips look like a turtle’s beak, but to me the flower could be called Bumblebee flower instead as if you look closely, you might see a bumblebee squeezing into a blossom or backing out of one. Bumblebees are one of the few insects strong enough to push open the mouth and wiggle past the stamen that acts like a roadblock to reach the nectar.
Bumblebee in Turtlehead
Picture of the Day for September 11, 2023
The blazing star blossoms add a pop of bright color amongst the other late season flowers. Several different varieties of blazing star are native to Wisconsin.
Blazing Star Blossoms
Picture of the Day for August 30, 2023
Most of the fireweed I noticed today are almost done blooming, which bloom from the bottom and last blossoms of the season are on top. The name fireweed stems from its ability to quickly colonize areas burned by fire. Lore has it that the end of summer isn’t official until the top fireweed buds bloom, and those at the bottom have died. And since it is close to the Labr Day weekend, another signal to the end summer, the fireweeds I saw fit right in with this timing of the end of summer (especially seeing some leaves turning color too).
Fireweed Nearing End
Picture of the Day for August 15, 2023
When I was mowing, I spotted some Indian Pipes, which are also called Ghost Plant, Ghost Pipe, Ghost Flower or Corpse Plant. I don’t see them every year and because it has no chlorophyll and doesn’t depend on photosynthesis, they can grow in dark forests. As it is unable to obtain energy from sunlight, it is a parasitic plant that uses a fungi to tap into tree roots for its nutrients.
Indian Pipes Blooming
Picture of the Day for August 2, 2023
Around my home, you only have to travel less than a mile to find a habit that varies enough to find different wildflowers, and so when I traveled more than a hundred miles to a state park, I encountered many species that I haven’t seen before, including this flower. In the Pyrola genus, this flower is probably Shinleaf based on its leaves, but could also be Round-leaved Pyrola.
Pretty Pyrola
Picture of the Day for June 27, 2023
On my walk over towards the Upper Falls on the Amnicon River, there was some wild roses blooming adding patches of pink here and there.
Wild Rose Blossom
Picture of the Day for June 23, 2023
It is always a treat to stumble across a native orchid, like this Pink Lady’s Slipper. The Pink Lady’s Slipper can take five years to bloom, but they can live to be twenty years old or more.
Pink Lady’s Slipper
Picture of the Day for June 14, 2023
Today is Flag Day, which honors this date in 1777 when the Continental Congress approved the design of a national flag. I have a different flag on the edge of my pond – the Northern Blue Flag, a native iris found is marshes and other wetlands.
A Flag for Flag Day
Picture of the Day for May 19, 2023
Patches of pink now line some of the road ditches and woodlands as the wild geraniums are in full bloom. Native to eastern North America, wild geranium is also known by these common names including wood geranium, alum root, alum bloom, cranesbill, spotted cranesbill, wild cranesbill, and spotted geranium.
Wild Geranium Blossoms
