Have I mentioned the Bouncing Bet?

In an earlier blog posting I listed all the wildflowers inhabiting our meadow.  And as promised I now belatedly bring you the "bouncing bet" for B on ABC Wednesday.  It is especially beautiful as it is beginning to open.  When in full bloom it loses the lavender you see in this blossom and is basically white.  Here is another site from Cook County, Illinois, detailing its pros and cons (somewhat poisonous to grazing animals) through recalling an abandoned farmhouse garden.  And like all my volunteers, Invasive.Org has it on the no-no list! 

In our strolls, and actually while simply standing on the front porch, we see wildflowers everywhere this year.  Did I just not take the time in previous summers to wonder at their being so abundant?  Even without camera in hand I am taking more time to look and to see what is growing all around us. And watchers of my blog know that this summer I cannot stop showcasing what some think of as weeds, invasive species no less.  I suppose they are if you do not want them in your garden or they are harming native species.  A neighbor has tried very hard to bring the meadows of his land back to original southern Michigan prairies.  It has proven very hard to do and I am sure he is bemoaning the lack of help from neighbors like me.  I just give up fighting them in the face of the overwhelming odds that they spread faster than I can hoe!

B's are everywhere this week on ABC Wednesday.  Be sure to visit!

gushing about another gorgeous wildflower

(Click on photo to enlarge)

So once more she's wild about a wild flower, the very orange butterfly weed, very officially Asclepias tuberosa, or, as she just discovered, also called the pluerisy root because its tough root (very long I am told, thus making it a difficult transplant) was chewed by Indians for pulmonary problems.  And finally it is part of the milkweed genus.  Check out the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for more information and the opportunity to buy seeds.

the wild rose

Some summers they are there at the top of the drive but other summers they have disappeared.  They are not showy but what a pleasure when one appears.  And today with a visitor to boot.  Unlike my sister I cannot grow roses well, so I rely on the these wild volunteers for my at-home rose fix.

Learn more about wild roses (only five single petals is their calling card) from the founder of American Meadows seed company,  Ray Howard.

Wild preacher

This Jack in the Pulpit had me on my knees, as I tried to see eye to eye with him!  These "preachers" are not as profuse as the trillium in the little woods next to the vineyard.  Isn't their shape extraordinary?

More spring beauty

We went in search of trillium, which we found in profusion, but we also found this beauty which has captured my imagination.  I do not know what it is.  Does anyone?  The trillium were truly profuse, but this was rare in the woods we walked today.  There were a few Jack in the Pulpit and abundant, and really named, Spring Beauty, many blue and yellow violets.   But what is this?  The closest I can come using my Michigan Wildflowers is possible Squirrel Corn, which I had never, ever heard of!  Help!