How about some wildflowers today to remind us of the spring that is coming up in the Northern Hemisphere? These come from reader Mike McDowell, and his notes are indented (his website and gallery are here):
Even during intense insect missions (tiger beetles, robber flies, etc.), I’ll take time to photograph interesting wildflowers whenever I find them. All ten that follow were photographed in southern Wisconsin; some have a conservation status of special concern. Anyway, I don’t recall seeing wildflower photography collections on your website, so I thought I would help spread a little cheer for readers in the form of botanical natural beauty.
Prairie Fame-flower – Phemeranthus rugospermus:
Sand Milkwort – Polygala polygama:
Venus’ Looking Glass – Triodanis perfoliata:
Eastern Prickly-pear Cactus – Opuntia humifusa:
Clustered Poppy-mallow – Callirhoe triangulata:
Dotted Horsemint – Monarda punctata:
Rough Blazing Star – Liatris aspera:
Silky Aster – Symphyotrichum sericeum:
American Pasqueflower – Anemone patens:
Yellow Lady’s Slipper – Cypripedium pubescens [JAC: this is an orchid]:
Stunningly beautiful. Just what I needed to cheer me up today!
Beautiful photos Mike!
So nice to wake up to such beautiful photographs.
Thanks!
When I lived in WI there was an unspoiled patch of virgin prairie and I spent hours there finding and photographing prairie orchids. They were often so tiny they were almost impossible to find. I had to carefully comb through and separate the dead grasses with a chopstick and then try to illuminate the little devil with sub-miniature flash which needed color correction. Each batch of film needed color test exposures. What a pain in the, uh, knees.
On Tue, Jan 17, 2017 at 7:30 AM, Why Evolution Is True wrote:
> whyevolutionistrue posted: “How about some wildflowers today to remind us > of the spring that is coming up in the Northern Hemisphere? These come from > reader Mike McDowell, and his notes are indented (his website and gallery > are here): Even during intense insect missions (tiger beet” >
Mike, this is very much appreciated. I have seen many of these flowers and have stopped to admire them but I regret not taking their picture.
One species that totally entranced me last summer were the small asters that you have, which attract a lot of insects, but also a shade-loving flower called the Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis). Have you seen those? They are extraordinary.
Yep!
http://www.birddigiscoper.com/blog07161422a.jpg
Beautiful!
Great shots, great finds.
Thanks for those!
🙂
Beautifully photographed! And some of these are really rare tpo. Makes me nostalgic for my southern Wisconsin childhood forests and prairies, now mostly gone, or transformed by invasive buckthorn, or by invasive European worms that eliminated the duff layer, or by the hordes of hungry deer that trim off many early spring wildflowers as they come into bloom.
Wow Mike. These are beautiful!
Can’t wait until our yard starts blooming! We have no grace. We just keep adding native plants….
Grass, no grass😅
Thanks for brightening winter!
Lovely!
Beautiful photos.
Very nice! Thanks!
Great change of pace–beautiful and fascinating!
These are stunning. Honestly, I’m interesting in almost all of the things posted on this website, but the regular RWP instalments must be my favourite. When I’m in a hurry and have to say to myself “I’ll only read one thing today,” I inevitably go with this. Photos like this remind me of why this is the case.
I’m interested* in…
Sorry.