Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Wildflower Wednesday

Fall is like a steeping pot of tea in reverse.   The colours that were so bright and strong a month ago in my favourite wildflower fields are fading to greyed pastels.  Where once there were flowers, only seeds remain.  Tiny little flowers that I would have ignored just a few weeks ago are now the only floral food for my lens.  

So without further ado, here's what I found yesterday on my walk and search for wildflowers on the Joshua Creek Trail in Oakville Ontario. 



When the field was full of asters, I barely noticed the rose hips.  As everything starts to grey, they'll be even more of a beacon.

It was very quiet when I visited yesterday afternoon.  Sort of sweet to see at least one other creature having a lazy buzz about.  Linaria vulgaris, a non-native.


I know this is a bit of a cheat, but it was one of the few bits of red left combined with some fuzzywuzzy bits, so how could I resist including some sumach?

One of the few flowers of Queen Anne's Lace (non-native) still blooming.


Most of it looks like this:






Tanecetum vulgaris (non-native)


Lessons from the wild:  

I'm including this viburnum, because it reminds me that the insects don't only feast upon those in my garden.  Fun to see the red leaves through the holes in the green leaves.....


And finally one seed-head that looks in need of some serious hair product.  I'll be interested to see how the soft and sharp bits sort themselves out in the weeks ahead.


For those of you who want to see more wildflowers growing in gardens and fields around the world, visit Gail at Clay and Limestone.

7 comments:

Lucy Corrander : Photos said...

That's an astonishing hairstyle at the bottom!

Dee/reddirtramblings said...

I so enjoyed this post. Thank you. It's nice to see the natives further north of me. I only notice the rose hips when all the flowers and leaves are gone too.~~Dee

Marguerite said...

I too have been noticing the rosehips as the grasses turn brown around them. All sorts of berries seem to be catching my attention right now. Seems several of us have included the high bush cranberry in our posts today!

Rose said...

Beautiful photos! Even at this time of year, with so few blooms there is still beauty to be found in the wild. That last photo kind of looks like my hair when I get up in the morning:) Thanks for sharing your walk with us!

Gail said...

I was just telling Mr I (spouse) that I wanted to add sumac to the garden and there it is in your Wildflower Wednesday post. You'll see that this winter I will share wildflowers that are no longer in bloom! gail

Jennifer@threedogsinagarden said...

Hi Barbara, A great roundup of wild beauties! I have always wondered about the wild yellow snapdragons, and now thanks to your post, I know their name and can look them up. Have a great weekend!

Corner Gardener Sue said...

There sure are some beautiful places in our different parts of the world, aren't there? I used to go to some of them in my town, but haven't for years. I keep thinking we need to get to those places, but we don't seem to make it.

I enjoyed your photos. I grow that yellow plant, which I call butter and eggs in a wash tub. I grew queen Ann's lace a couple years, but decided to pull it out because of its aggressive nature. It's been a few years since I did that, and I thought it was all gone, but I'm seeing seedlings again in a clump of octopus bellflower, which I'm also thinking of digging out because it also wants to take over. I guess now, I have a double reason to do that.