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.