West Virginia Wildflowers

Jun
9

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This is a wonderful time for wildflowers as many of the spring wildflowers are still in bloom with summer wildflowers already sneaking in.
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Those are ox-eye daisies, which are edible! We’ll be making daisy jelly at this weekend’s wildflower two-day retreat.

This is Philadelphia fleabane, which is slightly crumpled looking from rain.
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This is a better picture:
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The daisies and fleabane are absolutely everywhere along the roadsides here right now.

I’m also seeing black-eyed susans.
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Greek valerian:
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And Queen Anne’s lace.
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There are other flowers that look a bit like Queen Anne’s lace, but you can tell the difference by the red center on Queen Anne’s lace, among other characteristics. There’s another large white flower I picked yesterday that I believe is white yarrow.
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And of course, lots of red clover.
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And the sorrel that is such a tenaceous uninvited guest in my garden beds is coming in.
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Oddly, what I’ve been finding the least of lately are dandelions! Where did all the dandelions go? Good thing we have lots of other flowers to play with this weekend around here! What are you seeing where you are? I miss Texas wildflowers–the bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes and sunflowers….
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But! We must bloom where we are planted, yes? Unless you’re picking the blooms, then they can bloom where you want them to. I made up a couple of nice pots of wildflowers yesterday after taking a drive and “shopping” on the roadsides!

P.S. There are some hydrangeas in that photo, too. They were….kinda….wild. I found them in an overgrown field by the road where there used to be a house!





Comments

  1. holstein woman says:

    I learned some years ago that Ox eye daisy is not good for dairy cows to eat especially. If they are in their pasture they won’t eat them, but we got some unbeknownst to us and the cows couldn’t know it was in their alfalfa. When we sold the milk it was thick even though the taste wasn’t changed. It amazes me how we learn the little things.
    We have lots of them here and foxglove for now.

  2. Joell says:

    :happyflower:
    We have a lot of the daisys too, I think they are so pretty, our black-eyed susans and cone flowers are heading and should open soon. I thinned out a lot of my flowers and planted rhubarb in their place.
    We have so many lovely wildfowers that I have no idea what the names are, I transplanted them from the feilds and woods around us. One of my favorite storys to tell is about when we first moved to the country and I saw all of this beautiful vining plant, so I dug it up and planted it my garden, that is how I met Miss Ivy! 😥

  3. Abby's Mom says:

    😕 Be super careful with the ones that look like Queen Annes Lace, if they are growing quite tall and have red/purple splotches on the stems but no red flower in the center they are quite possibly Poison Hemlock, a VERY toxic & invasive weed. However, they are really pretty if you just leave them in the field! :clover:

  4. Jen says:

    I have a friend that grows fleabane in her garden on purpose – even though it grows along the roads like her in Arkansas the same as it does in WV. She has family in California who loves it when they come visit. They PAY for it at the florists there. So our weed is their hothouse flower I guess.

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