consworld

wildflowers

wildflowers

A small plant which grows in patches around my home. The wildflower guide book says to 2 feet high, but the key word is “to”. Most around my home are six to eight inches high with a long cluster of tiny white flowers lasting briefly in early June.

It’s been a cool June so far with rain and low temperatures. The cloudy days are just right for photographing wildflowers.

wildflowers wildflowers

These wildflowers are among the first to bloom in the spring in my area. Second only to a minute white wildflower around my house. These are a bit larger- generally 2 to 5 inches tall. I am happy to be able to join everyone celebrating spring with muddy knees and wildflower photography.

wildflowers

bees, wildflowers

In my world,  flower gardening means weeding.There’s nothing to plant.   I let all native wildflower volunteers grow and remove most  (can you ever get them all?) invasive weeds.

The wildflowers have grown so much in this summer of rain the garden path has almost disappeared. Bees buzz busily at the flowers and ignore me as I push through on the path.

I learned the common names of all the plants several years ago, but have forgotten many.  There are wild roses, bellflowers and blanket flowers, asters and daisies, and pussytoes just to name a few.

Granite gravel soil makes weed removal rough, hard work. The tall dandelion with enormous sead head is allowed to stay as it doesn’t spread and take over like the shorter invasive ones.

Let nature do it’s thing. Photography it.

Wildflower gardener. That’s me!

wildflowers

Detail from a drift of wildflower snow flowing down my rock garden.

wildflowers

Wildflowers are a summer thing, like the local festivals in consworld. Both flourish in the summer and keep me busy photographing, printing, and showing.

This year, afternoon rains have been very good for flower and stormy sky photography, however, not so good for packing up and breaking down the booth at outdoor festivals. Am I complaining about the rain? Never. The paintbrush image, above, was captured on a stormy day less than 1/2 mile from my home.

wildflowers

Backlit by the setting sun, this very common wildflower blooms continuously throughout the summer in my area.

wildflowers