7-13 Marsh Bellfower

7-13
Marsh Bellflower, AKA Bedstraw Bellflower, can be found along the banks of the West River.
The garden escape Whorled Coreopsis is in flower. Although far north of its normal range this patch of Coreopsis has persisted for at least 8 years!
John

Marsh Bellflower

Whorled Coreopsis

Whorled Coreopsis leaves

7-12 Yellow Sweet Clover

7-12
Yellow Sweet Clover is starting to flower.
Japanese Spirea - a garden escape that can be aggressively invasive - is blushing roadsides.
John

Yellow Sweet Clover

Japanese Spirea

7-11 Showy Tick Trefoil

7-11
Showy Tick Trefoil waves over roadsides.
Branching Bur-reed decorates swamps.
John

Showy Tick Trefoil

Bur-reed

7-10 Touch-me-nots

7-10
Both Pale and Spotted Touch-me-nots are in flower.
The purple streaked white flowers of Hemp Nettle are opening.
Centaury dots roadsides with pink.
John

Pale Touch-me-not

Spotted Touch-me-not

Hemp Nettle

Centaury

7-9 Square-stemmed Monkey Flower

7-9
Square-stemmed Monkey Flower likes its feet wet. Often I find it in standing water.
Pipsissewa is also in flower. It prefers mossy shaded habitat.
John

Square-stemmed Monkey Flower

Pipsissewa

Pipsissewa

7-8 Crab Spider

7-8
Today a Crab Spider waited in ambush amid the sepals of a Black-eyed Susan.
Basswood was in flower.
A Monarch Butterfly nectared on Milkweed while I snapped its picture.
John

Crab Spider in Black-eyed Susan

Basswood flowes

Monarch butterfly

7-7 Round-leaved Sundews

7-7
The tiny white flowers of Round-leaved Sundews rise above their sticky glandular leaves. Sundews are carnivorous. Their leaves are insect traps.
Enchanter's Nightshade - once thought to protect against spells cast by elves - can be found in damp shady places.
In drier locations Field Milkwort lifts it flower heads above the grasses.
John

Round-leaved Sundew flower

Round-leaved Sundew plant

Enchanter's Nightshade

Field Milkwort

7-6 Monarch butterfly caterpillar

7-6
 A Monarch butterfly caterpillar was feeding this morning. These once common caterpillars have been quite scarce for the past few years.
Pale Spike Lobelia is flowering.
Wood Frogs were on the move. I saw several today.
John

Monarch butterfly caterpillar

Pale Spike Lobelia

Wood Frog

7-5 Partridge Berry

7-5
Partridge Berry is in flower.
Everlasting Pea crops up in disturbed soils, perhaps introduced for erosion control.
A plume moth - one of 140 plume moths - rested on a Black Eyed Susan while I took pictures.
John

Partridge Berry

Everlasting Pea

Plume moth

7-4 Moth Mullein

7-4
Moth Mullein comes in two colors, yellow and white, and both can be found in flower now.
John

Yellow Moth Mullein

White Moth Mellein

7-3 Canada Lilies

7-3
Canada Lilies are starting to flower. They can be yellow, orange or in this case brick red.
The caterpillar of a Galium sphinx Moth, AKA Bedstraw Sphinx, fed - quite appropriately - on bedstraw.
John

Canada Lilies

Galium sphinx moth caterpillar

7-2 Purple Loosestrife

7-2
Purple Loosestrife and Wild Mint are both starting to flower.
John

Purple Loosestrife

Wild Mint

7-1 Green Amaranth

7-1
Green Amaranth, less glamorously known as Pigweed, is flourishing in plowed fields.
In a damp thicket Rough Hedge-nettle is starting to flower.
John

Green Amaranth

Rough Hedge-nettle

6-30 Winterberry

6-30
The tiny branch-hugging white flowers of Winterberry, AKA Black Alder, are open
A caterpillar - possibly that of a Purple-lined Prominent moth - fed on White Beardtongue this morning.
John

Winterberry

Possibly Purple-lined Prominent moth caterpillar

6-29 Venus's Looking Glass

6-29
Venus's Looking Glass is opening flowers, parasitic Indian Pipes are pushing up through the leaf litter and Yellow Rattle is doing its thing.
John

Venus's Looking Glass

Indian Pipes

Yellow Rattle

6-28 Tubercled Orchids

6-28
Tubercled Orchids, State listed as rare, are pushing up spikes of yellowish-green flowers.
Nearby another orchid family member, Shining Ladies' Tresses, puts up spikes of yellow lipped white flowers.
John

Tubercled Orchid

Shining Ladies' Tresses

6-27 Swamp Candles

6-27
Swamp Candles, AKA Yellow Loosestrife, lights swamps, ditches and wet meadows.
The greenish-white flower spikes of Bracted Plantain lift over roadsides and waste places.
The much despised Wild Parsnip is going crazy. It can reach 5 feet tall.
John

Swamp Candle

Bracted Plantain

Wild Parsnip

6-26 Hedge Bindweed

6-26
The white or pink funnel shaped flowers of Hedge Bindweed drape thickets and weedy fields.
Common Mullein is opening spikes of bright yellow blossoms.
Galinsoga, AKA Quickweed, favors tilled soil and is a bane of gardeners.
Colorado Potato bugs take time from feeding on Horse Nettle to fulfill their destinies.
John

Hedge Bindweed

Common Mullein

Galinsoga

Potato bugs