vandaliatraveler:Anyone who believes Appalachia’s summer wildflowers suffer in comparison to the spr
vandaliatraveler:Anyone who believes Appalachia’s summer wildflowers suffer in comparison to the spring ephemerals doesn’t spend enough time outdoors. Above are a few of the wildflower treasures I found blooming in their full glories yesterday during my bike ride up the mountain. From top: Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum), the grandest of all summer wildflowers; white meadowsweet (Spiraea alba), a lovely native Spiraea commonly found in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia; black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), a familiar but nonetheless gorgeous member of the sunflower family; Allegheny monkeyflower (Mimulus ringens), an elusive and attractive inhabitant of wet habitats; Turk’s cap lily (Lilium superbum), the most beautiful of our native lilies and vastly superior in every respect to the Asian imports that pollute our gardens and cityscapes; bushy St. John’s-wort (Hypericum densiflorum), a stunning native shrub of wet mountain meadows that is many times more beautiful and desirable than the invasive European import (perforatum early goldenrod (Solidago juncea), the first species of goldenrod to bloom in summer and the most architecturally elegant of all; white bergamot (Monarda clinopodia), a dainty Monarda of the deep, rich woods; and cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), a truly stunning wildflower of stream banks and swamps, whose incandescent red flowers are custom-designed to attract ruby-throated hummingbirds and can be spotted from a great distance. -- source link
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