Blooms and Beetles
Taking a quick count, we’ve seen about 20 different types of flowers at The Hollow this week. The showiest of the bunch was this lone Canada lily, lonely garding a mosquito-infested patch of poison ivy in the valley behind the remains of the old cabin.
There are bunches of daisies.
The clover are blooming everywhere. The morning dew hasn’t evaporated from this one, yet (click on it for a larger image).
Marsh roses are blooming in our marsh. The skeeters were so thick, I didn’t stick around long enough to get a really good shot.
This 2′ mystery flower was blooming in the grassy area near the marsh roses. The leaves look like nettle, and the stem is square, placing it in the mint family. Ohio has a flower called hedge nettle, but the leaves are narrower than this one, the stem is more reddish, and the pictures of the flowers are a bit different. The individual flowers on this plant are actually quite complex and pretty (click on the picture for a larger image–depending on your browser, you may have to click on that image also, and then you’ll see a version of the picture almost a full screen wide).
Other mint family blossoms this week include some peppermint growing in the valley, and bergamot (above), growing all over the place.
Loosestrife, also near the marsh, adds a touch of yellow.
A colorful pair of beetles enjoy the flowers from a milkweed leaf.