Mockingbird Nest

Trumpet Vine

The woods are full of trumpet vine. It only needs some sunlight and something to climb on to thrive.

 

Here are old vines from last summer growing on a telephone pole. The new growth will completely cover and crush the dry sticks of last year's vine.

Wild Bergamot is from the mint family and called Oswego Tea or Bee Balm.

See that spray of blackberries still red in the background?

It blooms in ditches along roadsides and in fencerows.

Russell's Horse Mint is similar but vary is coloration.

Pink Prairie Posies

Mid-June is a time when there are so many wildflowers blooming on the prairie that it is amazing and impossible to see them all. This summer, I have been attempting to photograph the common flowers and favorites, and also to find and photograph some I haven't seen before.

 The four photos of Showy Prairie Primroses above show them at different stages.

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I notice that there are cycles of predominant colors. 

There was a white cycle, followed by a yellow cycle cycle and of course these overlap and mingle.

The Prairie Gentian or Prairie Sabatia has a tough five-petaled pink flower.

It is one of my favorites to press because it keeps its shape and color well.

Wild roses come in several styles and shades from pale pink to this bright color. 

 

 The Pasture rose is a simple flower with  four petals and a yellow center.

Mimosa and Sensitive Briar are related although sensitive is a ground plant and mimosa

is a flowering tree that grows wild in pastures, woods and fence lines.

Both have a sphere-shaped pink flower with bright yellow tips of pollen that make them resemble miniature fireworks.

 

Sweetpea and vetch are also  pinks of the season.

Coneflowers from white to dark purple are Echinacea.

Pink, Pink, Pink Prairie Posies!

A Wildflower of the Prairie

Prairie Larkspur

Here is another of my favorite June wildflowers. 

It may be confused with the Tube Beard Tongue which is wild foxglove.
The blooms run down one side of each stem. I think it has a dainty elegant shape to fit its fanciful name.

Along with the Prairie Larkspur we find Indian Paintbrushes and Daisy Fleabane.