Nodding

It was a windy day and the Wild Columbine was difficult to capture close up as they swung their heads widely in the wind. But in this quiet place between two dunes this specimen was nodding off in the sun silently showing off it's festive hat shaped bloom.  

Lupine and Butterflies

One of my favorite times at the Indiana Dunes is right now---the sand dunes are covered with wildflowers. And when the Lupines bloom the woods glow with the lilac colored flowers. I love the whirling green leaves of this plant that is the host plant of the endangered Karner Blue Butterfly.

The Karner Blue, a rather picky sort, relies on several continuous Lupine tracks for its existence that occurs basically around the Great Lakes Area.

Even without considering the endangered butterfly, though, the Lupine bloom is a silent firework display of beauty and color that happens every year and is happening in the Dunes woods right now. Take a minute to admire a closeup of the beauty:

  

Reflection of Spring

The wildflowers are covering Potato Creek State Park this year. White Trilliums, Blue Sweet Williams, Pink Spring Beauty's---all making the spring show of the year; a most gorgeous spring. Here the old pump house is reflected in its pond that is loved by spring peepers and turtles, as well as people admiring the beauty of spring.

A Parade of Jacks in the Forest

Jack in the Pulpits (Arisaema triphyllum) are popping all over through the forest floor. Apparently, even though they are poisonous enough to kill, people have survived to tell the tale that they are as hot as hell. Apparently Jack preaches hell and damnation from his pulpit in the park!

According to Wiki, Native Americans used this species to poison enemies. They also figured out how to safely eat the roots and used the plant for various medicinal purposes.

Jack in the Pulpits take 3 years to mature to the flowering stage.

Pantaloons in the Park

Growing in the shade of the trees, in a dry, but rich soil is the spring wildflower, Dicentra cucullaria, better known as Dutchman's Breeches, because the shape of the flowers look like old time pantaloons.

According to the Wiki article on this wildflower, this plant is sowed by ants that are attracted to the seed and bury it in their hills. These flowers can be found blooming in Indiana woods now, a bit later than they were blooming last year, when they were blooming on March 26.    

Close Up of Spring

A closeup of a Spring Beauty, a spring wildflower no bigger than a thumbnail. Spring Beauty's have only just begun to bloom in the under story of the leafless spring woodlands.  

Spring

After a couple of days of warmer temperatures the forest floor is covered with wildflowers poking through last year's remaining leaves. This tiny flower appeared today to greet Monday morning.

First Wildflowers of the Year

The first wildflower of the year is just poking its head up through last year's fallen leaves. What a different year this has been compared to last year's spring!

Monday Warm Up

This photo is from March 18, 2012---again, what a difference a year makes! After days of eighty degree temps in early March the wildflowers were way ahead of the times compared to this dreary, damp, and cold March of 2013.  

Complimentary Bug

Here's a winter warm up picture from the archives. There was a complimentary insect (not a bug true bug) on this coneflower. He crawled out of the petals as I snapped the picture. Guess he was a ham.

Earth Magic

The earth speaks in magic, the magic of rainbows and waterfalls and frogs. It is the magic of interacting sunlight and air and water and soil creating a constantly shifting kaleidoscope of wondrous riches on our turning planet. In fact, for someone visiting earth for the first time, the real treasures here would all be free. The smell of a sunlit prairie, the taste of a cold cup of spring water, the crunch of trackless snow underfoot, these are some of the earth's supreme treasures.... 

From The Earth Speaks/Earth Magic by Steve Van Matre 

An Added Bonus

I loved the center of this flower and got in close and received an insect bonus. This may be a flying wasp? I'm still searching for a definitive answer.  

Turtlehead Blooming in the Bog

What a beauty Turtlehead is and it's blooming now in the Indiana Dunes. It likes wet areas and can be found getting its feet wet along the edges of the bog---one of the last wildflowers to be showing its face as we move into October.

The Last Flowers in the Garden of the Year

Dearest, we are like two flowers

Blooming last in a yellowing garden,

A purple aster flower and a red one

Standing alone in a withered desolation.

The garden plants are shattered and seeded,

One brittle leaf scrapes against another,

Fiddling echoes of a rush of petals.

Now only you and I nodding together.

Many were with us; they have all faded.

Only we are purple and crimson,

Only we in the dew-clear mornings,

Smarten into color as the sun rises.

When I scarcely see you in the fiat moonlight,

And later when my cold roots tighten,

I am anxious for the morning,

I cannot rest in fear of what may happen.

You or I—and I am a coward.

Surely frost should take the crimson.

Purple is a finer color,

Very splendid in isolation.

So we nod above the broken

Stems of flowers almost rotted.

Many mornings there cannot be now

For us both. Ah, Dear, I love you!

Frimaire by Amy Lowell

Glowing in the Shade

This wildflower seemed to have a inner glow of its own---nodding its head so beautifully in the shade.

Beauty and the Beast

The Beast fell in love with the Beauty, latched on, and would never let go.

Hundreds of Tiny Flowers

A close look at the center of this flower shows that this flower is made up of  hundreds of tiny flowers within.  

Indian Blanket for Cooler Days Ahead

Summer's last hurrah very often includes an Indian Blanket or two, as if we need a little something to help us through the transition from Summer to Fall.

This lone flower was like a beacon soaking up the late afternoon sunshine---a wildflower full of warmth.    

Lovely, Transient, and Poisonous

Such beauty only lasts an evening---by the next morning this flower will have dropped off, its beauty over and done with.

And although quite a beauty, you wouldn't want  Jimson Weed in your yard; it is poisonous to pets and humans.

Delicate, but not Fragile

Tiny and delicate, I love coming across these members of the pea family on a hike by the river.