We are back in the trees again with this beautiful pink and white cluster of flowers of the Black Locusts that grow at the top of our garden. It is strange that I have only seriously looked at the flowers of trees rarely in the past, probably because they are so often higher than I can reach or see easily. This project has inspired me to make more of an effort as far as they are concerned and these, happily, were hanging low enough for me to really examine and photograph. I never realised that these had such beautiful blossoms. If you have never been able to look closely at them, I am happy to share with you today. Enjoy your Friday, my friends. View all posts on the Home page.  A Flower a Day #370   

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Do you like the name for this flower? I hoped you might, as I made it up! Another surprise flower in a different rewilded patch, it seems to resemble a poppy in its fragility and the type of bud, so I am making an assumption that this is what it is. The reason I make up names is that in order to have unique titles for my posts, I have to give the flowers unique titles. I searched through the list of flowers included in my wildflower mixes and couldn’t find one that resembled this, so perhaps it was a total volunteer! I loved the delicate pink crinkles on this and hope that more will appear next year. Let me know if you have a different name for this lovely thing. See you tomorrow, friends. Enjoy your day. View all posts on the Home page.  A Flower a Day #369   

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In the field next to us (also cultivated extensively by raccoons and skunks) grow lots of these cheery yellow goldenrod. As I have said more than once on this project, this plant is not responsible for your seasonal allergies, but frequently suffers unjustly from being blamed for it. For my part, I enjoy looking closely at it to view what visitors are drinking from the hundreds of tiny florets and on this occasion I wasn’t disappointed as I managed to get 2 to share with you today. The Dingy Cutworm moth looks like it was designed in the Art Deco period and is very unimaginately named “Dingy”. I have no idea what the tiny bug above it is, but thought he looked very smart in his striped red, white and black uniform. If anyone knows, please let me know and I will add it here on the post. So now you have homework, if you have time to spare and a more helpful insect identifying app than I do. I hope you have a bit of fun today, whatever you are doing. View all posts on the Home page.  A Flower a Day #368   

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This was a real surprise in my moderately successful rewilded patch, as it is nothing like the Michaelmas daisies that I remember, and such big blooms compared to so many of the wildflowers that have grown. It certainly brightens the patch up dramatically and obviously attracts beneficial insects, which was, after all, the whole point of the exercise! I hope you all enjoy the sight of this cheery flower with its little visitor today. It comes with a hug on this World Wild Aster Day for each of you! View all posts on the Home page.  A Flower a Day #367

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The linden tree, smelling so fragrant and buzzing with bees, is one of my favourite memories of our times in France. Now we have a few of these just next to our barn, planted a few years ago, so I have the same experience to remind me of our time there. The flowers might not look like much, but you can’t tell that to the bees, as at times the tree seems alive with them and with their racket, you almost think there’s an engine rumbling nearby as you walk in the area. So this is today’s happy photo (especially happy if you like bees, though there are none in sight here) is to wish you all a productive day. View all posts on the Home page.  A Flower a Day #366

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Now, or more or less now, we have reached (or will reach) a big milestone of a year of posts on this project. I’m sorry to be vague about this, but I note that my first post about it, Now Where Was I? was published on September 16. For later subscribers it’s worth going back to that post to read my original aims and see what I hoped to do then. However it happened, I do now have the number 365 on this post, so I am announcing this today, with a beautiful bouquet of these Chinese Asters I photographed at a local farm. We can buy lovely bunches of flowers from their farm stand, but these were photographed growing, as I thought they looked gorgeous in situ and worthy of a celebration. The project will continue as long as there are people who might be cheered by a photograph of a flower a day. So happy 1 year (maybe) anniversary everyone! View all posts on the Home page.  A Flower a Day #365

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This strange looking little yellow flower with its lovely fronds of leaves appeared in my rewilded garden not long ago. The fern-like leaves look like those on the sensitive plant to me, but they don’t react to a touch. Apparently these do produce a pod (pea?) and these are eaten by (surprise!) partridges and other such birds. I don’t know how this has grown in this wet summer, as it is supposedly drought resistant but clearly it is a hardy little plant and I hope to see it in that patch for years to come. If you haven’t seen these before, as I hadn’t, then I’m glad to introduce you to this little beauty. Have a lovely day, friends. View all posts on the Home page.  A Flower a Day #364

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This little carmine beauty is another of my small successes in my wild patch. This was supposed to have marsh milkweed and some perennial sunflowers nearby, but neither of those germinated. We have plenty of the common milkweed as you might have read earlier, so all is not lost. In the meantime, I hope the bright flowers that did manage to grow and bloom will be a source of nectar and pollen to the insect life around us. I try to rejoice when my plans succeed and view my failures as the steps to the next success, though I don’t always manage to be so sanguine. I hope you have a day with such moments of rejoicing. View all posts on the Home page.  A Flower a Day #363

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Isn’t this an extraordinary tiny flower for another World Wild Aster Day? It’s all leaf and height (2-3.5 feet tall) and such a little bloom on the top, but after a rain it was still standing and I am sure the bees appreciate it in damp areas, such as river banks and wetlands, despite its size. The flower would normally have between 3-5 petals, I discovered, though some have none at all. Enjoy today’s oddity, as we realize that even the ‘weeds’ we see have a purpose and contribute to the environment in ways we barely understand. View all posts on the Home page.  A Flower a Day #362

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