Wildflowers

Wildflowers have that special power to delight and surprise us, maybe as we are not responsible for putting them there. Perhaps it is because they, despite everything humans and nature may do to them, endure and thrive on their own, prospering in the oddest of places.

Yellow ladyslippers have greenish brown sepals and petals and a yellow “slipper” with a few brown or reddish-purple spots.

The nodding flower of the sand violet has five purple petals; the top two occasionally have hooked spurs at the tips – leading to its hooked nickname.

Wild bergamot is named after the Bergamot orange due to the similar fragrance emitted from its leaves, flowers and seed heads.

Groups of hyssop are sturdy and can be used for the middle or back of flower borders.

Black-eyed Susans are one of the most popular wildflowers grown in gardens.

Galliarda is also referred to as blanket flower and brown-eyed Susan.

The delicate looking bluebells of Scotland are actually quite hardy plants.

Beardtongues are attractive flowers, and horticulturists, especially in Europe, have developed many cultivars for the garden.

Wood lilies, now almost endangered, were once so common that Native Americans used their bulbs as a source of food.

Yarrow flowers, flat-topped clusters above fern-like, fuzzy leafed stems, attract butterflies and bees.

Asclepias tuberosa is the non-invasive variety of milkweed used in many gardens.

Prairie roses are distributed from seeds by wildlife (typically birds) that have consumed its fruit and spread out from rhizomes once established.

To read more about these wildflowers, click here.