Traffic jam on the Common Milkweed! I found this whole field of blooming Common Milkweed on the Delaware River Trail, just south of Washington Avenue Green. There were *loads* of butterflies everywhere, not just monarchs but everything from little skippers and azures to swallowtails. Plus tons of native bees. Amazing! I felt like I'd died and gone to butterfly heaven.

#nativeplants
#milkweed
#pollinators
#floweringfriday

Came across this older pic of some pea vine flowers that I thought still make the cut.
#BloomScrolling #FlowerFriday #FloweringFriday

Blackberry Lilies (Iris domestica), also called Leopard Lilies, are not true lilies at all but are closely related to the Irises we know from our gardens. These escaped ornamentals from East Asia are now blooming in a little prairie in our forest.

#FloweringFriday #Florespondence

The hostas are flowering profusely now. Last year's record heat and this year's wet English summer seem to have suited them perfectly.
#FloweringFriday #Hostas

Yes, these are flowers! Dodders are parasitic relatives of Bindweed with rudimentary leaves and no chlorophyll. They look like strings winding and twining around their hosts.This twining rope of tiny white flowers coiling around a stem of Goldenrod is the inflorescence of Rope Dodder (Cuscuta glomerata).

#FloweringFriday #Florespondence #ParasiticPlants

#FloweringFriday #BloomScrolling #FlowersOfMastodon

Bumblebee on Coreopsis. Julian Abele Park, Philadelphia. Happiness is seeing a bee on a flower you planted.
#floweringfriday
#pollinatorgarden

Another self-seeded poppy bursting into bloom! This one is right at the front door. #FloweringFriday

It's drizzling, damp and cool today in Nottinghamshire, but my golden marjoram is just starting to flower. A bright spot in the garden.
#FloweringFriday #Marjoram #Gardening

Prickly all around with a burst of color in the center, this Aloe Vera plant matches my mood today pretty well.
This year was the first time it’s ever bloomed. This particular plant has been in my family a long time, it may be older than me!
#FlowerFriday #FloweringFriday #BloomScrolling

#FloweringFriday #Florespondence #BloomScrolling backyard gerbera (and a bug:)

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) at the shore of the Missouri River. This beautiful flower was introduced to North America.as ornamental and honey plant. Unfortunately, it spreads aggressively through our wetlands here. Control efforts include manual removal, burning, intensive grazing, drainage or flooding, herbicides, and even the introduction of weevil species that feed on this plant.

#FloweringFriday #Florespondence #InvasiveSpecies #Wetlands

My contribution for #floweringfriday

After several years of neglect thanks to bereavements and mental and physical health being unaligned with expectations, I am trying to get the gardens back in order at home.

This helps. I can see why people can become infatuated with roses.

The Michigan Lily (Lilium michiganense) is native to the Midwestern Prairies. I found this beauty at a south facing road side in a hilly Oak Savannah. We haven't had rain in over a week, so it's covered with a bit of dust from the road gravel.

(For those among you not familiar with the empty expanse of rural America - many smaller, low traffic roads are not finished with concrete or blacktop, but just gravel. If well maintained, they are easy enough to drive, but during the dry season each car can be tracked by the huge plume of dust it stirs up. Accordingly, roadside plants are often covered in fine dust).

#FloweringFriday #Florespondence #Prairies #Woodlands #NativePlants

#FloweringFriday #BloomScrolling
This is something I shot in Estero, FL in 2011. I have no idea what kind of flower it is.
If anybody knows what it is, let me know, please.

Good morning! For #FloweringFriday I offer a mixed bouquet of local wildflowers from a few years back.
1) irises, clover, Diogenes lantern
2) Ithuriel’s spear
3) Chinese houses
4) Clarkia

#flowers #wildflowers

The lavender is just coming into flower.
#FloweringFriday #Gardening #GardeningMastodon

One of the easiest plants to spot on the prairie - Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa). This showy plant is native to open and dry grasslands of much of North America, but is now popular in flower gardens worldwide. Like other members of its genus - and true to its common name - it is an insect favorite.

#Florespondece #FloweringFriday #Prairies #NativePlants

Weil es Zeit für Vagabunden ist (danke @berndchen) - hier beginnen die ersten Königskerzen zu blühen.

#FloweringFriday #Florespondence #InvasivePlants

White Wild Indigo (Babtisia alba) stands out in the prairie, its inflorescences towering over the green. Like other legumes, this species forms symbioses with soil bacteria that turn inert nitrogen from the air into nutrients for their host plants. They live in small root nodules and help improve the soil over time.

#FloweringFriday #Florespondence #Prairies #NativePlants