A dandelionesque little opportunist colonizing the sidewalk and a neglected park in Jamaica Plain. Native to most of the northern hemisphere.
Canada Hawkweed, Kalm’s Hawkweed (Hieracium kalmii)
Canada Hawkweed
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Category Archives: MA
Swamp Rose Mallow
Oh man, these are looking great around the arboretum pond, where the pickelweed used to be in bloom. My height, with showy blossoms about 6 inches across. This is also growing in the local river marshes alongside the purple loosestrife for a major show. Native.
Swamp Rose Mallow, Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)
Bonus picture: if you turn around from photographing the mallow, you see Matt, who came for tai chi class and then stayed to add ambience to the arboretum.
Cherry tomatoes
Off the topic of wildflowers, on the topic of what’s in season locally: beautiful little tomatoes at the Dover Farm.
Charles River at loosestrife time
This is the season when the nasty invasive Purple Loosestrife is on such beautiful display along the marshy river banks. I took these on a quiet Saturday morning and it was about as lovely a sight as you could ever see. (With mallow and water lilies.)
Bonus picture: waiting patiently on the other side of the road…
Oswego Tea
A garden plant escaped from cultivation in New England. Growing at Centennial out in the poison ivy; I shot this in Dover Center. Hummingbird favorite. Mint family.
Oswego Tea, Bee Balm, Monarda, Bergamot (Monarda didyma)
Asiatic Dayflower
A truly blue flower. Very common and little noticed, but it’s pretty great up close. I can’t believe it doesn’t have a better name! A medicinal herb in China, and a source of dye in Japan. Spiderwort family. Native to Asia.
(Bonus picture: the two blue petals remind me of a photo I took recently at a dance workshop with Alanah of New York.)
Asiatic Dayflower (Commelina communis)
Purple Coneflower
This is not in the wild, but in a little garden of native plants right by a road where I drive frequently. A favorite with many insects, and some small songbirds eat the seeds.
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)