Mostly Show and a little Tell -- Wildflowers and some Wildlife, too!

I was trying to do a series on "What's Blooming Here".  What happened was after my early May post and my mid-May post -- the vegetable garden needed to be planted, the lawn needed mowing, the annual flowers needed to be planted, the lawn needed mowing, it was time to much, and... the lawn needed mowing again.  You get the picture.  Through it all, I was taking pictures, so now I have a lot to show you.  But I also need to hoe the vegetable garden, so I'm not going to do a lot of "telling", mainly "showing".

First thing to show is something I mentioned in my mid-May post.  Here are the white trilliums fading to a soft pink.

Now on to more flowers.  Here are the May-apples.  You have to look under the leaves for the pretty waxy flowers.

I think they are gorgeous close-up and I love how this one caught some of the raindrops in its lower petal.

Also blooming in the woods in late-May/early June are several other white flowers.  At only a few inches tall each, they might be easy to overlook as well.  

Canada Mayflower

Easy to overlook, except there is usually a lot of it!

Then there is Starflower: very dainty and unobtrusive.

Sometimes also occurring in large numbers.

This photo was taken on the backside of the swamp from the kayak.

Here's another small white-flowered plant that is not as common.  It's a member of the dogwood family and it's called Bunchberry.  In the next photo, it's just starting to bloom.  There's a bit of Canada Mayflower and Starflower growing alongside.

Here's a little better look at the Bunchberry flowers in full bloom.  You can really see they are like miniature dogwood flowers and leaves.

Next we have another woodland flower - Marsh Violet.

I've shown other violets in the previous 'what's blooming' posts but this one is later blooming and requires quite a trek for me to see.  It's worth it to hike all the way around the swamp to find the glade where they grow.  The photo really doesn't show how lovely it is.

That whole wet area is full of them in bloom.  They've been there for years.  I hope the fact that the closest hemlock tree has tipped over will not affect them.  The tree even had a large rock next to it.... why did it blow over?  Here's a close-up of the violets so you can see how thick they are.

Also from the back of the swamp, I could see these Blue Flag - common name for Iris versicolor. 

Another member of the Iris family is blooming now, too.  It grows in dry meadows.  It's called Blue-eyed Grass.  It's not a 'grass' though its' leaves do look like it.

Summery wildflowers are taking the place of spring ones.  Everywhere something is blooming - you don't have to hike to see lots of them.  Along the roads you can see Dame's Rocket in pretty shades of light to dark purplish-pink.

Also there are hot pink Ragged Robin.  I'm seen them some places (while driving) that are quite pink with them, though the nearby ones I photographed were not as noticeable, but still pretty.

Buttercups are everywhere.

In wetter places they tend to be more abundant, but they can pretty much grow anywhere, much like the dandelions they are 'replacing'. 

Buttercups with a Red-winged Blackbird... wonder if he likes butter?

There are some other fairly common yellow flowers blooming that you might not notice because of all the other things to catch your eye.  They are Golden Alexanders.  Each individual flower looks somewhat like a yellow Queen Anne's Lace.

They grow along our roadside ditch and make a bright spot in the shade.

There is a lot of Honeysuckle blooming now, too, in colors of white, yellow, and pink.  I think the pink is my favorite, maybe because it doesn't seem as common.  The two colors make a pretty combination in the next scene. 

Pink Honeysuckle and Golden Alexanders

That photo was taken at the edge of our road, and so was the next.  

Yes, it's turtle egg-laying time.  The painted turtles are coming out of the water to find a place to lay their eggs.  Many times, like by our swamp, this involves crossing a road.  So, please, keep an eye out for them!  Thank you!