The Common Tansy wildflower is one of the last ones to bloom in late summer or early fall. I saw this one a few weeks ago by the lower parking lot at Fort Hill. It is such a delicate, little wildflower in a vibrant yellow.
Love the button-like flowers. Have you ever seen a Common Tansy?
I have seen many wild Japanese Honeysuckle wildflowers blooming on Cape Cod this past summer… and even into the fall. They are a climbing vine with delicate, fragrant, white flowers that grow in pairs, turning yellow with age.
Another invasive plant, the Japanese Honeysuckle can smother out other plants.
If you take the trail from the lower parking lot up to Carving Rock at Fort Hill, you can see the most beautiful multi-colored “Porcelain- berries” all along the trail on the left side. They are just exquisite! I have never them before and had no idea what they were. (Click on blog link to see other photo.)
“Porcelain-berry is a deciduous, perennial, woody vine from Asia that can grow 10 to 15 feet a year. A relative of our native grapes, porcelain-berry produces distinctive fruits in late summer and early fall that change from lilac or green to bright blue.”
But there is a major problem: “It invades field and field edges and spreads rapidly. Porcelain-berry climbs on and over native plants, much like oriental bittersweet. Currently it is mostly found in southeastern Massachusetts and along the coast. Birds are attracted to the fruit and spread the seeds.”
Although they are beautiful and look like a vine of tiny colorful Easter eggs, they are a very invasive plant in Massachusetts.
Buttonbush wildflowers, also known as “honey balls” grow on a large shrub near swamps and ponds. The flowers are tiny and white and look just like little pincushions. (Click on blog link to see other photo.)
If you follow the Buttonbush Trail by the National Seashore Visitor Center in Eastham you can see many of these bushes abundant with flowers down by the pond. They bloom in mid to late August. I had never seen them before and thought they were pretty unique.
I took the first photograph at the end of August and then went back this week and took the 2nd photograph after it had gone by. Pretty cool, don’t you think?
I love the Queen Anne’s Lace wildflowers that are blooming everywhere on Cape Cod. They are such a pretty, delicate wildflower that looks just like a piece of lace. (Click on blog link to see additional photos.)
They are so interesting to watch as they bloom and then go by. They start out looking like a beautiful piece of lace. As they mature, they start folding up as you can see in the 2nd photograph.
They will fold all the way up (photo 3), dry out and release their seeds (photo 4).
It is quite amazing, don’t you think?
I was so surprised to see these gorgeous, bright red Cardinal Wildflowers on the Silver Spring Trail at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. They were just beautiful and growing along the trail by the spring. I’ve never seen them there before at all so this was a big treat!
Have you ever seen a Cardinal Wildflower?
