There is so much to see on the trails in mid-September! Midwestern tickseed-sunflowers are at their peak right now. Goldenrod is approaching its peak bloom. But there are so many more flowers out there right now! Here’s a list of what I’m seeing:
- Smartweeds including longbristle smartweed, dockleaf smartweed, arrowleaf tearthumb, and dotted smartweed.
- Three-petaled flowers like marsh dewflower, doveweed, and spreading dayflower.
- Sunflower-like flowers such as Spanish needles, southern crownbeard, midwestern tickseed-sunflowers, starry rosinweed, and swamp sunflower.
- Fuzzy purple flowers like blazing stars, blue mistflower, and ironweed.
- Fuzzy pink flowers including camphorweed and joe-pye-weed.
- Berries are everywhere! Strawberry bush, multiflora rose, frost grapes, muscadine grapes, porcelain berry, Carolina rose, pokeweed, and Chinese privet all have fruit right now. Look in the dogwood trees to see their berries also.
- Vines like passion flower, yellow passion flower, creeping cucumber, white morning glory, and climbing hempvine.
- Flowers that are more typical of spring: violet wood sorrel and green and gold.
- Frost asters and agalinis buds are getting ready to open.
What flowers are you seeing?