July 3, 2011
Wildflowers of summer (1)
A few weeks ago I created a number of posts to display the wildflowers that bloom in a Montana Spring. Spring has become summer, and new species have begun to bloom. I will begin now to catalog as many as I can as the wildflowers of summer.
Yellow Sweet-clover ~ Melilotus officinalis 6/20
Viper’s Bugloss ~ Echium vulgare 6/20
Fleabane 6/20
Narrow-leaved Collomia ~ Collomia linearis 6/20
Mallow Ninebark ~ Physocarpus malvaceus 6/20
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Montana Outdoors 
Those are all absolutely beautiful… the first is my favorite. I’ve never seen yellow clover. We used to pluck the blooms from red clover and suck the sugar out… crazy kids we were!! 🙂
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Comment by kcjewel — July 3, 2011 @ 9:23 pm
Kids? I still do that with red clover!
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Comment by montucky — July 3, 2011 @ 10:17 pm
Nice. The only one of these with which I am familiar is the sweet yellow clover. The Collomia looks a lot like Spergularia (which is a tiny flower that grows here next to the sidewalks).
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Comment by jomegat — July 3, 2011 @ 9:24 pm
I’m fascinated by the plants that you have there vs the ones we have here.
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Comment by montucky — July 3, 2011 @ 10:19 pm
those first two are really interesting looking; and of course all are pretty. welcome to summer!
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Comment by silken — July 3, 2011 @ 9:48 pm
You have been having summer for a long time now, haven’t you! Well, we got up to 80 today.
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Comment by montucky — July 3, 2011 @ 10:20 pm
Beautiful images. And very useful to me as I roam around Montana with my camera this summer. 🙂
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Comment by Mike — July 3, 2011 @ 10:08 pm
It will be interesting to me to see what you encounter in other parts of the state!
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Comment by montucky — July 3, 2011 @ 10:21 pm
I really like the Viper’s Bugloss and the Mallow Ninebark blossoms remind me a bit of the elderberry blossoms. Lovely captures!
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Comment by Anna — July 4, 2011 @ 6:02 am
The Bugloss is an interesting blossom: I think it’s quite pretty! Elderberry is in bloom now and I will post a photo in a day or so. They look like they will have lots of fruit this year.
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Comment by montucky — July 4, 2011 @ 6:15 pm
How lucky you are to live in this beautiful part of the country!
The flowers of the last one look very similar to something (I haven’t identified) that I have in my yard, but the leaves are different.
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Comment by thedailyclick — July 4, 2011 @ 7:27 am
I am very lucky to live in this part of the country.I never take the beauty here for granted and never get enough of it. Today I went for a 5 hour mountain bike ride and hike and enjoyed every minute, every mile! The Mallow is a shrub that grows to be over 6 feet tall and spreads out quite large as well. It’s beautiful on a green mountainside!
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Comment by montucky — July 4, 2011 @ 6:24 pm
I don’t know any of these. So much beauty!
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Comment by sandy — July 4, 2011 @ 7:41 am
Isn’t the number of species incredible? And actually, the area that I get around in here is quite small, perhaps only 1000 square miles, and of course I don’t see every inch of that: there’s a lot that I miss.
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Comment by montucky — July 4, 2011 @ 6:29 pm
Hi Montucky, Nice pictures! I like the one of the insects on the Mallow the best. Have a truly special and safe Fourth of July holiday!
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Comment by wildlifewatcher — July 4, 2011 @ 1:17 pm
I like seeing the insects on the flowers too. They are a vital part of the whole! I hope you’ve had a nice weekend!
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Comment by montucky — July 4, 2011 @ 6:30 pm
Keep em coming, montucky. Very nice.
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Comment by Kim — July 4, 2011 @ 1:26 pm
Thanks Kim, I’m still seeing more species beginning to bloom every day. Today I went up higher and saw lots of plants in bloom that have long since quit blooming in the valley.I always enjoy that and find it interesting.
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Comment by montucky — July 4, 2011 @ 6:32 pm
Nice selection of wildflower photographs. I can imagine some will be hard to find since there are so many variables each year that come into play for when flowers appear and how long they last.
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Comment by knightofswords — July 4, 2011 @ 2:02 pm
Yes, there are lots of variables. I can think of quite a few species that either haven’t bloomed yet or that I’ve missed; a couple in particular that I may not see this year because of their locations.
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Comment by montucky — July 4, 2011 @ 6:34 pm
The fleabane photo is my favorite photo of yours of all time. My God, it is simply beautiful!!!!!!
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Comment by Wild_Bill — July 4, 2011 @ 6:03 pm
That’s a small flower, but I find it very appealing too. I’m glad that you like it, Bill!
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Comment by montucky — July 4, 2011 @ 6:35 pm
I especially like the bugloss and fleabane. Is it a bane to fleas?
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Comment by Candace — July 4, 2011 @ 8:30 pm
I have no idea how it got that awful name!
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Comment by montucky — July 4, 2011 @ 8:53 pm
Europeans believed that one or more of their fleabane species would indeed repel fleas, but I’m not aware that any of our species do. As for bugloss, the components aren’t bug-loss but bu-gloss, meaning “cow’s tongue” in Greek. Some people have good imaginations.
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Comment by Steve Schwartzman — July 5, 2011 @ 4:52 am
Excellent flowers. My favorite is the Viper’s Bugloss. I like the appearance because it is a little bit odd.
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Comment by Ratty — July 4, 2011 @ 9:14 pm
It’s another plant that is especially luxuriant this year because of the wet spring. I think they are very pretty too!
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Comment by montucky — July 4, 2011 @ 10:16 pm
The Melilotus officinalis looks pretty, but I’d like to mention that it’s not native to America, having been brought over from Eurasia. Here in Texas (and maybe in Montana) there’s also Melilotis alba, white sweet clover, likewise an invader from Eurasia. Echium vulgare is yet another import.
Steve Schwartzman
http://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/
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Comment by Steve Schwartzman — July 5, 2011 @ 4:47 am
I’m surprised to see some of the imports all the way up here, although most are found pretty much near the highways. I’m more surprised to see others far into the back country.
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Comment by montucky — July 5, 2011 @ 9:03 am
Viper´s Bugloss are quite common around here. I love their deep blue shade that are joyful sparks in the rather dry and yellowish slopes. Not enough rain this year. Beautiful pictures like always. Thank you montucky.
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Comment by isathreadsoflife — July 6, 2011 @ 1:47 am
There has not been a lot of it in this specific area, but this year the patches that are here are very lush. I think the flowers are quite pretty and the color is lovely.
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Comment by montucky — July 6, 2011 @ 10:46 pm
What a lovely collection of beautiful flowers!
Melilotus officinalis – can be found in Finland
Echium vulgare – can be found in Finland
Physocarpus malvaceus – can be found in Finland
About those photos: The photo from Collomia linearis is awesome. It is incredible, maybe the best flower photo I have ever seen.
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Comment by sartenada — July 7, 2011 @ 11:08 pm
How interesting to see that those three are also found in Finland! I’m glad that you liked the photo! I just happened upon the flowers at the time when the light was just perfect.
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Comment by montucky — July 7, 2011 @ 11:22 pm
Viper’s Bugloss- what an intense blue. Lovely.
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Comment by Watching Seasons — July 8, 2011 @ 3:12 pm
It is having a tremendous year this year. I’ll post a photo later of a thick bunch of it, somethings I’ve not seen before.
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Comment by montucky — July 8, 2011 @ 9:08 pm
Interesting to see Mallow Ninebark blossoms… did not realize that any species of Ninebark grew in the wild (but I’m not a botanist either!)… we photographed Ninebark ‘Coppertina’ awhile back as it was growing in Green Springs Gardens where I took a macro workshop. LOVE the Viper’s Bugloss image!
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Comment by Victoria — July 22, 2011 @ 3:08 pm
The blossoms of the ninebark are so pretty I’m not surprised to see that they are cultivated. They are very plentiful in our forests here.
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Comment by Montucky — July 22, 2011 @ 11:35 pm