09/02/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is Prairie Coneflowers.  They usually bloom May through August.  Great Plains Indians brewed tea from the leaves.  They are drought hardy and livestock consume the plants when young.

 

08/31/26

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  Today's image is of one of my Zinnias.  Instead of a peppermint candy look, this one is a yellow variety which I find quite nice as well.  Almost looks like paint has been splattered on it.

 

08/26/26

 It's a double digit day!  😁  It's also Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog.  Today's flower is one that I don't see blooming very often, Wild Lettuce.  It usually blooms July through September.  It is in the Sunflower family.  The leaves were picked and eaten as greens, the stems are milky though.  When grazed, it can cause the milk to have an off flavor.

 

08/17/26

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  Decided to start the week off with something that makes me happy and hope it makes you happy as well.  This is a yellow Sunflower I have growing in one of my gardens that was blooming last week.

 

8/03/26

 Happy Monday and happy new week.  My yellow Lilies are blooming.  I find them lovely and make for a nice start to the week.

 

07/01/26

 It's the first day of July, we are halfway through the year already!  It's also Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is one that makes me happy and is blooming like crazy this year.  This is Black-eyed Susan which bloom May through September.  It's in the Sunflower family and is formally known as Rudbeckia Hirta.

06/22/26

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  My pond Iris bloomed pretty well this year despite the late cold snap and regular Iris not blooming at all or in very small amounts.  This plant can spread quite a bit so I have to keep it in check but I find it quite lovely.  I wish the flowers lasted longer.

05/20/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  The Russian Olive trees have been blooming like crazy this year.  They smell quite nice when you ride or walk by them.  They usually bloom in May and June.  It spreads by root suckers and can be invasive.  Birds eat the fruits it produces.  They are drought hardy.

04/22/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog.  It's a special one today as it is also Earth Day today!  My flower for today is a great one as it is fairly easy to grow.  This is Rigid Goldenrod which blooms August through October.  It is very drought hardy because it has deep roots.  Goldenrod gets a bad rap in general as people associate it with allergies but it is Ragweed that is causing it.  As you can see Goldenrod is a magnate for Monarchs, it's one of the last flowers blooming at this time of the year and provides them some sustenance on their way south.  I will also make my usual pitch for Zinnias, they are very easy to grow in the ground and pots, are quite cheap and butterflies LOVE them as well.  Think about flowers to plant to help nature as you are planning your garden this year.

04/15/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower in a type of Clasping Cone flower.  They usually bloom May through July.  They can grow up to 2 feet tall.  They seem to like clay type soils.

04/08/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is one I am very much looking forward to seeing again as I find it quite lovely.  This is Sulphur Cinquefoil which is in the Rose family and usually blooms in May and June.  I have some planted in my yard and I saw that it is coming back up while working over in the area this past weekend.

04/01/26

 Happy April!  It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's image is one of my favorites that I am looking forward to seeing again this year.  This is Missouri Evening Primrose which blooms May through July.  This flower is very drought tolerant.  It's flowers open in the evening and then usually close by mid-morning the next day unless if it's cloudy, they can remain open longer.

03/11/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's image is another of my Nipple Cactus that I am hoping survived the winter.  It usually blooms May through June and I find it's flowers interesting and photogenic.  The flowers will turn into red berries which are edible though I have never tried one.  😁

02/25/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is the Clasping Coneflower.  It normally blooms May through July and I took this image in June.  It is in the Sunflower family and can grow to 2 feet tall.

01/14/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Still starting off the year with my favorites so today's flower is Sulphur Cinquefoil.  It usually blooms in May and June.  This one I have successfully gotten to grow in my yard.  It can grow to 30 inches tall, this one was only about 15 inches tall or so.  Deer like it so I have it protected with a cage around it.

01/07/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog, the first one of the new year!  I want to start off the year with one of my favorites.  This is Nipple Cactus, named for the small bud like parts of the main cactus.  It normally blooms in May and June.  It likes dry rocky soil so I hope mine survives again this winter as I need to move it.  Where I have it planted has become a depressed area for some reason and several plants have grown taller and block much of the sunlight.  I love the flowers it gets.

12/24/25

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog and it is also Christmas Eve if you celebrate.  Today's wildflower is not native to Kansas but is very Prevalent in pots during the Christmas Season.  The plant grows wild in Central America and Mexico.  The red leaves are not the flower, the flower is the small yellow centers that develop.  The red leaves are actually Bracts as well and not true leaves.  Natural colors for Poinsettias are red, pink and white or mottled colors of these.  The other colors you may see, like blue, the petals have been dyed.

11/19/25

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is Hairy Golden Aster which usually blooms July through September.  I found this in mid September and it was about at the end.  It spreads by rhizomes.  It is not a true Aster as Asters never have yellow florets.

10/29/25

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is an autumn one, Maximillian Sunflower.  They usually bloom in August and September and I found this one on September 10th.  They can grow to 9 feet tall and the flowers grow in clusters along a thick stem.  It produces lots of seed that wildlife enjoy.  It was named after the German botanist that first discovered it while he was traveling in North America.

10/15/25

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is the Jerusalem Artichoke which is not named for the town, it is said it's a mispronunciation of the Italian word "girasol" which means "turn sun".  They are in the Sunflower family and usually bloom August through October.  The tuberous rhizomes are edible and form in autumn.