Aug. 21, 2016 - Flowers

Here are some flower photos that I took this summer. All of these photos were taken at Silverwood Park in St. Anthony, Minnesota. This is a Black-eyed Susan. It’s also called Brown-eyed Susan and that is actually more descriptive. The brown center part of the blossom consists of many tiny individual flowers. They open over time, starting with the outside edge. In this photo, look for the circle of tiny projections near the outer part of the brown center. Spreading out the flowering period increases the plant’s chances of being pollinated.

BlackeyedSusanSilverwoodParkAnthony20160718

One of the common names for this flower is Butter and Eggs. I guess the yellow part is the color of butter and if you look at the yellow and white parts together they could remind you of an egg. The lips of the flower must be pried open to reach the nectar. Bumble bees and large honey bees are about the only insects strong enough to do this and, as it turns out, they are particularly good at pollinating this plant. So, Butter and Eggs has come up with a very good way to attract the right insect for the job.

ButterandEggsSilverwoodParkAnthony20160718

Red Clover is a familiar roadside flower. It is a native of Europe and was introduced to the United States as a hay and pasture crop. It escaped into the wild and is now well established. The flower head is made up of 50 to 100 small flowers. Bees are the main pollinators of Red Clover.

CloverRedSilverwoodParkAnthony20160718

The flowers of Butterflyweed are located at the top of a 1 to 2 ft tall stem. The cluster is 2 to 3 inches across and is made up of many tiny orange flowers. It is actually in the milkweed family but doesn’t have white juice in the stem and leaves like other members of this family. This flower is attractive to butterflies, as you might expect, especially Monarch butterflies.

ButterflyweedSilverwoodParkAnthony20160718

Purple Coneflower has large showy blossoms that are 3 to 5 inches across. Goldfinches seem to really like the seeds of this flower.

ConeflowerPurpleSilverwoodParkAnthony20160718

The Tawny Daylily is a spectacular flower. True to its name, the blossom only lasts one day. It was originally introduced from Japan as a garden plant but has escaped and is now found in the wild

LilySilverwoodParkAnthony20160719