I have photographed several flowers that I have refused to post.  They signal fall to me, and I’m not quite ready to give up summer.  Here’s a hint at one.  What do you suppose is causing that golden bokeh behind this midsummer Blue Vervain?

Silly, I suppose.  I have, after all, posted plenty of berries and seed heads…  early indicators of a season coming to a close.  Still, to post Goldenrod would be to say, “Autumn is here.”  And I won’t do it…  not just yet… even though I’ve been seeing it in the fields since July*.

It has been a joy to walk the fields and woods and munch on berries while discovering a host of plants that seem to straddle two seasons – beginning in mid-summer and ending in late summer or early fall… the July-September crowd.  Blue Vervain is one.  So is Spotted Jewelweed.

Here’s another – a new one for me this year, though when I see it now, I can’t believe I never noticed it before.  It is tall and the flower is anything but inconspicuous.  How could I have walked by it and been oblivious?  And it has such a great name, too!  Square-stemmed Monkey Flower.  I tried to find out how the monkey flowers got their name…  there are several species.  I haven’t been able to find out.  Do you know?

The fluffy white tufts of Boneset are coming on.  They’ll be with us a bit longer, blooming from July – October.  Boneset has traditionally been used to treat a wide variety of fever-producing illnesses and as an anti-inflammatory for arthritis.

Rough Avens blooms June through August.  I did find a blossom yesterday in the woods, but mostly I’m seeing the seedheads.

What’s your favorite mid-summer flower?

* Actually… there are dozens of species of Goldenrod, and some of them have bloom times of July-September…. Here’s one… Reluctantly… I’m not sure of the species.  I didn’t look carefully enough at the leaves.