This is a photo of the path that leads into the woods where I find wild Orchids, Indian Pipes and Coltsfoot. This path also leads to fields where I find Virgin's Bower, Blue Flag and the New England Aster. As we have had a few killing frosts in the area..... finding anymore delicate beauties has come to an end, and so has this blog. If any one is following this blog.... I will be starting again in the Spring.... but for now I will say "Happy Trails". 
Below is a passage from Nature's Garden  written by one of my favorite nature writers, Neltje Blanchan.

"Is it enough to know merely the name of the flower you meet in the meadow? The blossom has an inner meaning, hopes and fears that inspire its brief existence, a scheme of salvation for its species in the struggle for survival that it has been slowly perfecting with some insect's help through the ages. It is not a passive thing to be admired by human eyes, nor does it waste its sweetness on the desert air. It is a sentient being, impelled to act intelligently through the same strong desires that animate us, and endowed with certain powers differing only in degree, but not in kind, from those of the animal creation. Desire ever creates form.

Do you doubt it? Then study the mechanism of one of our common orchids or milkweeds that are adjusted with such marvelous delicacy to the length of a bee's tongue or of a butterfly's leg; learn why so many flowers have sticky calices or protective hairs; why the skunk cabbage, purple trillium, and carrion flower emit a fetid odor while other flowers, especially the white or pale yellow night bloomers, charm with their delicious breath; see if you cannot discover why the immigrant daisy already whitens our fields with descendants as numerous as the sands of the seashore, whereas you may tramp a whole day without finding a single native ladies' slipper. What of the sundew that not only catches insects, but secretes gastric juice to digest them? What of the bladderwort, in whose inflated traps tiny crustaceans are imprisoned, or the pitcher plant, that makes soup of its guests? Why are gnats and flies seen about certain flowers, bees, butterflies, moths or humming birds about others, each visitor choosing the restaurant most to his liking? With what infinite pains the wants of each guest are catered to! How relentlessly are pilferers punished! The endless devices of the more ambitious flowers to save their species from degeneracy by close inbreeding through fertilization with their own pollen, alone prove the operation of Mind through them. How plants travel, how they send seeds abroad in the world to found new colonies, might be studied with profit by Anglo-Saxon expansionists. Do vice and virtue exist side by side in the vegetable world also? Yes, and every sinner is branded as surely as was Cain. The dodder, Indian pipe, broomrape and beech-drops wear the floral equivalent of the striped suit and the shaved head. Although claiming most respectable and exalted kinsfolk, they are degenerates not far above the fungi. In short, this is a universe that we live in; and all that share the One Life are one in essence, for natural law is spiritual law. "Through Nature to God," flowers show a way to the scientist lacking faith."

So on that note I will say good-by for now,
Wild Bee

Potato / Solanum tubersum

Some times, I feel you must think I am making these photos up .... How can they all be this different and unique. This flower looks like it has a small squash growing from its center. At first I thought it was Horse Nettle until I noticed the leaves. The Horse Nettle is a member of the nightshade family, which makes it related to the tomato, and has similar leaves to the tomato. This plant is also of the nightshade family but has oval shaped leaves. I think this flower is actually prettier than the Horse Nettle. I searched and searched and could not identify this flower. Finally, I asked the Hitchcock Center if they were able to identify it .... and of course they did. It is the Potato flower. This makes total sense because this flower is growing from my neglected compost pile, and I happened to have thrown a few potatoes into the compost pile a few months ago. I am not sure if I can consider this a wild flower..... but I guess at one time it was. It is the 4th most consumed plant on the planet.... I think wheat, rice and corn are the three most consumed plants. Potato has a very long and interesting history. The potato was discovered by European explorers during the 1500's in South America... of course those people living in Peru, and I think Chile, had been eating them for a very long time. It was not a plant that took off in Europe ... When introduced in France they thought the potato caused leprosy, rampant sexual behavior, syphilis ... and even early death. Finally, France outlawed the growing of the potato. That was in the 1600's .... later, during the 1700's, a French chemist convinced the King of France of their value as a food and the king allowed him to grow them on some acres outside of Paris. The  King then heavily guarded the field with his French army..... the peasants started to think that anything that well guarded had to be of great value and when the King very cleverly allowed the troops a night off.... the peasants raided the fields to gather some for their own gardens. It didn't take that much "Tom Foolery" to get other countries to adopt the potato.... but, North America was as slow, if not slower than France and did not really start eating them till the mid 1800's. Before that this country mostly grew them as a food for farm animals. Well, that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the lowly potato....

Where I found it : in my neglected compost pile

P. S. Marie Antoinette wore the potato flowers in her hair, and because of her, it became very fashionable in her day for others to do the same.

Blue Curl

The Blue Curl is such a beautiful flower.... but I must say I have found little written about it. It is from the mint family, though when bruised, it doesn't smell very minty. It is native and grows up and down the Eastern part of the United States of America and Eastern Canada. Indiana has it listed as Rare, and Michigan lists it as Threatened. It is partial to sandy soil and sunny locations. The lower petal serves as the landing pad for native bees that partake of its nectar. This lower petal is marked with a patch of white with purple polka-dots..... to me it looks like we can see the flowers bloomers. The stamen and style are quite long and curl over the top of the flower. Most people would never notice this flower growing on the road side because it is rather small..... but this year in the North East it really would not be noticed. With the drought like conditions that we experienced during the growing season, this flower appeared at a fraction of its usual size. The photo you see is of the Blue Curls that grew in my yard last year. This flower is about 3/4 of an inch in size .... If I photographed this years it would have been difficult for me to get an in focus photo ..... the flowers were so tiny.... maybe...an 1/8 of an inch or less. When I got down to really look at it I could barely make out the stamen. You have got to hand it to these little troopers, they did their best in rough conditions.... I wonder how the bees could have pollinated them..... maybe some smaller insect was able to accomplish the task. Give yourself a treat and click on the photo to really see the flowers beauty.... it really is one of the most stunning flowers I have ever seen. 

Where I found it : in a sandy patch where we use to set up our skating rink.

Smooth Ground Cherry

This beauty is growing in one of my neglected compost piles. It has been turned to face the camera so you can get a "bee's eye view". It naturally hangs downward under the foliage.... easy to miss. It is a member of the Nightshade family as are Tomatoes. The fruit is small but not unlike the tomato and it is edible when ripe.... Before the fruit ripens it is poisonous and so is the rest of the plant. I am not actually able to identify this plant to a specific Ground Cherry ... it is a toss up between Smooth or Clammy Ground Cherry. I did find some writings that said there is often disagreements about identifying Ground Cherries. I am going with  Smooth because of the smoothness of the stem. The  Smooth Ground Cherry can be processed to be used as a hallucination .... In Louisiana you can only grow this plant for decorative purposes other wise it is illegal to grow. The fruit ripens in a paper husk like the ornamental plant Chinese Lanterns or the edible plant Tomatillos. The fruit can be made into jam or jelly quite nicely because of the high pectin content. It is suppose to taste a bit like strawberry-pineapple with a tomato finish.  It is late in the season so I am not sure that this plant will produce a fruit .... but I will be watching for the appearing of the paper husks.

Where I found it : on top of my neglected compost pile

Sweet Everlasting

It is October first here in New England and there really can't be a more beautiful place to be. Yesterday I went to the Garlic Festival.... it is like being in one of the Back to the Future  movies.  Peace, Love and Hippies.... oh yes, and garlic .... I love it. I walk around with my mp3 playing Joni Michel, and seek out some interesting garlic seed to plant this fall. ...This years finds are Russian White and Spanish Rojo Red.............. But back to flowers. I am so thrilled that I am still finding new flowers that I can put on my "Life List". Fall, here in New England, is host to many flowers.... though I think many only think of Mums when it gets cooler. This one is Sweet Everlasting. Sweet, because if you rub it at any time, living or dried, it has a sweet pleasing scent about it, and everlasting because it will look like this well into the winter. I have read that this plant's fragrance is like that of tobacco or curry. To me it is "citrusy". It has a tendency to smell like something different to each person that smells it. It reminds me a little of Pussy Toes, another flower that comes early in the Summer. It is just another flower that enjoys the warm Fall sun with the rest of us.

Where I found it  :  In my yard