Everlasting Pea
This wildflower was blooming in abundance in the meadows on Washington Island. It is referred to as the “everlasting” pea because of its long flowering season – mid June through the end of September. The plant has a fruit which looks like the cultivated garden pea pod, though it is inedible. The showy flowers attract butterflies and sphinx moths for pollination.
Meadow on Washington Island
Washington Island, only 22 square miles, is sparsely populated. The island is 6 miles off the northern tip of Door County and it is hailed as “North of the Tension Line.” In this meadow, one of many wide open spaces on the island, the pea was prevalent; elsewhere there were stands of Queen Anne’s Lace and orange Day Lilies.
Orange Hawkweed is often referred to as Devil’s Paintbrush. It was named so by farmers, who see the weedy flower as being a troublesome beauty. It naturalized from Europe, probably in the 17th century mixed in with seed crops, and spreads quite aggressively and quickly, so it is considered ecologically invasive.
It’s orange color, making it stand out against the many yellow flowers found blooming at this time, adds to the open prairie’s color, but also chokes out native plants that cannot compete. The Hawkweed secretes a toxic substance that inhibits many flowers from growing very near.
Obviously the equally invasive ox-eye daisy doesn’t mind too much. How come so many of the flowers I see seem to be of the invasive sort? I have noticed over the years – I’ve been cataloguing wildflowers in Wisconsin since 1977 – that I am seeing the native flowers, but many in lesser numbers.
Here is the Orange Hawkweed in bud. It does make for a rather fancy weed. Its flowers are short lasting, each blossom lasting only one day.
These photos were taken along the shoreline of Green Bay in Peninsula State Park near Fish Creek, Wisconsin. The over-welcome visitors are being monitored by park rangers, and so far 3 flowers have made the removal list. (Garlic Mustard, Eurasian Honeysuckle and Phragmites)
This June the Yellow Lady’s Slippers were profusely decorating the woodlands of Door County. Considering how picky and complicated their life cycle is, it’s almost amazing they grow at all.
All Lady’s Slippers grow in acidic soil which must have a certain underground fungus. The seeds of these plants are about the size of a dust speck and have absolutely no nutrients. Their “fungus buddy” attacks and eats the outer coating of the tiny seeds and allow the inner cells to absorb nutrients from the fungus and then germinate. This process can take several years. After the slipper finally germinates, it can take up to 15 years for the plant to mature enough to flower.
And it doesn’t get any easier after it flowers. Its pollination is equally complicated, requiring a bee to enter the pouchy flower. Once inside, the bee will often get trapped and either dies or has to chew its way out. The bees that manage to escape this demanding mistress then carry pollen to other blossoms, but even after all this trouble, only a small percentage are actually pollinated.
Guessing the only reason these ladies survive is due to their long lives – each plant can live for 100 years, providing they are not lunch for one of the many Door County deer. Once a flower actually is pollinated it is very prolific though, and can produce more than 60,000 seeds.
Three more wildflowers that I photographed last weekend in Door County.
This little wildflower is Gaywings, also called Fringed Polygala, and it looks to me like a miniature airplane, grounded after a thunderstorm. It closely resembles an orchid, but is a member of the milkwort family. Folklore has it that if a tea made from the plant was consumed by nursing mothers or the plant was fed to cows, it would increase milk production. Found in northeast to north-central US and eastern Canada, it blooms in May and June.
The Small-Flowered Crowfoot is a buttercup, but doesn’t much look like one except that it has many separate stamens and pistils. It is poisonous, though some Native American tribes pulverized the root and soaked it in water to make an antiseptic to cleanse wounds. The greenish flower is less than an inch in diameter and grows near the ground, so it is easy to miss. It blooms May through early June.
The Marsh Marigold is one of only a few wildflowers that can grow in the middle of a stream. It has been known to grow so profusely as to give the water a yellowish glow. It was used medicinally to cure colds, anemia and convulsions, though the plant contains toxic glycosides which are only made harmless upon cooking. The flower blossoms make a sweet wine and they can also be used as a yellow dye. It blooms from late April through June.
Every Sunday is Green Thumb Sunday. Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers participate each Sunday; visit Green Thumb Sunday for more information.
Watercress (nasturtium officinale) is an aquatic plant, this one found near the shores of Lake Michigan. It is edible – the leaves are high in Vitamins A and C and iron, and was a popular plant with the early settlers of North America as it was a successful treatment and preventative of scurvy. The ancient Greeks and Romans thought eating the plant increased mental functions. It is still widely used in cooking – added to salads and sandwiches for a spicy and tangy flavor and also made into watercress soup. The flowers are savory and used as edible garnishes.
This 3 to 4 inch high Dwarf Lake Iris (iris lacustris) is found near the northern shores of The Great Lakes where it grows in the limey soil and in the cool climate. It only grows in the states of Wisconsin and Michigan. I probably saw a thousand of these flowers on my recent visit to Door County in northern Wisconsin, but the flowers are actually rare and on the threatened list of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It has a very limited habitat and that is shrinking because of shoreline development and the use of off-road vehicle and chemical pesticides.
This is Wild or Common Strawberry (fragaria virginiana) a variety of the plant which produces the familiar bright red strawberry. The cultivated plant is a hybrid of this native plant and the South American variety. Native Americans used the juice of the strawberry for an eye remedy, and herbalists still use the roots to treat kidney stones and gonorrhea. It is a common plant in Door County, flowering in May and June in meadows, fields, woodlands and setting its berries in June.
There are over 900 species of violets, but I only have three four to share with you so far. And if you read all the way to the end of this post – there’s a contest and prizes in celebration of Seeded Earth reaching visit # 30,000 a day ago.
I have always called this a Confederate Violet, though it isn’t listed as such in wildflower guides. The name seems to refer to its color resemblance to the Confederate uniforms worn during the Civil War, which were a pale gray-blue color.
It is actually an atypical Common Blue Violet, (the violet in the next photo) and mostly enjoyed by us folks in the Midwest US.
This is the Common Blue Violet. It blooms March through June, and is found throughout the eastern half of US. This species of violet is as common in my yard as my grass. And nearly as common as my dandelions and clover. 
Its leaves are high in Vitamin A and C and can be used in salads or cooked as greens, and the flowers can be made into candies and jellies. Here’s a recipe for Violet Jelly. It was my favorite from all the ones I read, because the jelly-maker was concerned enough to give us a hint so the jelly doesn’t look like it’s full of wilted bugs!
This is the Sweet White Violet, and is much whiter than the Confederate and also has a nice fragrance. (Many violets do not have a fragrance.) This violet is fairly simple to find in the northern part of the United States east of the Mississippi River. It blooms in April- May in wooded areas.
One of the distinguishing characteristics of this violet is the backbending and twisting of the two upper petals. It’s the violet gymnast!
So do you have a favorite?
The mutant soldier?
The lawn-infested jelly ingredient?
The perfumed gymnast?
Why not leave a comment and vote for your favorite? We’ll see which one comes out as the Seeded Earth’s Favorite Violet!
*** In celebration of Seeded Earth surpassing 30,000+ visits, I’ll anonymously choose one ‘voter participant’ and send you an 8″ X 10″ MATTE PHOTOGRAPH, your choice from my blog – if you want one, that is – AND A SOMETHING SPECIAL GIFT MADE IN WISCONSIN. I’ll announce the winner on Sunday, May 11. And I’ll post a photo of the Wisconsin prize, too. ***
Addition on May 5. I want to add one more violet to this violet post, though I don’t think this guy will have much a go at the contest. He’s a pleasant sort, so he won’t mind.
This is the Downy Blue Violet and its petals are broader than they are long, giving it a shape rather like a butterfly. It has a soft whiskery coat and is a lovely medium shade of blue. The Downy grows very low to the ground on barely any stem, so it can be easy to miss.
The whiskery butterfly
