Wildflower season is off to a good start in the north county. One of the early and easiest wildflowers to spot is Coltsfoot since it often grows along the road. I spotted these at Higley Flow, (St. Lawrence County, NY). I missed them at first, they had their faces turned away from me and I drove right by. The flowers follow the sun and I’m just not bright enough to pay attention to. On the return trip they couldn’t be missed. The bright yellow flowers glared at me from the bank along the road.

Many people probably pass this flower by thinking they’re dandelions. From a distance they do look like them but when you get up close you can see the difference. First off there are no leaves present when the plant blooms. Those will come later but right now all that is present is the odd looking stalk with the flower on top.

It prefers very loose sandy soil and another great place to find this plant is in the many sand pits around the county.

I had to add this photo – the macro makes it look (to me) like a giant among boulders. It also is a good view of the flowers backside and stalk.

I liked this group photo and since it was long past due to change my desktop wallpaper I sized an image just for that use. Feel free to use it yourself for that purpose.

Click the display image to open the larger background sized one – You figure out how to use it if you want it. (hint – right click on large image for menu)

Last but not least – I couldn’t let you leave without a macro shot

She loves me
She loves me not
She loves me

Better stop there or she’ll be gone before I finish.

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Aster schreberi

The lower leaves are very large and have deep notches where they attach to the stem. This helped in the identification since many of the white flowering asters have similar looking blooms. The Peterson Field Guide to Wildflowers is illustrated and relying on the pics wasn’t enough, thank goodness it mentions the basal leaf difference.

Photo taken Sept. 13, 2008 with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 using the ‘flower’ macro mode.

My Audubon Field Guide to North American Wildflowers does have photos but the Schreber’s Aster isn’t listed. Between the two field guides I can usually make a positive ID but in this case I had to take the basal leaf clue and go on-line to confirm my guess that this flower was indeed a Schreber’s Aster.

After getting the photo I headed home. This isn’t quite a ‘Make Way for Ducklings’ scene but I still stopped. It wasn’t out of concern of some turkey crossing the road. They are harder to run over than people think. But it did look like another good photo op. To bad I only got one shot, they move too fast to focus on them.

Why did the turkeys cross the road?

Now is the time of year that Spotted Jewelweed earns it’s common name. If you’ve ever touched a ripe seed pod you know why. They’re ‘spring loaded’ and will pop when touched.

I love this plant. It makes for a good pratical joke. Just tell someone to pick a pod and watch them jump.  The reaction looks like someone sticking their finger in a light socket. It’s startling even if you know what will happen.

The Jewelweed seedpods are ready when you can see dark markings on the pod. The older they get the more ‘hair triggered’ they become until they just can’t keep it in all in anymore and explode sending seeds flying.

I really don’t know how the pods explode. But it appears the pod sections themselves are the “springs”. They have a very curled shape after popping.

It’s good to know I can still reach out and make my girls jump. I’ve asked my youngest daughter to collect some seed of the Pale (yellow) Jewelweed that grows down by the NY – Mass border. I expect I’ll hear her from here when she goes to pick some.

If you want to see the Jewelweed flower photos from past posts look at this page:

Jewelweed flower photos