Honey bees know a good thing when they see one. They found the ten-foot-tall object of my quest first — a cluster of brilliant, yellow, eye-catching flowers that bloomed during the first week of October. The bees were harvesting the bright orange pollen of Jerusalem artichokes for their near final foraging flights of the season. That was almost two weeks ago. I returned a few days ago for the tubers.
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As the month of May faded, frisky fawns frolicking in meadows drew attention away from emerging spring wildflowers. But by the middle of June, the fawns will retreat into the protective shelter of woodlands where they will continue to learn the ways of the wild under the watchful eyes of the does. The meadows, woodlands edge and lakeshores are now ablaze with some of summer’s finest and tallest wildflowers, and by the time the heat of July takes hold, they will be at peak beauty. A half dozen of our tallest and most beautiful wildflowers of summer are now competing for center stage, and the fawns go unnoticed. Continue reading
