I Mean...Have You Ever???

Have you ever imagined a place where every day and every day and every day there is something BEYOND SUBLIMELY BEAUTIFUL out there just waiting for you to notice?

God waves a big sign sometimes to get my attention.

The big sign might be COLOR or texture or smell, or the feeling of a cool breeze on a warm day.

Speaking of smell...and since that was the topic of another post, I will be brief.  A couple of nights ago, my hubby and I were chilling in the living room at twilight, and we smelled what I thought was a skunk.  The smell gradually faded, and as I was looking out the window, a GRAY FOX walked down our driveway and stood for several moments looking at us through the window (turns out the smell was NOT a skunk) before running away.  Funny how it starts a fox running when you yell "FOX!" and I DARE you to be able to not yell FOX!" when one looks in your window.  AND, NO, I didn't get a picture of it, nor did I get a picture of the three different bears that ran across the road in front of me in the same number of weeks, the last being a cute little one.  And yes, my husband was in on some of my sightings and he can vouch for me actually seeing them.  Besides, if I was going to make up animal sightings, I SURELY would have seen a moose by now....a year in the UP and no moose (except for the big iron one down the road to which someone had gaily tied a couple of anatomically placed blue (wiffle) balls, which eventually fell off or were removed...poor moose)!

 Anyway---fox looking in window--Big Sign.  Hello, God.  I see you, too.

Anyway.

I've been amazed all Spring and Summer so far at the flowers that grow everywhere here. Funny what no herbicides on nearly every field (unlike Iowa...sorry Iowa) will do for the proliferation of flowers, both wild and planted and spread by little seedeaters, or wind, or serendipity at its finest.

I am a non-judgmental flower lover.  Because I know that some flowers are invasive.  Some are even poisonous lookalikes.  But I don't judge.  Because I am knowledgeable about what not to eat or touch, and I, personally, have not spread them in areas where they are not wanted. I also love to encourage pollinators of all sorts to survive and thrive, because without them, well, frankly, we are screwed.

So.

Without further ado.

The flowers of the UP....so far this year...minus the hundreds of other ones I've missed or not gotten a picture of, yet.

In somewhat chronological order.

And one more thing...I know some common names and some Latin names and some wrong names...please don't judge.

trout lily

marsh marigolds

trillium grandiflorum

forget-me-nots

a lot of yellow stuff in a field (looks like radish flowers, sorta)

chokecherries

hawkweed (native, non-invasive)

beloved of skippers

the masquerading hover fly

and BIG bumbleybees

columbine

irises

blackberries

daises, buttercups, and orange hawkweed (non-native and invasive)

but pretty

birdsfoot trefoil

more daisies

lupines

lupines

and more lupines (because purple)

chicory

because blue is pretty, too

cow vetch (I like the name)

plus black-eyed susans

poison (yes) hemlock

yarrow

escaped sweet williams

wild rose

I have no idea...still looking

otherwise known as dianthus barbatus

did you know that queen anne's lace...

has a mysterious purple flower in the middle?

sweet peas

that color!

red clover...see it?

milkweed

look at how just the weight of a skipper opens the trefoil flower....big sign

And my favorite of favorites. Only God would make a Great Spangled Frittilary love this milkweed so much that together they could create this unbelievable color combination!

Don't forget to stop and see (and smell) the flowers!