Wagon Wheels - Verbena canadensis

"Wagon Wheels" - Verbena canadensis

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Final Four Photos courtesy Outback contributor Mike Hall.

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Mike sent these to me to showcase a special capture of a humming bird moth visiting Phlox. What a find. Only problem, these blooms aren't phlox. It's an easy id miss. These Verbena and the Blue (Purple) Phlox now blooming are of similar color and size. Quick differences (beside the leaf) -- The Verbena tends to grow in very visible "wheel" patterns, while the Phlox tends to a circular dome. Beyond that, the Phlox has an open "well" in the center, while the Verbena are a more like a covered pit, with stamen(?) hairs filling up the center of each flower.

It appears however, that both the Phlox and the Verbena are composed of a 5 "lobed" Corolla. The lobes are not the same a petals, in that -- if you look at the flower from the back, all five lobes are part of the same funnel shaped "mono-bloom."

May Apple

Most folks saw this....




but Photographer Mike Hall, belly bound and with a nice wide lens, discovered what most folks will never see... a May Apple flower under the umbrella like leaf.









Guest Artist submission by Mike Hall.

(Podophyllum peltatum)

Clitoria mariana L. (Atlantic pigeonwings)

These blooms come by way of Photographer Mike Hall

Rock Bells (Wild Red Columbine)

Rock Bells, or Wild Red Columbine

Aquilegia canadensis

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These pictures come courtesy of regular contributor, Mike Hall, who said that the Buffalo River Area (Near Compton, AR) was full of these right now. To see more of Mikes work (with lush watefalls) from his recent trip to the area, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/ArkansasTravels/CSNPGathering#

And for more on Rock bells see:

http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/aquilegiacana.html

Cherry (Guest Contribution): Emily Boyd-Flora

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Today's images of the Cherry come courtesy of floral photographer Emily Boyd-Flora, taken mid March in Springdale Arkansas. What strikes me about these images is the similarity of these blossoms to those of the Bradford Pear( bottom). Indeed, many of our editable tree fruits (apple, pear, cherry, peach produce a similar five petaled bloom. Of course, what makes the cherry bloom so special - wedding white. (that against piercing blues skies is a thing to behold.) The Brad, by contrast comes in heavy cream.


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Bradford Pear (Similitude)