June 28

Many summer wildflowers have appeared within the past week in the successional transition from the cooler days of early June to the sultry beginnings of summer. Here is a brief report of what to see:

Travel down Route 56 toward Leicester along the reservoir, and look for the white blossoms of the Tall Meadow Rue, which seen initially may look like clusters of Yarrow to the passing eye. The Rue is decidedly taller, and the flower heads are feathery white poms, and the leaves are small trefoils.

Where 56 turns to Marshall Street, look to the north side of the steep incline, a favorite spot of mine for early spring wildflowers like Trillium  and Adder’s Tongue. Now, the roadsides contain both Smartweed and Swamp Candles. The former is also called Lady’s Thumb, and the latter as Yellow Loosestrife. All along Marshall, in the sandy soil that borders the road, look for the purple heads of the Wild (or Blue) Toadflax, smallish stalks of 8-10” high with a few snapdragon-shaped tiny blue flowers at the tip.

Look to the borders of any yard or barn to see the tall heads of the Common Mullein now in bloom, with small yellow flowers that appear daily. These giants are often cut down in the leaf stage, mistaken as weeds like plantain when they are still quite young. The adult leaves are similar to Lamb’s Ears, soft and greenish gray, with fuzzy hairs that cover.

Fallow fields may contain Black-eyed Susans now. There is a nice grouping by the old farm house on South Road out of Holden. This stretch has always been a favorite for nature preservation. From the point where South intersects Route 31, the road travels initially through a tunnel of the trees, with roadsides left undisturbed. Roses still flourish there in late June.

The road descends slightly and into open field land, before turning to the east and dropping sharply toward the reservoir below. Look to the “s” bend as the road winds downward, and see the gate that fronts the access road to the wetland. It is covered now with sweet peas, hundreds of pink and white hoods amid a mass of deep green foliage.

Sweet peas remind me of the dusty gravel roads of my Michigan summers, when the heat would dry the roadbed so, that passing cars would trail clouds of dust which would settle on the weeds and flowers by the side. We’d walk the road as children, bound for the general store with dimes or quarters in our pockets to buy penny candy, then back again through the pea-lined two tracks, all mixture of sandy road and green plants with pinks and whites throughout.

Notes:

Day Lilly in full bloom.

Coreopsis in full bloom.