JULY WEED AND WILDFLOWER INVENTORY

Summer is in full force, and the dog days are right around the corner, if they're not here already.  And I've been slowly adjusting to my surroundings here in the "Stateline Area."  It helps to have a lot of nature close at hand, and a girlfriend who likes taking pictures of weeds!  Look for my full-scale Rapport de Beloit coming in a week or so, but in the meantime, here's my July Weed and Wildflower Inventory:

Stateline Restoration Prairie.

Purple Field Clover (Dalea purpurea)

 

Prairie Fleabane (Erigeron strigosus)

Queen Anne's Lace AKA Wild Carrot (Daucus carota), with unidentified wasp.

Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis)

Common Pepperweed  (Lepidium densiflorum)

Nerd Alert!

Mystery Cricket.

Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta)

Eastern Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus)

Ox-Eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)

(???)

[Hoary Alyssum (Berteroa incana)]

Unidentified Weird Ass Weed

Bird's-Foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculata)

Shriveling flowers of the Spotted St. John's Wort (Hypericum punctatum).

Four O-Clock (Mirabilis nyctaginea)

Common Soapwort  (Saponaria officinalis)

(???) (Again.)

[Hoary Alyssum (Berteroa incana)] 

"Identifying weeds and wildflowers is FUN!"

* * *

All photos taken by Stephanie Dorman at Stateline Restoration Prairie, Beloit, WI/South Beloit, IL, or Unnamed South Beloit City Park, South Beloit, IL.

Part Two (I know, I know-- more plants!) is coming this weekend.

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

This new comic of mine was recently published in Ecotone Journal.  For the next week or so it'll be available online too.  Read the rest of it here!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

JUNE WEED AND WILDFLOWER INVENTORY

Stateline Restoration Prairie - Beloit, Wis.

* * *

On Saturday Stephanie and I went out to the Beloit Farmer's Market, where we bought a lovely felt stitching of a crow (magpie???) named Hector from this lady:

On the way to the Post Office I nerded out over these Milkweed plants behind the shops on State Street.

Plus: Hollyhocks.

Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Gooseneck Loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides)

Anyhow, summer's finally here, and I've been spending some time out in the Stateline Restoration Prairie, just across the border in Beloit, Wisconsin.  After the Farmer's Market, Stephanie and I went out and did a quick weed and wildflower inventory, and here are the results:

Chicory (Cichorium intybus)

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

Unknown Thistle.  My goal this summer is to learn to ID the myriad varieties of thistle.

[Musk Thistle (Bud) -- (Carduus nutans)]

???

[Musk Thistle]

White Sweet Clover that's taller than I am!

(Melilotus alba)

To the east of the prairie is an abandoned old bridge crossing Turtle Creek, that connects Illinois and Wisconsin.

Here I am walking to Illinois.

Home at last!

Spider web over Turtle Creek.

Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)

Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida)

Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Unknown fern-like device.

[Illinois Bundleflower -- (Desmanthus illinoensis)]

Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida)

Butterfly Milkweed (w/ buds)

Don't know.

[Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea)]

White Campion (Silene latifolia)

Hmmm...

[Purple Prairie Clover]

I already told you, I don't know!

[Musk Thistle]

More White Campion.

White Prairie Clover (Dalea candida)

Somebody help me out here.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

Narrowleaf Plaintain (Plantago lanceolata)

Beloit alleyway.

(All photos by Stephanie Dorman)