Wellspring of Wildflowers

What's blooming in Door County? All kinds of wildflowers were on display at The Ridges besides the Ram's Head Lady Slipper.

Starflower

Starflowers were abundant, and Wild Sarsaparilla was scattered about.  Sarsaparilla is a member of the Ginseng family and the Native Americans had a wide variety of medicinial uses for the plant's roots.

Wild Sarsaparilla

There are more than white blooms to see in Door County, don't worry!

Gaywings

The pretty little "Bird-on-the-wing" or Gaywing plant is not an orchid, but a member of the Milkwort family.  By the time we left Baileys Harbor they weren't many still blooming though.

As much as I adored the dainty Gaywings, I was equally as enchanted with the Buckbean. While the leaves resemble the common garden bean, this plant prefers peat bogs and shallow ponds and  is no legume.  The flowers tend to be long lived and the bumblebees seemed to love them!

Buckbean

Another plant blooming in the bog was the Bog Rosemary. It's not an edible shrub, but its tiny blooms sure were pretty.

Little Starry False Solomon's Seal was everywhere from the ditches to the hiking trails.  Later each bloom will be replaced by a berry that are initially green with purple spots and will darken to a solid reddish-purple.

Starry False Solomon Seal

I only saw ONE Nodding Trillium and it wasn't far from the Upper Range Light in Baileys Harbor.  Its leaves were a bit battered, but its curved petals and sepals were in perfect condition.  (Don't I sound smart?)

Nodding Trillium

The slim stalks of the Rock Cress were abundant from Baileys Harbor to Whitefish Dunes, and I saw it in Sheboygan last weekend too.

Lyre Leaved Rock Cress

I searched high and low, and I found ONE Pink  Lady Slipper at The Ridges, just like when I was in Tennessee.  This one was still holding onto moisture from the morning rain.

Last but not least, the fields were loaded with Ox Eyed Daisy and Hawk Weed.  It made for cheerful viewing as we drove around. 

 I'm sure new things are blooming on the peninsula now, I know they are down here in southern Wisconsin!  I had some fun with my camera last night on the local bike trail trying to capture them.  I was a day late as a group of big storms just moved through and the blooms weren't as perfect as they were the day before, but for a change I was actually shooting at sunset!  What's blooming by you?