FLOWERS IN MOIST AUGUST MEADOWS

     In August each year, I like to visit several sunny meadows, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, that have moist soil, to enjoy their variety of lovely blossoms.  Each grassy pasture has a unique community of flowering plants that prefer damp soil, so no two meadows are alike.  Some pastures only have a couple kinds of blooming plants in August, while other meadows have several.  And some meadows have more flowering plants of a type than others.  

     Those bouquets of lovely blooms attract a diversity of pretty bees, butterflies and other kinds of pollinating insects that add to the beauties and intrigues of the flowers.  The blossoms and sap-sipping insects, together, are another example of life adapting well to human-made conditions and activities.  Seeing them, I feel God's nature is still prevalent on Earth.

     Each of these grassy, flower-studded pastures has a clear stream running through it, which waters  livestock.  And those streams are home to minnows, damselflies and crayfish.

     Ironweeds are the most common of the tall plants that flower in sun-filled meadows in August, and grow best in damp soil.  They are called that because their stems seem hard as iron.   

     Several hot-pink blossoms bloom on top of each ironweed stalk.  And several beautiful butterflies at a time, including cabbage whites, yellow sulphers, monarchs, silver-spotted skippers and other types flutter to those lovely flowers to sip sugary nectar.        

     Joe-Pye weeds are up to ten feet tall and handsomely crowned with clusters of small, dusty-pink flowers that also swarm with bees and butterflies during August.  The flower arrangement of Joe-Pye is different that that of ironweeds, which helps identify these two species.

     Blue vervain plants develop tiny, violet-blue flowers on stems that resemble branching candle holders.  These plants stand up to five feet high high and are often full of lovely, pollinating insects.      

     Swamp milkweeds are short plants that produce lovely, pink blooms.  Like all milkweeds, they are a food source for monarch butterfly caterpillars.  

     Boneset plants are common in many damp meadows.  These short plants produce many, small white blooms that balance the colors of the other species of flowering plants in those habitats.

     Spotted jewelweed plants grow up to six feet tall and are bushy, all in one season.  This species grows attractive, orange blossoms, with red spots, on long stems, reminding someone of earrings, hence their common name.  Hummingbirds visit the deep, cornucopia-shaped blooms to sip nectar.

     When pollinated, each bloom produces a green pod with a few seeds inside.  When those seeds are mature, the slightest touch will make those pods pop open, shooting the seeds a few feet in all directions.  Mice and seed-eating birds ingest many of those seeds in fall and winter.

     Arrowhead and forget-me-not plants flourish along the edges of sparkling pasture streams where iridescent-green, male black-winged damselflies flutter in the sunlight to attract mates for spawning in the water.  Arrowhead plants have arrow-shaped leaves and three lovely, white petals per blossom.  

     Forget-me-nots are small plants that have tiny blooms with five pale-blue petals and yellow centers.  Those flowers are lovely by clear, running water.  But one needs to look closely to spot them.

     When in farm country in the northeastern United States during August, look for these beautifully flowering plants in meadows, and the hosts of lovely insects attracted to them to sip their nectar.  Each bouquet of blooms is unique, making looking for them more intriguing in various pastures.       

       

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