The SUMMER flower thread

[Mark Schaefer]

Dahlia

I may be pushing the "Summer" and backcountry titles a bit. Here are a few Dahlias with some very cooperative insects; from the Mum Festival at Seamon Park in Saugerties, NY. You may click the photos to enter the Gallery:








The annual Mum Festival officially opens Sunday, October 5, 2008. However, I have often found that the best photo opportunities are during the week prior. Most of the photos in the gallery were photographed on September 30, 2008. Toward the end of the gallery are a few photos from 2007, some as late as October 20. The flowers are often replaced as they fade and may last up to three weeks depending on the weather. Use may use this slideshow to view the entire gallery most efficiently.

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Very beautiful

Really great stuff, Mark! Thanks for sharing!

KDT

 

[JohnL]

Mark,
As usual, very nice images.

Despite the light- or near-frost this weekend in Waterville Valley, I noted a white and pink flower that had defied the cold weather. They also defied my attempts at identification. Any help would be appreciated.

JohnL

 

[arghman]

I noted a white and pink flower that had defied the cold weather. They also defied my attempts at identification.

those are probably Cosmos spp. (planted or garden escapes), the linear leaves + notches in the petals of the ray flowers are key features. (Coreopsis similar but most species orange-yellow)

 

[Edelweiss]

Thanks arghman, Dick and Bob-
I had guessed at some sort of hibiscus when we first saw them but these were so dramatic. I've never seen any this size before.
Edelweiss

My call would be swamp rose-mallow, hibiscus moscheutos.

"Flowers (to 8 in. across) tend to be white with red or purple center." - Peterson

 

[arghman]

Thanks arghman, Dick and Bob-
I had guessed at some sort of hibiscus when we first saw them but these were so dramatic. I've never seen any this size before.
Edelweiss

hmm. if you want to make sure you ID species sometimes you have to eliminate a few obscure possibilities -- although this is out of our range & I don't have much personal experience w/ Midwestern plants.

USDA PLANTS lets you do state searches + they show several Hibiscus sp. in Indiana. H. syriaca = rose of sharon is cultivated (I have one that was at my house when I moved in), shrubby, not sure it's a wetland species. H. trionum is small.

H. laevis = H. militaris has halberd-shaped leaves which don't seem to match the ones in your photos. (p.s. thanks for taking several pictures + not just ones of the flowers! it helps ID)

It could be H. lasiocarpos but that is endangered in Indiana -- doubtful find but a neat one if it is. Also there appears to be discord among different reputable sources over whether this is a separate species or a subspecies of H. moscheutos.

so I'd concur, by process of elimination H. moscheutos is the most likely. If you want to get more certain than that, you have to get into technical characteristics; a couple of google searches yield a Google Books link to Plant Life of Kentucky which has a key + mentions H. moscheutos ssp. lasiocarpos differs from the main species in that it has ciliate (=hairy) bracts (those green pointy things behind the green sepals in the Missouri plants page) and fuzziness on both surfaces of the leaves.

ugh.

 

[Edelweiss]

hmm. if you want to make sure you ID species sometimes you have to eliminate a few obscure possibilities -- although this is out of our range & I don't have much personal experience w/ Midwestern plants.

USDA PLANTS lets you do state searches + they show several Hibiscus sp. in Indiana. H. syriaca = rose of sharon is cultivated (I have one that was at my house when I moved in), shrubby, not sure it's a wetland species. H. trionum is small.

H. laevis = H. militaris has halberd-shaped leaves which don't seem to match the ones in your photos. (p.s. thanks for taking several pictures + not just ones of the flowers! it helps ID)

It could be H. lasiocarpos but that is endangered in Indiana -- doubtful find but a neat one if it is. Also there appears to be discord among different reputable sources over whether this is a separate species or a subspecies of H. moscheutos.

so I'd concur, by process of elimination H. moscheutos is the most likely. If you want to get more certain than that, you have to get into technical characteristics; a couple of google searches yield a Google Books link to Plant Life of Kentucky which has a key + mentions H. moscheutos ssp. lasiocarpos differs from the main species in that it has ciliate (=hairy) bracts (those green pointy things behind the green sepals in the Missouri plants page) and fuzziness on both surfaces of the leaves.

ugh.

Wow!
An innane comment from a layman, but flower identication (and any scientific plant identification, for that matter) requires precise and sometimes very subtle powers of observation, doesn't it ! I had to check back and forth several times amongst the photos to note the differences you pointed out, but now I see. Thanks for taking the time to instruct, arghman! Fascinating stuff!

 

[forestgnome]

Wow! Really incredible images here. I just checked this out since it was revived. Incredible images by Mark. I'm going to check out the slide show right now.

Jason, that's a great image of the little furry creature, and the web, and the turtleheads. Great stuff!