A Mixed Bouquet

... of rides and a hike and wildflowers. (Mostly wildflowers.)

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View from a favorite bridge on a mid-May ride, with swallows swooping and circling overhead:

Leafy spurge taking over a roadside ditch:

Lilac in the wild:

Dandelion pastoral:

Sheep newly shorn:

Another favorite bit of water:

Jacob's ladder, or Greek valerian:

Darling chokecherry blossom:

Bonus for the sharp-eyed cyclist (this is why cycling jerseys have pockets):

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Later that week, on a short hike at a nearby nature preserve, wildflowers spotted along the trail included wild geranium:

Blue-eyed grass, a miniature member of the iris family:

Wild columbine:

False Solomon's seal:

There was also a possible Ent sighting:

At the top of the hill, a lovely view:

Also enjoyed were bright new leaves unfurling in the woods:

Rocks, trees, and sky:

A six-petaled wild strawberry blossom:

And glorious wild lupine growing next the road on the drive home:

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On my next ride, oleaster was blooming all about the countryside:

And viburnum (possibly V. lentago):

A field was edged with dried mystery plants:

Dame's rocket, a favorite (though invasive) wildflower, was just appearing:

Delicate frilled puccoon...

...overlooked a very green pasture, with cattle framed in the wire fence:

Miles later, I found new-to-me wildflower, probably spring-cress:

And Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea), earliest of umbellifers, and one of the few flowers with a botanical name as delightful as its common name:

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On a bike commute later in the week, I found another new-to-me wildflower, prairie groundsel:

And the familiar humble cinquefoil:

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On the last weekend of May, hoary puccoon were blooming:

And balsam groundsel:

At my turnaround point, voices carried across the lake from boaters enjoying the holiday weekend weather:

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The last ride of May was a commute, with photo stops for bird's-foot trefoil along the river trail:

And showy guelder-rose (Viburnum opulus) on a country road:

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I can't quite believe it's June already. The last week has been unusually broiling; we seem to have tumbled straight from chilly end-of-winter into full-blown summer heat. My little garden plants, only a week in the ground, are struggling to find their footing in this baking environment. Things should start cooling down tomorrow, I hope.

How's your weather? Hot, cold, or just right for June?

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