It’s been such a treat to see so many wildflowers growing by the side of the roads here on Cape Cod. I took a walk to Boat Meadow Beach the other day and saw 2 different yellow wildflowers. They looked very similar, until you got up close.
This Charlock Mustard Wildflower is a delicate wildflower with 4 yellow petals. It grows 1-3 feet high from May to September.
Pretty, don’t you think?
The Garlic Mustard wildflowers are growing all over Cape Cod. They look like a delicate, little wildflower with four 1/4″ white petals and 4 light green sepals, but when you research them, they are an invasive weed.
“Garlic mustard is an invasive non-native biennial herb that spreads by seed. Although edible for people, it is not eaten by local wildlife or insects. It is difficult to control once it has reached a site. It grows 2-3 (up to 6) feet tall. Lower leaves are kidney-shaped with scalloped edges. This weed spreads by seed and can self-pollinate, helping it rapidly displace native plants along trails, in forests, and on riverbanks, among other areas.”
So, although it looks pretty, they are very invasive to native vegetation.
It is such a treat this time of year to see the wildflowers starting to bloom along the trails. This one was blooming at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. There are so many things to see there from wildflowers to wildlife, to birds, etc. Just take one of their many trails and you never know what you will see!
This beautiful purple wildflower, Purple Dead-Nettle, is growing along the sides of the trails at Fort Hill. It grows low to the ground and the flowers are only 1/2 – 1″ so it might be a bit hard to see.
Purple Dead-Nettle, which has irregularly shaped flowers, blooms from now through September. I was so surprised to see how exquisite it was when I saw it blown up on my computer.
Gorgeous wildflower, don’t you think?
I am always surprised to see a little glimpse of yellow in the woods behind our house at this time of year. (2nd photo is of the Daffodil in the woods.) It is the one Daffodil that faithfully grows there each year and lets us know that spring is surely coming.
Can you see it? So pretty, don’t you think?
