There are lots of wild blueberries along the boardwalk on the Red Maple Swamp Trail at Fort Hill. The birds must love them! I was surprised that there were still some berries on the bushes.
Have you seen them on the trail?
Category Archives: Cape Cod Wildflowers
Pretty Pink Water-Willow Wildflowers On Cape Cod
If you go hiking near a fresh water spring or marsh such as The Spring Trail at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary or the marshes on Red Maple Swamp Trail at Fort Hill, the chances of seeing a Water-Willow are very good. They like to grow in shallow water in July and August.
Water-Willow wildflowers are an aquatic shrub with magenta flowers whose 5 petals grow in whorls where the leaves join the stem. They are native to this area. The flowers are small, only 1/2″ to 1″ while the plant grows from 3-9 feet. You can see in the 2nd photograph how the flowers grow almost where the leaves join the stems.
This is such a delicate little flower…so pretty. Have you ever seen a Water-Willow?
New Wildflower Garden At The Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary On Cape Cod
The new wildflower garden at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is just spectacular! The wildflower species are numerous and the butterflies are everywhere! There are even walking paths through the garden so you can get “up close and personal” with the flowers and get that perfect photo-op of a Monarch butterfly.
If you haven’t been to the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary lately, it’s well worth the stop. Not only are the wildflowers and butterflies gorgeous, the shore birds are abundant out on the beach at low tide.
Beautiful, Yellow Common St. John’s Wort Wildflowers On Cape Cod
Common St. John’s Wort wildflowers are blooming all over Cape Cod. You can see them along the trails and roadsides. I took this photograph at Fort Hill on the side of one of the hiking trails. I loved how the sunlight caught it.
They are a bushy branching plant with many 5-petaled dark yellow 1″ flowers and many prominent stamens. They grow to about 1-2 1/2 feet from June through September.
Have you ever seen a Common St. John’s Wort wildflower?
Beautiful, But Poisonous, Yellow Common Tansy At Fort Hill On Cape Cod
If you park in the first lot at Fort Hill, you can see this beautiful Common Tansy by the side of the lot. I have never seen it before, so it was a big treat to take some photographs and then do some research.
Common Tansy are tiny, yellow button-like flowers which grow in flat-topped clusters. They grow to about 3′ erect and are colony-forming. The leaves are dark green and fern-like and aromatic. The scent is similar to that of camphor with hints of rosemary. They grow from July to September.
Caution: They are poisonous so observe them from a distance! The leaves and flowers are toxic if consumed in large quantities; the volatile oil contains toxic compounds including thujone which can cause convulsions and liver and brain damage.