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?
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.
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?
I’ve seen a lot of Common Wood Nymph butterflies while hiking at Fort Hill lately, especially in the evenings as they love the grassy borders of woodland edges and openings.
The Common Wood Nymph, mostly tan and brown with two dark eyespots in an orange patch, has a 2″ to 2 7/8″ wingspan. It is very distinguishable.
The Crown Vetch wildflowers were so pretty on the trail from Doane Rock to Coast Guard Beach. These pink and white bi-colored flowers form 1 1/2″ golf ball size clusters at the end of a stalk and grow 1-2 feet. They make a very pretty ground cover from June through August.
Have you ever seen Crown Vetch?
Cape Cod daily articles on the wonderful Cape Cod places to hike, experience and photograph. A Cape Cod Outdoor Adventure Series.
