The belles are swinging in the meadow
their ruffled skirts are flying up high
The hornets are stealing their sweetness
and butterflies let out an envious sigh
Come, come watch the spectacle
it doesn’t last all summer long
Be there in the early days of August
when the sun is bright and strong
All too soon the show is over
the hornets find a new flower to tease
yet the meadow feels the absence
of the belles swinging in the breeze.
I found these wildflowers during one of my rare walks in the woods of Maine. This is the first time I saw such flowers even though I have been to the place these plants grew more than a couple of times. I wonder if I went to the meadow in the wrong time of the year that is why I never chanced upon the plants blooming. Unlike daisies, thistles, golden rods, and Queen Anne’s Lace, among others, that apart from being quite showy, seem to grow everywhere, these plants seemed to grow only in that place where I saw them blooming. Because they are small and pale, they easily get lost among taller grasses and more colorful flowers. For all the stated reasons, I consider these flowers rare.
Oh, please feel free to identify this beauty. It never should go unnamed and unknown (at least by me). 🙂 Thank you.
Beautiful…! 🙂
I really enjoy your photography and words….
Thank you very much for the kind words, Mat. 🙂
I’ve often seen these but can’t tell you their name. They’re lovely as is your poem ! Diane
Thanks, Diane. It turns out that these flowers grow profusely in Michigan and according to Dunelight, they are called Bladder Campion, and also Maiden’s Tears.
Beautiful.
Thanks. 🙂
Lovely pictures of a lovely wildflower. Here’s a link I found when I did a Google search. It looks like they may be Pink Campion: http://www.seasonalwildflowers.com/pink-campion.html
Blessings ~ Wendy
Thank you very much for helping me with the flower’s name. 🙂 Dunelight of https://dunelight.wordpress.com/ identified them as Bladder Campion/Maiden’s Tears. Apparently, these plants are quite common in Michigan.
[…] MEADOW BELL(E)S (WPC: Rare) – MY WALL […]
It’s interesting that what is considered rare in one area is a very common in another. You took a lovely shot of the flower we call Bladder Campion, and they are common in Michigan to the point they are considered a non-native weed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silene_vulgaris
Children play with them by picking them and popping them which I assume may or may not help in dispersal of seed. 🙂
Thanks a lot for the help. Dunelight. I tired to do a google image but no match for my image appeared. I guess Google looks for a picture that is identical to mine. After you gave me the name, I did my own search and found that the flower is also known as Maiden’s Tears. What a difference between Bladder and tears, eh? 🙂
Anyway, I can totally understand why the children would pop the flowers. I used to do that with balloon-like flowers that grew in our yard when I was a child. My own children love to burst the buds of the balloonflower (to my consternation because popping the buds deforms the blooms somehow). In any case, I think that you may be right that popping the Campion Bladder’s bud may interfere with pollination. It is the bud that gives the nice satisfying pop, not the mature or the dying flowers.
Fascinating comments. I love the poem.
True. Wendy and Dunelight were very helpful. Now I learned about new flowers. 🙂 And thank you for coming by.
Always a pleasure.
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I liked the rhyme.