Spring in New England is the most intensive and extraordinary season for wildflowers. People come from all over the world to view our flora, as others come in October to appreciate our autumnal colors. This richness and diversity of botanical beauty has been recreating these varied panoramas for countless centuries.
Summer and Fall bring various combinations of wildflower blossoms, followed by their various seeds pods, berries, nuts and climax materials (what remains of the spent blossoms on their stalks. . . Often woody and easily preserved). They weave a rich botanical tapestry, each plant fulfilling itself at its own pace, in its own distinct season, and each necessary to specific biomes and habitat areas within the cycle of life.
This small guide focuses on the broad range of native flora, but includes a few introduced species that have become very important and widespread in the east. It is interesting to view the various wildflowers in context of their specific families, not as a scholarly exercise but as a way of realizing their relationships to each other, and to the general spectrum of eastern flora.
It is always exciting to take just one area of botany and work intensively with it. This is my recurring, annual pleasure with wildflowers. I enjoy photographing their changing growth forms, and following them seasonally. I delight in sketching and drawing them, and in some cases, pressing them at various stages to preserve them for use in the herbarium. Through this book I share with you, and invite you to enjoy some of our exquisite wildflowers! |
