Latest Posts
- Weekly Wildflowers – Crescent Beach State Park, Cape Elizabeth, ME
- Weekly Wildflowers – Seneca Mill and Falls, Penn Yan, NY
- Weekly Wildflowers – Watkins Glen SP, Watkins Glen, NY
- Weekly Wildflowers – Hogback Trailhead, Marlboro, VT
- Weekly Wildflowers – Wharton Point, Brunswick, ME
- Weekly Wildflowers – Mast Landing Sanctuary, Freeport, ME
- Weekly Wildflowers – Fels-Grove Farm Preserve, Yarmouth, ME
- Weekly Wildflowers – Emerald Lake SP, Dorset, VT
Wayside Flowers – William Allingham
Pluck not the wayside flower,
It is the traveller’s dower;
A thousand passers-by
Its beauties may espy,
May win a touch of blessing
From Nature’s mild caressing.
The sad of heart perceives
A violet under leaves
Like sonic fresh-budding hope;
The primrose on the slope
A spot of sunshine dwells,
And cheerful message tells
Of kind renewing power;
The nodding bluebell’s dye
Is drawn from happy sky.
Then spare the wayside flower!
It is the traveller’s dower.
This project is an ode to my macro lens.
I’ve never been much of a people photographer. My one photo of myself from a nearly three week trip to Ireland is me sitting in the rental car off to the side of the road as one of my friends snapped a picture of the view. So when digital cameras came along, and I suddenly no longer had to worry about film, what did I turn to? Flowers, of course!
I should add here that my interest in flowers comes from having parents who garden, and what I was able to pick up in the several botany classes I took in college to supplement my zoology degree. (I wanted to minor in music – some part of the biology major had to be sacrificed in the interest of time.)
I live in Westbrook, Maine, just outside Portland. Between my partner and me, we can travel to family or friends pretty much all over New England, with a bit of Upstate New York thrown in. (Parts of Canada aren’t even that far away.) So I’m going to concentrate on wildflowers I can find in any trip that we can do by car. I’m also leaving out formal garden flowers, unless they’re a particularly good example of the species. This project is about what you’ll come across in your New England travels, whether it’s on the beach, in the forest, or even at the side of the road.
For 2016, I’m trying something a little new, and posting what I’ve found for the week, by location. I’m hoping to be able to get up some things ahead of writing up the individual flowers this way.
For 2017, I’m redoing my categories and tags, so bear with me for a bit while certain things appear in both while I’m going back through old posts. I’m also going to start adding in mushrooms, when I can figure them out. (They’re harder than flowers.)
For 2023, I’m combining this separate blog into my overall blog, the North Wind and the Sea, because I finally ran out of storage room in the free version of WordPress, and I don’t want to maintain two entirely separate blogs with the same domains.