More Wildflowers: Joe's Run

This patch of green doesn't really catch the eye, does it, when you're just driving past?




But just look closer and this is what you might find:

Bellwort drooping its lovely flowers above barely visible woods betony...

and wild phlox, mouse-ear chickweed and violets, along with...

bluets and wood betony...

that look quite pretty together, and with cinquefoil too (the little yellow flower below).

Hiding beneath the others you might find henbit (the little purple flower below)...

and if you look on the other side of the road, you'll discover golden ragwort and wild geranium running riot in a field.

All to be seen by just stopping the car for a moment, getting out, and looking closely at what is all around. It just doesn't pay to be in a hurry at this time of year, does it?

About wood betony: the plant goes by many other names, including lousewort because Europeans believed that cattle that went near the plant would get covered in lice. One legend about a variety of betony says that when Veronica saw Jesus carrying the cross, she wiped the sweat from his face with a cloth that was scented with betony. The cloth later bore the imprint of his face and was considered a miracle.

Veronica was the confirmation name I took as a child, because I admired her bravery in facing the scorn of the crowd to do an act of mercy and compassion. But until recently I did not know the connection to betony, and the story makes me want this little wildling in my gardens at home.