A Bank of Pink Beauty!

Rose Mallow, which likes to live near water and is attractive to nectar lovers, is in full bloom next to the lower pond.

The Creek Road is full of color!

This is the time of year you must take a leisurely trip on the Creek Road, where you will see fields and fields of colorful flowers such as Purple Ironweed, and Tickseed Coreopsis.

Look closely, and you may see Yellow Oxalis, Leafy Elephant's Foor, and others such as the brilliant red Cardinal Flower.

 

Yellow blooms - always attractive!

St. John's Wort, to be seen along the entrance to the Creek Road or before the Siren Pool, has over-the-counter medicinal uses.

 

Decorative Seed Pods

Trees and flowering plants produce seed pods when they have finished blooming.  The seed pods of the Bladdernut dominate the shrub so much so that you may notice the pods before you are aware of the shrub itself, which is often used to define property lines and borders.  The pods may last well into winter. 

The Red Buckeye produces a kind of nut, which squirrels love, although they are poisonous to other animals and humans.  The seed pods of the Red Bud tree resemble beans you  might grow in your garden.  Those of the Magnolia are especially attractive; their appearance has been appropriated for various art works and furniture design.

Leaves of three - let it be!

Another vine, but one we don't like - don't let it bite you! And don't let its blooms and berries fool you in the spring. Learn to identify Poison Ivy and avoid it at all costs. If you are walking a road or path and stumble, be sure to fall on the road and not on the side where this vine may be growing - you'll be sorry!

Some Beautiful Flowers Grow on Vines

Look up – it's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Crossvine! This beautiful vine is often found high in tree tops; so as you walk, look up and you may be rewarded. It is hardy and may climb as high as 50 feet. It has been seen in the trees near the Squincy Bird Cabin. The vine has “claws” at the end of its tendrils (modified leaves), allowing it to clasp tree limbs, fences, etc. without any support. Native Americans once used it as a remedy for various illnesses.

Crossvine is from the same family as Trumpet Vine (Trumpet Creeper.) There are still some blooming on the fence on the upper road at Reflection Riding.  Both Crossvine and Trumpet Vine are attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds and produce small seed pods when finished blooming.

Another flowering vine which most everyone is familiar with is the Morning Glory. Although there are over 1000 species of these flowering plants, and they occur in many colors, many white ones bloom along the Creek Road at this time. Their common name comes from the fact that they open in the morning and sometimes begin to fade and curl up by the end of the day.

Bees, Butterflies, and Birds all love it...

There is a bank of Spurred Butterfly Peas on the upper road across from the field.   Bees, butterflies, and birds all love it, and humans love it for its beauty.

Walk - don't run or drive!

Summer blooms are often not as profuse as spring ones.  Walk slowly, look closely for a spot of color, and you may be rewarded with seeing a single lovely flower.  You may see yellow Oxalis (it also occurs in pink), a tiny flower about the size of your pinkie fingernail.  When you see its leaves, you may think you are seeing clover leaves; but the blooms of oxalis looking nothing like clover.

Maypop, sometimes called Passion Flower, "may pop" up along the Creek Road; or you can see a few blooms near the Squincy Bird Cabin.  It is the Tennessee state flower.  Cherokee Indians called it "ocoee;" the Ocoee River and Ocoee area are named for it.

 Another beautiful but hard-to-spot bloom is the Dayflower.  Bees collect its pollen for themselves and unintentionally carry pollen on their feet to pollinate other flowers.  The generic name is commelina.  Its name has a humorous history:  The man naming it knew three men, all relatives, who were named Commelyn.  Two were hard workers; the third hadn't accomplished much.  So the two beautiful blue petals represent the two strong men; the lower white one is for the other man.