Mainely Phenology 7/28/18

Producers/Hosts: Hazel Stark and Joe Horn

Cardinal Flowers

Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at mainelyphenology.wordpress.com

Red is such a fleeting color for plants in our Maine woodlands. Sure the red maples give an impressive show of the color in the fall, but upon closer inspection those fiery leaves are really specked with brown, dashed with gold, and cloaked in subtle greens. Yellow, white, and even purple flowers are common among our fields and forests, but a true red flower is a wild gift to behold. The cardinal flower, as the name rather vividly describes, cares not for the colors made popular by high fashion plant society. Once in bloom, their petals are so vivid, I find it hard to even equate their color with such a banal term as “red.”

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