Morning Walk at Mt. Pleasant (part 2) — The 21st Century Matriarch

Today I’m focusing on the plants I photographed during my morning walk earlier this week at Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant. The seed pods on the sweet bay magnolia are in all stages of development: from green to

Seeds bursting from the pod (I always think they look like red M&Ms) and then pods that are mostly empty and dry.

There are always chicory flowers after each rain. I liked the blurs of yellow and green behind this macro image.

Goldenrod is beginning to bloom. Goldenrod is one of the nectar plants for butterflies into the fall. People thought it caused their terrible fall allergies but now ragweed is said to be the primary culprit.

There was Queen Ann’s Lace in the meadow as well. It’s always interesting to me how different a plant appears in the macro view.

As I hiked along the narrow path near the stream there was a young sycamore that had leaves that were beginning to lose their chlorophyll for fall. The leaves were backlit so I took some macro images to show the changes.

There are still new leaves being unfurled on the tree too; this one was about the size of a dime.

Thistles are not very friendly looking! Too many prickles.

Bind weed is an occasional plant in the meadow. The flowers always look like they have little pleats.

This mint flower – taken from above with the macro lens – was coated with morning dew.

Dandelions are always attention getters. They look a bit like bursts of fireworks…or yellow streamers.

Even the clovers that are usually not noticed have a unique beauty seen through the macro lens.

Do you recognize mile-a-minute? It’s an invasive plant that grows very quickly and has wicked thorns.

And now for the Pokeweed. The ones I photographed were still blooming and the fruits that were formed were still green. They’ll turn purple later…and the stem will be bright pink. I’ll remember to photograph the plants through the fall to track their development.