Purple Milkweed

The Great First Lady of wildflowers Lady Bird Johnson once said, “Wildflowers are the stuff of my Heart.” I am sure there are many more of us that would  join her in that very special sentiment. After all wildflowers have been the inspiration for some of our greatest poems and love stories throughout the ages. Their beauty somehow touches our hearts and souls by stirring some of our most ancientemotions at the very sight of a field Bee Balm, Coneflower or Goldenrod.

But there is much much more to the true magical beauty of our native wildflowers. Almost like a mystical phenomenon they bring life seemingly out of nowhere and ultimately mean survival to an endless number of birds, butterflies and pollinators that have evolved with them and now depend on them. Whether it’s a hundred acres of flowers or just your humble backyard garden they are the foundation and building block for a healthy habitat for both people and wildlife.

Beebalm

There is more to a landscape than candy for the eye. For although a garden can appear beautiful it is just a false sense of allure. One that decoys the uninitiated into thinking that because it looks good it must be good for the birds and the bees. But in reality, nothing could be further than the truth .

Our Native Wildflowers, like all our native plants, have functioned on millions of years of evolution along with our wildlife. They both depend on each other and they have worked together since time immemorial.

Providing the right food, with the right nutritional value, at exactly the right time that our wildlife needs them, the wildflowers’ success or failure can mean a successful breading season or failure. They could mean the difference between birds making it to their migration destination or perishing along the way. There is life and destiny  in the most simplest of wildflowers.

When you bring a wildflower into your yard you have automatically and instantly made your environment a better place. There is nothing else a single person can do for the environment that can ever top that.

This summer add some wildflowers to your yard. As you watch the life return to your yard just like turning on a light in a dark room you will realize that it may have done just as much for your wellbeing as it has done for your birds and butterflies.

Cup Plant

Vervain

Golden Zisia