Aah! A sweet cool morning at last! What better way to spend it than paddling with a friend on the beautiful Hudson?
I had promised to show Sue a Purple Fringed Orchis, and I also hoped to find that Great St. Johnswort in bloom. Our missions accomplished, we dawdled about for a couple of hours, just immersing ourselves in birdsong and water and rocks and flowers and trees.
Cardinal Flower has just begun to raise its blazing torches amid the riverside rocks.
The Great St. Johnswort was splendidly in bloom today, perfect for obtaining a specimen for the state herbarium. We counted at least 40 plants surrounding this one, so I didn't feel too bad about collecting a single stem.
This species must be exceedingly resilient, since the area where they are growing was scoured by raging waters for several weeks this spring. But there they were in all their golden glory, poking up from among all the flotsam left by the floods. Makes you wonder how a flower so tough could become so rare in much of its original distribution. Perhaps because it's so beautiful, poachers dug it up for their gardens. If so, they must have been disappointed to find that those showy yellow flowers bloom for just a few days. I feel very lucky to have caught the show.
4 comments:
The Hudson looks quite a bit different there than it does at the Port of Albany.
Thank God.
Ah, your pictures make me feel great. Why is water always so peaceful making.
I think the entire east coast is breathing that same sigh of relief right now! Of course, the weather people are claiming the heat and humidity will be back tomorrow or Friday, but after 103 degrees and that stifling humidity, 93 and normal high humidity doesn't sound too bad to me.
Thanks for your comments, June and Louise and Carolyn. I'm sure you, too, are enjoying the cooler weather. I am mighty grateful to have that beautiful Hudson running cool and clear up here in the mountains for relief when the heat returns.
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