Flowers of Early June

My blog for this week, on petunias (Petunia), is running way behind. So, how about a post celebrating  early summer flowers? 

Blanket flower, Gaillardia (sunflower family, Asteraceae), below, is native to North America. There are 12 species, but only two are widespread, Gaillardia aristida and Gaillardia pulcella. The first is in the western and northern North America, the second in eastern and southern. Gaillardia xgrandiflora is their hybrid. I've seen them growing in gardens from Oregon to Florida, and if you were out hiking now, you could find wild ones in flower, all across the continent. 

blanket flower, Gaillardia

Ecuador: The Galapagos II. Plants

On my recent trip to the Galapagos I joined park rangers on hikes, and usually I was a laggard. I kept  stopping to see the plants. The rest of the group hopped from one animal photo op to the next. I tried to keep up but did a bad job of it.

the endemic tree cactus Opuntia galapagela

Just like its  animals, the Galapagos's plants include many that are unique and that differ from their mainland relatives and between islands. 

Ecuador: The Galapagos (I)

I recently visited the Galapagos for the first time, on a tour with the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and Knowmad Adventures. The Galapagos Islands, whose animals and plants played a crucial role in Charles Darwin formulating his ideas of evolutionary change, is Must See location for biologists...so, contrarily, I scorned it for 50-odd years. But, eventually my curiousity sent me there. 

Galapagos