The Colors of Summer

tanjabrittonwriter 64 Comments

With Autumn Equinox fast approaching and the suggestion of fall colors showing in increasing numbers of leaves, I wanted to remind myself of summer’s beautiful gifts. Summer isn’t my favorite season because of the heat which frequently limits outdoor activities to a few hours in the morning. For someone who does not like air conditioning but prefers to either be outdoors or have all the windows open, July and August often mean tedious weeks and the longing for them to end. But our lives are precious and our days numbered, so I attempt to keep a positive attitude (which works on some days, but not all).

The existence of colorful flowers definitely helps, as do their insect visitors. They don’t mind the heat (as long as it’s not excessive or associated with a lack of water); rather, they thrive on it and beautify our world. Reason enough to be grateful and content.

During a recent review of my media library on WordPress I came across the many flower images I have used in various posts and thought they deserved another airing (apart from resolving to stop taking photos of the same flowers over and over 😊). Having admired the many floral collages posted by Vicki from Melbourne, Australia, who is a gifted photographer and who blogs at https://amomentintime992025389.wordpress.com/, I was inspired to create my own collage. Vicki typically arranges the images by color to wonderful effect. Thank you, Vicki, for agreeing to let me link to your blog and imitate your template.

And thank you, summer, for the long days and warm sunshine which make things grow so we can feast our eyes and countless creatures can sate their appetites.

To enlarge a photo, click on it. To read its caption, hover cursor over it.

I have attempted to list the common and scientific names of each plant, plus a German translation (whenever I could find it). I’m not an expert so please let me know if you notice any mistakes. Thank you.

July 11, 2023: Sego Lily (Colochortus nutallii)?Mormonentulpe
Mariposa Lily (Colochortus gunnisonii)/?Mormonentulpe
Creamy Thistle (Cirsium canescens) with Swallowtail visitor/Distelart mit Schwalbenschwanzbesucher
Evening Primrose sp./Nachtkerze
Evening Primrose sp./Nachtkerze
Prickly Poppy/(Argemone polyanthemos)/Gehörnter Stachelmohn
June 17, 2023: Prickly Poppy (Argemone polyanthemos)/Gehörnter Stachelmohn
Yucca sp./Palmlilie
Yucca sp./Palmlilie
Yucca sp./Palmlilie
Plains Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia polyacantha)/Feigenkaktus
June 18, 2023: Prickly Pear Cactus/Feigenkaktus
Prickly Pear Cactus/Feigenkaktus
July 26, 2023: Yellow Stonecrop (Sedum lanceolatum)/Fetthennenart
Swallowtail Butterfly on a mustard plant, possibly a Western Wallflower/Schwalbenschwanz
July 8, 2023: Prince’s Plume (Stanleya pinnata)/?
Golden Asters/? Aster
Sunflower sp. with grasshopper/Sonnenblume mit Heuschrecke/Sonenblumenart mit Heuschrecke
Sunflower sp./Sonnenblumenart
Sunflower sp./Sonnenblumenart
Plains Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia polyacantha)/Feigenkaktus
Aster sp./Asterart
Monarch on Cosmos/Monarch auf Kosmos
Ghost-like Sphinx/Hawk/Hummingbird Moth feeding on Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa)/Gespenstiger Schwärmer an einer Seidenpflanze
Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea)/Roter Prärieklee
June 30, 2023: Bush Morning Glory (Ipomoea leptophylla)/? Bruchwinde
Wild Rose (Rosa woodsii)/Wilde Rose
Fritillary on thistle/Perlmutterfalter auf einer Distel
Bush Morning Glory (Ipomoea leptophylla)/? Bruchwinde
Water lily/Seerose
Mountain Ball Cactus/Nadelkissenkaktus
Beehive Cactus (Coryphanta vivipara var vivipara) thrives on the arid soil/Nadelkissenkaktus
Cactus sp./Kaktusart
June 18, 2023: Plains Prickly Pear pink (Opuntia polyacantha)
Cholla or Candelabra Cactus/Cholla-Kaktus
Cholla or Candelabra Cactus/Cholla-Kaktus
Cholla or Candelabra Cactus/Cholla-Kaktus
Monarch on Purple Coneflower/Monarch auf einem Sonnenhut
Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)/Weidenröschen
Cosmos/Kosmos
Painted lady on aster sp./Amerikanischer Distelfalter auf Asternart
July 26, 2023: Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)/Weidenröschen
August 10, 2023: Bee Balm aka Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)/Wilde Bergamotte
July 11, 2023: Dusky Beardstongue (Penstemon whipplenanus)/? Bartfaden
June 25, 2023: Hairy Clematis aka Leather Flower aka Sugarbowls (Clematis hirsutissima)/Rauhaarige Waldrebe
Colorado Blue Columbine(Aquilegia coerulea)/Rocky Mountains Akelei
Colorado Blue Columbine(Aquilegia coerulea)/Rocky Mountains Akelei
Penstemon sp./Bartfaden
Blue Flax (Linum lewisii)/Leinblume
June 28, 2023: Rock Clematis (Clematis columbiana)/? Waldrebe
Harebell or Bluebell (Campanula rotundifolia)/Rundblättrige Glockenblume
Prairie Spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis)/Prärie-Dreimaster
Prairie Spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis)/Prärie-Dreimaster
Lanceleaf Chiming Bells (Mertensia lanceolata)/Blauglöckchenart
Blue Flax (Linum lewisii)/Leinblume
Gentian sp./Enzianart
Larkspur (Delphinium sp.)/Ritterspornart
Harebell or Bluebell (Campanula rotundifolia)/Rundblättrige Glockenblume
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)/Knollige Seidenpflanze
Scarlet Globemallow, aka Cowboy’s Delight (Sphaeralcea coccinea)/Kugelmalvenart
Scarlet Globemallow, aka Cowboy’s Delight (Sphaeralcea coccinea)/Kugelmalvenart
California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica)/Goldmohn
Colorado Columbine color variant/Akeleiart
July 11, 2023: Scarlet Gilia aka Scarlet Trumpet aka Skyrocket (Ipomopsis aggregata)/?
Scarlet Gilia aka Scarlet Trumpet aka Skyrocket (Ipomopsis aggregata)/?
May 22, 2023: Orange Paintbrush (Castilleja integra)/Indianerpinsel
Orange Paintbrush/Indianerpinsel
Orange Paintbrush/Indianerpinsel

64 thoughts on “The Colors of Summer”

  9. Despite the heat there is evidence through your profuse array of floral beauty that you may have a touch opf nostalgic feelings towards summer, which may increase, when Old Man Winter also forces you to stay indoors, Tanja.

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  11. Dear Tanja
    WOW, such a number of photos of flowers, an amazing collection.
    And with names in two languages what we love, as we are not that good in naming the plants.
    We are looking forward to winter, our favourite season. We hope for lots of snow, ice and really cold weather – unfortunately we hardly have that here in East Anglia therefore we’ll go up North, Norway we suppose.
    All the best
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

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    • Thank you, dear Klausbernd, I’m so glad you enjoyed this floral collection. Most of the time the German name is new for me as many of the North American plants don’t exist in Europe, or I didn’t know of them when I still lived in Germany.

      I don’t mind winter but I’m not sure I can claim to hope for lots of snow, and, and cold weather like you. I hope you can find all three, either in East Anglia or in Norway! But first, let’s enjoy autumn!

      Kind regards to all Fab Four,

      Tanja

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  12. I so enjoyed the wonderful diversity of flowers and the summery feel to your post. Very cheerful despite the sometimes oppressive heat! Thanks also for the IDs of the plants. Here in South Africa the spring flowers are starting to emerge – so exciting!

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    • Thank you, Julie. After I saw Vicki’s tone-in-tone arrangements, I was inspired to try the same and it was a lot of fun moving the different photos around until they seemed to land in a good spot.

      I have grown very fond of prickly pear cactus, especially since there were no wild-growing cactus growing up in Germany. It’s always lovely to discover the different colors of their blooms.

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  14. Quite a summer collection indeed. The very first picture had me wondering why German calls that member of the lily family a Mormon tulip. I recognized the Stanleya pinnata that I saw for the first time in the Painted Desert in July.

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    • Thank you, Steve. I had the same question about the Mormonentulpe. The Sego Lily is the state flower of Utah and reportedly saved the Mormons from starvation, after they learned from the Shoshones that the bulb was edible.

      As you likely learned, where there is Stanleya pinnata, there is selenium in the ground–it’s an indicator plant.

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  16. A very effective method of showcasing so many colorful flowers! Thank you for sharing all of these.

    As for the perpetual problem of taking photographs of the same flowers, birds, mammals, etc. I console myself by realizing I’m not taking a picture of the exact same subject again and again. Besides, I find I can’t resist clicking that shutter release for something beautiful, so I don’t really care if I took its pic yesterday.

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    • Thank you! There is so much beauty and power in numbers (at least when it comes to flowers).
      I really feel the same way about taking photos, be they of flowers, birds, or other animals. I always tell myself that I have never seen this particular bird in this particular setting at this particular time–reason enough to try to immortalize it with another photo.

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  17. My favorite season is summer; but, close behind, is autumn—fall—the best weather of the year in September, at least, in the midwest. Warm days, cool nights, cicadas still going in the shortened heat of day, and crickets singing in the outstretched night. 🍁

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    • While I love summer’s offerings in the form of flowers and insects and birds, I don’t deal well with the heat, especially if it’s associated with high humidity, such as in your part of the country. But we once lived in Indiana and also LOVED autumn there. Wishing you a pleasant Midwestern Fall! 🍂🍁🍂

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  18. Thanks Tanja. We can all enjoy one last look at the colors of summer, or early fall/autumn. I can already feel the weather changing to the much more comfortable temps of fall (though it’s still over 90F there today on the last day of Summer). Thanks for sharing.

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    • Thank you, Brad. I’m glad you are finally feeling a slight cool-down. Autumn in the Midwest is often pleasant and I hope that will be true for you this year. The aspen are turning in Colorado and maybe you have a trip planned to see them. 🙂

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  19. It was such fun looking through your images, picking out the familiar and those I’ve never seen (or, in some cases, heard of). I was especially taken with the blue flax. We have some flax species, but they’re orange/yellow rather than blue; seeing the variation is fun. For that matter, seeing so many flowers gathered together was appealing. I’ve always enjoyed a mixed bouquet!

    I’m not fond of heat, but it, and its friend humidity, are facts of life here. That said, autumn in our part of the world often is called a second spring. It won’t be long before some of our autumn-blooming flowers will appear, and we’ll have more color to enjoy before what passes for winter arrives.

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    • I also love the blue flax. Its petals fall off in the evening but the next day, the flower bears new ones. It’s a miracle! 🙂

      I try not to complain too much about the weather but some conditions are simply hard to bear, though not as hard as in other parts of the country or the world. And each season brings its own gifts we need to enjoy.
      I hope your “second spring” will be pleasant.

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  20. I really like this collection! It’s an introduction to Colorado plants and flowers! I love the Colorado Columbine, it’s such a stunning flower. The hawk moth is also delightful. Your blog is so instructional!

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  22. Was für eine prächtige und wunderschöne Vielfalt Tanja, so schön! Auch die traumschönen Falter sind eine Pracht. Vielen Dank für’s Zeigen und Benennen all der Schönheiten. Ich finde auch die englischen Namen immer sehr spannend. LG Almuth

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  26. As someone who has had..and will continue … to deal with the effects of a damaged internal heat regulator thanks to a few running episodes, I can relate to the preference of the cooler temps. Fortunately, we are starting to get those cooler conditions now. Of course our recent Colorado trips subjected us to blistering hot temps in Denver ugh. What a pretty way to showcase your collection of flowers. I like the graduated look it produces as you scroll down. Well done.

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