Above is my haul of local treasures from a Sunday morning bike ride on the Deckers Creek Trail in Preston County. This trail is a fanastic ride any time of the year, but especially in July when the masses of summer wildflowers spill over into the margins of the bike path.
From top: Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis); tall thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana); American bellflower (Campanula americana); starry campion (Silene stellata), also known as widow's frill; wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa); common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), which is the host plant of the red milkweed beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus); downy skullcap (Scutellaria incana), also known as hoary skullcap; summer phlox (Phlox paniculata), also known as fall phlox; bushy St. John's wort (Hypericum densiflorum); swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), also known as rose milkweed; pale Indian plantain (Arnoglossum atriplicifolium), a grand summer aster with a long history of medicinal and culinary use by Native Americans; and black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta).
