Teiva

Day 20 (7/21/09)
It was another one of those days that remind me why I love Wisconsin. The temperature was perfect for a ride and build. I spent a lot of time photographing flowers. There were several new blossoms today. As much as I would like to, I can’t photograph them all but I will include what I can. The first wild flower I came across appears to be a Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea Maculosa) a fairly noxious but pretty little flower of the Asteraceae or sunflower family. The second wildflower was equally as noxious, maybe even more so, and equally attractive. It was a Purple loosestrife. It turns out it chokes out wetland ecosystems and eventually kills them (beautiful but deadly). Like so many invasive plants, it was brought over from Eurasia for people’s flower gardens. No mention of noxious plants would be complete with out the mention of Queen Ann’s lace. I have always loved the lyrical quality of it, complete with the stories that go along with it (http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1459/). I even did an art piece filled with Queen Anne’s lace imbedded in it. Oh yeh, I did do some building. One of the highlights was stopping at “Tripod Build” and finding the ceramic pot of a past student incorporated into the design.