As the years gets hotter finding many flowering plants becomes easier, while finding some can be quite a challenge. Knowing where to look for unusual plants and animals is always helpful. So late last week with out friend Mary we headed out to southwestern Michigan to a bog we know about in search of orchids.
Whenever you are visiting wetlands dragonflies start to become abundant. The one on the left is a Blue dasher, the one on the right is a Slaty skimmer. Both of these were common in the bog and quite active. But we weren’t here for dragonflies, we were in search of orchids. Time to pick up the pace along the boardwalk.
The floating boardwalk.
Yellow-eyed grass on the left and a Spatulate sundew on the left. There were more sundews here than I have ever seen before. And the Yellow-eyed grasses were near peak blooming.
But here was our target – Orange-fringed orchid. We managed to find 24 blooming and were were there before peak. I’m guessing that this week there will be even more. Mary had never seen one of these before and was quite pleased with them
Frankly, she wasn’t the one one there pleased with the orchids.
More later…
Michael's Place 
I just love these pearls that are shared with us. Thank you. In Columbia County, NY, I also read Progress of the Seasons Journal, a blog from the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program. July 2025 was about butterfly sightings. Thank you, Mary Ann Hitt
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