“Mayapple Glowing” by John Kreutzfeldt

Plant(s): Mayapple
Photo Story: Mayapples line the wooden sidewalk which leads to our front door. The flower is sometimes hard to see, so I got down low to take the picture. The flower was glowing in bright sunlight.
Equipment: Kodak EasyShare, DX6489
Photo ID: 32417

“Buttonbush in September” by Jim Vallem

Plant(s): Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
Photo Story: Photo was taken from the the Trail #2 boardwalk crossing the marsh, Indiana Dunes State Park, on September 29, 2022.
Equipment: Pixel 3 XL
Photo ID: 32422

“Swamp Candle Garden” by Jim Natale

Plant(s): Lysimachia terrestris, Swamp Candle
Photo Story: In a recently beaver flooded and drained marsh at the Woody Hill Management area I found a lovely patch of swamp candles!
Equipment: S22 phone camera
Photo ID: 32440

“Paw Paw in Bloom” by Suzanne Asaturian

Plant(s): Paw Paw Asimina triloba
Photo Story: I hike daily and especially in the spring. One of my favorite trails for wildflowers is Rocky Bluff Trail in Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge. The Paw Paw tree produces this delicate, yet beautiful flower which becomes a yummy fruit later in the spring/summer.
Equipment: Canon Camera and macro 100mm lens
Photo ID: 32465

“Shooting Star in Denver” by Jen Bolger

Plant(s): Shooting Star Columbine, Aquilegia elegantula
Photo Story: Purchased seeds from Botanical Interests. Took a few years to bloom. But totally worth the wait.
Equipment: Canon Mark II
Photo ID: 32469

“Tufted Evening Primrose” by Jen Bolger

Plant(s): Tufted Evening Primrose, Oenothera caespitosa
Photo Story: Begged the High Plains Environmental Center Native Plant Nursery Manager Stephen Hornbeck for just one Tufted Evening Primrose. And he gave in.
Equipment: Canon Mark II
Photo ID: 32471

“Rocky Mountain Bee Plant” by Jen Bolger

Plant(s): Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, Cleome serrulata
Photo Story: One packet of seeds from BBB seed purchased several years ago has yielded a prolific Rocky Mountain Bee Plant patch, which all sorts of bees and hummingbirds enjoy.
Equipment: Canon Mark II
Photo ID: 32473

“Spiderwort” by Steve Schmidt

Plant(s): Spiderwort
Photo Story: My annual May trip over to the Nachusa area provides for many chances for birds, wildflowers and insects. This shot, the way the flower and it’s leaves are arranged, shows this nice example in a simple design w/in the frame.
Equipment: Nikon D7200 w/ Tamron 150-600mm.
Photo ID: 32476

“Last Year’s Milkweed” by Steve Schmidt

Plant(s): Milkweed
Photo Story: Hiking at Illinois Beach State Park, I ran across the many desiccated milkweed. In my viewfinder, behind the plant was tall grass swaying back and forth. When blurred as it is here, the grass creates an interesting backdrop to the subject.
Equipment: Nikon D7200 w/ Tamron 150-600mm.
Photo ID: 32477

“Floating” by Leslie Jordan

Plant(s): Sticky purple geranium (Geranium viscosissimum)
Photo Story: Hiking along a mountain stream I found this one geranium blossom that had been knocked off its plant by a recent hailstorm.
Equipment: I Phone 8
Photo ID: 32499

“Floating ll” by Leslie Jordan

Plant(s): Purple sticky geranium(Geranium viscosissima)
Photo Story: This is a cropped version of an earlier photo entered into this contest. I was hiking along a mountain stream when I saw this single geranium blossom that had been knocked off its plant by a recent hailstorm.
Equipment: I phone 8
Photo ID: 32500

“Home Sweet Home” by Michile Stoutenburg

Plant(s): Foeniculum vulgate Fennel Bronze
Photo Story: Michile Stoutenburg I shot this photo in Rochester Hills Michigan at the Older Persons Commission. I volunteer with the Late Bloomers Gardening Club at (OPC). I was gathering photos of plants to place on the mapping I am doing of the gardens at (OPC). Sandy our in house native plant gardener mentioned that she had seen several caterpillars in the butterfly garden while working there earlier. For sure, there was the caterpillar in residence.
Equipment: My I Phone camera
Photo ID: 32502

“Pink Lady’s Slipper” by Neal Bringe

Plant(s): Pink Lady’s Slipper Orchid (Cypripedium acaule)
Photo Story: On April 28th I went hiking for the first time in the hills of North Carolina and near the end of a day I saw this stunning wildflower that looked remarkably like a lady. I took several photographs and I think this one represented the special design of the flower well.
Equipment: Cannon PowerShot SX70 HS
Photo ID: 32524

“Rocky Mountain Alpine Fleabane” by Neal Bringe

Plant(s): Rocky Mountain Alpine Fleabane (Erigeron Grandiflorus)
Photo Story: I love to learn what plants grow above 12,000 feet elevation. On July twelfth there still was a good amount of snow to hike through to get to the Cottonwood Pass Peak. Once on top there were many wildflowers and butterflies that were in perfect condition. I was drawn to the plant featured because it showed the flowers in various stages of bloom. The earliest stages showed the hairy phyllaries that protect the flower bud. I thought the phyllaries were remarkable and add interest to the scene at about 12,530 feet elevation.
Equipment: Cannon PowerShot SX70 HS
Photo ID: 32540

“Michigan Lily” by Leslie Alldritt

Plant(s): Lilium michiganense, Turk’s-Cap Lily
Photo Story: This lily is growing in the ditch along the Washburn High School pollinator garden.
Equipment: I-phone 12
Photo ID: 32543

“Serviceberry” by Renee Benage

Plant(s): Amelanchier arborea
Photo Story: Taken on a spring day at Little Lost Creek Conservation Area.
Equipment: Canon Power Shot SX70 HS
Photo ID: 32548

“Bloodroot” by Renee Benage

Plant(s): Sanguinaria canadensis
Photo Story: Taken on a botany walk at St. Francois State Park.
Equipment: Canon Power Shot SX70 HS
Photo ID: 32549

“Spotted Saxifrage” by Neal Bringe

Plant(s): Spotted Saxifrage (Saxifraga bronchialis)
Photo Story: The Devil’s Head Trail is one of my wife’s favorite for a day hike near our home. It goes up 865 feet through aspen and pine trees. The moist woods allowed mushrooms and this moss-like plant to grow around 9,000 feet elevation. The Spotted Saxifrage was on a slope, so I was able to zoom in close to show the incredible design of the tiny flowers. It was my best photograph of the flower of this species.
Equipment: Cannon PowerShot SX70 HS
Photo ID: 32566

“Calypso” by Dan Holtmeyer

Plant(s): Calypso orchid or fairy slipper (Calypso bulbosa), stair-step moss (Hylocomium splendens)
Photo Story: A calypso or fairy slipper orchid pokes a few inches out of a carpet of moss like a pink firework on the Thunder Knob Trail in North Cascades National Park. The flower provides no nectar, tricking insects into providing pollination for no reward.
Equipment: Canon G9X
Photo ID: 32576

“Last blooms” by Dan Holtmeyer

Plant(s): Bluestem goldenrod (Solidago caesia)
Photo Story: A bluestem or woodland goldenrod’s small yellow flowers and beaten-up leaves give one last splash of color in the understory gloom during an October hike in the Ozark National Forest in northwest Arkansas.
Equipment: Canon 5D Mark III, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
Photo ID: 32577

“Redbud Blossom” by Bryan Dahlvang

Plant(s): Redbud tree blossom
Photo Story: After a long brown winter, I was excited to see color returning to the landscape near my home.
Equipment: Canon 80D 100mm Macro lens
Photo ID: 32581

“Field of Lupine with Columbine” by Jill Trochlell Ziehr

Plant(s): Wild Blue Lupine (Lupinus perennis) and Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
Photo Story: At a Wild Ones tour of this prairie, we came across stretches of beautiful flowers. Sitting hidden in one patch of flowers was a very young fawn. As one of our members approached, the little fawn bleated and ran toward the woods!
Equipment: Apple iPhone XR
Photo ID: 32617

“Antennae” by Besa Schweitzer

Plant(s): liatris
Photo Story: First bloom on the liatris
Equipment: phone camera
Photo ID: 32636

“Fringed Polygala” by Brad Sabre

Plant(s): Fringed Polygala
Photo Story: Came across a small patch of these tiny, beautiful flowers on an early Spring walk in the woods of Northern Wisconsin.
Equipment: iPhone 12 Pro Max
Photo ID: 32683

“Emerging Northern Red Oak Leaves” by Brad Sabre

Plant(s): Northern Red Oak
Photo Story: Maybe a day or two old. A welcoming sight with snow still scattered in the woods. Came soon these emerging Northern Red Oak leaves.
Equipment: iPhone 12 Pro Max
Photo ID: 32684

“Roundleaf Sundew” by Brad Sabre

Plant(s): Roundleaf Sundew
Photo Story: While wading along the shoreline, I spotted a floating log covered in moss and the tiny carnivorous insect eating plants. Roundleaf Sundews
Equipment: iPhone 12 Pro Max
Photo ID: 32686

“Roundleaf Sundew” by Brad Sabre

Plant(s): Roundleaf Sundew
Photo Story: While wading along the shoreline, I spotted a floating log covered with moss and these carnivorous, insect eating plants, Roundleaf Sundews.
Equipment: iPhone 12Pro Max
Photo ID: 32689

“A Bee’s Delight” by Kelly Bell

Plant(s): Smooth Aster
Photo Story: My smooth aster didn’t last long before the deer ate the flowers, but I and this bee got to enjoy it for a short while.
Equipment: Nikon Coolpix B500
Photo ID: 32700

“Bee balm in the clouds” by Karen Louis

Plant(s): Bee Balm
Photo Story: The field at Rock Springs Park had so much bee balm, and against the blue sky, they looked magical!
Equipment: Samsung galaxy 23
Photo ID: 32705

“Rose Mallow” by Karen Louis

Plant(s): Rose Mallow
Photo Story: I planted this last year at our cabin, and was worried the drought would adversely affect it this year. I watered it diligently and was rewarded with it’s perfect blooms!
Equipment: Samsung galaxy S23
Photo ID: 32706