Spiraea tomentosa or The Hardhack flowers from July to September. Is thrives well in swamps, ditches and in moist ground. It is found in Georgia, Kansas and Nova Scotia. It is also known as Steeple Bush Rose. It produces magenta, pink or occasionally white flowers. These small flowers grow in dense clusters. This shrub like plant can be up to three feet in length. The leaves can be up to two inches in length. The dark green leaves have white colored woolly hairs on their underside. The leaves are edged like a saw.

These flowers attract bees, beetles and flies. Human beings also find them very attractive. This plant is related closely to White Meadow Sweet. The two plants often grow near to each other. White Meadow Sweet also has pink flowers which bloom in a reversed fashion. The flowers have a brown colored tip. The withered flowers of this plant are seen during summer months.
Virginia Raspberry or Rubus odoratus flowers from June to August. It grows well in dells, shady roadsides and rocky woods. It is found from Northern Canada to Georgia. It is also seen in Tennessee and Michigan in the west.

The plant has bluish black or royal purple colored flowers. These flashy and fragrant flowers can be up to two inches in width. The plant can grow up to five feet. It is a thick, shrubby plant but it has no prickles. Its leaves have different lobes, middle lobe being the largest. The leaves can be up to a foot wide and are mostly seen in bunches. The plant is a member of the Rose family. A red berry is also produced by the plant.

The plant is often linked to the exquisite wild rose, and it suffers because of this. But when it flowers along the roadside and in dells, its beauty can not be ignored even by those who hate magenta. On cloudy days, the flower is seen as a deep purplish rose but the petals become pale or bluish pink once the sun comes out. Its purple color is not the same purple as we know today rather it is the purple of olden times.

Ulmaria rubra or Queen of the Prairie grows well in prairies and moist meadows. It flowers from June to July. It is found all over from Western Pennsylvania to Michigan. It is seen in Iowa in the south. It is known for its deep pink colored flowers which resembles peach blossoms. These fragrant flowers are found in clusters and are one-third an inch in width. The plant has a number of branches and it can be 2 to 8 feet in length. Its large leaves are found in groups usually of three to seven. The leaves can be up to three feet in length and are usually found close to the ground.

It is found in abundance in the Ohio Valley's moist meadows. Butterflies love its pink color. It also attracts bees though they love the blue flowers more! Cattle chew its leaves and the leaves give out a sweet birch like fragrance when they are crushed.

George Wood