Wildflowers

Atamosco Lily

NPS/VIP Rusty Wilson

Atamasco Lily (Zephyranthes atamasca)

Where to find: Southern ditches, wet woods, meadows, bottomlands, limestone outcrops, and bluffs.
Blooming Season: March-June
Color varieties: White and Pink.
Fun Fact: These are native lilies and are also known as rain lilies.

 

Cardinal Flower

NPS/VIP Rusty Wilson

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Where to find: In Ditches, ravines, depressions, woodlands' edge, opening, stream banks, roadsides, prairie, plains, meadows, pastures, savannas, near lakes or ponds, and swamps in the South through Mexico and Central America to northern South America.
Blooming Season: May - October.
Color varieties: Red, white, and pink.
Fun Fact: The Pawnee Indians used the Cardinal flower roots and flowers as a love charm.

 

Ladies' Tresses

NPS/VIP Rusty Wilson

Ladies' tresses (Spianthes cernua)

Where to find: In fields, damp meadows, moist thickets, and grassy swamps from Ontario to Nova Scotia and northern New England, south to Florida, west to Texas, north to South Dakota.
Blooming Season: July to November.
Color varieties: White, yellow, or pink.
Fun Fact: Even though these flowers are found in the wild, grow in a variety of areas, and are not fussy about where they grow, they are closely related to orchids!

 

Jack in the Pulpit

NPS/VIP Rusty Wilson

Jack in the Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)

Where to find: Forests, woodlands, swamps, and marches of the eastern United States and Canada west to Texas and Manitoba.
Blooming Season: Late August and September.
Color varieties: Green, cream, burgundy, and brown.
Fun Fact: This plant grows a cluster of bright red berries in the late summer.