Flowers, Spent And Otherwise

Once the flower petals fall to the ground, some plants still continue to offer a kind of beauty. This is Ninebark, prettier after the flowers were all gone than it was when they were in bloom:

 The remnants of the Snowball Bush flower clusters:

The Old Fashioned Rose, with a few rose hips already forming:

 The Bridal Veil Spirea, like the Ninebark, is bright red after the white flowers are gone:

 The Peony remnants are always big and colorful. But are these sepals or specialized bracts? I suspect they are the sepals, but I can't be sure:

 Green stars left behind on the Mock Orange bush:


 I was out in the pasture, searching once again for one of the horses' muzzles, when I spotted a small wildflower which was new to me. I took some photos, then looked it up in my old college field guide:

 It was a member of the Snapdragon family with the unfortunate name of Swamp Lousewort:

And in the same family, an especially healthy Butter-And-Eggs plant grew by the fence:

A closeup of the Butter-And-Eggs flowers:

The Morden Sunrise baby rose was blooming again:

 And so was the Morden Blush baby rose right next to it. These two roses seem to be prolific bloomers. With their cold hardiness and relative lack of thorns, I think they will be favorites for many years to come: