Wildflowers of Sloans Creek Farm

June 26, 2011 
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This time of year the farm is covered in wildflowers, which we always enjoy, but I didn’t know the names of more than a few of them.  Last week I decided to photograph all that I could and actually find out more about them.  I was surprised that with the exception of Queen Anne’s Lace, all of them are native species.  Once I started taking pictures I also realized that there were several we didn’t even realize that we had, especially on our newer piece of the farm which had been mostly abandoned for the past 30 + years.  There is a portion of this land that has never been plowed and has an abundance of plants native to the blackland prairie, including one which is an indicator of virgin prairie (I plan to post about this plant later.)

Some of these flowers and plants are very beneficial to wildlife and livestock, some are basically just ornamental, and there are some that are poisonous, although we have had very few problems with animal poisonings related to our native forbs.  I also found that some have traditionally been used for teas, herbal medicines, as well as other uses.  I have enjoyed this project and hope to continue as the different times of year bring out different flowers.

The names I chose for these pictures are just one of many for each flower, most have 2-3 common names.