Two Lilies

A more beautiful wildflower you won't find than the wood lily (Lilium philadelphicum).

You find this brilliant reddish-orange flower in dry thickets and open woods. I stumbled on this gem under a power-line, growing amidst sweet fern and goldenrod.

It is one of the few plants in full bloom this mid-July so you can't miss it among a sea of green vegetation. The wood lily is easily identified by its bright color, open, upright bell-shaped flower with dark spots on the inside. All other lilies have nodding flowers or are not spotted. It likes acidic or sandy soil and sunny woodland openings, prairie, pine barrens, or power-lines.

Today I spotted another lily in bloom at the edge of a wet meadow, the Canada lily (Lilium canadense). A nodding lily with an open, bell-shaped flower.

With our own flower and vegetable gardens struggling with too much moisture, it is nice to walk the wild lands and see nature carry on with flowering and pollinating and going to seed.