Visiting New Hampshire in August, I am struck again by the beauty of the roadside wildflowers and other plants. Queen Anne’s Lace is a favorite, in bloom at the same time as goldenrod. Invasive pest that it is, the purple loosestrife is also pretty this time of year. Lots of green ferns at the woods’ edges, and wonderful carpets of green moss and silvery grey-green lichens, leading toward the occasional pops of white birches against the dark green of surrounding trees. And in flowerbeds, the hostas are in peak form, leafed out but not yet bedraggled, flower spikes just starting to bloom and without any faded blossoms. Hybrid and wild daylilies are blooming, as are the magenta flowers of echinacea. Summer in New England. Ahhhh.

Photo: nhgardensolutions.wordpress.com