Stunning scarlet flowers, an invitation to butterflies and hummingbirds. Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis). Native to North America, Central America, and South America. And here in Virginia it is native to all of our counties.

Here the brilliance of the flowers attract a Pipevine Swallowtail (Papilio troilus).

These tubular flowers are the perfect design for hummingbirds, which of course are the hummingbirds’ favorite color. This, a female or juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris).

Streams, roadside ditches, moist soils are where Cardinal Flowers tend to show up. I love to see them along the road at the bottom of the mountain, blooming a few weeks before they bloom here, further up the mountain.

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!