July wildflowers of western Augusta County

By Lynn R. Mitchell

It’s summer! I took my camera today as we roamed the mountains and valley, packing a lunch up to the Blue Ridge Mountains to picnic where the temps were in the 70s. Driving where the wind took us on this hot summer day, temps topped out at 90 degrees in Waynesboro but it was a slightly cooler 86 degrees west of Staunton. The wildflowers were in full bloom under cloudy skies that became sunny in the afternoon, leaving the mountains in a haze, and the beauty of it all was breath-taking. The wild red berries above, with the Appalachian Mountains in the background, are plentiful throughout the Shenandoah Valley but I’m not sure what they are called.

Queen Anne’s Lace is plentiful along roadways and in fields, a delicate grouping of tiny white blossoms that populated the ditch along this particular back road with the Appalachians in the background.

Shenandoah summer wildflowers

This year’s summer wildflowers in the Shenandoah Valley have been stunning with the white Queen Anne’s Lace, blue chicory, purple thistle and clover, and yellow Brown-Eyed Susans, and now honeysuckle has begun to bloom. This was west of Staunton overlooking the Appalachian Mountains.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
July 19, 2014