{"id":7173,"date":"2015-07-07T06:04:02","date_gmt":"2015-07-07T10:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/p4td.lightshedder.com\/?p=7173"},"modified":"2015-07-07T07:02:57","modified_gmt":"2015-07-07T11:02:57","slug":"wood-lily-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?p=7173","title":{"rendered":"Wood Lily Time!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wood Lilies. Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, Maine<\/p><\/div>\n

If Wood Lilies bloomed in banks like Day Lilies, they would dominate the landscape of southern Maine for a few weeks in July. As it is, blooming as single flowers widely scattered over acres of open sand-plain, just peaking up above the blueberries…or in the shady edges of forests or in groves of trees along ponds among the ferns…a plant here and a plant there…so you have to seek them out…they still have to rank among the most beautiful native flowers of our northern area. I have been looking for them for a week now…and yesterday they were in full bloom where I had seen nothing only days before. I know a few spots, in the Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, that seem to be reliable for them, and all but one of those spots had flowers. They will only last a week or so…by mid-July they will be gone.<\/p>\n

Since they grow so widely spaced, you are tempted (or at least I am) to photograph every one you find…I came back yesterday with hundreds of images. The colors are so intense…from a bright orange to a red-orange to a orange-red…and, in most blossoms, with spots that are purplish in the shade and the bright yellow base of each petal where it forms a tube that collects pollen and water that attracts bugs of all kinds. The open petal base adds to the elegance of the flower.<\/p>\n

These two flowers are on the single largest plant I have yet seen, with the promise of a full head of flowers over the next few days. I will go back today to see if the others opened. It will be quite a display when they do. Most plants produce only a single flower, with a few yielding two.<\/p>\n

Sony HX90V at 34mm equivalent and macro focus. 1\/1250th @ ISO 80 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.<\/p>\n

If you want to be overwhelmed by Wood Lilies, visit my gallery of yesterday’s shots here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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