Shoreline Treasures

 

Great Mullein, Verbascum thapsus, surrounded by
white Yarrow, Achillea millefolium

 

After enjoying flowering plants in the meadows and woodlands of Halibut Point visitors can find further blooms along the ocean's edge. The examples pictured above have self-sown in the gravelly terrain of the old quarry grout pile, now known as the Overlook.

Scarlet Pimpernel, Lysimachia arvensis

Contrasting with them in size and scenic circumstance these tiny flowers bloom down below along the shoreline.

Virginian Rose, Rosa virginiana

Unlike pampered horticultural hybrids some native roses thriving in the scree produce wonderfully simple fragrant flowers.

Larger Blue Flag, Iris versicolor

Wild irises find niches in swales where drainage patterns keep the soil moist.

Hedge Bindweed, Calystegia sepium

A morning glory relative weaving through the very harshest areas of the moors puts up delicate blossoms against the grout pile from the industrial mining era.

Purple Loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria

Purple Loosestrife, the ubiquitous migrant from Europe, brightens moist crevices among the rocks after hop scotching here through the New England countryside.

Beach Pea, Lathyrus japonicus

Another exotic from Asia that prospers within the reach of high tides disperses its seeds by ocean currents.

Seaside Goldenrod, Solidago sempervirens

Specialized coastal survivors have earned their open habitat by developing unusual resistance to salt, wind, and drought.

For us the surrounding views are spectacular, but these pioneers grace an otherwise barren margin of the continent.