I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.

I will look at cliffs and clouds
With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
And the grass rise.

—from “Afternoon on a Hill” by Edna St. Vincent Millay

The fields and forests of Lubec, Maine are full of beautiful flowers. Some are ornamental and planted only recently. Some are medicinal herbs, first planted centuries ago by European settlers. And others are nasty invasives that found their way into the North American landscape by accident—or perhaps without a full understanding of their ability to spread and outcompete native plants. Still, I can’t help but find them all beautiful, each in its own way. So on our recent vacation, I took some of their portraits and tried to capture something of their essence and personality.

[Plant identification—to the best of my ability—from top: Fireweed, daisy, musk mallow, shrub rose (variety unknown), evening primrose, bindweed, St. John’s wort, valerian, another shrub rose (variety unknown), multiflora rose, rugosa rose, and twinflower.]