The heavy and late rains that fell 2016-17
watered the Queen Anne’s Lace into a bumper crop.
It’s not as though this wildflower Daucus carota needs much water.
Even in drought years it faithfully decorates
the roadsides and paths all over northern California,
and of course many other places where I don’t happen to see it.
All of my photos here come from the paths near my house,
where I walk once or twice almost every day,
past these swaths of what I read is also called Wild Carrot, Bird’s Nest,
and Bishop’s Lace, though I’ve never heard those names in person.
One warm evening I began to notice that the flowers were giving off a scent
like cake coming out of the oven.
More recently, they evoke corn tortillas hot off the griddle.
When I encounter another walker who shows the slightest sign of being willing to talk,
I tell them to get a whiff of what my flower friends are offering for sustenance.
I never noticed these scents in the past,
when I had fewer blooms to focus on, more visually.
But this is a festal year for lacy Anne blooms,
and I happily look forward to several more months
of sensory overload.
If you breathe really deeply and concentrate hard…
can you smell them, too?
Gladsome Lights 
I’m trying! Wonderful pictures. Queen Anne’s Lace and chickory are the two we see here growing by the roadsides every summer. Do you also get chickory? I’m glad this beautiful path gets appreciated by someone. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, we do have chickory, but I don’t see nearly as much of it.
LikeLike
I love your celebration of these lovely wildflowers! When I was a child, I picked them and brought them home, where I put them in a glass filled with food-color infused water. I loved watching the flowers turn from white to red or blue …
xofrances
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful! You are blessed, Gretchen, to have those walks, those flowers, those aromas. And now we are too, thankyouverymuch.
Also, I really like the little poem that is your title.
LikeLike
Oh my goodness. How wonderful to see and smell these. They are so pretty.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mmmm. I only wish I could smell them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes! I loved walking by my side garden/sweet pea patch and sniffing that glorious fragrance. I love sniffing and I’m glad you do, too! Oh, I keep forgetting to ask you – did you receive the poetry mags?
LikeLike
The lace is growing here, too, although I have never noticed its scent. Next time I’ll breathe deeply.
LikeLike
Queen Ann’s lace is a lovely wildflower that we see sometimes but not ever in such profusion! Next time I see some I’ll stop to breathe in the scent and see what it reminds me of.
LikeLiked by 1 person
These are the best Queen Anne’s Lace photographs, and your appreciation of them is so articulate. The highway into “town” has a ribbon of them with chicory and most years a third companion of golden petaled flowers. I have enjoyed letting the bird or wind blown arrivals of lace in my front garden grow.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love Queen Anne’s Lace! If you dry the heads upside down on a screen you get a flat result that can be used in wreaths. As usual you seem ahead of us in the schedule of blooming.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I rarely see Queen Anne’s lace here. In fact, I hadn’t seen any for years, until I went to Arkansas, and it was blooming there. That was October, so perhaps I’ll have a chance yet this year to see it. We have another white flower that forms heads in a similar way, but I haven’t a clue what it is. More exploration is required.
I can’t find any of the little red “dots” in the middle of yours, that signify the drop of blood from Queen Anne’s finger prick. I always thought that legend was one of the best, when it comes to flowers. I suspect all of us have had the same experience when learning to sew or do needlework.
LikeLiked by 1 person
WOW!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gorgeous photos! I found this year with the abundance of clover in our pasture, that when I walked through it I could smell it strongly in a way I’d never noticed before. It’s the sheer amount of it. You are very blessed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Its just beautiful!! I would love to see the fields filled with it. Thank you for your lovely pictures. The bottom picture the flower looks like a snowflake.
LikeLiked by 1 person
These photos are beautiful and I have always appreciated white flowers so the Queen Anne’s lace reels me in. Lovely.
LikeLike
Beautiful pictures! What a treat to see these on your daily walk.
LikeLiked by 1 person