Today’s flower/color photography winner is also a Thursday throwback to the spring when more of the flowers were in bloom. That was one of the really nice things about walking up to Boomer Lake–the hill closest to where I’d cross the street was in full bloom of wildflowers during late spring and early summer months.

The bright pink/purple (or maybe even wine colored) flowers are poppy mallows and the main winners of the photography challenge.

This is the common name for the nine species found within the genus Callirhoe. These plants are all native to the prairies and grasslands of North America.

Since I see these flowers basically yearly (though I will admit I’ve only really started noticing plants as I’ve started to get more into photography), I’m pretty sure that these are one of the species that are perennials (meaning they come back year after year).

One of the things I’ve been thinking of doing is figuring out what type of native flowers and plants we could get that would add both color to the yard and also attract bees, butterflies, and birds.

I’ve actually looked into trying to get seeds of the poppy mallow to plant around the house–but they need basically full sun, and there is only one area of the house that gets full sun. That would be the side of the house, and it is also the side that everyone forgets about–these are such pretty flowers, they should be planted in an area where they’d be seen more than maybe just once or twice a day (or week).

So I still need to do some research into different types of flowers and plants that are hardy for the extreme weather changes and seasons in Oklahoma, and that can also deal with either total shade, or part shade/part sun. It would be nice to get some color (other than mainly green) in the yards again.