Dame’s Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) lights up the hillsides of Pittsburgh in late spring. Pittsburghers commonly refer to it as “phlox,” but it’s actually a member of the crucifer or mustard family, as you might guess by its four petals in a cross shape. It’s a foreign invader, a descendant of garden flowers brought by the first European settlers. But who can object to a weed as beautiful as this? The flowers commonly come in a range of colors from vivid purple through pink to white, but some patches have bicolor flowers delicately spattered with color in an infinite variety of patterns.

Every suburban homeowner’s most detested enemy, the dandelion is also one of our most stunningly beautiful wildflowers. Old Pa Pitt offers these photographs as an example of the rewards that await us when we learn to overcome our prejudices.

Grape hyacinths are perfect garden flowers: they pop up, show off, and multiply without asking for any special care.

Creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) in a size big enough to make into your desktop wallpaper.

A patch of violets glows as the afternoon sun hits a grassy hillside in a small city park.

In western Pennsylvania, we call it an onion snow: the last snow of the season, late enough that you can see the tops of the onions through the snow. It’s the cue for every good Pittsburgher to say, “We’ve never had weather like this before.”

Winter is a beautiful time of year, but sometimes in the cold and snow it’s good to remember summer. Here’s a small taste of midsummer in the woods and meadows around Pittsburgh.

The rough-fruited cinquefoil, Potentilla recta.

A woodland waterfall.

A red clover, Trifolium pratense.

A white clover, Trifolium repens, in an unusually strong bicolor.

A birdfoot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus.

When you come across any wildflower in Pittsburgh and nearby, Wildflowers of Western Pennsylvania is an essential resource. Dr. Bob Zuberbuhler has built a unique and comprehensive Web reference, both informative and beautiful.