Out of season perhaps, but when inspiration strikes....

 Yesterday in our Nature Literature course at FRC, Dr. Joan Parkin gave a presentation about Jones Very, a Transcendentalist poet. This followed my presentation about the origins of Transcendentalism and Ralph Waldo Emerson.  After learning about Very's background, we studied his poem "The Columbine."  This stirred my memory of a couple of my favorite Columbine images.  The one above was taken in a friend's yard where it was growing naturally in a damp, shady spot.  I used it as a Christmas card that year.  I think it was 2012.  The image below was taken at Snake Lake where hummingbirds were feeding on the Columbine.  I wasn't quick enough to get a good image of the birds.  I'll try again next summer.  I remember the spot.  This is a native wildflower, not a cultivar, and is  known scientifically as Aquilegia formosa.  The one that inspired Jones Very was undoubtedly the Red Columbine of the East Coast, Aquilegia canadensis.  They look very similar.