Wildflowers on the way to Lakewood

According to Candy’s last letter to Albert In the epilogue of Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS), Albert took Candy to Lakewood for a day trip (considering that he had to pick her up from Pony’s Home and then drive her back).

This is what Candy wrote in her letter to Albert after the trip (from spoilers):

It was a lovely drive to Lakewood!
Lupine or rather bluebonnet, black-eyed Susan, lace flower, cow parsley, I murmured the name of the flowers along the road, thank you for admiring me for that!

So in what season / month did they visit Lakewood?

Just to satisfy my curiosity, I did some search on the web about the flowers Candy mentioned during the drive to Lakewood. Some of you are probably flower experts like Candy, who could recognize some wildflowers at a glance. I wonder where she had learned all that… from Miss Pony or Sister Lane? Is that why Albert was impressed at her knowledge? Or do you think Candy had learned from Albert? So he admired her for being a teachable ‘student’? 😛

Before I start, I must declare that I don’t know much about flowers, so if any of you spot any mistake here, please kindly let me know. Thanks in advance! 😀

Lupine / Bluebonnet

Lupine is one of America’s most famous flower groups, both on the roads or in gardens. They can grow up to five feet tall and bloom over a two-month period, which can range from May to July, depending on the variety and the growing zone.

Texas Bluebonnet, Lupinus texensis, is one of the famous lupines in the world. Carpeting whole fields and roadsides in the Texas “Hill Country” every April, the Texas state flower is so spectacular. There are special tours, festivals and other big events every spring when it blooms.

Lupines don’t like hot weather unfortunately, so in Texas, where it is so much warmer, lupines don’t last too long. But in moderate climate, lupines can bloom from Spring to Summer.

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan is considered a summer flower. They are commonly found in fields and on the roadsides, and they bloom between May and August, reaching 2 to 3 feet in height. They look like daisies with gold petals and a dark center seed head. In fact, they may come in shades of yellow or orange. The flower heads measure 2 to 3 inches in diameter, and the Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) has been the official Maryland State Flower since 1918.

Lace Flower

I believe Candy meant Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota). It is best known for its flowers, which are tiny and white, blooming in lacy, flat-topped clusters.

The Queen Anne’s Lace flower resembles lace as its name suggests, and each flower cluster is made up of numerous tiny white flowers. A lot of times the flower has a solitary purple dot in the centre. The plant may grow up to four feet tall.

You might actually find them between the cracks in the sidewalk, along the roads, and behind the parking lots! Anyway, Queen Anne’s lace is capable of enduring long periods of hot sun and blooms from late Spring until mid-Fall (from May to October).

Cow Parsley

Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) is a hollow-stemmed, tall plant that blooms from mid-Spring to early Summer (mostly from April to June but some say from May to July depending on the climate). Some people even call them Queen Anne’s Lace, but cow parsleys don’t bloom as long and prefer shady habitats. These tall plants may grow up to five feet tall, which can be found decorating woodland edges, roadsides, rivers, meadows and fields, etc. They are the most familiar wild plants of the British countryside. A cow parsley plant, on average, can have up to 5,000 flowers.

Bluebells

In addition, while Candy and Albert were in Lakewood, they visited the forest where Anthony had had his accident. She said “the grassland edged by wild rose was filled with full bloomed bluebell”.

I believe she meant Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), and they bloom in late Spring (from April to May). The flowers are strongly and sweetly scented, and bluebells are often used as an indicator species to identify ancient woodland, where the flowers may dominate and produce carpets of violet–blue flowers in “bluebell woods”. I think this is what Candy had meant, that bluebells had probably covered the entire grassland. What a romantic and beautiful sight it must be!

After spending a few hours in Lakewood, Candy could finally write a ‘letter’ to Anthony (in her mind). It wasn’t clear when she actually did that, but near the beginning of that letter, she wrote,

“… Anthony,
I went to Lakewood.
Guess with whom?…”

Is it possible that she did that the same night after Albert had dropped her back to Pony’s Home? 😉 Or she might do that some time after that day. It doesn’t really matter, but I’ll talk more about this letter in another post.

Anyway, before Candy ended her letter to Anthony, she mentioned that the roses, Sweet Candy, were blooming. Normally, roses will bloom for the first time about six to eight weeks after growth starts in the spring, which may be April or early May. In fact, if the roses have been well taken care of, they can bloom every six weeks all through the summer.

Now, after reading all these, I found that some flowers bloom in late Spring and some in Summer. I guess Albert took Candy to Lakewood in May? Around her birthday (May 7)? Before or after? What do you think? 😀