What to Look For
A month-by-month guide to what's blooming, fruiting, and changing in New England.
June — Summer
3 things to look for this month
Summer Blooms
Peak flowering season across meadows and gardens
tiger lily
Lilium lancifolium
Peak flowering season from July through August, when the spectacular orange blooms are impossible to miss. This is when the black bulbils are also most visible in the leaf joints.
Elecampane
Inula helenium
Peak identification season with spectacular yellow flowers blooming from July through August, making the plants visible from great distances across meadows and fields.
one-sided wintergreen
Orthilia secunda
Peak blooming time from June through August, when the distinctive one-sided flower stalks are most obvious and diagnostic.
Kalm's Lobelia
Lobelia kalmii
Peak blooming occurs in mid to late summer when the delicate pale blue flowers open along the stem tips. This is the best time for identification.
brown-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia triloba
Peak blooming period from mid-July through August, when masses of bright yellow flowers with brown centers create showy displays. Plants reach full height and bushiest growth during this time.
Sheep's-bit
Jasione montana
Peak blooming period when the distinctive round blue flower heads are most prominent and easily spotted, typically from mid to late summer.
Developing Fruit
Berries, drupes, and other fruits ripening
dangleberry
Gaylussacia frondosa
Berries ripen from green to blue (or occasionally black or white), becoming sweet and juicy by mid to late summer. Leaves are fully developed with their characteristic glandular, sticky texture.
bur oak
Quercus macrocarpa
Full leafed out with distinctive deeply-lobed foliage providing dense shade. Young acorns begin developing and are visible by mid-summer as small green nuts in their characteristic fringed caps.
European mountain ash
Sorbus aucuparia
Fully leafed out with distinctive compound foliage, green berry clusters begin forming and gradually enlarge through the season.
northern prickly ash
Zanthoxylum americanum
Full compound leaves make identification easy with their citrus-family fragrance, and the sharp paired spines are clearly visible on green stems. This is the best time to experience the numbing sen...
common serviceberry
Amelanchier arborea
Reddish-purple berries ripen in June and July, though they disappear quickly as birds devour them. Leaves are fully mature and deep green with the downy underside less obvious.
perfoliate bellwort
Uvularia perfoliata
Flowers fade and three-lobed seed capsules develop. The leaves remain green and the perfoliate stem structure is still clearly visible, making identification possible.
Cone Development
Conifer cones maturing through the summer
creeping juniper
Juniperus horizontalis
Foliage is at its most vibrant blue-green color, and small berry-like cones begin developing on female plants.
meadow spikemoss
Selaginella apoda
Peak growing season when the plant forms its most extensive mats and develops reproductive cones at branch tips. The bright green color is most vibrant during warm, wet summer months.
variegated horsetail
Equisetum variegatum
Stems reach full height and turn their deepest green color, with spore cones maturing and releasing yellow spores in mid to late summer.
green alder
Alnus alnobetula
Fully leafed with green foliage and developing woody cones. The characteristic green bark color on young growth is still visible beneath the leaves.
common alder
Alnus glutinosa
Dark green foliage provides dense shade, and small cone-like fruits develop and mature from green to brown. Look for the characteristic rounded leaves with saw-toothed edges.
Japanese black pine
Pinus thunbergii
Tree is fully green with mature needles. Cones begin developing and are green when young.