On my last trip out to Gothe State Forest the winged sumac (Rhus copallinum) was blooming everywhere. It’s one of our earliest fall wildflowers and is very impressive when in full bloom. Each plant has multiple stalks and each stalk has hundreds of small yellow and red flowers and light green buds in clusters. The flowers are very short lived, but all of the buds don’t open at once, so the beauty lasts about a week, maybe slightly longer. A few late bloomers will continue to open up for a week or so after that. Even though the flowers are small, when in full bloom these plants are pollinator magnets. The ones that live in front of my fence blossomed a bit earlier than the ones in Gothe, and for several days they were covered in lots of different bees and wasps. Interestingly, I never saw any butterflies on them either in my yard or in the forest. I suspect that the flowers are too small for even small butterflies, but I’m not sure. After a long, exceptionally hot summer, I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m looking forward to fall.