The Flickr Augustcounty Image Generatr

Driving eastbound US-250, approaching Virginia State Highway 610 (VA-610) and signs for accessing the Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, and Swannanoa.
Notice in the background to the right - the building with the orange roof is a former Howard Johnson's Restaurant (operated for nearly 50 years before closing in 1998, based on online reports). Further up the hill is a former Holiday Inn, and late named The Inn at Afton, now completely closed and abandoned. Apparently after some online research, this was a very popular spot for tourists - but has fallen into serious decay.
Augusta County, Virginia
Wednesday afternoon 1 June 2022

Buddleia

Buddleja davidii (spelling variant Buddleia davidii), also called summer lilac, butterfly-bush, or orange eye, is a species of flowering plant in the family Scrophulariaceae, native to Sichuan and Hubei provinces in central China, and also Japan.[1] It is widely used as an ornamental plant, and many named varieties are in cultivation. B. davidii is named after the French missionary and explorer in China, Father Armand David, who was the first European to report the shrub. It was found near Ichang by Dr Augustine Henry about 1887 and sent to St Petersburg. Another botanist-missionary in China, Jean-André Soulié, sent seed to the French nursery Vilmorin, and B. davidii entered commerce in the 1890s.[2]

B. davidii was accorded the RHS Award of Merit (AM) in 1898, and the Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in 1941.[3]

Description

Buddleja davidii is a vigorous shrub with an arching habit, growing to 5 m (16 ft) in height. The pale brown bark becomes deeply fissured with age. The branches are quadrangular in section, the younger shoots covered in a dense indumentum. The opposite lanceolate leaves are 7–13 cm long, tomentose beneath when young. The honey-scented lilac to purple inflorescences are terminal panicles, < 20 cm long.[4] Flowers are perfect (having both male and female parts), hence are hermaphrodite rather than monoecious (separate male and female flowers on the same plant) as is often incorrectly stated. Ploidy 2n = 76 (tetraploid).[5]
Buddleja davidii, after Leeuwenberg

In his 1979 revision of the taxonomy of the African and Asiatic species of Buddleja, the Dutch botanist Anthonius Leeuwenberg sank the six varieties of the species as synonyms of the type, considering them to be within the natural variation of a species, and unworthy of varietal recognition.[6] It was Leeuwenberg's taxonomy which was adopted in the Flora of China[7] published in 1996. However, as the distinctions of the former varieties are still widely recognized in horticulture, they are treated separately here:

Buddleja davidii var. alba
Buddleja davidii var. magnifica
Buddleja davidii var. nanhoensis
Buddleja davidii var. superba
Buddleja davidii var. veitchiana
Buddleja davidii var. wilsonii

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddleja_davidii

Pink Begonia

Begonia grandis
Common Name(s):Hardy Begonia

Phonetic Spelling
beh-GO-nee-ah GRAN-dis
This plant has low severity poison characteristics.

Description

Hardy begonia is an herbaceous perennial flowering plant native to Southern China and Japan. Begoniaceae is a large flowering plant family, the new Latin name of which honors Michael Begon (1638-1710), governor of French Canada, with about 1500 different species and hundreds of hybrids.

From summer through early fall hardy begonia displays loose floppy clusters of pink fragrant blooms visited by pollinators. It is monoecious (male and female flowers on the same plant), tuberous-rooted, and typically forms a two-foot high bushy mound of foliage on branching stems.

Hardy begonia grows best in moist, organically rich, well-drained soils in part shade to full shade. Do not allow the soil to dry out. The plant is hardy enough for USDA zones 6 and 7, tolerating temperatures down to 23 degrees F, and does well outdoors in shady borders, woodland gardens, or along walkways. But because it may not be reliably winter hardy, it is best to mulch it heavily during the winter.

As the days grow short, the plant goes dormant and the leaves turn yellow. However, at the same time bulbils form in the leaf axils. These tiny asexual formations about the size of a small pea fall to the ground and sprout the following spring. Thus, one or two plants in the garden become a small colony after a couple years. Bulbils may also be harvested from the leaf axils and planted as desired. If planted from seed, the plants will show some variation; if planted from bulbils, the plants will be the same as the parent plant.

Hardy begonia has a long bloom season from July to October. To extend the blooming period, deadhead expired flowers.

Consider using Hardy Begonia in pollinator, naturalized, or shade gardens, planted along walkways, borders, in mass plantings, and in containers. The blooms add color mixed with other shade-loving plants such as ferns and hostas.

Source: plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/begonia-grandis/

Lilies

Lilies are tall perennials ranging in height from 2–6 ft (60–180 cm). They form naked or tunicless scaly underground bulbs which are their organs of perennation. In some North American species the base of the bulb develops into rhizomes, on which numerous small bulbs are found. Some species develop stolons. Most bulbs are buried deep in the ground, but a few species form bulbs near the soil surface. Many species form stem-roots. With these, the bulb grows naturally at some depth in the soil, and each year the new stem puts out adventitious roots above the bulb as it emerges from the soil. These roots are in addition to the basal roots that develop at the base of the bulb.
Lily, petal

The flowers are large, often fragrant, and come in a wide range of colors including whites, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds and purples. Markings include spots and brush strokes. The plants are late spring- or summer-flowering. Flowers are borne in racemes or umbels at the tip of the stem, with six tepals spreading or reflexed, to give flowers varying from funnel shape to a "Turk's cap". The tepals are free from each other, and bear a nectary at the base of each flower. The ovary is 'superior', borne above the point of attachment of the anthers. The fruit is a three-celled capsule.[3]
stamen of lilium

Seeds ripen in late summer. They exhibit varying and sometimes complex germination patterns, many adapted to cool temperate climates.

Naturally most cool temperate species are deciduous and dormant in winter in their native environment. But a few species which distribute in hot summer and mild winter area (Lilium candidum, Lilium catesbaei, Lilium longiflorum) lose leaves and remain relatively short dormant in Summer or Autumn, sprout from Autumn to winter, forming dwarf stem bearing a basal rosette of leaves until, after they have received sufficient chilling, the stem begins to elongate in warming weather.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilium