Last week we busied ourselves cutting flower heads off the phragmites. (The flowers are called panicles. According to that article, the pesky reeds also have ligules, glumes and culms. Wikipedians are so hardcore.)

It's an interesting experience to make your way into the phragmites patch, as the stalks are about twelve feet tall (even taller in metric) and you can't see much else. It feels like some kind of tropical forest. Bamboo?

Look down:

Look up:

Look straight ahead:

Turns out, a phragmites flower is a gorgeous thing, all subtle colours and flowing tresses. (Phragmites was the Greek god of really nice hair.)

Here's a little bunch of them:

If they weren't full of viable seeds they'd be a lovely thing for a flower arrangement. The reeds were also chock-full of snails and katydids.

Elderberries ripening:

A beetle checks out the great height of the goldenrod: