I finally ID'ed the dainty wee wildflower (photo many times life size; a dime would easily cover the petals from tip to tip) that has been blooming all over one end of my stone drive this summer. It is a Deptford Pink, genus Dianthus. Now that I know that, it does indeed resemble a simplified version of the nursery-bred plants you can find for sale just about anywhere in spring.
Figures that it is doing very well this year, yet I only found two plants of the equally dainty and lovely Blue Eyed Grass, a micro-miniature native iris with grass-like leaves and flowers about the size of the pink's… *sigh* There used to be many more clumps of the wee tiny iris, but my side yard is being taken over by a lethal combination of honeysuckle (*grr*... another alien) and shade.
