Wildflower Wednesday: Invited Guests and the Party Crashers

It has been a long time since I have participated in Gail's Wildflower Wednesday.  It's been a busy summer with little time for blogging, but it also seems that most of the native plants I have don't start blooming until late summer.  I've learned so much about native plants over the years from Gail and the WW posts and added more of them to my garden as I've learned about their benefits to pollinators.  So I'm very happy to join in once again with some of the late bloomers from my garden.

If you've read my last few posts, you know that the current star of my garden is Rudbeckia triloba, also known as Brown-eyed Susan.  In fact, it's pretty hard to miss as it's taken over the front of the Lily Bed as well as parts of the Butterfly Garden.  A volunteer that mysteriously appeared in my garden a few years ago, it has made itself quite at home here.  But you can never have too many Susans, right?

Joe-Pye weed is still hanging on at the back of the butterfly garden.  As I've mentioned before, this is definitely the native species of Eutrochium purpureum because the stems are green, not purplish, and the flowerheads not as showy a pink as many of the other types.

'Little Joe,' however, has much prettier flowers and the dark purple stems that I love.  I'd like to plant more of the taller Joes with this coloring at the back of the butterfly garden, but first I have to contend with the semi-thugs that have taken up residence there . . .

 . . . the Obedient Plants.  I have a love-hate relationship with this plant:  I hate its aggressiveness and pull out numerous seedlings in the spring, but in the fall I love these white, pink, and purple blooms.

I noticed today that the pinkish blossoms actually have freckles and remind me of foxglove blooms.  Since I have never had much luck with foxgloves in my garden, perhaps I should change my attitude and think of these as the poor-man's foxglove.  The bees like them, no matter their name.

Although I have planted more natives over the past few years, the most prominent and prolific ones seem to be the ones I didn't plant.  Common Evening Primrose Oenothera biennis is one of those mystery plants that suddenly appear in my garden and I allow to let grow because I'm not sure if it's a weed or something I actually planted and forgot about.

At 6-7 feet tall, it's hard to ignore.  The flowers remain open from evening till morning, but might also stay open on a cloudy day.

Despite its classification as a "Prairie Wildflower" by the Illinois Wildflowers website, I'd classify it as a weedy wildflower.  It has a long taproot, which explains why my efforts to eradicate it have been unsuccessful.  Still, these pretty little yellow flowers are rather attractive, and they do attract moths and the occasional hummingbird and bees, so I guess they're not all bad.

Bees also like thistle as do various birds, including the goldfinches.  However, there are more than enough plants here for the bees and plenty of coneflowers for the finches, so this lone thistle--definitely a weed in my opinion--is going to have to go.

Another volunteer that appears every year is the Pokeweed.  It's another one of those with a long taproot, which is why my simply cutting it off after it blooms never quite gets rid of it.

Because it has been well-mannered so far, I usually leave it alone for awhile so the birds can enjoy the berries.  The berries, as you can see, aren't ripe yet, but when they are, they'll be a deep dark purple.  They are toxic to humans, though, and can stain your hands, so I will definitely let the birds pick them!

Goldenrod is also just beginning to bloom. I'm not sure what type this is, because all the plants are volunteers.  And talk about volunteers--it would take over my garden if I let it!   I pull some of the excess seedlings every year, but I leave the rest because, besides its value to insects, it really does make a pretty backdrop for other flowers, like these seedheads of the gray-headed coneflowers.  It also makes a nice filler for flower arrangements.

As you can see, many of the natives in my garden are actually volunteers, probably gifts from the birds.  Too often it seems the natives I actually plant in my garden don't germinate or disappear, probably overcome by the thugs already there.  But sometimes I am pleasantly surprised, as I was by the plant I wanted to focus on this month.

A few weeks ago I noticed a few tall plants amidst the emerging goldenrod and asters.  I was pretty sure they were weeds until I noticed small flowerbuds on them.  I was intrigued and decided to leave them alone.  Thank goodness I did!  When they bloomed, I was finally able to identify them as Common Sneezeweed, Helenium Autumnale.

A few facts about this Sneezeweed:

• Zone 3-8, blooms August --October
• 3-5 feet tall with not much branching but an abundance of flowers
• likes wet to moist conditions--we had the perfect spring/early summer for it this year
• the foliage is bitter and toxic, with some reports of livestock poisoning from it
• despite the name, it does not cause sneezing.  In the past, the leaves and flowers were dried and used as snuff, hence the name

Common visitors to the Sneezeweed include all kinds of bees, some wasps, Syrphid flies, butterflies, and beetles.  Most suck the nectar, but some also collect the pollen.

So how did these pretty bee-magnets find their way into my garden?? I doubted they were volunteers, so I searched through my garden journals, and sure enough, I discovered that I had purchased a seedling at our local Prairie Plant Society sale two years ago.  Because I had seen no sign of it the past two years, I had forgotten all about it--thank goodness I didn't pull it out!  Sometimes there are benefits to being forgetful--it makes for some happy surprises every year in the garden:)  Aside from that, seeing the Sneezeweed in full bloom gives me hope that some of the other natives I've planted in the past two years and haven't seen a sign of may just be biding their time and will surprise me next year.

I am enjoying all these late additions to the garden, whether they were invited or not.  For more information on wildflowers and natives, be sure to visit our gracious hostess Gail at Clay and Limestone.

Wildflower Wednesday: It's Party Time!

There's a party going on in my butterfly garden!

Apparently, the natives heard it was time for Wildflower Wednesday and decided to celebrate. I've been preoccupied with non-gardening related activities the past two weeks, and so, like some unsupervised teenagers, they decided to call up their friends in my absence and have been partying with wild abandon.

Once upon a time--well, two years ago, to be exact--I planted one Obedient Plant Physotegia virginiana and one native aster, probably a New England Aster whose botanical name I don't know, purchased from the local prairie plant society.  Since then, they've multiplied and spread throughout the butterfly garden.  The goldenrod was never invited, but since it lived nearby,  it decided to crash the party.

The purple asters decided this year to invite their pink cousins to join in the fun.  I was certainly surprised to see them in attendance, but I really don't mind.

The natives called up other friends to enjoy the refreshments, too, though the past few rainy days have kept many of them away.

 Obedient plant is not to everyone's taste, especially with its tendency to spread rapidly.  But it's hard not to admire these perky pink blooms.    Gail, the enthusiastic hostess of Wildflower Wednesday, calls all these robust plants "rough and tumble" or aggressive self-seeders, but definitely not invasive. I agree.  All three of these are located in my butterfly garden along with other strong survivors like purple coneflower, false sunflower, Joe Pye weed, Phlox pilosa,  rudbeckia, and others.  The garden is located at the back of the property, hiding some unsightly fuel tanks, so the more they spread, the better.  This area is also far enough away from other garden areas, so that they haven't encroached into areas where they wouldn't be so welcome--at least not yet.

I admit to being rather lazy lax this year in supervising this garden area, so things have gotten a little out of control.  But a little chaos in one's life can be a good thing sometimes so that one doesn't get in a rut or become too complacent.  And surprises like this volunteer pokeberry seedling that appeared out of nowhere this fall can be an unexpected delight.

 But if you don't have the room for prolific natives like these, there are always tamer hybrid choices.    Though this NOID aster in the sidewalk garden is a bit windswept and disheveled from the rain here, it has been very well-behaved.

A new addition in the new arbor bed this year, 'October Skies' aster is living up to its name. They are just coming into bloom, providing some much-needed color for the coming month.  The three plants have a nice mounding habit, perfect in front of taller blooms and visible behind a border of annuals.

I purchased these this spring after admiring them last year on several blogs.  I was hoping the blooms would be a true blue, but their lavender color is still appealing.

My native goldenrod is often considered a weed by many.  But again, there are better-behaved hybrids to choose from.  I forgot to check the tag on this one,  which is planted in the county nursing home garden where I volunteer occasionally.

But as you can see, it plays nicely with others. There wasn't much work to be done in this garden on Monday, so the few of us there had time to enjoy the dazzling fall display.

Whether you prefer your parties to be wild and spontaneous or more subdued and organized, fall is a great time to celebrate.  Why not hop over to Gail's to join in the fun of Wildflower Wednesday.

Three Wildflowers for Wednesday and Thursday

It's time for Wildflower Wednesday once again, a monthly discussion of wildflowers started by native enthusiast Gail at Clay and Limestone.  Two years ago I couldn't tell the difference between a cup plant and a compass plant, so it has been an enlightening and enjoyable experience to learn about wildflowers from Gail's and now others' posts.  I have become more aware and curious about the plants growing freely around me and have begun to do some research on my own to learn more about them.

I didn't have to look far, though, to find three choices for today's posts--all of these are blooming in my garden right now:

This is the first year for blooms on my Physostegia virginiana, otherwise known as 'False Dragonhead' or 'Obedient Plant.'  A member of the mint family, Obedient Plant has single-branched stems that can grow up to 4 feet tall. The flowers are tightly clustered in long spikes at the top of the stems.  Blooms are usually rosy pink or purple, especially in cultivated forms, while the native wild forms are usually white with some pink or purple tints.  The name 'Obedient Plant' comes from the flowers' tendency to stay in the same position, even if moved to the side.  'Obedient Plant' is pollinated by bees and visited by other insects and hummingbirds.

Neither of my sources* mentioned that this is an aggressive spreader, other than in moist sites, but I can attest to the fact that it does spread rather easily.  Last year I planted one lone plant, purchased from the local Prairie Plant Society.  Before it grew much past two feet tall, a rambunctious Sophie knocked it over and  broke off the stem.  I thought that would be the end of it, but apparently it had had time to set some seed because this year I have a whole cluster of Obedient Plants at the back of my Butterfly Garden, as seen in the top photo.

Also blooming at the back of the Butterfly Garden right now--and behind the barn and the sheds, next to my compost pile, and pretty much anyplace with undisturbed soil--is the native Goldenrod.  This is not your neat, dwarf cultivar, but  probably  Solidago Canadensis, or Canada Goldenrod, a native perennial common throughout Illinois, despite its Canadian name.  This wildflower can grow up to 7 ' tall; its hairy stems are topped with flower heads arranged in a pyramidal cluster on the upper side of the branches.  Blooms last for about three weeks from late summer to early fall.

Fortunately, more and more of the public is now aware that Goldenrod is not the allergy culprit it was once accused of being.  In fact, Native Americans used to make a tea from it to treat kidney problems and chewed the crushed flowers to treat sore throats.  A wide variety of insects are attracted to this plant, including species of wasps and flies who play an important role in insect control.  Several species of birds as well as deer and rabbits are also attracted to Goldenrod. I found this out for myself while taking pictures for my last post--each plant was full of bees, butterflies, and other insects.

And now, since tomorrow is Cindy's "Three for Thursday" and I usually don't post two days in a row, I hope you don't mind that I do double duty here by adding a third wildflower for Thursday as well.  Asclepias tuberosa, or 'Butterfly Weed,' is a native perennial and one I know most of you are familiar with.  As its name implies, it is popular with butterflies, especially the Monarch, which is why I planted it.  The larvae consume the leaves, and the adults feed on the nectar.  I've never been able to photograph a Monarch on it, but I have seen them sipping the nectar, and evidence can be found of their feasting by the chewed off stems.  It also attracts long-tongued bees and hummingbirds. 

Once called 'pleurisy root,' because it was considered a cure for pleurisy, Butterfly Weed was also a favorite of some Native American tribes, who used it to treat a host of physical ailments.

Asclepias tuberosa lacks the milky latex sap typical of other members of the Milkweed family, and is the only orange milkweed in Illinois.  While the orange blooms have provided a lovely display in my garden all summer,  its fall appearance is pretty cool, too.  Vertical seedpods develop atop the plant, as seen in the previous photo, and then open, displaying the seeds.  (I just had to enlarge these last two photos because i thought they were so cool:) Notice the milkweed bug to the right center of the photo.)

When the seed pod is ready,  a host of seeds attached to silky threads burst forth, ready to be scattered by the wind.  I really should collect some of these seeds before they spread to who knows where.  Butterfly weed is so easy to grow, though is slow to develop and may not survive the winter if a young plant's taproot is planted too close to the surface.  Although I learned this from my sources, I also learned it through experience.  A few years ago I planted two in my roadside garden; only one survived.  Last year I planted two in the Butterfly Garden; only one survived.  But both plants have really taken off this year, the older one in particular, and for me, they are as appealing for their aesthetic value as for their butterfly magnetism. Definitely a plant to include in your garden plans!

*All specific information here comes from two of my favorite sources: Illinois Wildflowers, by Don Kurz, a book I checked out over and over again from the library last summer until I finally broke down and bought my own copy, and a website, Illinois Wildflowers, a source I've noticed that even Gail and others have also used.  Even if you're not from Illinois, you will find both of these sources very useful.  The book has excellent information, accompanied by color photographs of nearly 400 species of wildflowers in the Midwest. My favorite feature of the book is that it is organized by color of blooms, which is certainly useful when you see a wildflower and can't identify it.  The website is also well-researched with color photographs, usually more than one of a plant.  The only problem I have with this website is that the index is organized by botanical names, which makes it a little difficult if you can't identify the plant in the first place.  But if you can determine the botanical name from somewhere else, it is a wealth of information.  And be sure to check out the photographs--almost all were taken in East Central Illinois, in locations very near where I live!

Check out other Wildflower Wednesday postings at Gail's site, and why not join in next month?

And tomorrow, be sure to check out Cindy's creative "Three for Thursday" post!