August Wildflower Wednesday--Weed or Wildflower?

Most gardeners are familiar with the old saying "A weed is just a flower in the wrong place." 
And I daresay most of us would nod our heads in agreement but have to add "Some plants really are just weeds!"   I know that I will never have anything nice to say about the weedy grasses and Creeping Charlie that I am constantly pulling out of my garden.  Every gardener has her own weedy nemesis.  But there are some plants that really could be called a weed in one garden and a wildflower in another, depending on the situation and the personal preference of the gardener.  Let's look at a few that have appeared in my garden this summer.

About a month ago, my friend and I were walking around the arbor bed when we noticed these small yellow blooms on a very tall plant.  Now you have to understand that the back of the arbor bed is where I often plant something until I can find a better place for it.  It's also the place where I scatter a lot of seeds in the spring, so when I see a mystery plant, I usually leave it alone until I can identify it.

Something about these blooms reminded me of evening primrose, though I was thinking of the small plants that grow under a foot tall.  Mine was huge!  But when I did a little research, sure enough, it was a primrose--Oenothera biennis, Common Evening Primrose, which can grow to 7 feet tall.

Yellow flowers, which are actually quite attractive though small, appear on the top of the plant and are open from evening till morning, though they may remain open on cloudy days.  The blooms have a mild lemony scent and are attractive to moths, especially sphinx moths;  hummingbirds; and various types of bees and beetles. The seeds are eaten by goldfinches. 

Despite the attraction to different insects and wildlife and the cute little flowers, Oenothera biennis still looks like a weed to me.  As I read on, I found that it has a "fleshy taproot" and its "seeds can remain viable in the soil after 70 years."  That clinched its fate--I promptly removed it from my garden!

Another mystery plant appeared in the Lily Bed early in the summer.  Usually any volunteer in this area that I don't recognize turns out to be a weed.  But the small pink blooms that eventually opened looked promising so that I hoped this might be some unusual wildflower that the birds had kindly planted for me, as they did a few years ago with some Rudbeckia. 

I had no luck in finding it in my wildflower book or searching blindly through websites.  But one day while visiting my parents, I spied the same plant growing near their house.  I was so excited to find it and asked my dad if he knew what it was.  Sure enough, Dad, a farmer for all of his 89 years, immediately dismissed it with, "That's a Wild Four O'clock; it's a weed and will take over if you let it!"

Like other Four O'Clocks, the blooms open in late afternoon and stay open in the evening, closing in the morning.  The blooms didn't seem to last long on my wild plant.

When I checked this one out, it was listed on my go-to-source, illinoiswildflowers.info, but it was also listed on many other sites as an invasive weed.  According to Illinois Wildflowers, Mirabilis nyctaginea is visited by long-tongued bees, short-tongued bees, moths, and possibly hummingbirds.  But again those warning phrases: "A long taproot" and "reseeds."  This time I decided Father knows best and ripped it out.

This weedy wildflower pops up in different places every year, but it's one I easily recognize now.   Ever since I found a huge specimen of  Phytolacca Americana, better known as Pokeweed, behind our barn several years ago, I have had a few volunteers in the garden every year.  I usually cut them down or try to dig them out (again that taproot, so it's not easy), but I left this one just for this post.  They're really rather attractive plants--if you have the right place for them--especially late in the season when the stems turn reddish-purple and dark purple berries appear.  I've written about Pokeweed before, so if you would like to see the mature berries, you can check them out here.  Despite the fact the berries are popular with songbirds, these are not going to have the chance to mature--I have enough thugs in my garden without encouraging any more.

Speaking of thugs, here is a plant I purposely planted--Physostegia virginiana.  Anyone who has ever planted Obedient Plant knows that it is anything but. Although I would never call this native a "weed,"  I have a love-hate relationship with it.

 

 

 I love the white or pink blooms in the fall when so much in my garden is fading away. But it is an aggressive re-seeder.  Fortunately, the seedlings are easily recognizable, and I usually pull out many of them in the spring before they crowd out other natives in my Butterfly Garden.  This one stays--but not all its progeny.

 

And finally, a new wildflower/native this year that I am truly excited about!  I noticed these yellow blooms from a distance last week and thought at first they were more yellow coneflowers.  But closer inspection revealed something different altogether.  The blooms looked so familiar to me, but I wasn't sure until I looked through my wildflower book.  These are Sneezeweed, possibly Helenium autumnale.

It looks like some critters are already enjoying these tasty blooms.

 

Like the yellow coneflowers I featured in my last Wildflower Wednesday post, these were purchased last year at a prairie plant sale, but didn't bloom until this year.  Either they needed two years of growth to bloom, or the wet conditions this summer were ideal for them.  The native Sneezeweeds are attractive to all kinds of bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, and beetles and provide nectar for them in the autumn. While they are not as showy as the Helenium hybrids I've always meant to plant, I do love these perky yellow blooms that fit in nicely with the yellow coneflowers and Rudbeckias. 

These are definitely a keeper!

 

Wildflower Wednesday is hosted the fourth Wednesday of every month by Gail of Clay and Limestone.  Thanks, Gail, for always helping me to learn something new about native plants!

 

 

Wildflower Wednesday: No Ordinary Joe

Fall is just around the corner, but you would never know it this week--it's been hot, hot, hot!  Temperatures have soared into the 90's with a heat index of 104 forecast for today.  I hope this is summer's last hurrah; cooler temps and some rain--please!--would be so welcome.

The garden, though, is beginning to shift into fall mode regardless of the heat.  Obedient Plant has burst into bloom in the butterfly garden just in time for Wildflower Wednesday.  I've cautioned every time I've shown a photo of Obedient Plant, Phystostegia virginiana, that it is an aggressive spreader and may not be suitable for everyone's garden.  This spring I was determined not to let it take over this area, so I ruthlessly pulled out seedling after seedling, leaving only a few.  Unfortunately, no pink bloomers returned, only white ones--darn, I wish they'd come with color tags!

It looks like I'm also going to have a bumper crop of goldenrod this fall.  No fancy-schmansy hybrids here, just the ordinary goldenrod that grows wild anywhere it can.  Many would call it a weed, but I like its bright appearance, and the bees and other critters like it even without a pedigree.  Besides, it makes a nice contrast to all the asters that will be blooming in this area soon.

But what I really wanted to feature for this month's WW post is a plant that everyone seems to have been bragging about this year--Joe Pye Weed, once in the Eupatorium genus, now Eutrochium purpureum. But let's just forget about those fancy Latin names that taxonomists seem to want to change every few years--I prefer to call him by his common name "Joe."

Photo (and previous one) taken at Nicholas Conservatory and Gardens in Rockford, Illinois.

Joe Pye Weed is a native to much of the Eastern and Northern US; growing to 5-7 feet tall, it's a perfect accent at the back of a border.  Its fluffy pinkish-purple blooms won't shade out shorter plants in front.  It blooms in mid-summer to early fall.

My Joes are planted in full sun, but they also do well in part shade.  One thing Joe likes, though, is moist soil, which is probably the reason mine is doing so much better this year than in the past.  I don't give the butterfly garden much additional water, so the plentiful rain--until this month!--has made him very happy.

Until this year I had only one Joe-Pye Weed, and I was always rather disappointed in its appearance.  The blooms were a lighter pink than others I saw, and the stems were green, not the purple I associated with most Joes.  However, I have since learned that there are several types of this plant, and mine might be a Hollow-stemmed Joe Pye.

This spring I added another Joe Pye, purchased from the annual sale of our local Prairie Plant Society, as well as a 'Little Joe,' purchased from a local gardener and fellow native enthusiast.  I was happy to see that these Joes have the purple stems and darker blooms I was hoping for.  The new Joe is much shorter than my original, and 'Little Joe's' blooms were rather small this year, but I'm sure they will both grow with time.

Joe attracts a multitude of bees and butterflies.  Alas, our shortage of butterflies this years means I have no photos to prove the latter, but I can certainly prove the bee attraction.  This stand at the Nicholas Conservatory in Rockford, which I recently visited, was just swarming with bumblebees.

The origin of this plant's name is rather a mystery.  According to some sources, it was named after an early doctor or herbalist, possibly a Native American, possibly a colonist, who cured fevers with a concoction made from this plant. Whether that is fact or fiction, one thing is true about Joe Pye Weed--it is certainly not a weed!

Wildflower Wednesday is hosted the fourth Wednesday of every month by native enthusiast and protector of the bees, Gail at Clay and Limestone.  Why not join us?  You're sure to learn something new!

Wildflower Wednesday: The Not-So-Obedient Plant

Fall has definitely arrived in my part of Illinois with cooler nights and frequent rainy days.  Monday morning I awoke to find the whole yard had turned white--the first frost of the season.  Fortunately, nothing in the garden seems to have been affected by the frost.  Thanks to all the rain the last several weeks, annuals and perennials are looking better in September than they did in July.  The butterfly garden especially has come alive, due to the fall-blooming natives that have almost taken over this area.

One of those natives is Physostegia virginiana, commonly called Obedient Plant.  A member of the mint family, Obedient Plant grows up to four feet tall with flowers that are purplish, pink, or white.  This is the first year that all the blooms I have are white, rather than pink, which may mean that they are reverting back to their wild state, since those plants tend to have mostly white blooms.  It is pollinated primarily by bumblebees, though other long-tongued bees and hummingbirds may also visit it.

Blooms first open up at the bottom, then proceed upward.

 Sometimes called False Dragonhead as well, the plant was given the name "Obedient" because the individual flowers stay in place if you move them.  I'm not sure why anyone would want to have blooms facing a certain way, but hey, if that's important to you, then who am I to judge:)

Doing some research, I discovered that yes, it's true--these little blooms are quite cooperative to being manipulated.

Not everyone loves this plant--in fact, some would go so far as to call it a thug or even invasive.  Most references are a little kinder, but do warn that especially in moist soils it can "sometimes spread aggressively."  My butterfly garden was anything but "moist" this summer, yet the Obedient Plants did just fine; in fact, I think they're determined to take over this area, if given the chance.  As I looked at all the seedlings that came up this spring, a question came to my mind.

 Why do we plant something when we know it could spread so rampantly?  After some careful thought, I've come up with a few answers, but feel free to add more in a comment.

1. Ignorance. Most people know that you should never plant certain species like purple loosestrife or some types of honeysuckle, plants that top most states' invasive plant lists.  But plant tags on other species at garden centers or plant sales don't always tell you that something could take over your garden.  When I first started my butterfly garden several years ago, I was just learning about native plants and was excited when I found out the local Prairie Plant Society was holding a plant sale in May.  My friend Beckie and I went to the plant sale, where I picked up several natives that I knew were attractive to butterflies, including a Joe Pye Weed and an aster.  Then I noticed the Obedient Plant and snatched it up as well--I remembered reading about it on someone's blog the previous fall, but I didn't remember any of its characteristics, unfortunately.

Asters are good companions for Obedient Plant--they all started from one little plant here as well.

I've often told the story of that first little Obedient Plant--how it grew to two feet tall that summer, until one day Sophie, still a rambunctious puppy then, bounded through the garden and broke off the stem.  I was upset, thinking that was the end of it.  But to my surprise, the following year it came back--and had multiplied more prolifically than a rabbit!  Fast forward to this spring, when I noticed Obedient seedlings covering at least a third of this small garden area. If I hadn't pulled out at least half the seedlings, they would have choked out some of the Susans and other plants that aren't quite so aggressive.  I have learned my lesson--before I buy an unfamiliar plant, I do a little research first.  "Aggressive spreader" or "spreads by rhizomes" are red flags that I probably don't want to add this plant to my already crowded garden, no matter how pretty it may be.

In a friend's garden, a border of gravel keeps Obedient Plant from spreading to the neighbors.

2. You can contain it some way., whether in a pot or an enclosed area. I've learned that bamboo is a notorious spreader and difficult to eradicate once it's established.  Yet I know gardeners who grow it and other invasives in large pots or in an area enclosed in some way, whether by rocks or other types of edging.  As long as the plant doesn't have seeds that could be spread by wind or birds, this method may work for a plant you simply must have, no matter its aggressive tendencies.

3.  You have lots of space and could use something that multiplies quickly. Many of us have an area where nothing seems to grow, including grass.  For me, it's an area next to my shade garden in front of a very large spruce tree.  The soil is hard clay, and thirsty tree roots drink up most of the rainfall, yet garlic mustard and a few other weeds still seem to thrive. I've transplanted a few errant lamium--another "spreader," but much better-mannered than some--in part of this area, as well as liriope and some ajuga.  The lirope hasn't done much, and the ajuga, along with some free toad lilies I received, seems to have disappeared in this summer's drought. I wouldn't mind something that spreads rather quickly to cover the bare soil and choke out the weeds in this area.

The bees enjoy all the native "spreaders" in the butterfly garden--this area has been a buzz of activity all fall.

 
4. Just because it's considered invasive in some areas doesn't mean it will be in your garden. Another blogger recently commented that lantana had now been labelled somewhat invasive in her state.   In my zone 5b garden, that's certainly not a problem because lantana is not hardy here; in fact, I buy a flat of it every spring.  My friend Beckie tried for years to control the false sunflowers, Heliopsis helianthoides, that were overtaking her garden.  When I asked for a few starts, she gladly gave them to me but with a warning that I might be sorry.  Naturally, they all died for me.  I tried a second time, and this time they survived.There are still a few of these in the butterfly garden, but with all the other thugs around--like Obedient Plant--they haven't had a chance to spread.  So an invasive plant in one place might not be so aggressive in another . . . of course, it's up to you whether you want to take that chance!

The white blooms often have pink or purple dots and whorls on the inside--fairy footprints perhaps??

Sometimes even the most experienced gardeners make mistakes and plant something they later regret.  But let's face it, there are some "spreaders" that are so appealing in some way that we are willing to take a chance and grow them anyway.  Sweet Autumn clematis is a good example. It is listed on the Illinois list of invasive species, yet I see it growing in so many local gardens, with good reason--its blooms are beautiful this time of year.

As for my Obedient plant, I'll continue to pull out excess seedlings in the spring because I think these pretty late-bloomers are worth it.  But if you decide to add some to your own garden, just remember that I warned you these natives are anything but obedient!


Wildflower Wednesday is celebrated the fourth Wednesday of every month and hosted by Gail at Clay and Limestone. You are welcome to join us in celebrating all things native!