Late June Wildflower Blooms ~ 2013

A lot of the late spring - early summer wildflowers are starting to fade (oxeye daisies, milkweed), but there are several more that should be in full bloom within the next month. :)

Here's a sampling of what's blooming now in my gardens and along the roadside...

Echinacea purpurea 'Purple Coneflower'

Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam'
Not a native Coreopsis, but still a wonderful flower!

Larkspur? Not sure of the type or even if it's the right ID. This is one of the plants I picked up at the Master Gardener
plant exchange and I've lost the tag and forgot what it was! 

Asclepias tuberosa 'Butterfly Weed, Milkweed'
From my garden, but it's also growing wild along the roadsides and fields. The sad thing is that within the next month (about the time the Monarchs are at their peak), most of the fields will be mowed down or brush hogged. I've grown milkweed for the past ten years and last year (for the first time), I didn't have a single Monarch caterpillar. It saddens me that their numbers have declined so much...

Datura inoxia 'Angels Trumpet'
Native to Mexico and Central America. Not really a perennial in my gardens, but it reseeds easily. This plant is a member of the nightshade family and all parts are extremely toxic. Interesting though, my free range chickens seem to have some sort of innate ability to discern what is tasty and what could be poisonous. This plant is also a host to the tobacco hornworm moth.

Verbascum thapsus 'Common Mullien'
Common throughout Missouri, but originally one of the first plants introduced from Europe. Actually I thought this was a native Missouri wildflower for years and transplanted it from a field into my garden! 

Aristolochia tomentosa 'Dutchman's Pipe'
Vine native to Missouri, host plant to the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly.

Asclepias syriaca 'Common Milkweed'
Along the fence line down the road from my property. Host plant of the Monarch buterfly.

Campsis radicans 'Trumpet Vine, Trumpetcreeper'
Native to Missouri. The blooms are a favorite of hummingbirds and it's also thicket forming (which also attracts birds as a shelter - protection), This grows wild along my fence line and last season I transplanted some of this vine to a container/trellis outside my bedroom window. It's growing wild and crazy, but I don't think it will bloom until next year. Hopefully I'll get to enjoy watching the hummingbirds eat from a natural food source.

Packera aurea 'Golden Ragwort, Squaw weed)
Native to Missouri. Growing along the fence line...

May Dreams Gardens
clay and limestone

October Blooms

Symphyotrichum patens 'Spreading Aster'
Native Missouri wildflower ~ the last of my fall blooms...

A Late Walk

When I go up through the mowing field,

The headless aftermath,

Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,

Half closes the garden path.

And when I come to the garden ground,

The whir of sober birds

Up from the tangle of withered weeds

Is sadder than any words

A tree beside the wall stands bare,

But a leaf that lingered brown,

Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,

Comes softly rattling down.

I end not far from my going forth

By picking the faded blue

Of the last remaining aster flower

To carry again to you. 

-Robert Frost

Garden Bloggers' Boom Day

Our World Tuesday
Outdoors Wednesday

September Blooms

..or  What Blooms in a Drought

This has definitely been the most colorless season I've had in my flower gardens. One reason - the 3rd summer of drought; the second reason: I've fenced the chickens out of the kitchen garden so they've made a scratched-up mess of every garden bed they have access to. Next year--I'm adding more fencing...

For some unknown reason, it seems that yellow is the theme for this early fall season. Maybe yellow flowers are more drought tolerant than other colors? Whatever the reason, here's what is left of a summer of record high temperatures and little rainfall...

Flore Pleno (Helianthus multiflorus) ~ perennial sunflower

Cheap, easy-to-grow annual Sunflowers :)

Ashy Sunflower (Helianthus mollis) ~ a perennial native...

Golden Rod ~ several native varieties in the Ozarks 

New addition to the kitchen garden: a little toad house from a local artist!
I planted marigolds in the kitchen garden last year and my husband referred to them as an "unexpected beauty." When he notices flowers--I remember it...
I will always plant these unexpected beauties!

Garden Bloggers' Boom Day

Native Plants vs. Non-Native Pests

Several years ago I purchased a native Missouri vine, Passiflora incarnata 'Wild Passion Flower,' off craigslist from a fellow gardener that lived in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the Ozarks...  This was one of those times when you realize too late that you probably shouldn't have gone alone to a stranger's house, but fortunately I didn't end up in the newspaper headlines and I had finally found the native variety of this vine! 

I had searched for the vine at local greenhouses and plant sales, but because it's late to emerge in the spring it was never available to purchase at the annual native plant sale held in April. The vine is sometimes referred to as "Maypop"--because it "pops" up in the garden during the month of May. Actually, it "pops" up everywhere--the roots spread aggressively and it has become somewhat invasive in my garden.

The purple flowers, which appear in June/July are unique, showy and fragrant. Fleshy, egg-shaped, edible fruits called maypops appear in July and mature to a yellowish color in fall. Ripened maypops can be eaten fresh off the vine or made into jelly. The leaves of the vine are also the host plant of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly which is why I searched so fervently for this native vine to add to my butterfly garden.

Here's my dilemma...  A few years ago a non-native insect took up residence in my gardens--the infamous Japanese Beetle...  These beetles feed on about 300 species of plants, devouring leaves, flowers, and overripe or wounded fruit. They usually feed in groups, starting at the top of a plant and working downward. The beetles are most active on warm, sunny days, and prefer plants that are in direct sunlight. A single beetle does not eat much; it is group feeding by many beetles that results in severe damage. Unfortunately, the most effective way of getting rid of Japanese beetles is to hand pick them. It's time consuming, but it works, especially if you are diligent.

On my property they're everywhere, but they have their favorites: the apple trees, blueberry bushes and blackberry brambles...  In my butterfly garden they have taken over my Passion Flower Vine and I've also find a few on the Pawpaw trees. 

Here's what I've decided to do...

Even though the passion vine is a native Missouri plant that I went to great lengths to find, I'm going to remove it from my garden. Why?  

• I planted it as a host plant of the larva of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly and I have never seen this variety of fritillary in my garden let alone its caterpillar.
• I've tried eating the fruit and it's not appetizing.
• I hate Japanese Beetles and it's attracting them to other plants in my garden.

What about the Pawpaw trees? They're staying--they are the host plant of the Tiger Swallowtail butterfly and I found my first tiny caterpillar under the leaves of one of the small trees!

What do I do in the meantime to control the beetle infestation?--I feed them to the chickens!

Spring Wildflowers ♥

I've been crazy busy this spring - early summer season. Not only do I work full time as an ICU nurse, now our hobby (birdhouses) has turned into a second full time job! Fortunately, native wildflowers are tough, drought tolerate, disease resistant plants that will faithfully bloom and thrive with the least amount of attention from me...

Here's a sampling of a few of my favorites...

Podophyllum peltatum 'May Apple' 

Aristolochia tomentosa 'Pipevine, Dutchman's Pipe'  (Host plant of the pipevine swallowtail butterfly).

This is the fourth year for this wildflower in my butterfly garden and it's loaded with blooms (and caterpillars)!

 Oenothera macrocarpa 'Missouri Evening Primrose'

 Stylophorum diphyllum 'Celandine Poppy'

Asclepias tuberosa 'Milkweed, Butterfly Weed' 

 Milkweed is the host plant for the Monarch, but it's a favorite nectar/food source for the swarms of Great Spangled Fritillaries that visit my garden...

For more info and photography of wildflowers, visit Clay and Limestone's celebration of wildflowers the 4th Wednesday of each month. 

Pawpaws and Zebra Swallowtails...

Asimina triloba 'Pawpaw' is a Missouri native small understory tree or large shrub which typically grows 15-20' tall (sometimes to 30') and occurs in low bottom woods, wooded slopes, ravines and along streams. Cup-shaped, purple flowers  appear in spring, and give way to edible, oblong, yellowish green fruits which mature in early autumn to a dark brown. Flavor and fleshy consistency of the sweet-flavored fruits resembles bananas.

I have three small trees that I purchased four years ago that are still only about a foot tall. They haven't died--they just won't grow...

The leaves of the pawpaw trees are also the host plant of the zebra swallowtail butterfly. Last year I followed one of these fast moving, reclusive butterflies and watched her lay eggs on the leaves of a small tree.--I discovered that I had a mature group of pawpaw trees that just happened to be right next to the chicken coop!

This isn't the first Missouri native plant-tree-flower that I have purchased only to find growing in the wild on my property!





This is the first year that I noticed the flowers on this small tree (thanks to the butterfly) and hopefully I'll spot a caterpillar later this season...

For more info and photography of wildflowers, visit Clay and Limestone's celebration of wildflowers the 4th Wednesday of each month. 

October Wildflowers...

The first frost of fall has already arrived in the Ozarks, but I was able to get a shot of the last fall-blooming wildflower on my property.  Now the countdown until spring begins...

 Helianthus angustifolius 'Swamp Sunflower' or 'Narrow-leaf Sunflower'

For more info and photography of wildflowers, visit Clay and Limestone's celebration of wildflowers the 4th Wednesday of each month. To view more Wednesday photography, visit Wordless Wednesday and Faith, Hope & a whole lotta love photography.

September Wildflowers

Roadside Blooms...

Each day that I drive into work, I have about 9 miles of country roads before I reach a major highway. There's a continual display of wildflowers; some are only present for a short time and others (Trumpet Vine, Queen Anne's Lace, Chicory-on the left) have been blooming all season.This is probably the last month of wildflowers before the cold fall temperatures arrive. I'm already dreading winter--I hate the cold, lack of color, being stuck inside...  I'm trying to soak in every last ray of sunshine and appreciate each lingering bloom.

Here's a few photos of the flowers I'm fortunate to see on my daily drives...

Helianthus annuus 'Common Sunflower'

Last year I stole-harvested or just helped myself to a few of these flowers along the roadside and attempted to plant the seeds in my garden. It didn't work, but fortunately they're back again--just not in my garden...


 

Cirsium altissimum 'Tall Thistle'
..

Verbesina alternifolia 'Wingstem'

Gaura longiflora 'Butterfly Flower'

Goldenrod...

Not sure of the type or variety, but it's a fall favorite of mine...

Helianthus grosseserratus 'Sawtooth Sunflower'

Psoralea psoralioides 'Sampson Snakeroot'

For more info and photography of wildflowers, visit Clay and Limestone's celebration of Wildflowers the 4th Wednesday of each month.

August Wildflowers...

Wildflowers this month found throughout my property...  Some were planted on purpose, some are native to this area and some in reality are probably considered more of a weed...

Erigeron strigousus 'Prairie Fleabane, Lesser Daisy Fleabane 

Last year this flower came up by volunteer in my flower garden.  I let it bloom, but it reseeded like crazy. Now I just let it stay a true wildflower--in the field...

Cirsium altissimum 'Tall Thistle' 

Didn't plant it--came with the property...

Heliopsis helianthoides 'False Sunflower' 

I think I had a photo of this flower last month, but it's still blooming profusely--it deserves to be added to this month as well...

Passiflora incarnata 'Purple Passionflower' 

I bought this plant last year off Craig's List from a man that lived out in the middle of no-where...  I went by myself to his house which was off a dirt road in a rather scary part of the Ozarks.  Have you ever seen Winter's Bone or Deliverance?  It turned out that he was just a crazy gardener like myself...

Ipomoea hederacea 'Ivy-Leaved Morning Glory' 

This pretty vine is actually a weed, but it appeared climbing up a sunflower and now I don't have the heart to remove it...

 Datura wrightii  'Angel's Trumpet'

What's odd about this plant is that a friend gave me the seeds several years ago (which I planted), but this is the first year it's appeared in my garden.  The flowers bloom during the night until about noon the next day.  It's become one of my favorites--it's drought tolerate (I've never watered it) and it doesn't have a leaf that a bug has chewed on.--That's probably because Datura is a member of the nightshade family and all parts of this plant are toxic.

Eutrochium purpureum 'Joe Pye Weed'

A favorite of butterflies, including this Spicebush Swallowtail...

For more info and photography of wildflowers, visit Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday and Cottage Flora Thursdays.