Hosta (Hosta) can be a beautiful addition to your garden if you don’t have it already. Hostas are herbaceous perennial plants that are native to China, Japan, Korea and the Russian Far East. They produce attractive clumps of leaves each summer which are topped with blooms that are either white or lavender. But a word of warning. The Hosta is a plant that I’ll avoid. The fact that the plants are not native is one strike against them. I find a need to encourage fauna that are attracted to native plants. But the big factor that negates any chance these plants have — they are like candy to deer. Rabbits, slugs and snails also eat the leaves and roots. Rhizomes are eaten by voles but deer are really something that I don’t want to encourage. Without a doubt.
Incredibly tiny flowers that grow on slightly hairy stems. At just 1/3 inch long the flowers would be perfect for a dollhouse. Lobelia inflata flowers are a beautiful shade of pale blue-purple. Native to eastern North America.
A bit of conflict on the Internet regarding whether Lobelia inflata is poisonous or not. More sites say it is than the ones that say it is not. My suggestion, don’t eat any part of this plant.
Lobelia inflata is an annual or biennial herbaceous plant that likes moist areas and sunshine. Given its favored conditions it can grow to 3 feet tall. But still those flowers are mighty small.
As the flowers one by one fade, the seed pods grow and expand like small balloons. These seeds pods are an indication that you’ve come upon the right plant. You have come upon Lobelia inflata.
July, and the hillsides that are my gardens are brilliant with the happiest of yellow thanks to Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata). Native to central and eastern North America. However in Virginia it is considered an escape from cultivation. A herbaceous perennial plant that can be as tall as four or five feet, and quite narrow. Tall and spindly. But in a mass planting they’re a joy.
Attractive to pollinators, this coneflower is popular with bees, butterflies, wasps, flies, and beetles. AND the occasional Crab Spider.
Come autumn and winter, the seed heads will bring on Goldfinches and other songbirds. A mighty good reason to leave those gardens as they are. A good excuse to let those seed heads be during the winter.
But for now I’m thoroughly enjoying the lift those petals of sunshine yellow bring to my heart.
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). The temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere in Asia and Europe and North America claim Yarrow as a native herbaceous perennial flowering plant.
It’s blooming right now in this area, looking a bit like Queen Anne’s Lace because of the large clusters of flowers atop the plant’s stems. But those clusters of flowers on Yarrow are quite an irregular grouping while the clusters of flowers on Queen Anne’s Lace is an impressive near perfect circle of blooms.
Sometimes in the autumn a Yarrow leaf will turn beautiful reds and yellows but all season long it has a lovely feather-like appearance. The plant is called the Spanish word for little feather, Plumajillo, in New Mexico and southern Colorado because of the feathery look of leaves.
The blossoms of the Yarrow are popular with butterflies, wasps, flies, and bees.
I often see Crab Spiders on Yarrow too, waiting and watching for their next meal to come along.
I don’t usually notice the scent of flowers that only have a subtle fragrance. It takes a knockout aroma like Japanese Honeysuckle (Mmmmm!) for me to notice but I understand Yarrow has a nice, sweet aroma, much like Chrysanthemums. I don’t usually notice their fragrance either!
A clump of grass in early spring becomes green streaks, highlighted with six pointed dots of cheery blue. Common Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium) is native to the eastern two thirds of the United States and Canada.
Though “grass” is in the common name, it is not a grass at all but is in the iris family of plants. This Blue-eyed Grass is an herbaceous perennial that is a spot of joy in spring. And quite an amazing thing if you’re watching the development of what seems to be that clump of grass wondering what it is.
If you look at those blades with knowing eyes, you can see the look of iris stems containing buds.
It is surprising for me to learn that the each flower actually consists of only three petals along with three nearly twin sepals, creating the look of six petals. The flowers are doll house sized, about one half inch across with each petal or sepal having a pointed tip and a slight indentation on either side of the tip.
The seed capsule, seen just below a flower in the above image, will split into three sections at maturity. The small black seeds to be a carried just a short distance with the wind.
As I was collecting these photographs, I took a trip to Florida and came upon a different species of Blue-eyed Grass. White Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium albidum). Delighted to make this find.
Back in Virginia I’m enjoying my natives that bring me such pleasure.
A favorite of mine, late May trailside. Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea). The color might be the catch for me. Or perhaps it’s the tiny flowers arranged in flat-topped umbels.
A short-lived herbaceous perennial that enjoys moist soil, and full sun to part shade. I tried once, long ago to add it to one of my gardens with no luck. I think it’s time to try again.
I’ve only ever seen the caterpillar of the Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton). Never the adult. That one sighting was an hour from my cabin at Buck Hollow in Shenandoah National Park. Since that brief observation I’ve learned that the main larval host plant of the beautiful Baltimore Checkerspot is White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra).
I’ve learned that the Baltimore Checkerspot is the state insect of Maryland. A state that means a great deal to me. So I’ve planted White Turtlehead in one of my gardens. Hoping it might bring me luck. And with that luck a Baltimore Checkerspot to my garden.
One of the Turtlehead’s pollinators is the bumblebee who uses brute force to reach the flower’s precious nectar.
My flowers are white while others of this same species sometimes have a slight hint of pink or lavender.
White Turtlehead is a herbaceous perennial, native to most of the eastern half of the United States. It prefers damp conditions such as stream banks where it grows two or three feet tall. Full sun to partial shade will keep it happy. Blooms arrive mid summer into early fall. And in the meantime I’m patiently waiting and hoping.
