When I was a professional gardener I always assumed that we would have a frost between September 15th and September 30th. More years than not, that assumption was accurate. Then last year happened and all of that went out the window. We still hadn’t had a frost when we got about sixteen inches of snow on Halloween. This year-here we go again-still no frost here. In fact just yesterday it reached the mid-70s. The heat I can handle, but I’m hoping there won’t be another Halloween storm like the last. In any case, the flowers love it and many are still blooming.
This nodding burr marigold (Bidens) found a home with a roof, so it won’t have to worry about a frost.
On a recent rainy day I found a clump of native beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana) growing near the road. The Epifagus part of the scientific name means “upon the beech” and that is where these parasitic plants grow. They don’t produce chlorophyll to make their own food so instead they insert a root like structure called a haustorium into a beech root and take what nutrition they need to survive. Native Americans made a tea from this plant that was used to treat mouth sores.
Purple-brownish beechdrop flowers are very small and hard to photograph. Each flower is tubular and has two lip-like “petals.” They produce nectar and attract insects. Tiny, scale like leaves press flat against the stem and are very hard to see. These plants are found from Canada to Florida and west as far as Louisianna.
Native Blue toadflax (Linaria Canadensis) is another tiny flower, but easier to get a picture of than beechdrops. I found this one growing in full sun on a riverbank recently. It had just about finished blooming. This plant resembles Kalm’s Lobelia (Lobelia kalmia) but the lobelia lacks the nectar spurs found in blue toadflax blossoms. Toadflax boiled in milk is said to make an excellent fly poison.
Native small flowered water plantain (Alisma subcordatum) was also blooming along the river a couple of weeks ago. The blossoms have now faded but the plants still thrive. These small white flowers have only tree petals so they are hard to confuse with other plants. The egg shaped, thick, fleshy leaves are also unusual. There is also a large water plantain (Alisma triviale) with flowers that are about twice the size as those shown. These plants often grow in the water at the edges of ponds and rivers. Native Americans used to eat the dried root.
It’s easy, especially at this time of year, to be fooled into thinking that this plant is an aster, but it is actually a chrysanthemum-another popular fall garden plant. I found this one growing in a local park. Its leaves give away its identity.
This is an aster that I found growing on the side of the road. I turned around and went back to get a picture because it was such a deep, dark and beautiful purple-much different than the lighter purple varieties seen.
This jimson weed (Datura stramonium) is another roadside plant, but it was growing in a pasture along with hundreds of others. Jimson weed is considered poisonous to both humans and livestock so I was surprised to see it in a cow pasture. This hallucinogenic plant in the nightshade family is also called loco weed and was used by Native Americans on spiritual quests. The original common name was “Jamestown weed” which was given to it after English soldiers in the Jamestown colony began to behave oddly after eating leaves of the plant. It is said that they “behaved like animals for several days.” This plant is considered exceedingly dangerous due to poisonings and deaths by people trying to get high.
I have a white flowered native obedient (Physostegia virginiana) plant trying to overtake my gardens and not too long ago someone posted a picture of a beautiful pinkish purplish one like the one in this photo. I told the blogger that I hadn’t ever seen that color obedient plant flower and then, that very day, I found this one. It seems like if I can’t find a plant all I need to do is say that I can’t find it on this blog and before you know it, I’ve found one. That has happened several times.
Red clover (Trifolium pretense) is looking a little bedraggled, but still blooms just about everywhere I go. Native Americans made a tea from the plant for use as, among other things, a cough syrup. Today scientists are researching its value as a cancer treatment and for respiratory ailments.
I wasn’t surprised to find sand jointweed (Polygonella articulata) growing in pure sand along an old road but I was surprised to see it at all, because I had been watching for it for 2 or 3 weeks without any luck. These plants grow to about a foot tall but the thin, wiry stems and small white flowers easily blend into the sand and make them hard to see. The leaves are small and lie against the stem so the plant appears leafless. The plant gets its name from the way the stems are jointed.
These sand jointweed (Polygonella articulata) flowers looked like they had a bit of pink in them. These plants seem very hard to photograph-I had to make 2 or 3 attempts before I got something I could live with.
It’s easy to see why sedum is such a hit in the fall. This pink one I found in a local park is probably a cultivar called “Autumn Joy, “which is an old favorite. I think it would be even more beautiful planted with some dark purple asters.
When I took its picture I thought this was the last rose of summer that I’d see on my rose bushes. They had a hard time this year with the extreme heat and dryness, but once the rains started in they bloomed more and more until now they are loaded with blossoms. Last year it was still blooming in December.
Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves,
We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves ~ Humbert Wolfe
Thanks for stopping in.
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Thank you Margo, I really appreciate the sentiment but I’ve decided not to do awards. That’s mainly because I’ve been given 2 or 3 in the past and I can never seem to find the time to comply with all of the requirements. I think the best award is just knowing that people like you are enjoying the blog, so thank you again.
I was up in the higher parts of our mountains two weekends ago and found that what was still rich and green at the same time last year was all brown and ready to be covered with the winter snows…not very appealing in the way of flowers…but still rich in the colors of the earth. Thank you for the beautiful selection, Allen.
You’re welcome. I’ve heard, by blog reading, that many parts of the country have had severe frosts already. I guess we’ve just been lucky so far but they say mid 20s tonight. That will be a freeze and that will pretty much finish it.
Yep, I’m sure that will take care of it for the season…we’ve had rain on and off all day, so I would imagine that we get some snow up in the mountains today/this evening….
That Marigold couldn’t have picked a better place to keep the frost off. Great pictures and information!
Thanks. I don’t know how that burr marigold got in there but I bet it will survive the first few frosts.
Nice to see what is blooming there……Thanks
You’re welcome Grampy.
That little shelter that the marigold found is the cutest thing! What a place for a flower to grow!
I haven’t been out since the brief snow and the cold front that brought it, but I suspect that not too many flowers have survived the 20 degree night temps. We do have a delphinium still going though.
Delphiniums are tough-growing near the house helps-but there isn’t much that will stand 20 degrees out in the open fields. We’re supposed to get a taste of the cold that you’ve had over the next couple of days. I hope it moderates a bit and we don’t see 20s.
Everyone says that obedient plant will take over the garden. I have the pinkish-purple flowered one, and I really have to work hard to get it to succeed because it gets overgrown by the coneflowers and ox-eye.
Maybe it’s only the white variety that is so invasive. That’s the only one I’ve grown so I don’t have anything to compare it to. Maybe I’ll try the pink and see what happens.
Nice job on the sand jointweed. I’m still not happy with any of the photos I’ve taken of it.
I’m really not thrilled with mine either. It seems to be a hard plant to get a decent picture of, and the beechdrops are the same way.