I wish I could say our roadsides looked like this right now but no, this is a garden aster that grows in a local park. I don’t know its name but it’s a huge plant with many hundreds of beautiful blossoms. The wild ones come close but they aren’t anywhere near as compact and bushy.
Here again is that hillside full of flowers that I drive by every morning. It’s hard not to take too many photos of something so beautiful. It’s such a beautiful time of year, when the wildflowers go out with a bang.
I happened to drive through the company parking lot where I worked years ago and found these New England asters and many other plants growing up through the cracks in the asphalt paving. The owners of the building and grounds have been looking for a buyer for years with no takers, and now the place looks all but abandoned. As nature often does it saw a blank canvas and wanted to fill it with color. I sometimes parked my car right where these grew.
Most jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) plants are finished for the season but I still see plants blooming away here and there. There are still plenty of pollinators about too, and I’m sure they’re happy to see more flowers blooming. This plant typically blossoms right up until a frost but as day length shortens the plants will produce smaller, closed flowers with no petals and no nectar. They self-pollinate and their sole purpose is to produce plenty of seeds.
And they have produced plenty of seeds. Right now I see far more of these seedpods on jewelweed than I do flowers. They look like little pea pods.
And if you touch those seedpods this is what happens. This plant gets its common name touch me not from the way its seed pods snap and release the seeds at the slightest touch. The edible seeds can fly as far as 4 feet. Other names include orange Jewelweed, common jewelweed, spotted jewelweed, and orange balsam. The name “jewel weed” comes from the way that raindrops sparkle on its wax coated leaves.
Pee Gee hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) blossoms are turning into their fall pink and when that is done they will go to brown. Eventually each flower petal will start to disintegrate and for a short time will look like stained glass. If cut at the pink stage however, the color will hold for quite a long time. These huge blossom heads dry well and make excellent dried flower arrangements.
A story I’ve told here before is how there was a time when all red clover (Trifolium pretense) plants meant to me was more hard work. I didn’t like having to weed it out of lawns and garden beds but it was so unsightly with its long, weak flower stems and sprawling, weedy habit. And then one evening a single ray of sunshine came through the clouds and fell directly on a red clover plant at the edge of a meadow, and when I knelt in front of it to take its photo for the first time I saw how beautiful it really was. I saw that it had an inner light; what I think of as the light of creation, shining brightly out at me. I’ve loved it ever since, and since that day I don’t think I’ve ever truly thought of another flower, no matter how lowly, as a weed.
Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus) were cultivated by Native Americans for thousands of years for their tuberous roots, which they cooked and ate much like we do potatoes. They are said to be starchy with a nutty flavor and they were immediately adopted by the early settlers. The tubers have fewer calories than potatoes and the plant’s carbohydrates and sugars can be assimilated by the digestive tract without insulin. This makes them an excellent choice for diabetics. I used to dig them for clients of mine that grew them for food and I’ll never forget how very tall these plants can be.
Shaggy soldier (Galinsoga quadriradiata) still blooms prolifically. How this plant got from Mexico to New Hampshire is anyone’s guess, but it seems to love it here. People however, do not love seeing it; everyone agrees that it’s a weed, even in its native Mexico. The plant is also called common quick weed or Peruvian daisy and is common in gardens, where it can reduce crop yields by as much as half if left to its own devices.
Shaggy soldier has tiny flowers that are about 3/8 of an inch across and have 5 white ray florets widely spaced around tiny yellow center disc florets. They are among the smallest flowers that I try to photograph.
Cow vetch (Vicia cracca) is a native of Europe and Asia that loves it here and has spread far and wide. According to the Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States the vining plant is present in every U.S. state. Cow vetch can have a taproot nearly a foot long and drops large numbers of seeds, so it is hard to eradicate. It is very similar to hairy vetch, but that plant has hairy stems. I like its color and it’s nice to see it sprinkled here and there among the tall grasses.
Carolina horse nettle (Solanum carolinense) is a plant that I’ve never seen anywhere before. From what I’ve read it is not a true nettle, but instead is a member of the nightshade family, like the black nightshade I showed in my last flower post. The flowers have five petals and are usually white or purple with yellow centers. There is a blue variant that resembles the tomato flower, which makes sense since tomatoes are also in the nightshade family. The flowers have no scent but the foliage has a certain odor that I find disagreeable.
The fruits resemble tomatoes and are sometimes called devil’s tomatoes. Unripe fruit is dark green with light green stripes, turning yellow and wrinkled as it ripens. Each fruit contains around 60 seeds but the plant spreads successfully by underground stems (rhizomes.) All parts of the plant are poisonous and eating it, especially the fruit, can cause death. Pheasant, Bobwhite, Turkeys and Skunks are said to eat the fruit.
Horse nettle’s stem and undersides of larger leaf veins are covered with spines and I can attest to their sharpness. It’s hard to grab it anywhere and I got pricked several times just trying to turn a leaf over. This plant is native to our southern states, so why it is growing here is a mystery. It seemed to like where it grew; there must have been 30-40 plants growing there. I can see its spreading becoming a real problem.
Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) blooms in the tall grass of unmown meadows usually in large colonies but this one bloomed alone and I think it might be the last blossom I see of this plant this year. This plant isn’t covered with sharp spines like the larger bull thistle but it does have small spines along the leaf margins and stem. Despite its common name the plant is actually a native of Europe but has spread to virtually every country in the northern hemisphere. It has a deep and extensive creeping root system and is nearly impossible to eradicate once it gains a foothold. For that reason it is considered a noxious weed in many states.
The last thing I expect to see at the end of September in New Hampshire is an azalea flower but here was a yellow flowered one that was blooming as if it were spring. I’ve read about azaleas that bloom in October in southern states but I didn’t know they would bloom that late here.
Dandelions are still blooming and I’m not surprised because I once saw one blooming in January when we had a mild winter. This one had a tiny visitor.
Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is our latest blooming shrub. I’ve seen it bloom as late as January in a warm winter, but I can’t remember ever seeing it bloom this early in September. Some Native American tribes steamed witch hazel twigs over hot stones in their sweat lodges to soothe aching muscles and others made tea from it to treat coughs. As is often the case Natives had a use for virtually every part of the plant and witch hazel is still in use today. It can be found as a lotion in almost any drugstore.
Witch hazel blossoms are pollinated by owlet moths, which are active in winter and are called winter moths. The moths raise their body temperature by shivering, and can raise it by as much as 50 degrees F. This allows them to fly and search for food when it’s cold. But it isn’t cold now, and this year the moths may have help from several other insects I’ve seen still flying. I’m still seeing bees, wasps, butterflies and dragonflies.
I thought I’d end with one more look at what I drive by every morning on my way to work. This will probably be the last time we see this for this year because most of these flowers have now faded. They were so beautiful!
Beauty is something that changes your life, not something you understand. ~Marty Rubin
Thanks for coming by.
Such beautiful asters! We grow them in our garden and really appreciate the late-season colour.
We only have one native aster in Britain and that is the Sea Aster which comes in two forms. One form just has yellow disc florets and the other looks more like your asters with blue-mauve ray florets as well as the disc florets. The leaves are fleshy as one would expect from a salt-marsh plant. I mainly see the first type here as well as garden aster escapees.
Those spines on the Carolina Horse Nettle look vicious!
Thank you Clare. That’s interesting, I didn’t know you had native asters. We have them just about everywhere you look at this time of year.
Those horse nettle spines were very sharp!
Beautiful aster displays, wild and cultivated.
Yes!
Lovely snaps as always! And I have two comments to share 🙂 First, I’ve seen quickweed (as I know it) referred to as “gallant soldiers” by an amateur botanizer in the UK, and I wondered how such a tiny flower was given such a flashy common name…now that I see the Genus “Galinsoga” it makes a lot more sense!
Also, speaking of the off-kilter timing of blossoms this year, just yesterday while photographing tiny plants in one of my paddocks, I came upon a single little violet! Could hardly believe my eyes.
Thank you. Gallant soldiers also makes a lot more sense than shaggy soldiers!
I’m still seeing Johnny jump ups here and there but no violets. They say we’re in for 70-80 degree temperatures next week though, so I wouldn’t be surprised to find violets blooming again.
So many beautiful flowers in this post, I was surprised that you found so many.
I think that I saw Carolina horse nettle growing around here, but I’m not sure. I’ll have to go back and take a closer look at the leaves to be sure. The flowers are already gone, and my attempts at photographing them didn’t turn out well.
It’s always amazing to see how quickly nature begins to reclaim areas that humans no longer work to keep nature out of, like the place where you used to work.
Thanks Jerry! I think I might be able to squeak out one more flower post be they’re starting to get scarce now. We still haven’t had a frost though, so you never know.
You’ll know horse nettle if you touch it. The smell will also be a good clue, because it has a strange odor.
It is interesting to see how nature takes back what we have done, and it doesn’t take long.
I hope you haven’t seen any of the snow they’ve been showing on the news!
No snow here yet, not even a frost here, but it has snowed in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan already.
That’s too bad. I think that’s where you were planning a vacation trip, if I remember correctly.
Interesting that the witch hazel and azalea are blooming so late. Are they confused, or is it something about the weather, I wonder. That photo of the jewelweed seedhead is a keeper!
Thank you Cynthia. Actually the witch hazel is about a month early but I’m not sure why. Neither day length or cold temperatures explain it. We certainly haven’t been cold!
I remember jewelweed fondly, and popping the seedpods as a youngster. That is a beautiful clover photo, and luminous is a good description. What is weed and what is flower is only mankind’s notion. All have their place in nature, all have their beauty.
Thank you Lavinia. That’s very true!
Seeing your late flowers almost seems unreal from my perspective here at the moment. My son was working in a place about a hundred miles to the north today… in snow.
Thanks Montucky! We haven’t even had a frost yet here but it could happen any time now. Hopefully the snow will hold off for a couple of months!
Your red clover story is lovely. I think they are luminous.
Thank you, that’s a very good description of them!
Seeing an azalea at this time of year is most unusual…but it has been an odd year with all sorts of late flowering plants here.
I think this one might bloom as late as this every year but I’ll have to wait a year to be sure.
The purple aster in your first photo looks like what we call Michaelmas daisies in the UK.
Thank you Emily. I’ve heard that of course, but I’ve never known if the term was specific to a certain aster or if it applied to all asters.
Wow, you still have a lot more blooming than I would have expected. I was happy to see your shot of jewelweed–it was one of the few that I see here that I can identify. 🙂
Thanks Mike. Yes, we still have quite a few flowers blooming and that’s because we haven’t had a frost yet.
I think you probably have most of these flowers down your way but some are quite small and easily missed. I walk right by many of them myself.
Fall does indeed go out with a bang! Such a beautiful season in New England, even, if this year, there are too many dead rodents along the side of the road.
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Thank you Laurie. It’s all because of the acorns and piecones that fell by the millions last year, I think. This year, hardly any acorns and not a cone in sight, so nature is balancing everything out again.
As long as the flowers keep blooming I’ll be happy!
Enjoy those asters, stars on Earth!
I do!
Nice quotation (too).
Thank you Ben! I hope all is well!
Things go up and down. Thank you for asking. Your thoughtfulness is appreciated
Beautiful for this time of year. Thanks for sharing. 🙂 I hope the roads you are traveling are not as ghastly as ours are littered with chipmunks. Driving around here on the highway or the side roads is like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. I like roadside flowers much better.
Thank you Judy, and so would I! I haven’t seen a single chipmunk but I do see an occasional dead squirrel. There’s a bit of a rodent population explosion here because of all the acorns and pinecones that fell last year.
Love those banks of wildflowers that you drive by and the ones in the park. Your picture of that azalea was as excellent as it was surprising.
Thank you. I wish I could figure out the name of that azalea.