Early September Flowers
September 9, 2020 by New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Our beautiful New England asters are now opening over a wider area and though I’m not seeing them everywhere I go yet I usually see them each day at least. They make summer’s end a little more palatable.

Nodding smartweed (Polygonum lapathifolium) gets its common name from its drooping flower heads and the very sharp, peppery taste of the stems, which makes the tongue smart. It doesn’t seem to bother ducks, geese, and all of the other animals that eat it, though. The plant is also called curly top smartweed; obviously because of the way the long flower spikes droop. It is originally from Europe.

Each nodding smartweed flower spike is made up of many pink to white, very small flowers.

Nodding smartweed flowers never seem to fully open, but I got lucky on this day and found one. Each flower has 5 sepals and no petals. There are also six stamens, two partially fused carpels and two styles. The tiny flowers are packed into a long raceme and can be white, red, pink, or a combination of all three. In my experience it is rare to find one as open as this one was.

Only one smartweed is called lady’s thumb (Persicaria maculosa,) but even nodding smartweed has the “thumbprint.” The dark spot that appears on each leaf is said in legend to have been left by a lady with a dirty thumb (apparently.) It has been there ever since.

It’s time to say goodbye to chicory (Cichorium intybus) I think, because out of ten or twelve plants this is the only one still blooming.

Chicory one of my favorite summer flowers because of its large, easy to see flowers and beautiful blue color. I can’t think of another flower, either wild or cultivated, quite like it.

Nodding bur marigold plants (Bidens cernua) grow in the wet mud at the water’s edge at rivers and ponds. As they age the flowers of the nodding bur marigold nod towards the ground and that’s how the plant comes by its common name. The flowers look something like a miniature sunflower and are supposed to be good for honey production. I like their deeply pleated petals. The plants grow to about knee high, often in standing water, and that can make them tricky to get a good photo of.

Panicled hawkweed (Hieracium paniculatum) has wiry stems that curve in all directions and end in a small, yellow, daisy-like flower. I often find this plant growing along old forgotten dirt roads in the woods. These native plants are sometimes confused with rough hawkweed (Hieracium scabrum) but that plant has prickly flower buds and hairy leaves.

Each strap shaped “petal” on a panicled hawkweed flower head is actually a ray flower. Some have teeth on the end as this one did but others may not.

Seed heads are also what you would expect to see on a hawkweed. Panicled hawkweed is one of our latest blooming hawkweeds.

For the first time I saw a blue toadflax blossom (Nuttallanthus canadensis) with its “mouth” open. It’s hard to see but it’s there under that upper lobe. The name toadflax comes from its flax like leaves, and its toad like mouth. Whatever you call it it’s a pretty little plant that blooms for most of the summer. The side view shows its long nectar spur.

I have pink turtleheads (Chelone lyonii) in my yard but these examples in a local park bloom weeks earlier than mine. Unlike my plants, these plants often look terrible; all black and crisp leaves. My plants haven’t even showed color on the buds yet, but I hope they do better than these. I don’t know the origin of this plant and have never known if it was a native or a cultivar but it does very well in my yard and asks for nothing. Pink turtleheads are native to the southeastern U.S. and don’t seem to mind dryness in spite of naturally growing near water.

I always like to see if I can get a shot looking into the throat of the turtle. It’s very hairy in there but it doesn’t bother bumblebees. They can often be found swarming over these plants.

At a local pond white boneset and purple loosestrife dominated the scene. If history is any indication it won’t be long before purple loosestrife takes over the whole area.

I’m seeing fewer soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) flowers these days and I think its run has just about ended for this year. Someday I’m going to chop up the roots and flowering stems and see if I can get soapy water out of them. I’ve read that it gets soapy enough to be able to be used to wash clothes.

No, it isn’t May but this flower head I saw on a viburnum shrub in a local park reminded me of May. It is an almost exact duplicate of our native hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides) flowers that bloom in that month, though it was about half the size. Like hobblebush flowers the large sterile flowers around the perimeter are there to attract insects to the smaller fertile flowers found in the center. I haven’t been able to identify the shrub, which was much taller and more upright than a hobblebush, but I was happy to see it.

Hydrangeas have been blooming for a while now. These plants live far back in my memory; my grandmother always grew them and called them snowballs. This old fashioned type is called “Annabelle.”

Sedums are just starting to show color. For those who don’t know, sedums have thick succulent leaves and fleshy stems and can be quite drought tolerant. They are also nectar rich and will attract butterflies.

I think it’s just about time to say goodbye to the beautiful little forked blue curls (Trichostema dichotomum,) because I’m seeing more seedpods than flowers now. This plant is an annual so it will have to grow again from seed next year. These little beauties are usually barely ankle high and like to grow in sandy soil in full sun.

Winters have always seemed long to me because I’ve always been a flower lover. To make winter seem shorter I know that the secret is to stop longing to see flowers again, but how can you not long to see something so beautiful? I haven’t worked that out yet.
What happens to people who have witnessed the miraculous? ~Jim Harrison
Thanks for coming by.
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Posted in Nature, Wildflowers | Tagged Blue Toadflax, Boneset, Canon SX40 HS, Chicory Blossom, Eastern Forked Blue Curls, Hydrangea blossoms, Keene, Lady's Thumb, Native Plants, Nature, New England Aster, New Hampshire, NH, Nodding Bur Marigold, Nodding Smartweed, Olympus Stylus TG-870, Panicled Hawkweed, Pink Turtlehead, Purple Loosestrife, Sedum, Soapwort, Summer Wildflowers, Swanzey New Hampshire, Unknown Viburnum | 15 Comments
I wish we had as much chicory as you do. It is a wonderful flower.
It is a real beauty. I think if you’ve found one you’ll find more in coming years. It seems to spread rather quickly if left alone.
I hope so.
I’m with you on being sad about the pending end of summer’s bounty. It is hard to get through winter being inside with only a few houseplants and a storebought bouquet on the table.
I couldn’t agree more Eliza. Hopefully it’ll seem shorter than it usually does.
I loved those little forked blue curls, thanks so much for the photographs.
You’re welcome Susan. The blue curls are very unusual flowers, and such a great shade of blue.
I’ve caught up with your posts now. That drunken waxwing that flew at you was n interesting story! A beautiful collection of fall flowers, Allen! Asters and goldenrod always signaled the coming autumn for me.
We are under fire evacuation order level 1 at this time, GP. Level 1 here in Oregon is “Get ready”, Level 2 is “Get set”, Level 3 is “Leave immediately”. The sky was a dark as Mordor yesterday. Took a good 1/2 hour to get through the gasoline line downtown. High winds have died down, mostly, and smoke at ground level is thick. Cars and cat carriers are ready to go. The town just south of us is at Level 2 now.
Thank you Lavinia. I’m sorry to hear that. I have a friend near San Jose who is moving because of the fires. He says he’s had enough and he’ll live somewhere else.
I hope it doesn’t get that bad there and I hope you’ll be able to let us bloggers know how you’re doing.
Take care.
Many areas not far south of us are at now at Level 3. I’m waiting for the map at the Sheriff’s Dept to update. It is slow, must be a lot of people looking at it right now.
Yes, I would think so. I hope the fire is moving south rather than north!
Love the close-up of the chicory. Such a pretty flower.
Thank you Shannon, I agree! I’d like to have a yard full of them.
Great collection of flowers. I always enjoy your posts. Would love to see blue curls or pink Cleome.
I think your nodding bur marigold is B. cernua, since it has sessile leaves (B. tripartita should have a short, winged petiole).
Thank you Sara. I don’t see a lot of cleome but I’ll keep watch for a pink one. I just saw some white and pink ones the other day.
I’m not sure how I got the wrong species name in there for the bur marigold but of course you’re right. The flowers on the two plants look very different. I’ll have to be more careful!