More Early September Flowers
September 16, 2020 by New Hampshire Garden Solutions
New England asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) continue to bloom heavily in spite of the drought. This plant was growing in a dried up streambed and was doing well. Something I’ve learned about them over the years is that they’ll grow and bloom in shade, as this one was.
A New England aster flower is made up of many petal like ray flowers around the outer perimeter and disc flowers in the center. The disc flowers are sometimes called tube flowers because of their shape. At about an inch across they are the largest flower heads found on any of our asters but this year I’ve noticed they’re a bit smaller, probably due to stress from the drought. The Native American word for this plant is said to have meant “It brings the fall.” They used the plant medicinally to relieve many ailments, including pain and fever.
Brown knapweed (Centaurea jacea) has grown back and is blooming again after being mowed down. This European plant, according to the U.S. Forest Service, is a “highly invasive weed that is capable of forming large infestations under favorable conditions.” The large infestations crowd out native plants including those used for forage on pasture lands, so it is not well liked by ranchers. The brown bracts below the flower are what give the plant its common name.
I’ve always thought that knapweed flowers were very beautiful. Here the plant is planted intentionally along with other invasives like crown vetch to stabilize hillsides. I’m not sure how we can complain about a plant being invasive when we are planting it along our roadsides.
And here was crown vetch (Securigera varia) growing right along with the knapweed. Some flowers seem to have a little extra spark of life that makes me want to kneel before them and get to know them a little better, and one of those is crown vetch. It’s very beautiful.
Black eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) are still blossoming but not as they usually do. I didn’t think anything could bother such a tough plant but apparently they do not like dryness. Theses examples grew in the shade and didn’t look quite as ragged as many I’ve seen. The Native American Chippewa tribe used this plant to treat snakebite and colds. The roots were used to rid the body of worms.
I saw this plant in a local garden and I wasn’t sure what to say about it. Though the flowers reminded me somewhat of a black eyed Susan the petals seemed strangely tubular. Luckily it was easy to find online. It is indeed a black eyed Susan called “Henry Eilers.” I’ve read that it is a “standout among black eyed Susans,” and I would guess that would be true.
Datura (Datura stramonium) is in the nightshade family and all parts of the plant are toxic to humans and livestock. Taken in small enough doses the plant is hallucinogenic, as British soldiers found out when they included Jimsonweed leaves in salad in Jamestown, Virginia in 1676. They were high for 11 days and had to be penned up to prevent them from hurting themselves. When the symptoms wore off they remembered nothing. You can read about the incident by clicking here. I can’t say that it sounds like a good time.
Datura has many common names, one of which is thorn apple. The unripe seed pod in this photo shows how that name came about.
Bog asters (Oclemena nemoralis) grew in standing water at the shoreline of a local pond. The small, sword shaped leaves had no stems (petioles) and each unbranched stem grew to about a foot tall with a single, light purple flower at its tip.
Because bog asters usually grows in thickets in wet, swampy areas many people never see them. They grow all around the shore of this pond in great numbers but this is the only place I’ve ever seen them. Each flower is about half the size of a New England aster.
Dandelions always warn me that the weather is going to turn cooler because they don’t like hot weather. I didn’t realize it until I started watching them closely for this blog but they bloom heavily in spring and then disappear in the hottest months, and then re-appear when it cools off in the fall. This is one of the first I’ve seen since June.
As flowers go Canada horseweed (Conyza canadensis) isn’t much to look at. The flowers are tiny and seem to stay closed more than they do open. This club shaped plant can be easily seen from a distance because it starts branching at about a foot or so down from the tip of the tall, 3 foot stem and always looks top heavy. This plant is a North American native but is considered a noxious weed over much of the world. Legend has it that dried horseweed stem is one of the best materials for a drill when making fire with friction. Its stems are weak, so rubbing it between your hands rather than using a bow is recommended. It is said to produce a glowing coal with very little effort.
You’d never know it by looking at the tiny flowers but horseweed is in the aster family. Each flower is smaller in diameter than a pencil eraser and it’s hard to catch them in bloom.
What I believe were smooth blue asters (Aster laevis) grew on a roadside. These small plants were most likely second growth because the roadside had been mowed, so it’s hard to tell what their maximum height would be but the blue green foliage, lack of hairs on the leaves and stems, smallish 1 inch flowers, and lack of leaf petioles all point to the smooth blue aster. Also, the plants grow as a single stalk for part of their height before branching, and that’s another identifying characteristic. What bothers me about saying definitely that is what they are however, is my color finding software. In this flower it sees blue and purple…
…and in this flower it sees purple. I know that flowers can be called blue when they’re really purple, like blue vervain for instance, but I’d like to see these plants again next year to be sure, preferably before they’ve been mowed.
I’m waiting for the darker purple asters to appear but so far all I’ve seen is this one in a garden. They’re my favorite colors for an aster but they aren’t as common as the lighter colors.
I like this cosmos with frosted edges I saw in a garden.
White rattlesnake root (Prenanthes alba) still blooms, and is having the best year that I can remember. It must like dryness. I can’t think of another plant that has small, drooping white, lily like blossoms at this time of year. The half inch flowers appear in clusters at the end of branched stems that can reach 5 or 6 feet in some cases, and have forked stamens that are longer than the petals, as these examples show. The plant gets its common name from the Native American belief that it could cure rattlesnake bites.
There is white rattlesnake root and then there is white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima,) and of the two snakeroot is the one to be careful with. This plant is very toxic because of a compound called tremetol, which is passed from the plant to cows that graze on it. These days dairymen mix the milk from many cows and make sure this and other toxic plants are removed from their pastures so there is little chance of the plant having any real impact, but in days past if humans drank the milk or ate the meat of cows that had eaten this plant they could come down with what was once called “milk sickness.” The sickness caused heart or liver failure and Abraham Lincoln’s mother is believed to have died from it.
Though its flowers resemble those of boneset, which flowers at the same time, white snakeroot’s large heart shaped, toothed leaves look nothing like boneset leaves. All parts of the plant are toxic to cattle, horses, sheep, and humans.
A sunflower turned its back to the sun. According to an article on National Public Radio scientists have found that once sunflowers mature they stop following the sun and face east. When young they greet the sunrise in the east and then as the day progresses they follow it to the west until it sets. During the night time they slowly turn back to the east to again to wait for the next sunrise. They do this through a process called heliotropism, which scientists say can be explained by circadian rhythms, a 24 hour internal clock that humans also have. The plant actually turns itself by having different sides of its stem elongate at different times. Growth rates on the east side of the stem are high during the day and low at night. On the west side of the stem the growth rate is high at night and low during the day, and the differing growth rates turn the plant. Since this one was not facing into the sun I’d say it has matured.
Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty, if only we have the eyes to see them. ~John Ruskin
Thanks for stopping in.
Posted in Nature, Wildflowers | Tagged Black Eyed Susan, Bog Asters, Brown Knapweed, Canon SX40 HS, Cosmos, Crown Vetch, Dandelion Blossom, Datura, Hancock New Hampshire, Horseweed, Keene, Native Plants, Nature, New England Asters, New Hampshire, NH, Olympus Stylus TG-870, Smooth Blue Aster, Summer Wildflowers, Sunflower, Swanzey New Hampshire, Tall White Rattlesnake Root, White Snakeroot | 10 Comments
I thought I recognised the Canada Horseweed so looked up the Latin name and found Canadian Fleabane! It is everywhere here, though I don’t remember seeing it at all more than four years ago. I found a small plant in our garden the year before last, growing between paving slabs and pulled it up before it sent its seeds over the garden.
I am sorry to read you are still suffering drought. We, in the East of England have had less rain than we would like and the soil is like dust but as yet, we aren’t in drought conditions.
My husband has grown sunflowers this year for the first time in ages. They are not as tall as they should be but that again is probably due to lack of water.
Thank you Clare. We have horse weed everywhere here now too but I haven’t heard of it being a garden pest. Since I haven’t really been a gardener for several years though, that doesn’t mean much. I wonder how it got there?
I went to the river the other day and found that we’re in real trouble with this drought. I’ve never seen the water so low. I hope we’ll both see some beneficial rain soon!
I’ve also noticed that a lot of plants are stunted and have smaller flowers this year, so I’m not surprised by what you say about the sunflowers. I’d bet they’re still pretty though!
I have no idea how the horse weed got into our garden and thankfully I haven’t seen it since. Yes, the sunflowers have been so bright and beautiful but are now going to seed, which will please the birds!
A lot of our sunflowers are facing east so I was interested to read what you say about them. Thank you.
You’re welcome. I’m guessing that they should be producing seed.
Loved the quote and also enjoyed the name and the flower of White Rattlesnake Root. You are so clever to know the names of such an enormous variety of plants!
Thank you Susan. I’ve known them for quite a long time!
Aha! I’d wondered why my sunflowers had stopped following the sun! Now I know, thanks! I have some chocolate eupatorium (purple heart shaped leaves, white flowers) and what I thought was boneset, but the leaves are wrong. So now I’m wondering what I do have. I’ve lost the tag (as well as my memory) so the only thing I’m sure of is that it’s quite lovely and in full bloom, heh heh. The self-seeding cosmos never made it to the bloom stage this year, darn it. The one you show is so pretty! Overall a strange growing year, huh?
You’re welcome Ginny.
Your chocolate eupatorium is closely related to Joe Pye weed, but so is boneset. Some websites call it Joe Pye weed in fact but native Joe Pye weed has purple flowers. I know what you mean about memory!
It has been a strange year, even more so if cosmos didn’t grow from seed!
We really need some rain. I think they said we’re about 9″ down now.
Loved the information about the sunflower. I had not heard that before. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing it. Makes me want to plant sunflowers and watch them grow.