#White Bushclover

[faguscarolinensis]

Lespedeza thunbergii f. alba / White Bushclover at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

My Garden Flowers Part 4

All photos mine. The Pennsylvania pellitory is edited for because the plant app I took the photo in washed it out. The scarlet bee balm is edited for colour because that old phone's camera sucked.

In order of appearance:

091. Pennsylvania Pellitory (Parietaria pensylvanica) A common garden weed, but as it's native it can stay in some places.

092. Perennial Flax (Linum perenne) In spite of the name she sadly didn't come back or reseed. Shame because she looked really nice in that area. Oh well. I'll have to try in another spot.

093. Showy Tick-Trefoil (Desmodium canadense) She tricked me! I thought she hadn't made it as she hadn't come up by late June so I got another one and put her in a different area...only for this one to come up. And if you're thinking, oh, she's just a late bloomer, I should have waited, well, she came up in May this year. Because of course she did.

094. Virginia Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginiana) She smells like something you'd want to season steak or something with and would probably do very well at that but I've never cooked a steak before. Maybe I'll try her in pesto some day.

095. Devil's Tongue (Opuntia humifusa) She flowered for the first time last year and is flowering again this year!

096. Fragile Prickly Pear (Opuntia fragilis) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet. She's still quite little. I might break off a piece of her to try growing in that really tough spot. If she can survive summer to winter in a pot, surely that area shouldn't be too harsh for her.

097. Thrift Seapink (Armeria maritima) She's tough enough to survive winter in a pot and did so for three years, but last winter was apparently too much for her. Again, I think it was just too dry. She was pretty much only happy there in the spring and fall, though, so maybe it's just as well. The new one I planted elsewhere seems happy in all seasons.

098-099. Lance-Leaved Tickseed (Coreopsis lanceolata) Usually only the cultivars have those red markings! I'm assuming there's been some cross-pollination with other gardens because I did not plant that. My tickseeds are all straight amber. Unless she independently produced the colour on her own as a sport. Interestingly enough, none of them are showing that colouration this year.

100. White Sagewort (Artemisia ludoviciana) I wasn't actually supposed to have this one. I'd ordered the less aggressive A. frigida, but oh well. Maybe she'll attract American lady butterflies some year. Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet. She smells like something you'd use to season stuffing.

101. Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium) After several attempts in different areas, trying my hardest to follow what the information online said she would need, but somehow failing, this one at last seems to be doing fine.

102. Dotted St. John's Wort (Hypericum punctata) I didn't plant that. Either a gift of the wildlife or a dormant seed came to life when I removed the grass.

103. Roundhead Bushclover (Lespedeza capitata) Another one I've had several attempts with, but she seems to like it there.

104. Curlycup Gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa) Flowered nicely that year and I thought she didn't reseed because she didn't come up last year but there is a plant this year! It's good to remember that seeds can lie dormant for some time. :)

105. Upright Prairie Coneflower "Mexican Hat" (Ratibida columnifera) This is a cultivar and has since passed away during the winter.

106. Rocky Mountains Bee Plant (Cleomella serrulata) She reseeded for several years but apparently not this one. Hopefully they're just skipping a year and will come up next spring. If not I'll have to attempt a different area. Anyway, pretty much the whole plant is edible with preparation, and lots of insects love the flowers.

107. Spotted Horsemint (Monarda punctata) Beloved of many insects. Sometimes I just like to sit next to her and watch the activity.

108. Wild Black Sweet Tomato (Solanum ptychanthum) She began as a weed on this property, but not anymore. She is a welcome part of my native garden with her wonderful fruits in the summer.

109. Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) The wild type this time, but no evidence of reseeding this year. :(

110. Alpine Rock Cress (Arabis alpina) She flowers in April before most trees have even blossomed.

111. Field Chickweed (Cerastium arvense) By the time I got to plant her in the fall some years ago, I was sure she'd die over the winter. She didn't but struggled through the warm months. But she managed to bounce back the following spring and makes a nice little carpet now.

112. Yellow Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

113. Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) Finally decided to flower this year! She is the only orange species of milkweed native this far north.

114. Upright Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida columnifera) The wild type. Didn't like that spot in the winter either, so I'm trying a different area this year.

115. Fringed Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum ciliolatum) Not the most colourful or compact, but makes a nice spray of pale blue violet over her dark green foliage.

116. Bluestem Goldenrod (Solidago caesia) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet, but she's likely to this year.

117. Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) She's been on the property long before I got here. Not pictured as I haven't gotten any pictures yet since she is very tall.

118. Field Pussytoes (Antennaria neglecta) Compact and low-growing foliage create a mat, with these delicate stems poking out with what looks like kitten toes that pass for the plant's flower.

119. Aster (Symphyotrichum) I don't know what she is yet, but she decided to take up residence with my pussytoes and I guess that's okay. Haven't gotten pictures of the flowers yet.

120. Dotted Blazing Star (Liatris punctata) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

[twistedthistlehomestead]

I walk around our property looking at the different “weeds” growing. I’m new to learning about herbalism so I use an app to find out what a lot of things are. But I also do research to make sure the app is telling me correctly.

These are some of the plants that the app says we have here:

Thistle

Curly Dock

Carolina Geranium

Hairy Buttercup

Spiny Sowthistle

Common Vetch

Lesser Swinecress

Horse weed

Pennsylvania Everlasting

Chinese Bushclover

Groundseltree

Japanese Honeysuckle

Sticky Chickweed

Prickly Lettuce

Tiny Bluet

Corn Salad

Birdeye Speedwell

Wild Garlic

Purple Dead-nettle

Dandelion

Creeping Buttercup

Henbit Deadnettle

Roundleaf Greenbrier

Evening Primrose

Blue Mistflower

Purple False Foxglove

Broomsedge Bluestem

Wrinkledleaf Goldenrod

Pasture Thistle

Virginia Creeper

Trumpet Vine

White Heath Aster

White Clover

Large leaf Pennywort

American Pokeweed

Dogfennel

But it seems like every day there’s something new popping up.

[niagara-heartly]

「君ゆくとその夕暮れに二人して柱にそめし白萩の歌」与謝野晶子 萩の花は秋に咲くというイメージがあったけど、もう咲いているんだな。 ”A poetry of white bush clover carved in a pillar by us at dusk you go” Akiko Yosano There was an image that bush clover flower blooms in autumn, but it is already in bloom. -・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・-・- #WhiteBushClover #BushClover #WhiteHagi #Hagi #Lespedeza #Flower #AkikoYosano #Midaregami #RainySeason #June #シラハギ #白萩 #シロバナハギ #白花萩 #萩 #ハギ #花 #与謝野晶子 #みだれ髪 #梅雨

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

Planted my new arrivals, staked my sunflowers, asters, and white sage so they stop growing into the sidewalk or over top of other plants that would also like to have sun in that area, thank you very much! Also among my arrivals is yet another sunflower species, but you don’t understand! I needed it! It’s Helianthus annuus! The one with the seeds, and it’s not a cultivar, it’s just the regular form! *ahem* Anyway, the rocky mountains bee plant, white sage, fringed aster, and northeastern black cherry tomato should give it a run for its money in that area. And it’s an annual, so each plant in the spring is new, it doesn’t spread by rhizome like the perennial sunflowers do.

Watered my whole garden, which I can do now because I have use of my hose, and inundated my wet plant areas, which allows them to not just survive but thrive. There’s a robin that comes around now to grab the worms that come up when I do this. Earth worms are not good for native North American plants, so it’s a symbiotic relationship, and I’m pretty sure the robin thinks I’m intentionally making the worms come up for her. She keeps looking at me expectantly every day. lol

After losing the only two arctic raspberries that popped up in the spring, I am trying new plants in a different area. Fingers crossed or else I will find it’s just not meant to be. Also got replacement dwarf fireweeds after some animal or other dug the other up and killed them. Sometimes you just have to keep trying. Like with my wood lilies. First two attempts failed before the third finally stuck. In fact this year I’m on my third attempt with (regular) fireweed, tufted hair grass, early blue violet, and upright prairie coneflower, and on my second attempt with several others. My roundheaded bushclover is doing fine in its second year after two failed attempts to grow it in previous years. So I’ll have hope that this year’s the year for them. Sadly my mountain blue-eyed grass did not thrive and eventually died. Haven’t been able to find a replacement yet, but I have a different area in mind for when I do and hopefully that will be the place for it.

I collected some beans from my rocky mountains bee plants and some pods from my swamp milkweed. Then I got tired (because it’s been very warm today) and just chilled on the grass watching the insect activity on my flowers. Tomorrow I’m going to gather some greens from my garden and go to the ravines for some more milkweed pods. I will then cook them with the shrimp I found in my freezer.