Stellaria media (Common Chickweed)

Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you well. This was supposed to be a Six On Saturday post but it turned out to be an Eleven On Sunday. Here it is November 29 and another year is almost gone. Most of the perennials have gone dormant while a few are still not quite ready. A few Fall wildflowers are now growing as well. Saturday, when I took these photos, was nice and sunny at 54° F but I am afraid it isn’t going to stay that way. Sunday the high will be 48° with a low of 25 but Monday… A high of 39 with a low of 18° F. Hmmm… IN NOVEMBER! I have to put a sticky note on my computer to remind me to cover the Phlomis… OH, yeah, the Phlomis…

I walked around the house to see what I could find. As I mentioned, some of the wildflowers that come up in the fall are up and running…

The above photo is one I am not sure how many would call a wildflower. Chickweed (Stellaria media) is NORMALLY a pain in the neck but it is OK growing in the beds over the winter. But you know what? I must be getting senile because it normally comes up in the spring. I suppose it has always come up in the Fall and I just really never paid much attention to it. You have to admit it does look nice and green. 🙂

I walked around the house and didn’t see anything too interesting to photograph. The Celosia argentea (var. spicata) ‘Cramer’s Amazon’ went completely wild this summer and is now dead. I didn’t have time to thin the thousands of seedlings when they came up this spring so they just took over the south bed. If much of anything else survived I will be surprised.

Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum (Elephant Garlic).

Of course, the Elephant Garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum) survived and is growing nicely in several areas in the south bed. This is great stuff!

Phlomis ‘Edward Bowles’.

The Phlomis ‘Edward Bowles’ (Jerusalem Sage) has been weird since I moved it from the southwest corner bed to the southeast corner bed. It has NOT been its robust self which I don’t quite understand. I am finding out it is more cold tolerant than I thought because I haven’t covered it all fall and we have had several “F’s”. Don’t make me say that word… It hasn’t flowered for several years but I like it anyway because of its HUGE, somewhat fuzzy leaves. Well, it hasn’t had HUGE, fuzzy leaves since I moved it either. Maybe if I don’t baby this winter it will get with the program in 2021. Well, that won’t happen because after I cover it on Monday with the big pot next to it I am likely to forget to remove it. OH, I guess the sticky note will remind me to uncover it as well. 🙂

Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s Ears).

I was kind of surprised to see the Lamb’s Ears (Stachys byzantina) still growing. It died last summer then amazingly came up a couple of feet from where it was. Here is, all green and fuzzy and hanging in there.

Malva sylvestris (Meadow Mallow)

HMMMM… I found this plant at Wagler’s, I think in 2018, that was unlabeled and not flowering. It looked like a Hollyhock in a way, but it reminded me more of the plants that were growing in the bed at church. You know, Malva sylvestris…. Anyway, Mrs. Wagler said it was a miniature Hollyhock. So, when I got home, I looked up Miniature Hollyhock online and it was NOT what was in the pot. At least, I hoped not. Luckily, once they flowered it did turn out to be Malva sylvestris. Since it wasn’t labeled, I don’t know for sure but their flowers look similar to the cultivar ‘Zebrina’. A week or so after it started flowering, I was walking around taking photos and the plant had been shredded by some kind of caterpillars. I know that’s what did it because some were still on the plant’s stems. There were no leaves left. Well, it completely died… Amazingly, they came back up again in the spring from seed but once again they disappeared. When I was taking photos on Saturday, low and behold, there was this clump with flowers…

Lamium purpureum (Dead Nettle)

The Lamium purpureum (Dead Nettle) by the back porch has been enjoying the spring-like days. I am not 100% sure this is Lamium purpureum since a few Lamium amplexicaule (Henbit) grow in this area, too. 95% sure… 🙂

Malva neglecta (Common Mallow).

The native Malva neglecta (Common Mallow) that grows along the east side of the house (especially around the AC) is still growing a little and flowering. I just let them grow here because not much else will. It is an area with fill dirt and just not a place I can decide what to do with. Yeah, one of “those spots”. It’s like an itch I can’t reach…

Then I went to the other yard…

Cylindropuntia imbricata (Tree Cholla)

The Tree Cholla (Cylindropuntia imbricata) looked a little hungover when I took this photo. I think it is worn out from guarding its territory from the invading Sedum spurium ‘John Creech’. Excuse me, I mean Phediumis spurius ‘John Creech’… I think it is contemplating putting up a border wall… 🙂

Then to the chicken house…

Equisetum hyemale (Horsetail)

OH MY GOODNESS! I did something wrong a few years ago when I let the Horsetail Equisetum hyemale) out of their pot. I dug a few of these plants out of a yard when I lived in Mississippi and kept them in a pot while I was there. Even after I came back here I left them in the pot until 2014 when I got the brilliant idea to plant them in front of the chicken house. I knew what could happen, but honestly, I never saw this plant where it has been allowed to do its thing. If I had, I may have left them in the yard I took them or at least left them in pots. I admit I think the Horsetail is a great plant and I am happy to have it here because I do think it looks neat. The area in front of the chicken house is somewhat of a problem area and they grow great here. The biggest problem is that they are coming up as far as 20′ away… Equisetum is the single surviving genus of a class of primitive vascular plants that dates back to the mid-Devonian period (350 + million years ago).

Achillea millefolium (Yarrow) next to the chicken house.

I love Yarrow but I haven’t found its sweet spot here. A friend of mine in Mississippi gave me the start of this old Achillea millefolium cultivar from a HUGE colony in her back yard. She yanked them up by the handfuls like she was really eager to get rid of some. They grow like mad down there in the south, but not so here because I have neem somewhat reluctant to let them have their way. I think they know that because they always creep their way to a sunnier spot. It has really been fun to watch them do this and I am sure if they could they would just pick up and move. One clump has actually adapted to the shade in the north bed but it sends rhizomes out 3-4 feet away. The clump by the chicken house is moving around the corner to get more sun and is finding the Chinese Elm very annoying. They have a nice surge of growth late in the summer and through the Fall and it isn’t until it gets very cold that they completely disappear. Once spring gets close, they start sending up leaves to see if the coast is clear.

Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’.

This spring took several Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ and Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower) to the church instead of going to the greenhouse to buy more plants. The Veronica and Dracaena came up from last year so they didn’t have to be replaced. For some reason, the Rudbeckia in the right side of the bed is still flowering but on the left side they aren’t. The bed here hasn’t been flowering for a very long time either… Nature is a wonderful mystery sometimes.

I think I am finished with this post. I have no idea what I will write about next… I do know I need to do a lot of updating on the pages. I am sure there are several name changes I have to update.

I have a question… I write about a photo (under the photo) and I always add a space between what I wrote and the next photo. Lately, I have not been adding a space. Does it still make sense or do you like the separation between the words and the next photo better?

So, what do you want me to post about? Politics. LOL!!!!!! Religion? I don’t think either would be a good idea.

OK, now I am finished. Until next time, be safe, stay well, and stay positive.