Tag Archives: Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan)

Variations Of Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan)

Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan) in the south hayfield on 9-17-22, #912-24.

Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you well. I have been working on a Euphorbia post since the last one, but it is proving somewhat complicated. So, I thought I would work on an easier one for now.

Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan) on 9-17-22, #912-26.

There are Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susans) from one end of the farm to the other. You see them everywhere along highways, backroads, pastures, gardens, etc. Pretty much everyone knows what they are. For years, all the Black-Eyed Susans I have seen have been the basic orange-yellow flowers with dark brown discs (receptacles…) in the center. To be honest, I thought a Black-Eyed Susan was a Black-Eyed Susan. Once you see one, you have seen them all. Even so, I read in their descriptions they can have flowers with reddish markings on their petals and I have seen photos online but never in person.

On September 17, I went to the south hayfield to take photos of the Euphorbia nutans (Nodding Spurge) where I knew there were several colonies. Once I did that, I thought I would walk through the Black-Eyed Susans. I certainly didn’t have to look for them since 2/3 of the hayfield is covered with them. There are other wildflowers growing among them so it was no telling what I would find…

Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan) on 9-17-22, #912-25.

After I took several photos of the Euphorbia nutans, I walked about 20′ or so north and spotted something weird… Can you see the difference between the flowers on the right and left…

Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan) on 9-17-22, #912-30.

I have seen some weird things, and this was definitely one of the newest. Not exactly what I was hoping to find, but this was definitely interesting.

Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan) on 9-17-22, #912-32.

I had never seen Black-Eyed Susans with light brown receptacles… The disc “florets” are supposed to be dark purple to purplish-brown. The ray florets (petals) are also darker toward the center… I looked the plants over pretty good from top to bottom, and they are definitely Rudbeckia hirta… You never know since there are several species of Rudbeckia in Missouri. Maybe this is the Black-Eyed Susan’s idea of an albino…

I walked farther out…

Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan) on 9-17-22, #912-33.

HA!!! Would you look at that! I had often wondered if larger colonies would have more variation, and perhaps this is proof of that. Hmmm… Maybe it is from inbreeding.

Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan) on 9-17-22, #912-34.

I was glad I finally found Black-Eyed Susans with reddish color on the petals.

Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan) on 9-17-22, #912-37.

Among the whole area, there were quite a few smaller colonies here and there with these two-one petals.

Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan) on 9-17-22, #912-38.

The colonies with the reddish markings usually were mixed with flowers with two-tone petals.

I am glad I walked out into the Black-Eyed Susans and found the different flowers. I must admit I was surprised.

I will continue working on the Euphorbia post and others at the same time. I am a little behind, but I guess that’s OK.

Until next time, be safe, stay positive, always be thankful, and GET DIRTY!

 

Monday Catch Up Post… Photos From Last Week

Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you all well. You will notice right off the bat I am a day late with this post. The photos on this post were taken from the 12 through the 16th. I am going to “attempt” to write a new post each day I take photos, even if I only take photos of one plant. Ummm… I took photos every day but one last week and 44 on Sunday. So, I think what I will do with this post is kind of catch up with the highlights of the past week through the 16th. Well, maybe I will think about it and have it figured out by the end of this post.

When I was mowing last Tuesday, I spotted this tiny toad running for his life in front of the garage door. I stopped the mower and picked it up so I could move it to a safer location. Over the years I have seen many baby toads, but this one is the smallest yet.

 

Mammillaria decipiens on 6-12-19, #587-2.

The Mammillaria decipiens has even more buds now. They are probably opening by now but may be closed up by the time I take photos.

 

Zantedeschia elliottiana (Golden Calla Lily) on 6-12-19, #587-5.

The Golden Calla Lily (Zantedeschia elliottiana) is now starting to flower. It didn’t flower last year so I did something different when I replanted the bulbs this spring. I read the instructions. 🙂 You are supposed to leave the upper half of the bulb exposed. I guess it must have worked since they are starting to flower.

Driving down a street today I saw a HUGE cluster of white Calla Lilies in front of a house. They were very tall and LOADED with flowers. Since I have passed by this house nearly every day and this is the first time I saw them, I guess they are newly planted there. I couldn’t tell, but they may be in a pot.

I am looking at the photo folders for each day… I already posted about the new bed at the church and new plants, so I can skip the 13th.

 

Achillea millefolium in front of the chicken house on 6-14-19, #589-1.

The Achillea millefolium in front of the chicken house are really doing well this year. I think I already posted about them before but I wanted to do it again. I know they are just a Yarrow and you can see them all over the countryside.

 

Achillea millefolium flowers on 6-14-19, #589-2.

But, I love their flowers!

 

Alocasia ‘Calidora’ on 6-14-19, #589-3.

I’m not sure how tall this oldest Alocasia ‘Calidora’ is, but it is taller than me. I am 8′ tall, so the plant is pretty big.

 

Alocasia ‘Calidora’ on 6-14-19, #589-4.

The other two Alocasia ‘Calidora’ are looking very good, too. I gave a lot of Alocasia to Wagler’s last summer so I am down to just a few pots. Of course, this is not all of them…

 

Alocasia ‘Portora’ on 6-14-19, #589-5.

Alocasia ‘Portora’ is one of the nicest looking with their darker stems and ruffled leaves. I purchased the great grandmother of these plants from Wellspring Gardens 10 YEARS AGO! She was almost 8 feet tall when I left her behind with a friend when I moved back to Missouri in 2013. I didn’t realize I could have just cut the leaves off and brought it.

I keep forgetting I need to re-pot the Alocasia gageana AGAIN. They are behind a shed I walk by every day when I feed the chickens, where all the plants on the front and back porch used to be. Every time I walk by, I say “I need to get those girls re-potted.” I need to take their photos, too!

 

Hosta ‘Dancing Queen’ bud on 6-14-19, #589-6.

As I was looking at the plants in the shade bed, I noticed the buds on the Hosta ‘Dancing Queen’ are different than the buds on the other Hosta. Strange I never noticed that before… Isn’t it odd how we can be around something so often and not notice certain details that make them unique?

 

Hosta ‘Forbidden Fruit’ bud on 6-14-19, #589-7.

Most Hosta buds look similar to this one on Hosta ‘Forbidden Fruit’.

 

Rudbeckia hirta, left, and Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ on 6-14-19, #589-8.

Somehow I think allowing the native Rudbeckia hirta to have its way in this bed was not really a good idea. I moved the Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ to this spot from the north bed a few years ago to see how it would do in more sun. At that time, there was only one Rudbeckia hirta in the bed… Ummm… This bed is along the northeast corner of the old foundation of my grandparent’s old house. The house I moved to after my grandfather passed away in 1981. This was my first Hosta bed back then. When I moved back here in 2013, dad and I planted some rhubarb and horseradish we got from a friend, Ross Hampton, in this bed. Ross was the former foreman at Marti Poultry Farm. There were a lot of surviving old Iris along the north side of the foundation, which I didn’t put there in the 80’s, that dad was mowing over. I moved them to the corner of this bed… I had the Marigold ‘Brocade’ in this bed for a couple of years, too.

 

Sedum kamtschaticum ‘Variegatum’ on 6-14-19, #589-10.

I must admit the change in the Sedum kamtschaticum ‘Variegatum’ has been a transforming experience. We are are here to learn from our experiences and this plant has taught me a lot. When we are down and almost to the point of giving up we have to realize the power we really have and what we are really capable of. Who we really are and what we can do. We can give up, or we can choose to live! A few years ago, this plant was down to just a few stems and now it is AMAZING! It didn’t give up!

 

Sedum kamtschaticum ‘Variegatum on 6-14-19, #589-11.

One thing you might notice is the color of the flowers now. In previous posts, they were yellow… Actually, the yellow petals have fallen off and these will become seed pods. Notice the swollen clusters at the top of the photo. This is a new experience for me.

On to June Saturday, June 15…

 

Aloe maculata bud on 6-15-19, #590-2.

The Aloe maculata is very happy and is sprouting it’s first but for 2019. NICE! The Aloe maculata and I have a long history dating back to 2009 in Mississippi when a good friend brought me an offset from his grandmother’s plant. So, this is our 10th Year Anniversary along with Alocasia ‘Portora’…

Hmmm… Maybe I should do a 10th Anniversary post. I actually started blogging in 2009.

 

Malva sylvestris on 6-15-19, #590-13.

The Malva sylvestris seems to like it in this neglected spot. I have planted a few things in this area that have never taken off. I have even amended the soil with “the Good Stuff” and nothing worked. It looks like this version of the miniature Hollyhock is going to work… Hmmm… This could be a spreader if it likes it here well enough. Time will tell.

 

The south bed on 6-15-19, #590-18.

Now I have my work cut out for me… Now that the Celosia argentea var. spicata ‘Cramer’s Amazon’ seedlings are ready to transplant in their proper places. I usually put them in two rows along the wall but I may do something a little different. I’m not sure yet…

 

Possibly Rudbeckia hirta ‘Denver Daisy’ on 6-15-19, #590-14.

I’m not 100% sure, but the “missing” Rudbeckia hirta ‘Denver Daisy’ seedlings may be mostly in the yard along the bed… I will dig them up and transplant them to the bed and see what happens. It would have been nice of them to come up in the bed but… They came up much earlier last spring and were actually beginning to bud on June 3. Here it is June 15 in this photo!

 

Southeast corner bed on 6-15-19, #590-19.

I am not really happy with the looks of the southeast corner bed either. The Centaurea flowers are really neat but they are a bit sprawly. The Phlomis ‘Edward Bowles’ is still wondering why I relocated it, even though I told it why. I think it needs some fertilizer. If it doesn’t do well here, it may not return in 2020 and I have had this plant since 2013. It is nice to see the Nandina domestica (Heavenly Bamboo) flowering. The Echinacea purpurea on the left has done quite well and the flowers are beginning to open. I didn’t know the cultivar, but while I was writing captions on the photos the name ‘Magnus’ appeared in my mind. I thought, “‘Magnus’? Where did that come from?” I did a search for Echinacea ‘Magnus’ and sure enough it is a cultivar. I guess “someone” is helping me out. I guess I better listen and conclude this cultivar of Echinacea purpurea is ‘Magnus’.

I have done several things with this bed over the past three years that have worked well. I must admit, it certainly doesn’t have much PIZAZZ this year. YET… I would have bought more Angelonia ‘Perfectly Pink’ for this spot, but they were not to be found this year. You never know what will be available from one year to the next…

I think I will stop here since there are 44 photos in the next folder from Sunday, June 16… I will make another post for them then try doing a post a day. GEEZ! Once I catch up. It is Monday already but at least I didn’t take any new photos today… So, I will catch up with the next post, Sunday Photos on Tuesday. Oh, heck, it is already 12:12 AM on Tuesday.

I know I have been very bad about reading your posts for the past, ummm… Well, it has been a while. I have managed to read your new posts over the past few days and I will try to make time every day to stay caught up. I do have to make a post about an issue I am having with WordPress. I had a chat with customer service and explained the issue and he somehow got on my blog, in the reader. I copied and pasted the home page of one of the blogs I follow to show him the issue. His reply was, “That’s weird.” I told him I was thinking about writing a post about it but I wanted to see if it could be fixed before I did that. He agreed posting about it would be a good idea and said he would look into the problem further and email me what be figured out. It has been a couple of weeks and I have heard nothing and the issue still persists. SO, I will be posting about it this week. I hate to complain and I have really enjoyed using WordPress for the past 10 years.

Until next time, take care, stay positive, have fun and be thankful.

The Usual Joys & “Are You Serious?”

Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum (Elephant Garlic) on 6-9-19, #585-1.

Hello, everyone! I hope this post finds you well. It happens every year… Some perennials come up earlier than others and some you have to wonder about. Then there are the re-seeders you have to wait on to see if they are going to come up at all. You are ready to get the beds tidied up and make decisions about what you are going to do with the beds. You go plant shopping to see what is available and bring home new plants. Some plants you liked the year before aren’t available so you get to try new cultivars and new plants.

The Elephant Garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum) in the above photo is now flowering in the south bed. A great example of having your cake and eating it, too.

 

Alocasia ‘Mayan Mask’ on 6-9-19, #585-2.

A few of the older Alocasia went dormant and this Alocasia ‘Mayan Mask’ is FINALLY waking up. Two others are still thinking about it.

 

Hmmm… Last spring I bought a Siberian Bugloss, Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’. It did very well and was a beautiful plant. Once the Japanese Beetles really set in on the Chinese Elm tree and changed its environment, it started ailing. By the end of July, it was completely dead. I didn’t see anything online about this species going dormant so early, so I just contributed its demise was because of the heat and increased light. I left the label in place just in case it returned in the spring because you never know. I always say, “Just because it is dead doesn’t mean it is dead.” I have been surprised many times. Well, there is a plant coming up beside the label but there is a weed with similar leaves, which I haven’t bothered to ID. So, this is either the Bugloss returning or a weed trying to fool me… Most likely, the latter is the case. But, I am keeping an eye on it. 🙂

By the time I am finished with this post, which is likely to take several days, maybe we can tell what is really going on here.

 

Celosia argentea var. spicata ‘Cramer’s Amazon’ on 6-9-19, #585-6.

Waiting and waiting… Then all the sudden, “OH, CRAP!” Almost time to transplant the Celosia argentea var. spicata ‘Cramer’s Amazon’ and Talinum paniculatum (Jewels of Opar).

 

Talinum paniculatum (Jewels of Opar) seedlings on 6-9-19, #585-22.

It happens every spring… It seems I need to work on the south bed but I always think I have to wait for the Celosia and Jewels of Opar to come up. Last spring the Rudbeckia hirta ‘Denver Daisy’ came up in abundance from self-sown seed but barely any came up this spring. In fact, I am not so sure any did and I was beginning to wonder about the Celosia. But when they did come up, they really came up! I think I am pretty safe if I don’t even worry if they will come up and just go ahead and do whatever I want with the south bed when I am in the mood. The Celosia and Jewels of Opar will come up when they are ready and it doesn’t matter where I dig. I will still have more than enough.

 

Colocasia esculenta on 6-9-19, #585-7.

The Colocasia esculenta are finally coming up in the north bed. I didn’t post photos, but something terrible happened with the BIG rhizomes… The biggest ones had crown rot but the majority of the rhizome was OK. It just made the smaller eyes come up around the rhizomes instead of the main one from the center. Hard to explain but maybe you get the picture… It was unusual, but the small Colocasia esculenta I planted in the front of the Canna bed overwintered with leaf mulch and came up long before the rhizomes I planted… I don’t know what the Xanthosoma robustum is going to do because it sort of had the same problem only in a different way. It rotted from the bottom instead of the top. Last time I checked, the top sprout had broken off but there is some kind of activity on the remainder of the rhizome… Time will tell. The temps have been weird and the soil has remained cool and damp which they don’t like…

 

Conoclinum coelestinum ‘Aunt Inez’ on 6-9-19, #585-8.

TRIPLE GEEZ! The Conoclinum coelestinum (Blue Mist Flower) I call ‘Aunt Inez’ always comes up so late. It is a perennial or sorts but these always come up from seed. Supposedly, they are an herbaceous perennial that “spreads aggressively” by rhizomes and self-seeding. Dad got his start from Aunt Inez (his mother’s sister) many years ago. They were in a good-sized group on both sides of the steps but they have declined, which may be partly my fault. I have been panting other plants where they grow which had led to their seeds being lost or not being able to come up. It was kind of tiresome waiting for them to come up then having to move them around a bit. (GEEZ! That is like in the south bed!). Then after I get the beds planted, a few come up… I am not complaining at all, and I am thankful that at least a few have made an appearance. I have tried to relocate a few in the past, but they never return the next spring. As far as them spreading “aggressively” by rhizome, I have never had that happen and it would be a good thing if they even tried. They are a nice plant with neat flowers. The worse thing about their seedlings is that one might think they are a weed and pull them up by accident. My dad used to keep an eye on me and was quick to point them out. He would say, “that’s one of those flowers. You have to be careful not to pull them up.” 🙂

 

Echinacea purpurea (Purple Cone Flower) on 6-9-19, #585-9.

The Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower) “are” now budding. They have done very well and are getting very tall. I am so thankful I have these now! I failed to dig up a few of the Echinacea paradoxa (Yellow Coneflower) along a back road which I wanted to plant somewhere on the farm.

Grammarly thinks “are” should be “is”. I had to remind it “are” is a present and plural form of “be” and “is” the singular present form. 🙂 We are at a stalemate and it is thinking about it.

 

Heuchera ‘Obsidian’ on 6-9-19, #585-10.

The Heuchera ‘Obsidian’ is looking MUCH better now. I was beginning to wonder for a while if it would make it.

 

Hosta ‘Abiqua Drinking Gourd’ on 6-9-19, #585-11.

The very nice Hosta ‘Abiqua Drinking Gourd’ is going to bless us with its first flowers this year. It’s first!

 

Hosta ‘Blue Angel’ wannabe on 6-9-19, #585-12.

Hmmm… The Hosta ‘Blue Angel’ wannabe is getting a little bigger. It is driving me NUTS not knowing the true cultivar name. I am going to turn the label around so it can read that it says “Hosta ‘Blue Angel’.” I am sure it will tell me, “Yes, I am blue (well kind of) and I am an angel. But I am NOT Hosta ‘Blue Angel’.” 🙂

 

Hosta ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ on 6-9-19, #585-13.

The Hosta ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ definitely has no identity crisis. Its flowers are just as compact, neat and tidy as the whole clump.

 

Hosta ‘Dancing Queen’ on 6-9-13, #585-14.

The always glowing Hosta ‘Dancing Queen’ is further dazzling us with buds.

 

Hosta ‘Forbidden Fruit’ on 6-9-19, #585-15.

Hosta ‘Forbidden Fruit’ is looking especially AWESOME this year and flowering right on schedule. I took photos of the Hosta on 6-9-2018 and it didn’t have buds, but it did on the 14th. So, we are pretty much right on schedule.

 

Monarda didyma ‘Cherry Pops’ on 6-9-19, #585-16.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE! I had almost forgotten about the Monarda didyma ‘Cherry Pops’ (Bee Balm)! I saw it had sprouted a while back, but the Creeping Jenny had completely covered it it. When I was taking photos on Sunday, it said “HERE I AM! DON’T FORGET ABOUT ME!” I smelled its leaves to make sure it was really it. 🙂 I am very thankful it came up. Now, we’ll see if it flowers.

 

Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia Creeper) on 6-9-19, #585-17.

The Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is one of those “I fooled you” plants when they are very young. You can easily mistake it for a Viola and not pull it up. Sometimes their second set of leaves may even resemble Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), which fooled me for several years at this stage. I had plenty of both in Mississippi and was always getting a little rash after pulling weeds in the back yard even though I didn’t see any poison ivy where I was working. Then one day I noticed the Violets I didn’t pull had three leaves so I thought Poison Ivy started out looking like Violets. Well, that is not the case. Small Poison Ivy starts out with leaves of three while the Virginia Creeper starts out looking like Viola species. By the second or third set of leaves, you can clearly see the five-leaved Virginia Creeper.  Some people break out in a rash similar to Poison Ivy from the sap of the Virginia Creeper as well.

One interesting thing about Poison Ivy is that it is not an Ivy at all. Believe it or not, it is in the family Anacardiaceae with Cashews, Mangos, Pistachios, and many other ornamental trees that produce “fruit” that are drupes. Many of the plants in this family produce sap with urushiol which is what causes the rash. Virginia Creeper (or Woodbine) is in the family Vitaceae along with grapes. These plants produce raphides (crystals of calcium oxalate) which can also cause irritation by puncturing the skin of sensitive people. Umm… I mean people with sensitive skin.

 

Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ buds on 6-9-19, #585-19.

The Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ is starting to bud now. There will be A LOT of flowers because they really like it where the biggest patch is now.

 

Rudbeckia hirta buds on 6-9-19, #585-19.

I think buds are especially neat on some plants. Here the native Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan) buds resemble brown balls wrapped in golden-yellow petals.

 

Salvia nemorosa ‘New Dimensions Blue’ on 6-9-19, #585-20.

The Salvia nemorosa ‘New Dimensions Blue’ seems to be having some difficulty expressing itself this spring. It was like it couldn’t speak for a while and was always looking over its shoulder. Then I realized maybe it is the Elephant Garlic… The Salvia x sylvestris ‘Mainacht’ in the other end of the bed had the same difficulty until I removed the garlic next to it. This year it has gone bananananas! Maybe the smell of the garlic and the scent of the Salvia don’t mix well. Chemical reaction. LOL!

 

Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s Ears) on 6-9-19, #585-21.

The Lamb’s Ears (Stachys byzantina) are blooming once again. They seem to like this spot and I am going to attempt something… I have a plan… Top secret. 🙂

 

Vitex agnus-castus ‘Shoal Creek’ (Chaste Tree) on 6-9-19, #585-23.

The beautiful Chaste Tree, Vitex agnus-castus ‘Shoal Creek’, is looking great and starting to flower. I really like this shrub but it can be weird sometimes. It made it through the winter like a deciduous shrub instead of having to come up from the bottom like a perennial. It has been a few years since it did that. There are a few advantages to that including their stems are much stronger. Last spring it came up from the ground and next thing you know all the stems were flat as a pancake and growing horizontally because the stems were weak. I have photos to prove it. 🙂 So, I am very thankful it growing normal this year.

That’s all for this post. Until next time, be safe, stay positive, be thankful and you know the rest.

 

Wildflower Walk Part 3

Gleditsia triacanthos (Honey Locust) seed pods dangling in a tree.

Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you all doing well! The weather has dramatically changed here and not for the better. An “F” is in the forecast and even “S”! “S” in October?!?!?! I have never seen that happen before and hope I never do. I moved the plants inside last week and now I have to figure out what to do with all of them. They all have a place so now I have to get them there.

This is the last wildflower walk post. That’s a good thing because in a few days I will probably not be able to take any more wildflower photos until next spring.

The above photo is of the neighbors Honey Locust (by the northeast corner of the north hay field). There are a lot of pods on the ground and in the tree.

I found a couple of very long pods in the south hayfield but I couldn’t see the tree they came from (maybe from a tree along the trail). These trees grow pretty tall, so on a windy day, their pods can travel fairly far. I have heard a lot of talk from farmers about how they battle the Honey and Black Locust trees and their seedlings. I think there are only two or three Honey Locust here on the farm but I have never seen any seed pods on them. They are very old and tall trees with LOTS of HUGE thorns.

Well, I better get to the wildflowers, huh?

<<<<21>>>>

Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle)

The Japanese Honeysuckle still has a few flowers but nothing like earlier. This is definitely not a species to plant in your garden as they are quite invasive! Thankfully they are only present in the fence rows and along the boundary between the farm and the trail. I did see one coming up next to a tree in front of the chicken house, but I pulled it up as soon as I saw it. It is a good thing the Japanese Honeysuckle doesn’t produce many seeds. I thought I saw some in one spot but then I realized it was wrapped around its cousin with the seeds. The above photo is a little deceptive, I suppose, which I didn’t notice when I took the photo. The large leaves are NOT from the honeysuckle. They are possibly from a blackberry.

<<<<22>>>>

Lonicera maackii (Bush Honeysuckle)

Strange, but I just noticed the Lonicera maackii (Bush Honeysuckle) when I was taking these photos. I had no idea what it was but I had to ID what was growing these berries… As it turns out, they are another invasive Honeysuckle. This one doesn’t vine like its Japanese cousin but it is invasive nonetheless. I saw this one close to the southeast corner of the south hayfield and there are a few more growing farther down the side. There were, of course, Japanese Honeysuckle wrapped around its branches trying to confuse me. The Bush Honeysuckle produce flowers similar to the Japanese so that is why I didn’t notice they were a different species during the summer

<<<<Doesn’t count as a wildflower>>>>

Maclura pomifera (Osage Orange)

The Osage Orange have been really prolific this year and the fruit is HUGE. I guess you can call them fruit… Around here, we call them Hedge Trees for some reason. At least that is what was brought up calling them. Most of the old fences with old fence posts are from these trees. They never rot and are very, very hard. I still have a lot of hedge posts that have been in the ground at least since the 1960’s when grandpa built the original fences. They are STILL very solid in the ground because I think grandpa put concrete around them. The old posts have a lot of cracks in them which is where I drive in the fence staples. If it weren’t for the cracks I would never get a staple in the post.

 

I was on a forum a while back and someone posted a photo of an Osage Orange and asked if it was a walnut… Oh, I think I posted about that before. Well, I guess if you have never been around them you wouldn’t know what they are.

<<<<23>>>>

Monarda fistulosa (Bee Balm, Bergamot, Etc.)

Even though the Monarda fistulosa haven’t been flowering for a while, their old heads are still very interesting.

<<<<24>>>>

Persicaria hydropiperoides (Wild Water Pepper, Swamp Smartweed)

There are several species of Persicaria growing on the farm and it took several trips to get them properly identified. The Persicaria hydropiperoides is very similar to Persicaria punctata (Dotted Knotweed). The main difference I saw was at the joins on the stems. All Persicaria, and many other plants, have a sheath (ocrea or ochrea) that forms around the joints where a stipule also grows. A stipule is like a stem part of a leaf. Anyway, the ocrea on Persicaria species all have hairs growing from the top. The joints on Persicaria hydropiperoides are reddish brown. That coloration is farther above the joint on Persicaria punctata instead of at the joint. There may be other features that separate the two and there may be indeed Persicaria punctata growing somewhere on the farm. All the white-flowered Persicaria I checked, though, have the same features.

Persicaria really like damp areas but are also drought tolerant. The biggest colony of Persicaria (three species) is behind the chicken house under a couple of Chinese Elms. The biggest colony of Persicaria hydropiperoides is next to the pond in the back pasture. Wildflowersearch.org lists 11 species that grow in our area. I have identifies three here. Typically, most people call any of them Smartweed.

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Persicaria maculosa (Lady’s Thumb)

The Persicaria maculosa is by far the most colorful of the Persicaria crew. They not only grow in the pasture, but also in the flower bed on the north side of the house. You would be surprised how many people comment on them before the other plabnts in the bed. A friend came by a few days ago, and even though the Heliotrope had a nice, big beautiful purple flower, he commented on the Smartweed! Well, truthfully, the only reason they are still in the bed is because I have taken a liking to them as well.

 

One of the common names for the Persicaria maculosa is Lady’s Thumb. Not all them have this coloration on their leaves, but many other Persicaria species also have this pattern. I had previously identified this plant as Polygonum persicaria which is now a synonym of Persicaria maculosa.

Plants of the World Online by Kew lists 100 accepted species of Persicaria from nearly EVERY country in the world.

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Persicaria pensylvanica (Pinkweed)

There aren’t as many of the Pinkweed as the other two species in this post. They have pale pink flowers and their flowers are clustered close together as with the P. maculosa. The flowers of the Pinkweed are larger than the other Persicaria species.

There is actually a fourth species but I didn’t take any photos of it this year… It is the Persicaria virginiana (Virginia Knotweed or Jumpseed). I don’t know if you remember, but I posted about the one growing under the steps to the back porch last year. There is more than one now and I also noticed them in a few other places.

I also took photos of a Persicaria species at the park in 2013 which I identified as Persicaria attenuata. That is possibly not correct and that species is not on any wildflower plant ID websites for Missouri. Ummm… Plants of the World Online doesn’t even have it listed although version 1.1 of The Plant List says it is an accepted name. The Wikipedia also has a page for the species and says it is native to Asia and Australia… It has been five years so I don’t remember how I ID’d it as Persicaria attenuata.

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Rosa multiflora (Multiflora Rose)

This is, of course, rose hips from a Rosa multiflora (Multiflora Rose). Let me see, now… How many Multiflora Rose bushes are growing on the farm? I really don’t know and probably don’t want to know anyway. I have cut down several, pulled out a few with the tractor, mowed over them with the rotary mower, and yes, even sprayed with Roundup or something similar. No matter what, they always come back. Now, I will admit, they only are a pain in the neck where the electric fences are growing and only then when I need to replace the wire or clean out the fence row. The worse is when I need to remove the old wire and posts to mow and a post is smack in the middle of a bush. As far as I am concerned the Multiflora Rose is here to stay because it wins pretty much every argument and fight we have had.

Rose hips are very valuable and have many uses. I read where you can even eat them like a berry but the seeds have hairs inside that you need to watch out for. (I will take their word for it.) For sure, Multiflora Roses make a great hiding place for rabbits and quail. But then again, I haven’t seen any quail on the farm for many years and I don’t remember seeing any rabbits this entire summer.

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Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan)

There are only a few colonies of Rudbeckia hirta left blooming on the farm. That is, I am 95% they are Rudbeckia hirta. I have several of them growing in flower beds, besides the domesticated cultivars, but they fizzled out quite a while back. So, that makes me wonder a little.

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Solanum americanum (Black Nightshade)

Yep… This is the Black Nightshade. The name itself reminds me of the grim reaper. I saw several of these growing in the pasture behind the chicken house and really hadn’t noticed them before. So, since the flowers were very small and interesting, I just had to take a lot of photos to make sure I had a few good ones for ID. Then I found out they were Solanum americanum, the Black Nightshade. I went out a few days after that and they were completely gone… I guess the cows must have found them tasty. These plants are very poison and have many bad chemical compounds and are even poison to livestock. It is just weird how these plants disappeared… The species is very variable and has been confused with other species in some areas. The three websites I use the most all agreed from the several photos I took that this plant is indeed the Black Nightshade, Solanum americanum…

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Solidago sp. (Goldenrod)

Of course, this is a Solidago species, but which one. While there are several species of Solidago that can easily be ruled out, there are many that look so much alike. Even botanists and horticulturalists have trouble telling some of the species apart. According to the Missouri Conservation Department Field Guide, there are at least 20 species of Solidago in Missouri but their website doesn’t have separate listings. The wildflowersearch.org website does list all 20 but that website doesn’t show distinguishing features. There are links to other websites so maybe a few of them can further help to identify the species… The photo of the above plant was as tall as I am and all the flowers on the plants in this group had already turned brown or getting there.

 

There were shorter plants growing in a few other areas but that is because they had been mowed when the hay was baled. Wildflowersearch.org is a good site because it tells you how likely various species are to grow in a given area… I stopped looking after five candidates said they were 100% likely to grow here…

 

Solidago species have very complex flowers. I took several close-ups but this one was the only one that wasn’t blurry.

In a future post, I have two daisy-flowered species I want to show you. At first, I thought they were the same species but were different because some of them had been mowed off earlier. BUT, that was not the case. Two different genera and possibly more than three species…

I am still amazed at how many different species of wildflowers are present on this 38 acres. I took a few photos of plants that weren’t flowering to keep an eye on next spring and summer. I saw quite a few just walking across the south hayfield. Just think how many wildflowers are now growing along the trail in all the trees that have grown up… A few years ago I walked around in one area looking for morels and saw quite a few interesting plants including some ferns.

OK. I better stop writing so I can publish this post. Until next time… Take care, stay warm (or cool depending on where you are), stay positive, and be safe! As always… GET DIRTY!