This plant is diminutive and has the smallest flowers possible (1/8th of an inch if even that). This is an upright, clumping winter annual that produces small purple, blue or whitish flowers in the spring. The lower portion of the plant has leaves that are round-to-oblong, while the leaves on the flowering upper branches are […]
Archive for May, 2011
From the invasives dossier: Veronica arvensis (corn speedwell)
Posted in Flora, Invasive, Plant bio on May 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Lupinus polyphyllus (common lupine)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Plant bio on May 24, 2011 | 2 Comments »
This is my second attempt at growing lupines. I had these in the woodland garden last year, and they looked spectacular in early summer. Then it got warm and dry, and it stayed that way. The lupines withered and did not come back this year. I’m not sure if it was just the atypical heat […]
From the non-native dossier: Chelidonium majus (celandine)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Invasive, Plant bio on May 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Celandine is native to Europe and Western Asia, but it has been present in North America for almost 400 years, as it hitched a ride with the earliest European settlers. Back in those days the plant was used as a yellow dye (if you break a stem you will see the yellow sap), and it […]
Silene caroliniana (wild pink)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on May 23, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Wild pink puts out quarter-size pink flowers, almost overnight. Two days ago there were some buds, then one flower, and now the whole plant is on fire. The plant is native to the east coast from New Hampshire to Florida. The plant likes it dryer and sunnier so I have it in the unshaded part […]
A moment in a bug’s life
Posted in Fauna, Interesting on May 23, 2011 | 1 Comment »
I don’t know much about wasps, and had to do some research to find out I was dealing with a paper wasp. The one in the picture is the European paper wasp (Polistes dominulus), and it is trying to make a home on my dwelling. This wasp is not something the cape old timers would […]
Polygonatum biflorum (solomon’s seal)
Posted in Edible, Flora, Plant bio, Tips on May 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
For many years, I admired these plants at a friend’s house on the cape. They were the only species in a 3 by 20 feet border alongside the wall, and they looked magnificent. When my friend got sick of these plants 2 years ago, opting for more colorful bloomers, I took the opportunity to take […]
Phlox stolonifera (creeping phlox)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on May 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This is a very successful groundcover in my woodland garden. I started off with two plants two years ago, and they have gradually covered an area of 6 by 6 feet. The pink flowers reach up to the sky on top of 5 to 6 inch stems, so there is some elevation and structure to […]
Assessment time
Posted in Edible, Rants & Raves, Recipe on May 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Well, I am not really assessing anything – I only wanted to highlight the fact that I am taking a break today from yard and garden work. Not that the garden is not assessment-worthy: There have been some accomplishments and early successes: The woodland garden in front of the house holds pretty much all the […]
Actaea pachypoda (white baneberry)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Plant bio on May 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
White baneberry is in full flowering mode right now. However, the fruit is the interesting part of this plant: Actaea pachypoda is also known as doll’s eyes, and the fruit looks like a collection of those mounted on a red colored frame. White baneberry is a definite shade plant, and likes sufficient moisture. However, drainage […]
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Posted in Edible, Flora, Interesting, Plant bio, Tips on May 19, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I have a few of these members of the Dryopteridaceae family in my woodland garden, among sessile bellwort and framing some oak and rhododendron. The plants have only been there for a year, and I’ve only seen the sterile fronds of this fern. The fern is also called bead fern because the fertile fronds that […]