Category: Interesting Plants

Volunteering for duty

One of the advantages of having a couple acres (and not being especially fastidious about weeding) is that sometimes you get your landscape plants for free.  I always keep an eye out for interesting plants that may turn up on their own – or a least get left behind by our bird friends.  Here are some volunteers that have shown up recently at Daisy Hill farm that I’ll work into the landscape.

 


Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) are notoriously difficult to transplant.  … Continue reading this article “Volunteering for duty”

Freaky flower flummoxer

Finally, I’ve given a quiz that’s fooled everyone!

Believe it or not, this is a foxglove flower mutation:

Often, species with irregular flower will have flower which revert to a more primitive form.  In the case of foxglove, the bilaterally symmetrical flower reverts to the ancestral radial form – a phenomenon called peloria.  Apparently foxglove floral variations are pretty common and have been reported in the literature for many decades.

Friday’s freaky flower

Having now depressed my Michigan colleague with my earlier post, here’s a little lighthearted fun for the long weekend:

This photo is from Brandi at Fine Gardening.  Can you figure out (1) what it is and (2) why it looks like this?

Monday’s photo will reveal more, and we’ll discuss the second question in more detail.

Have a great holiday – enjoy yourselves!

Quiz Plant Revealed

Ha ha  hahahaha
 *mad scientist-type cackling*

Purslane? Nyet! (but good guess).

It’s an Impatien! Specifically, Impatien repens, common names variously Ceylon Jewelweed, Golden Dragon Impatien, etc. Ours is actually pretty small – can form huge clumps and cascading torrents in warmer zones.


 
Flower is typical of many members of the genus, and they ALL have the little spur in the rear.

For more weird, wild species impatiens, visit the Cistus Nursery website (I’m pretty sure they used to sell this, but I don’t see it listed currently). … Continue reading this article “Quiz Plant Revealed”

Quiz Plant!

Ooooh, this is a good one. 

Factoids:
– Tropical, but doing well in our campus garden (Blacksburg, VA).
– Succulent stems; alternate, lima bean-shaped leaves.
– Rampant scampering.
– Very cute yellow flowers. (Hee hee, that really won’t help.)
– I hesitate to say this, ’cause it may just give it away: a couple of other members of this genus are common as mud.

Guesses, anyone? Or maybe this one’s already common as mud for you Pacific Northwesterners…
(and P-Dub, do refrain until others have had a chance 😉

I’ll post the "D’oh!"… Continue reading this article “Quiz Plant!”

A ground cover I just love

I’m a particular fan of ground covers, especially those that replace bare soil or synthetic mulches (plastics, fabrics, and the sciency-sounding “geotextiles”).  That enthusiasm is tempered, however, by those invasive species, like members of Hedera, that seem to take over the world (or at least my little corner of it).  So while logic might dictate a preference for native species, I can’t help but love Rubus hayata-koidzumii (often mislabeled as Rubus calycinoides), and commonly called creeping raspberry.… Continue reading this article “A ground cover I just love”

Hues of hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are in full bloom this time of year.  I snapped these photos yesterday of several hydrangeas, all planted along the same strip of land.  Just look at the different colors:

Why so many colors? Most of you probably know that genetics play a role, as does soil pH.  But there’s much more to it than simple soil chemistry and genes.

1. pH:  Strongly acidic soils produce blue hydrangeas, while slightly acid to slightly alkaline soils favor pink or red flowers.  … Continue reading this article “Hues of hydrangeas”

The Importance of Not Leaving Your Veg Garden Unattended for a Week in July


Small dog snout + normal-sized cucumber provided for scale.

This problem is self-explanatory and probably not at all atypical for our readers. Pattypans became UFOs; grey zucchini, footballs.  Note that it’s been very dry here in the Blue Ridge. I shudder to think what would have happened with normal rainfall.


Beans amuck! Scared the hell out of Joel when he opened the fridge. But they wouldn’t fit in the bucket!

If you haven’t tried yard-long beans, give them a shot sometime.… Continue reading this article “The Importance of Not Leaving Your Veg Garden Unattended for a Week in July”

Why do nurseries sell this plant?

I wish I were more like Holly…wandering around nurseries finding pretty and unusual annuals and perennials to get excited about.  Instead, I seem to gravitate to plants that annoy me.

Today while looking for some trellises (for those containerized Clematis vines that I’ve been torturing) I saw pots of the Equisetum hyemale (“a tall, evergreen, spreading, reed-like grass”) for sale:

 

As readers of this blog surely know, Equisetum spp. – or horsetails – are not grasses but primitive relatives of ferns. … Continue reading this article “Why do nurseries sell this plant?”

Lamb’s Ears Revisited

A bit more on my recent travels to the big floriculture conference in Columbus, Ohio.  I always try to make it out to the Chadwick Arboretum & Learning Gardens, on the campus of THE Ohio State University. There are several components, including trials, a large arboretum, and several small gardens.  My favorite is the Steven Still Perennial Garden. It’s a lovely mixed garden, designed by Adrian Bloom (Blooms of Bressingham), and was installed in ONE DAY by their garden volunteers – 2005, I think.… Continue reading this article “Lamb’s Ears Revisited”