Tag: prairie

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10/12/2023 from home

Three stalls of liatris leaning against other plants and a green plastic pot. They are covered about half in purple flowers.
Liatris punctata var mucronata from home is finally in peak flower! It’s a bit horizontal because it’s near Briar’s favorite laying spot. Oops.
Small white asters on a scraggly-leaves branch
The heath asters aren’t as full as the local wild ones yet but they’ve started. This one hitched along with the liatris from home.
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09/27/2023 rain refresh

The Salvia azurea from Missouri Wildflower Nursery had a second flush of blooms after the recent rain. The plant from TX did too. My young OK seed source plant is starting to bud but it’s still in a pot so not as big. Hopefully with three individuals now we’ll see some self-seeding!
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07/28/2023 surprise yellow flowers

I had assumed these tall plants were Gaura longifolia but they turned out to be Oenethera rhombipetala, four-point primrose! I did put seed out last winter. There are multiple plants! They are supposed to be self incompatible so hopefully they can reseed. (A few years ago I had just one plant come up and it didn’t reseed for that reason. This is from
new seeds.). I think they must bloom sometime after midnight but before 5am (my range of dog taking out times) because seed pods keep forming yet I only see spent flowers.
07/28 a flower done blooming was missing two petals.
07/28. The leaves.
A mystery plant in a small pot has turned out to be Ludwigia alternifolia! I collected the seeds locally because of its intriguing square seed pods. We have since planted the 4-5 plants near a rain barrel and a swamp milkweed plant, as it likes occasional moisture. The habitat I got it from was a dry wash leading to a lake, so I think it is pretty flexible in that requirement, but a wash definitely collects together more moisture than a flat open area. I believe Mom said she’s seen it in similar places. Happily, it is a perennial.

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09/16/2023 nice out

Long waving stalks of Lizardtail gaura’s tiny flowers and seeds reach across a bright blue sky with a few wispy white clouds. Wild sunflowers are blooming in the lower part of the frame.
I hope the Lizardtail gaura is firmly established after this year. There are multiple plants flowering and going to seed in several places around the yard. Wild annual sunflowers blooming in the background.
Clusters of light purple composite flowers are framed by green leaves in the background.
Blue mistflower is blooming! Before I took the picture it had a bee fly and several tiny bees on it but they did not like my camera phone coming up close.
The long flower stalk of an obedient plant has a few pale lavender-pink petaled buds forming near the base.
The fall obedient plants from a coworker are considering blooming. I put several around the yard and this one by the friendly moisture of the bird bath is doing best.
The red petals of a Texas mallow delicately enfold the long red and yellow reproductive parts emerging from the flower. The almost heart shaped fuzzy leaves are all around the plant stem.
The Texas mallow has been blooming regularly in the dry shade. Paula saw a hummingbird feeding at one a few weeks ago.
Stalks of goldenrod are 2-4 feet tall in the shade and topped with opening tiny yellow flowers in long clusters.
My Canada goldenrod from Abby is doing well and just started to bloom!