Tag: wildflowers

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06/11/2023 exciting backyard business

A second Ohio spiderwort is blooming!
The prairie parsley appears to be developing seeds in spite of only one plant blooming. Hopefully they are fertile (they certainly look nice and plump?) and we can have more sprouting since this is a biennial!
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06/11/2023 roots

Unless you’re taking a herbarium specimen or moving stuff in the garden, we often don’t see how deep some native plant roots are. Today I helped two friends rescue plants from a remnant prairie that is about to be dozed and built on. (We dug with permission.)

A Winecup had the taproot I’ve read about but it was concentrated near the surface. This seems likely to live.
I figured this big milkweed has a very deep root so we didn’t try it.
Briar sat in the shade of encroaching cedar trees and helped check the reference book.
A cute hopper insect!
The Pediomelium/Psoralea type legume had a long thin root. The end broke so we shall see if it lives.
Scarlet pea had a very long root. Again we’ll see how it grows!

Spiderworts, native perennial dayflower, an all yellow Gaillardia, fleabane, western horse nettle, and Heterotheca (I think?) all came up easily with a sharpshooter shovel. Little bluestem has very deep roots but I think they are supposed to be okay to divide. Fern acacia (I think??) had a longer root (over a foot for a 6” tall plant) that may have broken.

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06/06/2023 more flowering!

One of the cushaw squashes I put by the compost pile has sprouted! I am very curious to see what it does without watering.
Paula put out our Wise Co TX source Datura wrightii. The one in the back in the shade was from central TX.
The ‘Tango’ Agastache aurantica hybrid is blooming!
Echinacea purpurea in the backyard is mostly open now!
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06/04/2023 horsemint!!! et al

There are two horsemint plants blooming and budding their pink towers in the backyard!
A lone Rudbeckia amplexicaulis is attempting a flower.
Pima Club wheat has seeds!!
One marigold has started in the front yard!
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05/29/2023 blooming!

A plantain flowering in the tiered cactus planter. This one was in the soil from Jeanne’s spike-moss.
The Hedeoma is blooming in the planter too!
Paula noticed this sneaky Prairie Coneflower blooming!
Some sunflowers near Leon’s blackberries have wavy edged leaves. We are hoping they might be Helianthus petiolaris.
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05/13/2023 backyard checkup

Briar grazes in the prairie. Around her you can see the bloom of a prairie parsley and many showy evening primroses.
After her grazing, Briar laid down, right on top of one of the Oklahoma penstemon rosettes I’m pretty sure.
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05/07/2023 gumweed comparison

We walked Briar at Ruby Grant park today and saw what baby gumweeds (Grindelia) look like.
This confirms that we do have some growing at home. These park ones were not sticky, which is why we were dubious about the home ones.
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05/04/2023 big long soaking rain

We got 2.75” in less than 24 hours!
Missouri Fluttermill primrose baby survived pouring rain even under the rain barrel!
Left seedling is Winecup and upper right seedling is Astragalus crassicarpus!
Two possible yuccas in the green section.
Not a milkweed
Not a milkweed?
Maybe a milkweed
Known milkweed (probably viridiflora)
The skinny adult leaves of known milkweed. New book The Gardener’s Guide to Prairie Plants by Diboll and Cox mentions many milkweeds first adult leaves are skinny even if the eventual adult leaves are broad. Either that or I got the species wrong.
One of two Blackfoot daisy survived earwigs and is now growing flower buds and a few new leaves!
Perennial coreopsis begins!
Briar was pretty miffed it rained HARD most of the day. So before our walk she curled up in disgust right on my big Liatris mucronata from home. Thanks.

The Mexican Sage from Judy is up!
A sedge?
Partridge pea
Oldplainsman
Mystery
Caliche planter babies
The tomatoes have gotten a bit sunburnt from past rain with sunlight after, so this time I flicked water off and put them in a less intensely sunny spot. Trying to get them hardened off for planting.
Like Briar, Shacks was disappointed by rain and not being out. Paula brought him some favorite juicy grass and he loved it.