Flowers and Plants

Ageratina altissima (White Snakeroot)

Photograph taken on Monday, September 21, 2020 by Henry
Ageratina altissima (White Snakeroot)

Ageratina altissima (White Snakeroot)

This is a weed and we pull it up but it’s actually fairly attractive. It’s called white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) and it’s a fairly common native plant in our area. It’s similar to the blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum) that we have in some of our borders but quite a bit taller (it’s three or four feet tall, compared to about about a foot and a half). This one is behind some shrubs so managed to get pretty much full grown before I noticed it. It will be gone shortly but I thought I’d take some pictures, anyway.

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Honey Bee on Aster

Photograph taken on Saturday, September 19, 2020 by Henry
Honey Bee on Aster

Honey Bee on Aster

Cathy and I took a walk along Croyden Creek early this afternoon. It has turned cool, although with the humidity in the woods and the steep nature of the trail, I was fairly warm. It was nice to get out, of course, and we only saw a few other people. We walked from the Croyden Creek Nature Center down stream almost to where it joins Rock Creek. Coming back, we turned up a side valley and came out between the two main parts of Rockville Cemetery. Back and the nature center, I took this photo of a western honey bee (Apis mellifera) on an aster of some sort.

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Iris domestica (Blackberry Lily)

Photograph taken on Friday, September 18, 2020 by Henry
Iris domestica (Blackberry Lily)

Iris domestica (Blackberry Lily)

Native to the Himalayas and the Russian far east, the blackberry lily (Iris domestica, formerly known as Belamcanda chinensis), is a lovely and well behaved herbaceous perennial. It self-seeds pretty well and we promote that by distributing the seeds fairly widely. We’re getting to the point where we might actually pull a few up if they aren’t where we want them, but generally we let them go wherever they come up. They have wonderful, bright orange flowers in succession during the early summer and then the fruit ripens in pods that open up to reveal the “blackberries” that give the plant its common name.

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Physostegia virginiana

Photograph taken on Thursday, September 17, 2020 by Henry
Physostegia virginiana

Physostegia virginiana

We have a patch of Physostegia virginiana (obedient plant) in the back border. This area of the garden was one of the worst in terms of being out of control and we did a lot of digging there this year. Cathy did most of it, although I did help a bit with some of the deeper digging. It was overrun with goldenrod (Solidago) and mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), which we wanted to get rid of completely, but even the things we grew on purpose, like the Monarda and this Physostegia, were out of control and needed to be thinned out. So, we still have this, but less than we did. It’s a fairly aggressive perennial, spreading by both rhizomes and by self-seeding. So, grow with caution.

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Passiflora alata ‘Ruby Glow’

Photograph taken on Sunday, September 13, 2020 by Henry
Passiflora alata ‘Ruby Glow’

Passiflora alata ‘Ruby Glow’

Cathy and I went to Brookside Gardens this afternoon. It was really nice to be out in such a lovely place. There were quite a few people there but it wasn’t as crowded as I sort of expected it to be. We generally go in late winter and then early spring and I don’t remember when we’ve been at this time of year (if we even have). There was a lot to see and we enjoyed it very much. I got a few rose names that I’m going to look for, as well. This is a passion flower (Passiflora alata) called ‘Ruby Glow’

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Rose ‘Munstead Wood’

Photograph taken on Wednesday, September 09, 2020 by Henry
Rose ‘Munstead Wood’

Rose ‘Munstead Wood’

It rained today and I didn’t really get to go out until pretty late. The water on this rose, (the David Austin rose ‘Munstead Wood’) was pretty so I took a few pictures of that. This rose was only planted this spring and it’s doing quite well. The flowers are now up above the top of the hardware cloth fence that I put around it to keep the rabbits off. The flowers are now blooming just below the level of the black-eyed Susans and soon they will be above them. I’m really looking forward to the display we get from this next year.

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Fall Flowers

Photograph taken on Sunday, September 06, 2020 by Henry
Fall Flowers

Fall Flowers

I suppose you could say these are late summer flowers, rather than fall flowers, but there’s no hard line between summer and fall. The black-eyed Susans are summer flowers and are just finishing up. There are still quite a few of them blooming but not nearly so many as there were. The autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora) is just about in full bloom, as is the blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum). The blackberry lily (Iris domestica), which blooms in early summer, is nearly in seed. All together, it makes a pretty nice combination of colors and textures.

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Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)

Photograph taken on Friday, September 04, 2020 by Henry
Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)

Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)

Cathy and I took a walk on the west side of Lake Frank after work today. The heavy rain we had yesterday meant that the water level was high, but the trail wasn’t too muddy. We enjoyed being in the woods, hearing the birds, frogs, and insects, and being away from traffic and people. We saw large patches of partridge berry (Mitchella repens), which we hadn’t notice there before. Today’s photo, though, is of the ubiquitous Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), a common perennial in our woods.

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Begonia grandis (Hardy Begonia)

Photograph taken on Monday, August 31, 2020 by Henry
Begonia grandis (Hardy Begonia)

Begonia grandis (Hardy Begonia)

I had a picture of the leaves of this Hardy Begonia (Begonia grandis) earlier this month. Now it’s in bloom and adding a little brightness to the shady spot outside our front door. It’s a great plant to have and looks like it shouldn’t be sturdy enough to survive our winters but it does and it actually does quite well. It won’t grow well too far to our south because of the heat of summer or too far to the north because of the cold winters, but here it’s quite reliable. Highly recommended.

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Rose ‘Perle d’Or’

Photograph taken on Friday, August 28, 2020 by Henry
Rose ‘Perle d’Or’

Rose ‘Perle d’Or’

I’ve posted photos of this rose before but it deserves to be shown a few times each year. It’s a small China rose called ‘Perle d’Or’, bred by Joseph Rambaux in 1884. It has a wonderful, fairly strong fragrance that sits in the air outside our front door (where the rose is) and we are often treated to is as we go out or come in. I don’t think it’s been without at least a few blooms since it started in May. Some years it’s hurt by a particularly cold spell but we’ve had relatively mild winters the last couple years so it’s doing particularly well now.

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Early Autumn

Photograph taken on Wednesday, August 26, 2020 by Henry
Autumn Clematis and Black-eyed Susan

Autumn Clematis and Black-eyed Susan

The autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora) is coming into bloom. This is a fairly aggressive vine native to Japan. It can be a little invasive but if you have a largish area to cover, it’s not a terrible choice. It’s flowers are a lovely white and come late in the summer and continue well into the fall. One of it’s common names is sweet autumn virginsbower. We have it growing on the falling down fence at the southwest corner of our house (the southeast corner of our back yard). Cathy is especially fond of it and as long as I’m allowed to keep if confined to that area, I’m happy to let her have some.

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The Back Garden

Photograph taken on Tuesday, August 25, 2020 by Henry
The Back Garden

The Back Garden

This is a portion of our back garden, which, as you can see, is somewhat dominated by black-eyed Susan flowers at this time of year. They are probably just past their peak but will provide color for a bit longer as they fade from their bright orange to a more rusty, autumnal ochre. You can just make out the hardware cloth ‘fence’ around one of my roses a little to the left of center. By the end of the summer, the three roses should be tall enough that they are safe from rabbits, although there’s not really anything we can do about deer.

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Pollinator

Photograph taken on Sunday, August 23, 2020 by Henry
Pollinator on Helenium

Pollinator on Helenium

This little bee is absolutely loaded with pollen. (Side question: if pollen is spelled with an ‘e’, why does pollinator have an ‘i’ in its place?) Anyway, Cathy and I went to Meadowside Nature Center this afternoon and walked around a pond and through the woods. In addition to this little bee, I got a pretty good photo of a common whitetail (Plathemis lydia), a fairly common dragonfly. But I thought I’d go with the bright yellow of this photo instead. I’m also partial to bees, of course.

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Chelone lyonii (Pink Turtlehead)

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 22, 2020 by Henry
Chelone lyonii (Pink Turtlehead)

Chelone lyonii (Pink Turtlehead)

We’ve only had this native perennial a few years and this is by far the best it’s done in our garden. We have it in a somewhat shady area. Over time it should spread and form a clump, although not so much that it could be considered invasive (like much of what we have). The snapdragon-like flowers are fairly large and as you can see, they are borne in tight, spike-like terminal racemes. They are actually native to a bit further south than we are but have become naturalized over much of the east coast.

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Conoclinium coelestinum (Blue Mistflower)

Photograph taken on Friday, August 21, 2020 by Henry
Conoclinium coelestinum (Blue Mistflower)

Conoclinium coelestinum (Blue Mistflower)

We picked up some blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum) along with some other plants that were being given to us. It’s spread around the yard and now we have both the normal pale blue, as seen here (it’s more blue than this photo makes it look) and a white sport (or perhaps the blue is the sport). It blooms late in the summer, just starting now, and will be around into the fall. I don’t know that I’d run out an buy any, but it’s not bad to have a late summer bloomer in the garden. The skippers tend to be the most common pollinators on it, but the bees go to it some, too.

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Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Photograph taken on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 by Henry
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

There’s a lot in bloom right now, but there’s actually less variety than there was earlier in the year. The garden is full of black-eyed Susan and there are other, less showy flowers, like the mountain mint, which attracts so many pollinators. Around on the side of the house, in the shadier part of the garden, we have this cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), which is absolutely stunning. The red is so pure and bright, especially when the sun is on it. Cathy saw a hummingbird come to this, as well, which is exciting. I suppose I should have posted a photo of the two of us, for our anniversary, but flowers are where it’s at.

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Cosmos

Photograph taken on Sunday, August 16, 2020 by Henry
Cosmos

Cosmos

I took more photos of the Scudderia (a genus of katydid) nymph today. It’s still in the canna lily flower and still eating the petals. I suspect it will move on pretty soon. That or it will be eaten, of course. This cosmos is growing in a small pot on our patio. We’ve never really grown them much, but they sure do add a lot of color to a garden in summer. We could do worse than have lots of them.

I also took a few photos of a dinner we had with a dear (and winsome!) friend, who has been living with her recently widowed mother-in-law. But they don’t really do justice to the great time we had.

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Scudderia Nymph

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 15, 2020 by Henry
Scudderia Nymph

Scudderia Nymph

I noticed this bright green katydid nymph on the canna lily this morning. It is one of the Scudderia species. It let me get pretty close, as you can see and it actually stayed there for a few days and ate a good amount of the petals on this flower. Generally I’m not a fan of flower-eating insects but this one was pretty enough and eating slowly enough that I let it be. I like the green against the orange of the petals and even though it’s a small thing, I could see it clearly from our kitchen door, which was nice.

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Begonia grandis (Hardy Begonia)

Photograph taken on Friday, August 14, 2020 by Henry
Begonia grandis (Hardy Begonia)

Begonia grandis (Hardy Begonia)

Cathy has this hardy begonia (Begonia grandis) growing a few places around the house. It really seems to like the relatively shady area around our front door, which gets a little morning sun but that’s it. And even that is filtered through the foundation planting. It seems particularly happy this year, with the amount of rain we’ve had. It’s just coming into bloom, with its delicate and interestingly shaped, pink flowers. But I think it’s worth having just the leaves. We have a few little seedlings that Cathy has collected and she will try to get a few established in new places.

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Arctium minus (Common Burdock)

Photograph taken on Thursday, August 13, 2020 by Henry
Arctium minus (Common Burdock)

Arctium minus (Common Burdock)

Cathy and I went for a walk this evening. After yesterday’s rain it was cooler. Not quite cool enough to be really pleasant and still quite humid, but so much better than it’s been that we had to get out. There’s one place we walk by where the park comes right up to the road and I took this photo of common burdock (Arctium minus) along the edge of the woods. It’s a biennial native to Europe but pretty well established as a common weed here now. It has burrs that stick to fur and clothing, which helps it to spread.

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