September's Wildflower Wednesday

Gail, from Clay and Limestone hosts Wildflower Wednesday the fourth Wednesday of the month, and I am remembering to get my post done a bit early, so I am going to go ahead and post it.

I am pleased that there are more colors added to the predominant yellow in the yard.  The New England asters have been in the same couple of spots for at least 5 years, and are now seeding themselves around. 

I love the way the Boltonias are so full of blooms.

I've mentioned this is the first time I've grown Sweet black eyed susans and Illinois bundleflower.  I am pleased with the long blooming season of the susans.  Oh, and I see some spent blooms of the Rattlesnake master on the right.

Most of the blooms on the Joe pye weed are spent, but there are a few new buds.

This is the Mountain mint that I don't remember planting.  I'm wondering if it's a cross between the Short toothed mountain mint and the Virginia Mountain mint.  The flowers look like Short toothed, and the leaves like Virginia.

The Wild quinine that I planted this year bloomed later than the others, and are still white.

The Common milkweed milkpods are pretty cool looking to me, but these are turning black, so I'm wondering if the seeds are going to be safe to give away.  I don't want to be spreading a disease of some kind.

The Ironweeds have a shorter bloom time than other wildflowers.

Even thought the Cup plants are finished blooming, they are continuing to look pretty cool.

I deadheaded them last year because I was afraid of getting lots of volunteers, and more afraid of the neighbors getting some.  I decided to be brave this year, and let the birds enjoy the seeds.

Speaking of seeds, last season was my first year to grow Golden Alexanders.  I deadheaded them, hoping they would bloom again, but they didn't, so I left them on this year.  One found its way into the ground and sprouted already, and is now in the butterfly garden I am helping with.  It's hard to tell from the photo, but the seedheads are actually pretty, and I think they add some nice texture to the garden.  I have also shared some with visitors to the garden.

It's fun having different kinds of Liatris that bloom at different times of the season.  I seem to get them mixed up easily, though.  This may be aspera or punctata, but I'm not sure.

I've been enjoying the Zig zag goldenrod.

Riddel's goldenrod is supposed to get up to three feet tall, but it gets taller than that here.  I also finally have figured out that some of the seedlings that came up are these.

I don't remember spent Wild quinine blooms turning colors before, but sure like these.

The seedpods of the Wild senna look almost as pretty as the blooms.

Pitcher sage is one of my fall favorites.

The seedpods of Clematis pitcheri are pretty cool, too.

Someone told me that deadheading Gray-headed coneflowers does not cause them to bloom more, but these are.  Maybe these flower buds were already going to bloom at this time, but that's OK.  I cut some back, but not others.  I didn't think to look to see if the ones I didn't cut back have any blooms on them.

Here's the Short toothed mountain mint, sharing the space with Brown eyed Susan volunteers.  You can see the leaves are wider than the previous one I showed.

The 'Wichita Mountains' Goldenrod is a nice cultivar that is loaded with bees each fall.

There are several of these asters, or maybe ex-asters, on the side of the house.  I'm not sure what kind they are.

Gail, here's a view of the leaves, if that helps you or anyone else recognize what kind they are.

Is Blue mist spirea a wildflower?  I just had to include it because I liked how this bee was hanging upside down on it.  I have seen a number of bees on these blooms.

I'm not sure what kind of insect this is on the Butter and eggs, a kind of toadflax.  I'm glad these come back each year, growing in a tub.  They spread too far and wide for me to have in the ground.

This is a volunteer of some kind.  It may be Cutleaf coneflower.  I think it's a little different from Gray-headed coneflower.

Thank you for hosting this each month, Gail!  I hope there are others choosing some plants for their gardens with the pollinators in mind, and are remembering not to use pesticides.