Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Wildflower Wednesday

I had a bit of trouble deciding what plant or plants to post about for Gail's Wildflower Wednesday.

This is the first time I've had a tall thistle.  It is a volunteer, and it came up in a great spot.  It has been fun seeing a variety of insects on the blooms, sometimes quite a few at a time.


Gail's featured plant, Flowering Spurge has a nice long bloom time, and I see very small insects feeding on the blooms.


Salvia reflexa, lambsleaf sage is a native self sowing annual that I do not remember planting, but am glad it is here.  It will kind of be my "feature" plant.  It is in full sun here, but I also have some in partial shade.  It may have originally come up where I garden across the street.  The plants have been coming up for quite a few years.


Another name for it is lanceleaf sage.


 I have several clumps of it in different areas of the yard.  It is a nice filler.  I need to be cutting the spent blooms off of this one.


I have seen butterflies, skippers and different kinds of bees on the tiny blooms.



Since I had trouble deciding, I wanted to include this photo of sweet coneflowers and other native plants.  We have lots of yellow!


I am enjoying the yellow and purple of different kinds of flowers, such as the Helenium autumnale and Liatris aspera.


This skipper is a little larger than most I've been seeing.


Oh, wait, I needed to include Pale Indian Plantain!  This is the second season for this very tall plant, the first of it blooming.  I am tickled with the long bloom time and variety of pollinators it continues to draw.


During the last storm we had, it was knocked over, and I needed to prop it up.  The meadow rue to the left is not as tall as it was last year.


I hope you are enjoying visits from pollinators on your blooms.  The season sure is flying by for me!  I am still busy watching our three year old granddaughter four days a week, and we have one or both grandsons on Saturdays.  We just set a new schedule that will give us the third Saturday of the month off.

7 comments:

  1. Love all your wildflowers. I scrolled up and down several times, enjoying it all
    Photo 10 is my favorite
    Have a wonderful day!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm always surprised by how many native plants I'm not familiar with--lanceleaf sage is a new one to me! Your garden is looking gorgeous, Sue. I can appreciate your busy schedule: we are watching our kindergartener grandson after school each day now, and three of the older grandkids are in fall sports. My calendar is now color-coded so that I can keep up with all the activities!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your garden. Your flowers are so floriferous, while some of the ones I plant bloom, but languish in the shallow soil. My bad, I adore prairie plants! Love the lance leaf sage, what a beauty. Happy WW.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You are busy! Thank heaven for native plants that pretty much care for themselves....as we know, our grandchildren will be grown and there will be lots of wonderful memories! Every time I see your garden, I want something you're growing. The Spurge looks wonderful and is a native here, as well. Love the Rue....I will need to check it out as I'm looking for tall plants that bloom now. Everything is beautiful, Sue and I'm always impressed with how many pollinators you attract!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I enjoyed the last picture where you can glimpse your neighbor's yard across the street. I bet they enjoy being able to look out their windows and see all of your flowers without doing any of the work.
    I enjoyed seeing your flowers without doing any work also.
    Jeannie @ GetMeToTheCountry.Blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. That Helenium with the fringed petals is lovely!

    Imagine, having to fight for a Saturday off - will think of you when we walk on the beach tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Have you ever noticed how the leaves of the moonflower plant change shape as they either near the ground or maybe just older...??

    ReplyDelete

I welcome comments and questions from anyone, including those who do it anonymously. Some people find my posts by doing searches, and I like hearing from them. I guess spammers won't even read this message, but I will delete spam as soon as I see it.