Golden Alexanders

I went to a talk on gardening for butterflies Sunday afternoon.  I wish I would have thought to suggest Golden Alexanders, Zizia aurea as a host plant for black swallowtails during the question and comment time.  I decided to do a blog post, since I've been neglecting my blog, and post a link to it on Facebook, where I've been spending my former blogging time.

The photos did not load in order.  This is from early spring, so it's probably the May 19 one.  I can see the blue amsonia of some kind in the background.  I enjoy these early bloomers.

I included a couple with insects on them.  I am not sure what this little critter is, but I see from my notes, it is from June 6.

I always like it when blooms benefit more than one kind of critter.

The next couple must be the end of May. 

I planted the ones near the bicycle a few years later than the ones across the sidewalk.  They tend to bloom a little later than the more mature ones.

This must be June 7.  These are self sowers, but are easy to hoe, pull, or dig up to share.  Can you tell they are in the carrot family?

I ended up cutting back some of the plants last year, because they developed a disease or something, with spots on the leaves.  There were plenty of other plants around to fill any gaps.  Thankfully, the plants regrew clean leaves.  Plus, the black swallowtail caterpillars had nice fresh leaves to eat.

I am pleased to see signs of spring.  I tripped over our granddaughter in the grocery store a few weeks ago, and sprained my wrist.  It is not fully healed, and it hurts to grip things, so I will need to do my garden clean up small amounts at a time.  I hope all is well with you!,

November Wildflower Wednesday

We are enjoying a mild fall, even though we've had a number of nights that have dipped down to the 20s.  I have mostly wider views for this month's Wildflower Wednesday, hosted by Gail, of Clay and Limestone.

We'll start out with the curb beds.  I've mentioned that I do the clean up in the spring, so that birds can have the seeds to eat, and whatever native bees and such who live in the stems can live safely over the winter.

I love the puffy seed heads of the various kinds of liatris.  I'm thinking this is aspera.

The spikes of puff on the left are another kind of liatris, I think, a cultivar.  I think the dark colored seed heads are black eyed susans.

I guess I really do like liatris seed heads!  Here's another clump, with New England asters on the right.

The plant on the left is a coneflower of some kind.  The plant in the front is New England aster.

The Mexican hat plants are still green and have some color in their blooms.

This is across from where a sidewalk would be from the west curb area. The wild senna seed heads are pretty cool looking.  I'm also seeing more liatris, stiff goldenrod, riddles goldenrod and some grasses in this photo.

The false baptisia on the south side of the fence still has seed pods that look good.

Heading into the area where the tree used to be, we see meadow rue and cup plant.

This was the last clump of New England asters to bloom, and I see it still has one bloom on it.

I found a photo of wild quinine that I liked better than this one, but decided to include both, because if I delete this, I'll have a wider gap that I have to edit the post to fix.  The gold in the back is Amsonia illustris.

The gray-headed coneflowers still have a bit of color.

These are sweet black eyed susans.

I just transplanted this clump of ironweed from another part of the yard this spring.  It did very well.

Here is the other clump of wild quinine.  I have it in several spots in the yard.  It has the longest bloom time of all of the flowers, and I see pollinators on it all of its bloom time.  It looks nice afterward as well!

I am still enjoying the Illinois bundleflowers.

Since we started with a view from the street, I thought we'd end with a view from the porch.

I hope all is well with you at the holiday season.  There are so many bad things happening in the world that are out of our control.  What we do have in our control is how we treat others.  I hope we all find ways to show kindness and respect to those we come into contact with.  This time of year is also a good time to remember to forgive those in your life who have hurt or offended you.

October Wildflower Wednesday

We were busy today, getting in the last of the frost sensitive harvest.  I picked some kale, but what's out there should be fine with lows in the 20s tonight.  I just got a few photos taken for today's Wildflower Wednesday post before our granddaughter came over, and took a few more with her here, so decided to include some of her.  Gail, from Clay and Limestone is the host.  It's always fun to see what all wildflowers people have growing.

Most of the plants are finished blooming for the season, but there are a few showing color.  It was good to still see a bumblebee on the New England asters that are still blooming.  This is the only clump that still is.  I don't remember if it started blooming after the others.

The Mexican hats are still looking good, but I do not see much insect activity on them.

Granddaughter is 16 months old now!  I watch her four days a week, from 12:50 pm to 9:15ish pm.  The seedheads on the right are ironweed.  The grass is a cultivar of switchgrass.

I believe she is going to be a gardener.  She loves being in the yard, and likes to point out blooms and insects.

I was tickled to see a skipper today, too.

 Some of the pitcher sage blooms are still blue.

She loves to pick up things from this area, and carry them around.  The grass on the right is a different kind of switchgrass cultivar than the one on the other side of this area.

The gray headed coneflowers still have some color.

Here is today's harvest.  Sage usually survives in the garden at least until Thanksgiving, but I like to dry some just in case it doesn't.   Pole beans do much better in my garden than bush beans.  I have been able to make lots of soup with them and other veggies.

Most of the food here is from farmer's markets, but a bit is still from our garden.  We have to keep our dog's water dish on the counter while Granddaughter is here, so she can't play in the water.

One of these days, I will spend less time on FB, so I can catch up on my blog reading.  I hope all is well with you and your gardens.