This is my second attempt at growing lupines. I had these in the woodland garden last year, and they looked spectacular in early summer. Then it got warm and dry, and it stayed that way. The lupines withered and did not come back this year. I’m not sure if it was just the atypical heat […]
Archive for the ‘Plant bio’ Category
Lupinus polyphyllus (common lupine)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Plant bio on May 24, 2011 | 2 Comments »
From the non-native dossier: Chelidonium majus (celandine)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Invasive, Plant bio on May 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Celandine is native to Europe and Western Asia, but it has been present in North America for almost 400 years, as it hitched a ride with the earliest European settlers. Back in those days the plant was used as a yellow dye (if you break a stem you will see the yellow sap), and it […]
Silene caroliniana (wild pink)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on May 23, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Wild pink puts out quarter-size pink flowers, almost overnight. Two days ago there were some buds, then one flower, and now the whole plant is on fire. The plant is native to the east coast from New Hampshire to Florida. The plant likes it dryer and sunnier so I have it in the unshaded part […]
Polygonatum biflorum (solomon’s seal)
Posted in Edible, Flora, Plant bio, Tips on May 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
For many years, I admired these plants at a friend’s house on the cape. They were the only species in a 3 by 20 feet border alongside the wall, and they looked magnificent. When my friend got sick of these plants 2 years ago, opting for more colorful bloomers, I took the opportunity to take […]
Phlox stolonifera (creeping phlox)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on May 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This is a very successful groundcover in my woodland garden. I started off with two plants two years ago, and they have gradually covered an area of 6 by 6 feet. The pink flowers reach up to the sky on top of 5 to 6 inch stems, so there is some elevation and structure to […]
Actaea pachypoda (white baneberry)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Plant bio on May 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
White baneberry is in full flowering mode right now. However, the fruit is the interesting part of this plant: Actaea pachypoda is also known as doll’s eyes, and the fruit looks like a collection of those mounted on a red colored frame. White baneberry is a definite shade plant, and likes sufficient moisture. However, drainage […]
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Posted in Edible, Flora, Interesting, Plant bio, Tips on May 19, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I have a few of these members of the Dryopteridaceae family in my woodland garden, among sessile bellwort and framing some oak and rhododendron. The plants have only been there for a year, and I’ve only seen the sterile fronds of this fern. The fern is also called bead fern because the fertile fronds that […]
Viola sagittata (arrowleaf violet)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Plant bio on May 18, 2011 | 1 Comment »
While a large area of my yard is overgrown with Viola sororia, I noticed these distinctly different violets in the moss on the other side of the house. The plants are tiny, and grow as single individuals here and there. The flowers are of a much richer blue and the leaves are distinctly arrow-shaped. Scientific […]
From the non-native dossier: Cardamine hirsuta (hairy bittercress)
Posted in Edible, Flora, Interesting, Invasive, Plant bio, Recipe on May 17, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I have to admit I kind of like the sight of these little annual plants in early spring – they are one of the first to flower, and now in mid May they are already dispersing seed into the yard. This little plant is actually pretty much impossible to get rid of. You can pull […]
Dodecatheon meadia (shooting star)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Plant bio, Tips on May 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This little plant is just spectacular, although it is fairly shortlived. By summer the flowers and rosetted leaves will be a faint memory. But this year the pictures live on! There are several different color schemes, ranging from white to pink to deep purple. The ones I acquired from the New England Wild Flower Society […]