Nodding mandarin is another interesting native neighbor (meaning it does not occur naturally in Massachusetts – it is found in a few eastern states from Michigan down to Georgia). This member of the Lily family displays strongly veined light green leaves – it is somewhat similar to Uvularia grandiflora from afar. The flowers are beautiful, […]
Archive for the ‘Plant bio’ Category
Prosartes maculata (nodding mandarin)
Posted in Edible, Flora, Plant bio on May 9, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on April 22, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Bloodroot displays flowers that look like white pearls among the leaflitter. Unfortunately, these little gems are somewhat fragile. Rain and wind will drop petals. This could be one of those plants that you may simply miss if you are not looking for it. Despite the short lived nature of the flowers, and the extremely early […]
Actaea racemosa (bugbane)
Posted in Flora, Interesting, Plant bio on August 1, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve had bugbane in my woodland garden for a few years now, and while the leaves are beautiful, I had not been overly impressed until this summer. The plants finally matured enough to produce flowers, and they do so in an otherworldly fashion: First these long stalks appear with these slender cornhusk-like appendages. The little […]
Veronicastrum virginicum (culver’s root)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on July 24, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Right now the culver’s root in my yard are cute one-foot-tall plants with beautiful ovate leaves. If they do well over the next few years, however, I should expect these plants to reach 5 or even 6 foot. That is if they tolerate the rather sandy soils – they prefer rich and loamy soil. They […]
Penstemon digitalis (Foxglove beardtongue)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on June 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
This plant is best suited in a clearing in the woodland garden, since it prefers partial to full sunlight. Foxglove beardtongue has beautiful dark green leaves, but the best features are its long flowering stalks which are over 3 feet tall. The tubular flowers are mostly white but they have faint violet lines which serve […]
Filipendula rubra (meadowsweet)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on June 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
This showy plant is native to the Midwest, the mid-Atlantic states, New England and eastern Canada, but it is listed as threatened in several of those areas. Queen of the prairie (or meadowsweet) likes moist prairies and meadows, particularly along streams and rivers. It is normally considered an indicator species of high quality habitats, but […]
Heuchera americana (coral bells)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on June 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
When you see Heuchera sp. (coral bells) in the plant center you usually find cultivars accentuating distinctive leaf features or larger flowering stems. Heuchera americana (coral bells or alumroot) pales somewhat by comparison, but it is still a worthwhile contribution to the woodland garden with its distinctive leaves and spires of greenish-white flowers. This native […]
Geranium maculatum alba (spotted geranium (alba))
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on May 13, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
I was very happy to see this fall addition bloom for the first time – I wasn’t quite sure which plants were going to deliver the traditional blue-purple flowers, and which ones were the alba variety. As it turned out they ended up in the right spot juxtaposed with the pink flowers of the creeping […]
From the non-native dossier: Stellaria media (common chickweed) and Cerastium fontanum (mouse ear chickweed)
Posted in Edible, Flora, Interesting, Invasive, Plant bio, Recipe on May 9, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
It makes sense to discuss these two plants in the same blog, as they are both very common, look very much alike, and can often be found next to one another… Both forms of chickweed have leaves that are elliptical in shape and alternate on the stem. Common chickweed leaves are hairless while the mouse […]
Delphinium tricorne (dwarf larkspur)
Posted in Flora, Plant bio on May 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Dwarf larkspur is somewhat of an unexpected guest in my yard – just like some of those mail order brides may not be exactly what you expected, I acquired some mail order rootstock for what I thought was dutchman’s breeches. It turned out to be Delphinium tricorne instead, which calls the mid-Atlantic states and the […]