Wildflower Wednesday

It's Wildflower Wednesday - the fourth Wednesday of the month, when bloggers all over the world share their love of gardening with native plants and wildflowers.

I've always loved the beautiful columbines, and grew a variety of cultivars in the past. Columbines are perennials, but can be somewhat short-lived. The solution - natives! While they too are sometimes short-lived, when allowed to set seed, they sow themselves freely around the garden. Extra plants can be left where they're growing, moved to more desirable locations, shared with other gardeners, or easily weeded out if they're too plentiful. Deadheading (removing spent blooms,) will prevent them from self-sowing if you prefer.

The columbine shown above is Aquilegia canadensis, also known as Eastern red columbine, or Canadian columbine. Although one of its common names is Canadian columbine, it's also native to much of the US, including Illinois. A few of them were added to our garden three years ago. All three have continued to come back each year, and we also now have a few extras that have sown themselves around the garden.

This one is Aquilegia coerulea, also known as Colorado blue columbine or Rocky Mountain columbine. Ours were started from seeds three years ago, and bloomed in their second spring. Native in the Rocky Mountain states, they've been happy here in our Illinois garden. Their soft blue and white blooms are most welcome.

Polygonatum commutatum, commonly known as Solomon's seal is native in Illinois. There's a nice little patch of Solomon's seal here. The blooms are small and demure, and hang sweetly beneath the foliage. I was given a half-dead pot of Solomon's seal that had struggled in a nursery's 'hospital zone' all year. It was mislabeled as Tricyrtis "Lemon Twist,' commonly known as toad lily. Since this plant struggled in our garden for a couple of years, and since I'd never grown either toad lilies or Solomon's seal, although I questioned its identity, I didn't know what it was until it bloomed for the first time last spring. Since then I've added a few toad lilies, and I'm thrilled having this nice patch of Solomon's seal in our garden. I'm not convinced this is a native Solomon's seal, since it came from a nursery that doesn't specialize in natives, the foliage is shinier than what I've seen on the natives around here, and it was mislabeled as a Tricytris to boot.

Senecio aureus, commonly known as golden ragwort, is in its glory right now. Covered with small, yellow, daisy-like blooms, it's native in Illinois, as well as in Tennessee where Gail, the host of Wildflower Wednesday lives. A few years ago Gail shared some with me. They've been happy here in our woodland garden. I love the shiny evergreen basal foliage and the bright yellow blooms.

According to the Illinois Wildflowers website, the nectar and pollen of golden ragwort attract small bees and flies. Among the bees, are such visitors as Little Carpenter bees, Cuckoo bees (Nomada spp.), and various Halictid bees. Among the flies, are such visitors as Syrphid flies, Tachinid flies, and miscellaneous others. The caterpillars of the moth Orthonama obstipata (The Gem) feed on Senecio spp. (Ragworts).


Podophyllum peltatum, commonly known as mayapple, is a recent addition to our garden. Last spring while visiting Mom, I spied a large colony of mayapples in Mom's woods, and brought home two of them to add to our garden. I was excited to see it bloom this year! Most native plants are slow to establish in our silver-maple-root-riddled garden, but one of the mayapples surprised me with this lovely bloom a couple of weeks ago. The blooms hide beneath the umbrella-like foliage, and are worth looking for. Later in the season, the blooms form little fruits that are edible, although toxic consumed in large quantities. Mayapples have medicinal value for cancer and certain skin conditions, however due to their toxic properties, medicinal applications are best left to those who are highly knowledgeable in their application.

I called this trillium red in my recent Bloom Day post, but it may actually be a purple trillium. It was purchased five years ago at a big box store, and was labeled only as a trillium. If anyone knows what kind it is, I'd be thrilled if you let me know. It only took five years to finally bloom, and whatever its botanical name, I'm happy it finally did!

I first saw Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum) three years ago at Chicago Spring Fling, and promptly got two of them at a native plants sale a few weeks later. The second one disappeared last fall, and this remaining one is blooming for the first time. I hope it seeds itself around the garden. I'll probably save some of the seeds too, to boost the odds of having a few more of these neat little plants in our garden.

Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) was also first seen during Chicago Spring Fling, at the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool garden in Lincoln Park. It too jumped into my hands at the same native plant sale prairie smoke came from. Unlike the prairie smoke, wild geranium bloomed in its second season here.

Wild ginger (Asarum canadense,) is a commonly occurring woodland native in Illinois, and the most recent native introduction to our garden. You must look under the foliage, close to the soil surface to get a peek at its unusual bloom. Although not related to the ginger root found in your grocery produce section, or the dried, powdered spice, wild ginger root smells and tastes very similar and can be used in cooking. There are no plans for that here - our wild ginger will be left in the ground to form a colony in its new home.

To see more Wildflower Wednesday posts, please visit Gail at Clay and Limestone.

A Murder of Crows

A few weeks ago a pair of robins built their nest on our guest bathroom windowsill. Not wanting to disturb them too much, I opened the window exactly three times - once to sneak a peek at the eggs while Mama robin was at the edge of the garden in search of worms, scattering mulch all over the patio (a daily ritual.)

Once while Mama was way in back taking a dip in the swale,

And one last time, after a ruckus between a pair of robins and a couple of crows. I hoped this wasn't what the ruckus was about. Sadly, it was. Crows are back. We started seeing them again around here late last summer. They'd been absent for years, possibly due to West Nile Virus.

I worried about those babies. Two stories down, below the guest bathroom window, is our concrete patio. I wondered how they'd fare when it was time to fledge. I'm sorry they didn't get that chance.

A group of crows is properly called a murder of crows. Maybe this is why.

May Bloom Day

It seems to be the refrain this spring . . . After an unseasonably warm few days last week, we're back to chilly, damp, rainy weather again.

The rain is welcome, as last week's extreme temperatures parched the soil. As for the chill . . . well . . . since I'm not a fan of extreme heat, the cooler temperatures are welcome too. 94 degrees in May, which we had last week, is just a bit much. If I got to choose, I'd pick sunshine and temperatures in the 60's, 70's, and 80's all. year. long, with rain only at night. I think that means I should be living in Maui, although even there it rains during the day.

In spite of the vagaries of this month's weather, our garden is blooming beautifully. In spite of how busy spring can get for me, I always remember to take time to stop and smell the flowers. Working in a client's garden last week, I thoroughly enjoyed the intoxicating scent of Korean Spice viburnums following me everywhere I went. I'm sure this weekend's weather has done them in. I find myself looking around our garden for space for one here.

Happy Bloom Day to all. For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, please visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Wildflower Wednesday

Following a winter break, April is a good time to re-join Wildflower Wednesday, Gail's monthly celebration of (mostly native) wildflowers. It's such a joy having wildflowers blooming again here in the Chicago southland.

The foliage is just as pretty as the flowers on celandine poppies (Stylophorum diphyllum, above,) also commonly known as wood poppies. While I've read they need consistently moist soil, they thrive here in our dry shade woodland garden. Celandine poppies self-seed readily, so I generally try to stay on top of deadheading them. Keeping them deadheaded also helps keep them blooming here spring through fall.

I'm not sure if this a red or white trillium. We had both, though two of them haven't reappeared this spring. The reds were planted five years ago, and the white one two years ago. This will be the first one to ever bloom. Trilliums, also known as wake robin, can take years to become established and bloom. They are becoming more and more rare in their native habitats. Prized by many gardeners, care should be taken that they are purchased from reputable growers. Mom is very lucky to have a nice stand of them in her woods, but this is one of the plants I wouldn't disturb to bring home for our garden.

It's the first year our Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica,) are blooming! Planted three years ago, some came from Possibility Place, our local native plants nursery. A few also came from K's (my firstborn's) garden last spring. They sulked after transplanting them here, wilting and dying back within a couple of weeks. I was so happy to see them come back this spring!

Virginia bluebells, like trilliums, are spring ephemerals. Ephemerals are woodland plants with a short growing season during which they leaf out, bloom, set seed, and then the above-ground part of the plant dies back. Bluebells can be prolific self-seeders, forming large colonies in a few years. Now that our long-awaited blooms are here, some will be allowed to set seed, but most will be deadheaded to prevent them from taking over the garden. Extra seedlings can also easily be weeded from the garden or shared with fellow native-plant lovers.

Last but certainly not least are these mystery Spring beauties (Claytonia virginica,) another ephemeral. I'm not sure how these tiny plants got here, but am happy they came! Most likely their seeds arrived with the other woodland natives transplanted from Mom's woods or K's gardens last spring, or maybe they were planted by squirrels or birds. Spring beauties are also known as fairy spuds, as the tubers (which are edible and said to taste like chestnuts,) look like tiny potatoes.

Wildflower Wednesday is hosted on the fourth Wednesday each month by my friend Gail who blogs from Tennessee at Clay and Limestone. In honor of spring, this time she's celebrating wildflowers with a week-long extravaganza. Native plant lovers will revel in the plethora of inspiring posts by Gail and other participating bloggers.

April Bloom Day - Yay Spring!

Between our still mostly-chilly days this month, we've enjoyed a few gloriously mild, sunny ones. Every moment of those warmer days has been savored, with windows thrown open, patio furniture uncovered, and every possible minute spent outdoors. Blooms are a bit behind schedule compared to our last two springs, which were warmer than usual. I can't help hoping the cooler spring will lead to a milder, wetter summer than the last two hot, dry ones.

We have daffodils, scillas, hellebores, bloodroot (bloodroot thanks to Mom and Monica!) pulmonarias, and celandine poppies blooming, with Virginia bluebells and a hellebore (Mrs. Betty Ranicar with white, double blooms, added three years ago,) about to the bloom for the first time. We have a few more bluebells transplanted last spring from my oldest daughter K's garden, and three of those will be blooming shortly too. Bleeding hearts, wild geraniums, epimediums, anemones, and columbines, serviceberry, and Bradford pear are budding. Indoors, the African violet is once again in full, glorious bloom, and the one dragon wing begonia that's not in the basement is enjoying the streaming morning sunlight in the east window where it waits for warmer weather.

The garden continues to mature and this season will bring more blooms than ever. At this moment though, what I'm most excited about is that bloodroot; and mayapples, Dutchman's breeches, shooting stars, and trout lilies - the natives brought back from Mom's woods last spring. All survived the winter and are up and growing. The trout lilies won't bloom yet this spring. They are young, and each has only one leaf. But what beautiful, unusual leaves they are with their brown and green speckles. Speaking of Mom's, by the time you read this I'll be on my way up to Southwest Wisconsin for a visit. I wonder what will jump out of the woods and into the car for the trip back home this time!

For more Bloom Day posts, please visit Carol, the host of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day where she blogs at May Dreams Gardens.