Favorite 'weed'...

What's your favorite 'weed'? Not sure if I have a favorite myself, but these shooting stars top my list. They remind me of my childhood when we'd occasionally find them growing in the meadow.

What is the botanical name of this?

Beautiful flowers Naturepatch!

It would be interesting to know the species, Dodecatheon has a number of species which sport pale pink flowers, D meadia always springs to mind first.

My favourite wildflower? Gosh! LOL I can't choose and it depends on the season, can I say 98% of them are my favourite? *G*

I've got some "real weeds," not just wildflowers around the place. I was remarking to myself the other day that, were it not a weed, burdock would be a great garden plant. I've got some disturbed ground where I have great patches of them. They've got big leaves and I'm fond of big-leaved plants. I'll chop them off before too long because I don't relish pulling burdocks out of the dogs' coats.

Teasel is another favorite that I've got plenty off. Nice crinkly rosettes, interesting flowers, and seed heads that are great for dried flower arrangements. I don't need to plant them and they fill in in spots where other stuff won't grow.

If anyone is in the neighborhood, stop by and help yourself. ;-7

castorbean - I'm west of you in Chautauqua County, have a few of those choice weeds myself. Personally, I like mullien and a little creeper that I've never been able to put a name to. It has tiny leaves and little bitty daisy shaped flowers. then there's my moss collection.

Aimee, I think these are Dodecatheon, but I'm not sure of the species (there are several.)

It is definitely a dodecatheon. As for specific species, I believe it is meadia. Unfortunately the nursery I got it from is not online, and I'm not sure I still have their catalogue. They specialize in a lot of native plants.

Wild bergamot, black eyed susan, butterfly weed, jack in the pulpits.....I couldn't pick just ONE....!

I almost forgot: Joe Pie Weed (Eupatorium?)

naturepatch
would it be possable to get seeds of this?

I'd be thrilled to have these shooting stars as wild flowers. However, I'm rather charmed by our "chocolate lilies" that are lovely brown lilies that smell like a fresh pile of maloderous manure.

Got a photo of your 'chocolate lilies'? Sound interesting.

I'll have to look through my pics, but if I don't have a photo of the chocolate lilies, I will soon. They are getting ready to bloom.

trailing arbutus. Anyone have this???

I seem to be in line with castor_bean as i too like eupatorium and teasels.
The teasels are a favourite, not only because of their interesting statuesque shape and the texture of their leaves (and those lovely little puddles at the base of each leaf), but because they bring the goldfinches trooping into my garden with their uplifting tinkling song and bright colours.

Lol! I have a lot of favourite weeds; I don't even know where to begin... Bindweed and PI are both high up on the list:)

Mmmmmmm I have plenty of bindweed to spare if you'd like some arsenic ;o)

Never heard of trailing arbutus marclay. I have A unedo, what is the trailing one like? (apart from trailing that is, lol)

Maybe I am going to take you up on that offer, philo:) Do you know which one?

Hi Philomil Just saw this today. Trailing arbutus is a very low groundcover type Leathery green leaves and in the early spring tiny light pink clustered sweet smelling flowers. Epigea I believe repens??? A memory from my hildhood but I have a bank of them on this old homeplace. I only know of two places they grown anywhere for miles/ Grow in poor soil and in partial shade--a woodlands plant. Never saw any seeds on them Shirley

Thanks marclay - don't know that, i'll look it up

My bindweed you wouldn't want to know arsenic!!!! It's smothered my garden completely, so, though i've not used chemicals for years, i've had to give in and get some weedkiller.

It is beautiful in flower though, granted. And i really like sabatius and tennuissima. I can even cope with minor, just not the rampaging big white one LOL

I have Calystegia sepium in my garden already; I really like it! It grows on some old shrubs; and doesn't do any harm there. I've also got Convolvulus arvensis, Calystegia soldanella and possibly C. pulchra.

I am still looking for a lot of other bindweeds; so let me know if you'd like to trade later!?

http://www.exoticplants.org.uk/Morning_Glories_in_the_UK.html

Arsenic don't you want other plants in your garden then? *G*

I can't stand Calystegia, nasty weed for me but horses for courses and all that.

Lol; I have lots of room for them:)

Below is a picture of another of my favourites;)

This message was edited May 22, 2005 7:49 AM

My first positive experience with a "weed" was Sisyrinchium (Blue-eyed Grass) growing along the green belt behind our property. This was about 17 years ago, and I didn't know much about transplanting, so I tried yanking it out of the ground and plunking it in my garden, where it promptly died. Looking back, I wish I had known to go get a shovel to dig it up :)

Since then, I've discovered it's a "real plant" and have tried growing it from seed, to no avail.

I discovered Ruellia and perennial Ageratum in the field behind us, which I've successfully propagated.

I also dig up Claytonia bulbs (I have 8 or 9 12" pots of them now, all waiting to go into a new bed instead of scattered throughout the lawn.)

And I discovered hardy plumbago (Plumbago ceratostigma) growing in our front bed. I dug up as much of it as I could before we re-did them, and now I have several pots of it, which I'll use as a groundcover in a new bed this spring.

Arsenic, are you insane? I suppose you washed up instantly after taking that picture. At least I hope...

After working in a native Ohio wildflower garden for years, it's hard to call any of them weeds, although as invasive as my Passiflora incarnata is becoming, maybe I should call that a weed - and a favorite.

Dawn

Terry

I've a ton (ok slight exaggeration there) of Sisyrinchium seeds if you want to have a go, they are definitely viable.

I think this is my favorite weed...Pyrrhopappus carolinianus, False Dandelion or Florida Dandelion. Here's the PDB entry...My neighbors think I'm nuts!

Baa, I have wild Sisyrinchium, but have never gathered seeds. When and where should I look, and how should they be handled? It's in bloom now, and I dug up a clump to move to a new bed. I think these came from a very small clump I dug up in the pasture a number of years ago, because they are near where that one was originally planted. It must have been lost when someone set a large planter on top of it during some repair work. I would love to have them in more areas. They grow wild here in the ditches, and shouldn't be a problem, but I simply never noticed seeds on mine. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Aimee

The seed pods appear as little oblong shaped balls (1/8th of an inch long or less) about a week after the flowers have gone, they aren't ripe until they are dark brown/black coloured. They sometimes feel a bit mushy but this doesn't seem to affect the seed inside.

I pluck them off and open them out onto kitchen towel, inside there are masses of tiny round, glossy black seeds. When they dry they look a bit shrivelled but they're still fine. At the bottom of the link is a picture of Sisyrinchium pods, seeds and seedlings.

http://theseedsite.co.uk/db19a.html

Thanks, Baa! I intend to harvest them this year!

My favorite "weed" from my childhood up north would have to be either Columbine (Aquilegia sp.?) or violets. In Florida, i think it has to be spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis). If any of you have ever seen a field of this little plant in full bloom (would be in the morning before the sun got too hot), you will know where I am coming from. I started with about 8 plants and now it sprouts up everywhere in the front yard. I have given up digging it and instead let my husband mow it. Since we can't keep the grass alive (at least not with the level of watering we're willing to pay for and/or allowed to use), this makes a great "waterwise" alternative :) I simply cannot kill these things--even with Roundup (you think I'm kidding!)

Oh butterfly I know what you mean. I tried roundup on those beauties too, no luck. I have a million for trade!

Yes, I agree with you both. I was weeding today and inadvertently pulled two I didn't see in the undesirable stuff. I immediately brought the tops inside and put them into a vase of water. I've never tried to root them, but I apologized to these and promised to give them another chance at living in my garden. I have them coming up between the rocks of paths and other random places, and there is no happier garden experience for me than to round the corner where a large patch has established itself and see them looking so cheery and perky. It just makes for a great start to the day for this nocturnal gardener. That's saying a lot, as I am definitely not a sunrise person. I will take a cup of coffee and sit on the end of my bridge, just soaking up good feelings from these little beauties.

I love the little wild violets.

Oh, yes, honibee! The little wild violets! They carpeted the woods on our farm each spring. I'd bring my mother little bouquets of them. The wild ones that grow here are marsh violets, mostly. They are a very soft pinkish lavender, and so charming. I've moved some into my gardens, and they've made themselves at home. We also have a yellow violet here, as well.

did you know:
violet flower have more vitaman c than oranges by weight. and they don't taste bad eather.

Difficult to pick the weight of an orange in the flowers though - and would spoil such a wonderful sight :)

Crystallized violets have always been popular

Yellow violets Weez - which ones are they?

I'm not exactly sure, Phil. I think it is Viola glabella, a meadow variety that grows in Southcentral coastal Alaska. http://www.dunngardens.org/spring/viola_glabella.html I dug up several of them in a friends yard last year, so I'm waiting to see if the potted plants survived our weird winter. Maybe I can collect seeds this summer.

Our marsh violets are V. epipsela, I think.

Our yellow violet here is v.rotundifolia, virtually stemless and tiny. We also used to have some V. pennsylvanica, I believe, but I have seen them for a few years. They were in the path of the spillway when the gas drillers let a holding pond overflow - very sad for my wildflowers, and almost 20 years ago, but the "memory" lingers in what is no longer there.