Ok..I'll start...

How many of you let those cute little "weeds" grow??...I've let quite a few, and they've turned out to be such beautiful flowers!!...Just have to watch and make sure they don't take over...lol...

Ha ha Meplant! I just can't part with some of my weeds! There are so many great ones out there ;)

We have some great wild plants in Tennessee, not that they're only Tn plants. Right now the Asclepias tuberosa, orange milkweed or butterfly weed is blooming and if you cut it soon after it opens, it will bloom again.
Then we have 3 wild terrestrial orchids! A wild passiflora P. lutea grows along some creeks(this is besides P.incarnata the Maypop) I have a clump of perrenial beans I haven't nailed down a name for sure on this one, maybe someone will help me out here. It's pink blooming, each cluster has about 50 flowers, taprooted, lives about 4 years then dies, makes beans the first year, quite a few pods w/ 4-5 seeds each, beans 3/8" long.

This message was edited Monday, Jun 4th 5:45 PM

This message was edited Tuesday, Jun 5th 8:25 PM

I "rescued" wild phlox (P. divaricata) and Trillium (T. cuneatum) from an area of my yard where they were in full sun, baking in clay soil. I also have allowed some wild violets to establish a patch in one of my flower beds.

These represent my first foray into the delightful world of woodland and wild flowers. We have over an acre here, and we back up to a cattle pasture and beyond that woods and a creek. I am hoping to turn the back 30 feet of our property (which is shaded by cedars) into a bona fide woodland setting with native plants. Especially the Tennessee Coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis) as it is an endangered plant, and very beautiful to boot.)

Funny how some "weeds" have become mainstream plants - Sisyrinchium grew wild in one yard we had; DH wanted to kill it, I thought it was pretty. Now it's available from some of the big name mail order places.

I do believe in being responsible though - I have Lythrum (Morden's Pink) in my flower bed, but I will be vigilant to keep it deadheaded and will remove it if we ever sell this property.

Go_vols: I know what you mean, wish I'd been warned earlier about Cypress vine and Johnny-jump-ups( Viola tricolor) they can be pesky if they "go wild".

I can't wait to start identifying the wild flowers that abound here in VA. When we visited the site where our house was being built - this was about late April/May - there were two clumps of the most gorgeous little blue flowers with yellow eyes. Any ideas? Lots of Joe Pye on the roadside and coreopsis. I think it's coreopsis - the big flowered ones. I'm like a kid in a candy store!! You just have to love them, right?

Wild


The hills want to stay wild,
meadows left unmown
for only a year or two,
sprout goldenrod and thistles,
wet spots grow willow and Joe Pye weed,
sumac creeps around the edges
where pasture becomes low scrub and brush
becomes thorn apple and popple
becomes ash and maple and cherry,
forest settling back into fields
hard won more than a century ago.
My gardens are microcosms of this wilding,
tiny worlds welcoming
asters and adder’s tongue,
daisies and Queen Anne’s lace.
I weed out purslane and sheep sorrel,
working around the blue-eyed grass
and violets that edge into the midst
of roses and salvia, conceding
my cultivated desire
to their native claim.

Kathleen - Are you a poet? I was really moved by your post!

i hope no one is smoking their 'weeds'! :)

Kathlene~ Well, I liked it ! You should post some more....Ivey

To everyone: Are there any growers of Groundnut(Apios americana) on DG?

This message was edited Friday, Jun 8th 2:30 PM

I found those 'weeds' you smoke listed in an old garden book from the 1920's. It suggested they make a nice back of the border plant, but tend to get leggy and coarse so don't plat too many!

Louisa, I have a clump of tiny blue flowers with a yellow eye, and they are forget me nots. Might yours possibly be these also? Doris

I have had wildflowers for 4 yrs now,I have 2 gardens. I am amazed at the new ones this year,The small tiny plants,
take my breath away,so tiny yet so beautiful.sometimes the stemes are so fragil,I wonder how it holds up the blooms,I have so many types of wilflowers they start blooming in the spring and keeps blooming,all summer long with different flowers and colors.hubby built me a small foot creek this year that runs thru the wildflowers then into my pond. I don't collect my seeds,nor do I disturb the fallen twiggs and leaves.My bigger wildflower garden has at least 500 or more flowersin it,Ilove to find the natural trails that the flowers make when they fall over in clusters full of blooms,I am new to gardening this year,but my wildflower gardens have a very special place in my heart. There color an beauty are priceless.

i usualy let my weeds get to about 1-2 inches before i pull them up just in case theyre wildflowers. I got given 2 packets of wildflower seeds a couple of months ago and its hard to distinguish which are flowers and which are weeds yet! they were a right mixture including cat mint and coriander of all things!

lil