Plant Identification

Today it's your turn to tell me about a couple of plants. We've had both of these weeds/wildflowers in the garden for years and I haven't got a clue as to what they are. The one above appeared about 10 years ago. Never had been here before and neither of us had seen it anywhere. My guess is that seed came in on a plant we bought. It is a biennial, forms a shiny green rosette the first year that is evergreen and persists all winter. That's how we find a lot of them since when everything else is dead and brown they really stand out. The first year it bloomed, just a plant or two, we thought it was so pretty that we left it, thinking it might be a nice addition to the garden. NOT. The next year, after it had seeded it was everywhere. Thousands of them, literally, all over the garden. It makes long skinny seed pods that pop and spread seeds around. My guess is that birds or critters also helped with the spread.
I still think it is a really pretty plant. There aren't all that many pale pink wildflowers growing here and I'm a sucker for pink flowers, but it is just far too invasive to let it be. The picture I took doesn't have too many blooms, because it was hard to find one that Hank hadn't yanked out before it had many blooms open. I marked that one and kept it as long as I could, but at one point he said 'take the picture now if you want it because I'm pulling it out'. It can get 2 feet tall, though most seem to be a foot or so. I've also seen 2 or 3 inch tall ones blooming - sneaky things hiding in the crown of another plant. We've always called it 'Pink Weed', for lack of anything else to call it. I've checked my many wildflower books and one on weeds, but can't find anything that looks anything like it, so if anyone knows what this is, I'd sure like to know. Not that knowing will get rid of it, but at least it will have a name and can be $#&!@ ___, instead of $#&!@ Pink Weed.

Weed number two, that for lack of a better name, has been known here as white weed since it has white flowers. This one may have arrived with a pond or bog plant since it appeared first in our bog. This one is a little easier to control as long as you can find it since it seems to be an annual. Get it before it seeds and it's gone. Unfortunately, the bog gets grassy late in the season and this stuff crawls along beneath it, blooming and seeding quite happily. Succulent stem and the flowers are tiny, maybe the size of your little finger nail. The seeds are black, hence the other name we have been calling it - 'Black Seeded Weed'. Someone must know what these two things are. Please leave a comment if you have any ideas. I tried looking on the web, but without a name, I didn't get very far.

Jane

Albizia julibrissin

I've always loved Mimosa trees. So tropical looking. They remind me of the sensitive plants I grew from seed when I was little - touch the leaves and they folded up. Mimosa leaves do close up at night and when it rains, but not when you touch them. Anyway, they are just so tropical looking and the flowers almost look like some sort of fancy birds perched on the branches. We planted one quite a few years ago. In this zone, it isn't uncommon for them to died back to the ground the first few winters. Ours has stayed up for the last couple of years, and just this week it had its first flowers. I can't wait until next year when there are more. One thing we did find, is that you need to get seed from a local source if you live in the north to have the best chance of success. I just found out that it is a legume (such a big legume) and is native from Iran to China.
Flowering takes place over a long period of the summer and early fall on this smallish tree. The flowers are odd in that they have no petals, just lots of stamens. The flowers seem to be attractive to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds, though I can't say for sure who likes my 3 blooms since they are up so high. Once you have flowers you will also start to find baby mimosas in various places in your garden.
Flowers can be pink (what seems to be most common) or white or combinations thereof. There is a newer cultivar called 'Summer Chocolate' that has reddish brown foliage, but it hasn't been especially hardy here and is still quite expensive. No matter which sort you have, a Mimosa tree will make nice dappled shade for hostas or just a comfortable chair.
Jane

Comptonia peregrina

This is my plant of the day. Comptonia peregrina is more commonly known as SweetFern. We have been growing this one for years, but after I took this photo, I just couldn't remember either the Latin name or the common one. No way to file the photo without a name and ever hope to find it again. No way to look it up online if you can't remember the name. All I could think of is Sweet Shrub, which, of course, didn't work since it is an entirely different plant. Now that I have gotten the name back in my head, (found by accident while I was looking up another plant in my big wildflower book) I thought I'd share a bit about this pretty thing since I don't think it is all that well know.
Here is a plant for you northern growers since it is cold hardy to zone 2 (-38 degrees F.) and not very happy any warmer than zone 6. Ours grow in a dry place at the edge of the cactus scree and my research says that it likes that sort of thing. Full sun to partial shade. This one is about 2-4 feet tall and will spread wider than that over time. It is deciduous and is native to the northeastern United States. It is not commonly found in nurseries, probably because it is difficult to transplant and establish. Once settled in, however, it seems to not be bothered by insects or other problems.

So many weeds - so little time.

Jane

Cosmos bipinnatus

I loved growing cosmos when I was growing up. In elementary school our only fundraiser was selling seeds each spring. You got a box with one packet each of lots of flowers and radishes and lettuce. We always just bought the whole thing since my mother and grandfather both loved to garden and I was always the helper. The photo above is what most, if not all, of the cosmos looked like. I know the fashion now is to grow perennials, but my big gripe with them is that even though they will come back year after year, the bloom season for most of them is fairly short, measured in weeks rather than in months. This time of year when the garden is starting to get a little ratty looking, my annuals are still gorgeous.

Now, annuals can be expensive if you're buying those pricey ones at your local big box store in gallon pots, but seeds are relatively cheap, at least compared to those fancy gallon pots. Of course they can't beat the price of those 10 cent packets I sold back in the 1950s.

This year's packet of cosmos was an assortment. All seem to be fairly tall plants, some are taller than I am with stout stems that don't seem to be bothered by rain or wind. This sort of semi-double is a much darker shade than I usually see.

And this one was a total surprise. I don't think I've ever had a double cosmos before.

These I have had, thought, and my assortment has a lot if large white single blooms.

This red shade is also new. It's not the same as the magenta I'm used to; much more of a true red.

This last type is sold, I think, as 'Seashells'. It's different, but I think I like the old-fashioned ones better.

Cosmos are native to Mexico and are sometimes called Mexican Asters. They like full sun and are fairly drought tolerant once they're up and growing. They will frequently self seed, though the only ones from last year that came back were orange ones that are a totally different type.

Butterflies, especially monarchs, are quite fond of cosmos.

Jane

George

George was born in May of 1995 and died late this afternoon after a courageous battle with cancer. (Even kitties deserve a proper obituary). He had been sick for quite awhile and we were surprised that he held on this long. We will surely miss him.
Back when we could still let the kitties out to play - before coyotes, eagles, the semi-paving of the road which brought speeding cars, and crazy neighbors who thought of cats and dogs as target practice - he loved playing outside and sleeping in the sun. He was the only cat we ever had who chased, and caught, frogs. He would lick them until he just about licked their skin off. He rarely ate them, just played with them. He also liked to wander, even though he knew he wasn't allowed across the road. We'd call when we couldn't find him and it was time to come inside at the end of the day and then he would suddenly appear, as if out of nowhere. Then one day we caught him running full speed down the hill across the street and sneaking into the yard where he suddenly sat down and started taking a bath, as if he'd been there all the time. That was near the time we stopped letting any of them out. Just not safe.

My bread mixing bowl has always been a favorite of all of the cats. This was George's turn. Actually, if they try, two of them can share this huge bowl.

George and Linus were great friends and loved being outside together. Linus was even harder to find than George because his coloring so closely matched the mulch and he loved to hide under some of the giant hostas.

When someone has been a daily companion for so long, it's hard to say goodbye, but he will always with me in my heart, even though he'll no longer be napping in a sunbeam on the porch.

Fennel

This is a bit of a continuation of my post on herbs. This is one of the swallowtail butterflies. (Eastern Black Swallowtail) It would have markings in a lovely shade of bright blue on the top of its wings. It just wasn't interested in being cooperative. It is here because it is end end product of a caterpillar, the celery caterpillar, that eats fennel and makes its chrysalis on the fennel plant (among others). Anise Swallowtails will have caterpillars that eat fennel also.

This is the bloom on the bronze fennel (foeniculum vulgare) that we grew this year. Those yellow flowers will eventually turn into fennel seeds that I can use for cooking. The foliage and stems can be used in salads or in cooking. They have a licorice flavor. This one doesn't seem to form a bulb at its base like Florence Fennel, and all green version.

And this is the caterpillar. It is about 2.5 inches long and not very camouflaged, to say the least. There were 4 on the one plant and I noticed them from quite a distance.

A bit about the 2 kinds of fennel. Fennel was brought to this country in the 1600s by Spanish explorers, to what is now California. Bronze Fennel is hardy in zone 5 and warmer and can be grown as an annual in colder zones. It is feathery and has the most wonderful bronzy color leaves. Not much in the garden can match that color. It has a long tap root and so plant it where it can stay because moving it will be difficult or impossible. It grows in full sun to part shade and seems at least moderately drought tolerant.

Unlike the herb fennel which is a perennial, the veggie fennel is an annual, Herb fennel makes usable seeds, but not an edible bulb and veggie fennel makes that wonderful, round, edible bulb, but not seeds that can be used for anything except growing more veggie fennel.

When I first grew veggie fennel, it was difficult to find any recipes for it. Most cookbooks were lucky to have even one. With the internet, that problem has been solved, and finging lots of recipes is easy, but sliced raw in a salad or with dip will probably still be my favorite.

Jane

Herbs in my Garden

It seems I usually have to start my posts lately with an apology for neglecting my readers. Once again, I've gotten lazy about writing. Not that I haven't been thinking about gardening. As much as I can with this heat, I've been pulling weeds and working on some new beds that I've been creating. The rest of the time has been spent adding pictures and sort of re-doing the photo gallery on the Hoot Owl Hollow website. I'm almost done now, which is a relief. It always takes much longer than I think it will. Luckily, I'm not much for watching TV, so Hank watches and I listen while watching the computer screen. It always amazes me when I look up at something I've heard dozens of times and realize I've never actually seen it. But I digress...
This first photo is my parsley. I always grow some in a large pot to keep the rabbits from eating it. It's not exactly something I'd want to spray with rabbit repellent. I always grow a lot since I use it in my tomato soup and some of my other stuff I put up in jars. I also freeze it for winter. If you haven't tried it, it doesn't get much easier. Just pick it, wash the dust off, dry it and put it in zip loc bags or a freezer container. I usually use small snack sized bags so I have small portions to use in recipes and then put the little bags in a larger freezer bag. I never dry parsley because I like the taste of fresh parsley much better. Mine usually overwinters, but since it is a biennial, it will go to seed early in the second season. I usually get enough to have until my new crop is ready.
Thyme is one of my favorites. This is a variegated one, but any of them will do. Just be sure to taste them before you use then because they all don't taste the same and some are pretty bad. Trial and error here. These are perfectly hardy in our zone 6 garden and we probably have a dozen different kinds, mostly growing around edges of paths and such. Full sun and they can take light foot traffic and seem to tolerate a little bit of dry weather. Many stay evergreen, so there isn't any reason to dry it. I can almost always have some for turkey stuffing at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Basil seems to be a staple. This I do dry since it will go down with the first hint of frost. I pull up a plant and hang it upside down and then strip the leaves off once they're dry. Right now I've got some hanging outside since we've had so little rain. I also hang it inside or in the barn. I use it in any sort of Italian food and to make pesto.

Another Basil - this one with purple flowers. I bought packet of seeds that had 3 kinds in it. 2 seem to be green and I can't tell the difference, but this one with the purple flowers (which probably should be pulled off since you don't want it to go to seed) is quite pretty.

Sage is something I don't use much, but it is perennial here, so I just like to grow it. I do sometimes use it in pork dishes, but I find it a bit strong. It dries well.

Same flavor, prettier plant, is this variegated Sage. I've had this clump for 4 years now and it comes back better every year.

Not really an herb, I suppose, but it wouldn't be a garden without nasturtiums. They are quite edible and make a pretty, spicy addition to salads. My kids used to munch them up when they were little. Wonder if they remember that. Once you get used to the idea of eating flowers, there are quite a few that you can use, and growing them yourself, you don't have to worry about chemicals on them.

I've taken a couple hundred photos over the last couple of days, so I'll be sorting them out to share some here.

Happy almost fall - finally cooler temperatures tomorrow.

Jane