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Friday, September 28, 2012

Wildflower Wednesday September 2012

Welcome to my Wildflower Wednesday post, to see others go to Clay and Limestone, hosted by Gail who has lots of lovely blooms in the Aster family.    Not much blooming in the native category in my yard now, we still are waiting for the rainy season to start, it's very dry.  The Fireweed has finished and is about to blow.   The Chaste tree blooms make a nice purple-
The Pearly Everlasting is past its prime-
The Kinnikinnick, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, has bright red berries-
Lonicera ciliosa also had red berries-
And for some edible berries, a little past prime, some Berberis (Mahonia) nervosa-
and finally, some Salal berries.   I'll have to get some picked and make some gelatin with them.

Happy Fall!   Hannah

7 comments:

  1. Nice, Hannah ! The Vitex looks like the narrow leaf variety beside the roadside in central Texas. Is it you can take the girl out of Texas , but not the Texas out of the Girl? Wink
    Hope the rains come soon, We have had a better year than `11, which was living hell, but still `12 has had it`s strecthes of parched.

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    1. I loved going on field trips in Texas, the wildlife there is amazing. I can't say I miss the poisonous snakes though. The PNW at least by the coast is free of poisonous snakes and most poisonous spiders. Vitex is not native but the usda website says there are 2 species in Texas.

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  2. Fabulous wildflowers...When I was in Colorado I saw Fireweed and thought it was incredible. I read that it can be quite thuggish...Is that so?

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    1. My fireweed seems to spread a lot laterally, I foolishly planted a variegated Willow near some and it is being overrun. It also disperses seeds with floss, so I try to cut them off before they blow. Even worse is a related annual, I think willowherb, which gets big seed heads that blow as well.

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  3. You're so right about it being dry. I have enjoyed the cooler, sunny days but DANG it's a warm one today. And kind of sultry too. The red berries on your Lonicera are really cool looking. Those dots look like eyeballs. I sure wish I could grow Salal. It's too dry here but I tried. Have a great weekend.

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    1. Salal was here already, this was once woods that were logged and a portion remains. Salal seems to need no summer rain, I prefer the Oregon Holly grape, especially B. nervosa, for it's beautiful foliage. Salal can be a thug, it spreads a lot and has overrun my Trilliums in some beds. I like it that it is evergreen, tough and edible. I found it more transplantable than the Oregon Holly Grape. I'm going to try it soon in some woodsy areas I want to plant up so the berry vines will have a harder time.

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  4. Lovely blooms! You asked about my wild goldenrod. Yes, they do self-seed like crazy. I learned that the hard way last year. This year I plan to cut off the blossoms before that can happen. You can actually make a tea from them I've heard so I'm going to try it.

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