Am I a Native Perennial or Weed ?
 

A small gift and plant shop closed last week. It was not a bad thing; she opened a bar and grill near where I used to live. The owner invited her former customers to come dig the plants she had in the outdoor garden next to her gift shop. The plants were just coming up and the beds had not been weeded.

Can you recognize any treasures (or yucks) in the plants I dug up?

2nd pic from the top and 2nd pic up from the bottom both look like horse weed to me.

4th pic up from the bottom looks like Johnson Grass.

If I'm right, those are two of the most invasive weeds in existence.

3 looks like Obedient Plant. Should have square stems.
4 pretty sure that is Phlox
5 looks interesting!
6 pretty sure that is Knapweed (it's cultivated, not a weed)
8 pretty sure it's Gayfeather (purple or white blooms)
10 I would keep

Linda

Thank you! I have enough weeds without starting a new collection.
A good body of knowledge we have here.

I thought 3 might be Pigweed. Glad to find out it is a perennial, even thought it doesn't behave like it's namesake. I have liatrus in my garden but I didn't recognize it at this early stage. When the rain breaks I'll see if it is up yet. I have knapweed too, so I'll be able to verify that. It spreads readily here. What is your secret technique, Linda, for identifying these young specimens? I'll post pics as they mature so we can see what they actually become.

- Lisa

One hint is signs of dead-heading. Clipped stems on last years growth in the clump.
Either having been cut for indoor flowers or cut for plant health in the fall and to prevent
re-seeding of invasive ones.
The single fresh stalk with thin leaves look much like a common weed we have here.
Not sure.

1 may be Pearly Everlasting
2 and 9 I believe are Goldenrod
3 Is two different plants. The fuzzy leaf is Rudbeckia. The other could be many things. Inula,
dianthus or maybe even Swamp Milkweed.
4 I agree is Pholx
5 Will be blooming soon, so we will see.
6 Looks like some kind of flowering bulb
7 I agree looks like Liatris. It may also be Rosemary.
The last picture seems to be Lychnis. The orange flowered variety with the light green leaves.

At least if there is a weed it is contained in a container for now.

The yellow bucket (7) would be Liatrus. I've tried to overwinter Arp Rosemary outdoors and it didn't make it. Now I overwinter Rosemary in an unheated east facing room that stays at a minimum of 55 degrees with very good results. The one caveat is that bucket isn't drained at the bottom and its raining "buckets".

The weather is playing tricks this week. We'll see how things look after the snow tomorrow.

I left out one plant that I'm curious about, It looks like a young thornless raspberry but she didn't have any edibles. I'll get a photo when the rain lets up.

- Lisa

What's Arp rosemary?

Deborah, its a cold hardy variety of Rosemary for northern growers. It didn't survive my Zone 5 as stated on the label. Hopefully other northern gardeners have a better outcome. You have many choices for perennial rosemary in your climate. Expensive failure for me.

- Lisa

Oh. Thanks for explaining. I'm interested in what the raspberry-like plant turns out to be.

Not much to update on the above plants. Some are still waiting to go into the ground.

This popped up in the lawn, which is bring over run by raspberries. It doesn't look like its siblings. It's shorter too, and has no prickly stems. There are two like this. Is this a weed or baby raspberry?

- Lisa

Weed!

Weed.

The fuzzy leaf plant in the first picture grew to this and then flowered. Any idea what it is?

I'm also curious as to the three plants in the next photo. The small plant at the bottom is sweet woodruff, the middle phlox?, and the top??

- Lisa

The first and second picture is Cupid's Dart or Catananche caerulea.

I think that I have the other blue flowered plant. I will have to look it up for you. It is a native and likes a moist situation. From the picture it looks the same as mine. Is it a two lipped flower sort of a snap-dragon type?

I'd have said:

1. Cornflower
2. Monkey Flower (Mimulus). It's a cute native!

Linda

Yes, the other is Mimulus ringens known as Monkey Flower. It recently changed families and names so it was difficult for me to look up under it's old name of Scrophulariaceae.

I went outside and looked closely at part of a blossom that had fallen off the "Monkey Plant". I saw two eyes., so identity confirmed.

I thought that it was a very pretty blossom, now it is kind of creepy. I can't imagine enjoying one of the more prominent monkey face blossoms looking up at me. The plant does indeed like its current location, nice and wet and shady. It's still in a tray up against the house, under the hose bib and shaded by a giant Burning Bush.

I will take more pics of the 1st and 3rd as they bloom.

- Lisa

The Cupid's Dart is a great plant, well-behaved for me. Can't think of the name for the second plant...

Lisa, I have been wondering about what you have. It is very nice that some have been identified. I do hope you enjoy them.

When I first this thread back a few months ago, I thought to myself, I have ten acres of Native Perennial Weeds :lol: Without them, the ground would be bare.

I don't know that 9 was identified, but I am pretty sure it is milkweed for Monarch butterfly attracting. I have it all over my yard.

[QUOTE=greenthumbomaha;652210]The fuzzy leaf plant in the first picture grew to this and then flowered. Any idea what it is?

I'm also curious as to the three plants in the next photo. The small plant at the bottom is sweet woodruff, the middle phlox?, and the top??

- Lisa[/QUOTE]

The first picture is "for sure" Cupid's Dart. I found one at the garden center dollar sale and brought it home to spread the love.

Some of the other plants above that I thought were milkweed are also turning out to be Money Plant.

Still more to bloom.

- Lisa

A new chartreuse plant popped up in a few pots and now one is in bloom.

The smaller woody plant was from an exchange, and I would like to know what it is. It was holding its own but not thriving in the shade, so I moved it to a sunnier spot.

The chartreuse plant is talinum limon. I love adding it to my planters for the bright green foliage as well as the airy pink flowers. Seeds are easily saved for next season.

An update that I don't have any survivors from these plants, except for two which turned out to be a
straggler vine type shrub that grew tall and and flopped over, covering every plant in it's way.

I have tons of horseweed in another area - sand by the lake. There is so much weed seed that as soon as it gets pulled, a new forest pops up overnight.

The last pic, the talinum limon did not survive the season, but seeds were acquired via swap and I still have them reseeding in a pot bring out in summer and I overwinter in the house. They started reseeding in another pot this summer, but it was too biologically active having been sitting in the ground to bring in.

I came back searching posts for the name (again) to see how to start them indoors. Harris Seeds is selling 100 seeds for $18.99. I must have $200 worth in my vacuum cleaner bag. Its just beautiful in bloom. Thank you, friend, for the treasure !

- Lisa

Crazy price for those seeds. I start them from saved seeds every spring. By the end of the season, the plants are a bit raggedy looking. The seeds are very small, so it takes some time to get them to transplantable size, they always make it there in time for planting my containers.

I have extra seeds if someone is interested.

[QUOTE=nancyruhl;760486]Crazy price for those seeds. I start them from saved seeds every spring. By the end of the season, the plants are a bit raggedy looking. The seeds are very small, so it takes some time to get them to transplantable size, they always make it there in time for planting my containers.

I have extra seeds if someone is interested.[/QUOTE]

I am if no one else needs them... I would like a few if you do.

You will love this plant, Carolyn. I have a giant paper "tarp" under the plant to catch seeds. The challenge in saving seeds is to catch them after they ripen but before the pod splits open and the tiny black seeds fall to the ground. Once you have a plant growing and you are vigilant in monitoring the flowers, you will never be wanting for more seeds.
Nancy, and Miss S if you see this, do you know how long they are viable for under normal household conditions?

- Lisa

I don’t know how long the seeds are viable. I have occasionally skipped a year, then grew out saved seeds the following season, and they sprouted. I let the the balls dry on the stems and then, at the end of the season, harvest and pop them open to collect the seeds