The weather pattern seems to have changed to a hotter, wetter July. At least for now the almost 3" of rain has spelled recovery for most of our gardens. About the only plant that did not suffer was the native prickly pear cactus. It produced a hundred or so bright glossy yellow flowers, a good candidate for the Friday Fabulous flower, although today is the 4th of July, a Tuesday. There are some sand prairies over by the Rivers, and this cactus can be quite abundant in many of those.
As many of TPP's reader know Magnolia's and nagnoliid flowers are a great favorite. The collection includes two species of big-leafed magnolia, M. tripetala and M. megaphylla (var. aschii). Both have leaves that are routinely more than 20 inches long. The Asche magnolia also has really big flowers 9-10 inches across and it flowers when quite small and young if polar vortexes stay away.
OK but first a shout out to Earth Day. TTP remembers the first Earth Day, but mostly because of all the other struff that was going on, mostly anti war things and the Kent State shootings, deciding to try out grad school to study botany, and other things. Sorry, Earth.
Hello readers,
TPP is back! A combination of too many things to do, mild depression, and a lost password kept TPP off the intertudubes. A really sweet flower has helped with the depression, but really our country seems to be broken, and too many of the ignorant types seem to be winning. Of course getting the password fixed has helped. Near the front corner of the Pfactor's dwelling is a 4 foot tall big leaf Magnolia macrophylla var. ashei, and today it flowered! A very uplifting event, especially since it is a from Florida. It is much hardier than everyone thinks. Although the next polar vortex will probably do it in. Isn't it wonderful?
Spring has sprung but winter isn't over yet. Signs of spring: earliet bulbs in flower like snow drops and winter aconite open in sunny places, mallard ducks return to lily pond like clock work (Mar 1st), and of course the FFF in flower, two varieties of witch hazel, Arnold's promise and DIane (orange-reddish frs). Very, very cheerful.
One of TPP's indoor plants has a tendency to be overlooked when it flowers. In general, it is raised for foliage, and in warmer climates it is often used as a foundation planting particularly the variety with variegated leaves. This is probably Pittosporum tobira, a common variety. This tree is about 16" tall and has a trunk about 2" in diameter. It has been trained as a bonsai tree for about 30 years.
The growing season is winding down, but not over as yet. So far if anything the growing season has been extended a week or so. But both this FFF and next week's too never have flowered before October, unless conditions have some plant confused, e.g., a yellow azalea has flowered a bit here in September and of course some of our Corydalis has never actually stopped flowering. Roses are also putting out a few new flowers and so is the Abeliophyllum. Interestingly enough this late flowering plant is also one of the first plants to sprout in the spring, and so far it has never been frost damaged. By now the clump of stems is 5-6 feet tall, and drooping if they haven't been staked. The entire plant is quite toxic, so nothing eats it, (true for many buttercup family members) and helps account for it's common name of wolf bane. The shape of the flower made by petalloid sepals provides another common name, monk's hood. This is probably Aconitum napellus, the most commonly cultivated species .
TPP is back! It was a great trip even if it required several episodes of covid testing (failed them all, a good thing), including one administered by a nurse helicoptered into a field camp for just 9 of us. At any rate today's not a Friday, not an aster, is actually called a false Aster, Boltonia decurrens. Presently it is flowering in our perennial garden. At well over 7 feet tall it is truly a standout. And this is a rare plant in Illinois, an endangered species. And having never seen it in the field it was quite surprise. Now TPP knows what you are going to say, "Endangered? it looks like a fleabane aster, an Erigeron. And technically TPP has no idea why it isn't one, and sorry haven't had the chance to look it up. The numerous narrow pinkish ray flowers and yellow disk flowers certainly to look like a fleabane aster. This particular species has leaf bases that are prominently decurrent down the stem, but Verbesina (wing stem) as the name suggests has winged stems so the two could be confused if you only had stems. Although the yellow ray flowers of the latter leave no doubts.
Somehow TPP missed a Friday. Who knows how this happens but it did. Fortunately there are a few reliable plants that flower in the late summer. This plant moves around the garden a bit, but it's always around. Quite reliable, you just have to learn how to recognize the seedlings and leave a couple. This is the great or big blue Lobelia (L. siphilitica), probably the easiest Lobelia to keep around your garden. And this part of the garden is fairly dry, although some field guides suggest it likes wet areas. Don't know about the specific epithet, perhaps this species was thought to have a medicinal use, but no obvious connection. There are supposedly two varieties here in Illinois, but TPP isn't sure he's ever a seen a difference.
Well, it's almost Friday, so may as well do something in bloom. The Meadow Rue right next to our patio is an elegant tall plant (5') with a spray of purplish flowers at the top. This is a dioecious species, probably Thalictrum delavayi. The flowers are basically either a cluster of stamens or a cluster of pistils with a whorl of several petalloid bracts below. In another taxonomic affront to TPP's memory, Hepatica. has been placed in the genus Tahlictrum. Some molecular study obviously nested it within the meadow rue genus and so for neatness the genus got changed. The meadow rue generally flowers now in mid to late July, whereas Hepatica flowers in the very early spring. It also has petalloid bracts, and unlike many spring ephemerals, its leaves do not die back but over winter above ground after turning a purplish brown, thus the liver leaf, that and it's three lobed. Oh,crap there is a weedy vine climbing the meadow rue.
TPP thinks he owes everyone a FFF post, so this one is a day early because according to both Ms. Phactor and the F1 there will be no time to post a blog in the next 2-3 days. Gad, but it's a long list. This is an outstanding plant. Spotted it in bloom rising above the rest of the perennial bed from the table in our kitchen probably about 50 yds away. And no question this plant liked the monsoonal rain even of 2 weeks ago (10.5"). This is Filipendula rubra, Queen of the prairie, or meadow sweet. At this time of year it stands about a stately 6' tall and likes some what wetter soil (and it's present location can be a bit dry this time of year). This is a member of the Rose family, which should be fairly obvious. The flowers are pretty small, but form a large visible cluster. The color can vary from this pink to a darker rose especially in cultivars (this is pretty much wild type). And it contrasts nicely with the taller gray coneflower's yellow. The leaves are palmately lobed leaves.
A number of years ago either because a charity garden tour wanted to include our gardens for a show in June, or because she wanted flowers for a friend's June wedding, Mrs. Phactor planted a lot of lilies in our perennial gardens. And the majority of them flower in June. On the whole they make for a lot of color in an otherwise rather dull time of year. This particular lily, an Asian lily, is an ivory cream color, the variety name has long been lost, but every year it has a huge, handsome display. Friends had a fluffball of a cat, a flouncy thing, named Lily appropriately. She's long since gone, but she was quite handsome. Enjoy.
Flowers at the stage of seed dispersal, i.e., fruit, tend to get over looked. Next to our patio is an old TV antenna that makes a good fire escape and a great plant trellis. In this case the plant is our Magnolia vine, Schisandra chinensis. The flowers now at the stage of fruit development made an interesting pattern. Each more or less light green axis is from a flower and on it are oval fruitlets from each of the ovaries on the receptacle of this flower. The larger oval ones will mature, the smaller ones are abortive fruitlets, but they all will turn scarlet in color. What is unique is how much the receptacle elongates after pollination such that the bunch of fruitlets looks more like a bunch of fruits. Since they are spaced our the individual fruitlets stay solitary rather then fusing laterally like the drupelets of a raspberry. Enjoy?
2021 has already been a banner year for flowering in our gardens, and this includes a couple of frosty nights. In particular the flowering shrubs have been amazing especially with respect to the masses of flowers produced. A few herbaceous plants have also been notable for their displays, a sadly disappointing lack of flowering for our pear trees is the only dnf (did not flower) of note. After last week's FFF, a couple of readers wanted to know what the flower looked like after the "candle" stage, but circumstances prevented getting a good image of that flower stage. However, their curiosity can be somewhat satisfied by substituting another big leaf magnolia, Magnolia macrophylla var. ashei, the ashe Magnolia from the Florida panhandle. The plant is tougher than you might think considering its limited southern distribution. This is TPP's second try, the extreme of a polar vortex proved too much for my first plant. But it survived zero degrees at least twice. It flowers in a similar manner to M. tripetala, starting with a candle stage, but then when it reaches the stamen shattering stage (just started), the 6 tepals all open widely making the flower about a 10-12" creamy white saucer, with red coloration at the base of the three inner tepals. The plant is barely 3.5' tall at present, so pretty impressive. Oh, yes, one big leaf species has auriculate lobes at the base of the blade (M. macrophylla), the other's blade narrows acuminately to the petiole.
