Thanks everyone for helping me ID the Chicory in my last post. I still can't believe how much of it there is around here!

Anyway I have yet another plant I need help with. I was out weeding my little garden the other day and this guy popped up. Is he a weed or another flower/herb that I should allow to grow? Any idea what he might be? Pics behind the cut...




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On Sunday, visited Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior, AZ.

I did manage to take some pictures. Here are some close-ups that I liked. Sometimes with nature photography, you just have to get lucky. :)

A butterfly flitting on a Desert Bird of Paradise.

A late-blooming, but very pretty purple rose.

I could really use some advice from experienced past or present venus fly trap tenders.

( the long story... large pictures )

I drive down a certain road everyday and there's all these little bluish purple wildflowers growing. I've been trying to figure out what they are but can't really find something that looks identical to them in any wildflower books. They are growing all along roadsides here so I'm sure nobody's planted them on purpose but I was wondering if any of you might know what this beauty is:


I love the way they look and would like to know what they are. Any ideas?

TIA!!!

1. What kind of lily?


( More pictures behind here )

I found this interesting grass growing in a vacant field in Central Kentucky. This grass was roughly a meter tall, with 2cm wide leaf blades, and had this seed head at the top. The seed head is very reminiscent of a dandelion head, except much larger (roughly 10+ cm in diameter).

Perhaps someone can id it.

Note: Plant successfully identified as Goatsbeard/Western Salsify (Trapogon dubius)

This was found in Louisiana, and raised welts on my friend's arm when she got the sap on herself. It's a creeper-vine that was trying to sneak into her garage under the door. Any thoughts on what this is?

It's probably not all that mysterious but I'm unfamiliar. I live in northeast Ohio and this lovely thing is growing on a fence in my backyard. The leaves and stems feel very soft and downy. The vine curls pretty tightly around the chainlink and the largest leaves are about 4-5 inches across. I think it's gorgeous.

( Read more... )

Can anyone identify this plant? I got it at a local market that was giving them away with any purchase. So, I assume it's an annual that may not last much longer. Although, if I know how to care for it, perhaps it will live indoors. Thanks for any help!

Quite a few critters have visited my garden. I apologize for the blurry, out-of-focus pictures. Some animals just won't sit still for a photograph.

If you click on the box in the lower right corner, you can see the pictures full screen.

It's really come into it's own this year- it's huge. I grew it from a seed and it was tiny for several years.

I was getting ready to weed the garden at the new place, but I'm wondering what the heck this is:



If the people before us planted it then I don't want to get rid of it. But they have an azalea and two gardenias too, and I don't want this plant hurting them. Any ideas?

This is part of my little garden. This didn't come out quite a big as I thought it would hmmm...anywho, I know that the multileaf plant towards the grass in the bottom right is a marigold, I planted it and have some growing in a pot but...what's the other stuff? I'm thinking maybe clover? I tried planting some Echinacea back here too but, I don't think I've seen signs of it sprouting yet. Are those other things the Echinacea and I'm just mistaking them for clover or...?

On a totally different unrelated note I'm quite proud of myself this year. I've been really paying attention to what's growing around me and have learned to ID several different types of flowers and plants around my area. For someone who just picked up a study of Herbalism, I consider this to be a good thing. I like knowing the different plant names hehe.

  
No! Don't touch that!     

I just realized that I planted all these herbs, and I have no idea when to harvest them. =-}

I'm growing cilantro, oregano, chamomile, dill, rosemary, basil, sacred basil, and two different kinds of mint. I started them all from seed...

The chamomile has flowered and those flower have gone away, and the cilantro is just starting to flower. Everything else is just big n' leafy.

Do I need to let them all flower first? Do I have to wait for a certain maturity before I harvest them? What the best way to preserve the flavor after harvesting?

I want to use the mint, chamomile, and sacred basil for tea. Then, I want to use the cilantro, oregano, dill, rosemary, and basil for seasoning food.

I have paperwhites and daffodils that I grow from bulbs in a pot. I know I need to dig them up every year or two and separate them, but do I feed them once a month like all the other plants over the spring/ summer?

I picked up some Grow More Bromeliad Tillandsia 17-8-22 fertilizer from Amazon and it arrived yesterday. This stuff will help my air plants bloom this summer and I had a very hard time finding the appropriate fertilizer for them.

But I have a problem. This stuff is a powder and these are the directions:

"Recommended for all Bromiliacae family plants the includ Bromeliads, Tillandsias and Guzmanias, grown in pots of loose fast draining soil or as epiphytes on tree branches or slabs of bark. Feed lightly and frquently and keep the central cups filled with water. Tillandsias are often mounted on plagues of wood or bark."

That's...so not helpful. My Tillandsias are not mounted and are all sitting on decorative stands, and they don't have any "cups" I can sprinkle this into...what do I do? Would this feasibly disolve in water and work if I gave them a good long soaking?

These are the nuissance weeds I have near my flower beds- they look like elephant ears- huge and disgusting! Added some more pics........
( more pics of the weed )

 

Another mini iris, which, as usual, I do not know the name of because I got it from a friend:




And a verbascum phoenicum, which came from a neighbor who grew them from seed:

It's doing quite well this year. Please ignore the pecan tree catkins. No matter how often I clear them out, more fall.