Tuesday, October 02, 2007

What's blooming


Strawberry bush, a.k.a. Hearts a burstin' (Euonymus americanus). My mother sometimes calls this plant Wahoo, but the internet says that's the name of a similar, more purplish-blooming plant. That kind of spoils my fun, since I liked to yell wahoo! whenever I found one.


I think this one is Grass-leafed Golden-Aster (Heterotheca graminifolia or Pityopsis graminifolia, I'm not sure which name is the more current.)


This one shows the grass-like leaves.


Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica).


I was about to call this one White snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum), until I realized that the leaves are wrong for that. It's actually Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum altissimum). (Thanks Ontario Wanderer for that correction! I didn't realize there were different types of Boneset.)


Same thing, whole plant.


The Ironweed (Vernonia altissima) is still hanging in there. I saw five Monarch butterflies on it at the same time - very nice since we don't see near the numbers that we used to.


White Crownbeard, a.k.a. Frostweed (Verbesina virginica).


A yellow composite that I've yet to figure out the name of.


Some asters I'm not going to get specific about.

The pics aren't as spiffy as I'd like... I set the camera to a tiny spot-meter and kind of forgot. So most of them were too dark, and were grainy and had to be manipulated.

The goldenrod and the ragweed are blooming too, but I didn't get pics of those.

19 comments:

DeeMom said...

lovely pictures...

Anonymous said...

Wait - I thought Alabama was having a dreadful drought (I'm in VA but grew up in B'ham so AL news catches my attention). You must be getting some rain, there. Beautiful flower pix.

swamp4me said...

Love that Hearts-a-bustin seed pod. The green flower is so inconspicuous that one hardly expects such exhuberence in the seeds!

That yellow composite under the white crownbeard looks alot like yellow crownbeard, Verbesina occidentalis, but I can't be sure without seeing the stem and leaves.

Anonymous said...

You're inspiring me with plans for my garden for next year. How lovely to have an abundance of blooms this time of year!

Paige said...

Love the flower pictures! I think it is so much fun to learn the names of the flora and fauna in our regions. It helps to reconnect us with the natural world that we have become so removed from.

Rurality said...

Thanks DeeMom!

Lin, yes, the drought has been awful. I didn't think about this until you mentioned it, but all of these are in wet areas - or rather they would be, if it ever rained! They are in areas where water tends to collect, or they are right by the ponds. The only exception is the Grass-leafed aster. But it is near an area that I gave a little extra water to so maybe that saved it! (I carried water from the creek to a little Birds-foot Violet that I transplanted, and the aster is in that same area.)

S4M, I didn't get a good pic of the leaves, so I will have to go back and look.

Wren, since these are all natives I'm glad I don't have to do anything to enjoy the blooms.

Segolily, thanks, my theory was that it was teach me the latin names of things, but for the most part I've had to continue to look them up each time! (I think I need to start typing them out instead of cutting & pasting, and maybe they would stick in my brain better that way.)

Ontario Wanderer said...

In my shrub book the Wahoo has almost exactly the same seed pod and seeds as you have shown. Given that common names are so numerous and different around North America, I think you can continue your Wahoo yell whenever you see the plant in this state!

I wish I could see the Boneset leaves more closely. From her it looks more like Tall Boneset (Eupatorium altissimum) than Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) but perhaps it's just the angle that I am seeing that makes it appear that way.

It's a wonderful collection of flower photos whatever their names!

Phillip Oliver said...

What kind of conditions does your strawberry bush like? I have one that I keep moving around. This year it looked great until the drought started and now I think part of it has died.

Rurality said...

OW, thanks, I think you are exactly right! I will correct it in the post.

Phillip, they grow here in the wetter areas. This year it was all they could do to put on one or two seed pods per plant.

I forgot to mention, the Beautyberry was very scarce this year, after 3 summers of very little rain.

Ki said...

When we visited Asheville, NC in late August, we saw one lonely green fruit on a strawberry bush. I thought the fruit was an interesting shape so I took a picture of it. I later learned that the fruit was quite spectacular but I wasn't prepared for just how stunning it is. Thanks for posting the photo.

lisa said...

Wow, I like your strawberry bush! I agree that wahoo is more fun...and I love that grass-leaved yellow aster! Here I thought my yard already had all the asters possible, but I don't have that one! I must look for seeds!

Ava said...

Love the tour of the flowers. It brightened my day!!!!

Shady Gardener said...

What a nice variety of flower photos! I really LIKE your "Wahoo!" I need to look it up. Wonder if it grows in Zone 4? At least, I think I'm still in zone 4.

kris said...

Beautiful photos - what a nice mix of color.

Annie in Austin said...

We have a Eupatorium in Austin that looks a little like yours, Rurality - it has multiple names including White snakeroot and Havana boneset. At the Wildflower Center it's called Ageratina havanensis, so that's the name I use on my spreadsheet.

My plant was doing nothing and I'd decided it had too much shade and would have to be moved in late fall. When you posted yours in bloom I went to look at mine, and it's just budding. Thanks - you kept me from moving it unecessarily.

That 'hearts a'busting' is a fun photo!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

[Sorry about the deleted comments - somehow they appeared on the snipe post instead of the Eupatorium post]

Anonymous said...

Hi there, Annie sent me over to look at your Hearts a burstin' as I just posted on this shrub. I find it interesting that you have it growing in AL and I am way up here in RI! It is nice to share plants that way don't you think? Love your pictures and blog and will stop in again!

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lisa said...

BTW, I wanted to let you know that the last comment on this post is from "Spammy the Troll", in case you wanted to erase it. :)

Rurality said...

Hey thanks Lisa, for some reason it hadn't emailed me that one. Glad to get rid of that nonsense!