Do you have a favorite plant in your garden?

[Blueberry Acres]

I love my goldenrod. It grows wild in the unmowed areas on my property and attracts pollinators by the bucketload. Eventually the trees we planted in those areas may grow to overshadow my wildflowers, but I hope goldenrod and others will still adorn the edges of these reforested spaces.
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I love seeing wildflowers when I'm driving about; it makes me so happy to see that there are still a lot of wild plants left.

My swamp milkweed is another one of my favorite plants, it attracts so many pollinators! I hope I will get some monarch caterpillars on it someday!

I have been scattering my swamp milkweed seedpods around the wooded road areas so hopefully they will grow wild there; it's better than just dead leaves!

 

[flowerbug]

joe pye weed is another damp loving flower.

cardinal flowers are another one but since they are endangered here you can't collect them from the wild to transplant.

 

[Blueberry Acres]

joe pye weed is another damp loving flower.

I've always wanted to grow joe-pye weed, I was planning on it next year! It seems really big though; I found this dwarf variety that I might try:

Baby Joe Dwarf Pye Weed, Eupatorium | American Meadows

'Baby Joe' Dwarf Joe Pye Weed is the solution for butterfly lovers short on space in the garden. This compact variety grows to a manageable 2-3’ tall and limits its spread. 'Baby Joe' has gorgeous purple blooms that add sweet fragrance to the late-season garden, supplying butterflies...

www.americanmeadows.com

cardinal flowers are another one but since they are endangered here you can't collect them from the wild to transplant.

I love cardinal flowers; I might try growing them from seed sometime.

 

[SPedigrees]

joe pye weed is another damp loving flower.

cardinal flowers are another one but since they are endangered here you can't collect them from the wild to transplant.

You got me thinking, flowerbug, about perhaps using Joe Pyeweed as a replacement planting for my crabapple tree which I fear has been killed by excess water during this rainy summer. I used to have a clump of Joe Pyeweed plants in this same wet area, to the right of that dying apple tree, and I really loved it. It was a pollinator magnet as you can see in this video. Joe Pyeweed with Monarchs and bees Unfortunately my J.P. plants became overshadowed by the willow bushes I also had planted in this wet area. My first thought was to replace the crabapple with more willows, but now I'm thinking perhaps another clump of Joe Pyeweeds would be a better replacement and keep the pink flower design I had going.

Your mention of cardinal flowers also struck a chord. In that same wet area in front of my house, I have a cardinal red lobelia. Mine came from Bluestone Perennials; I hadn't realized that it was a cultivated version of a wild plant. In any case it has really thrived. It may eventually be overtaken by the willow bushes, much as happened to my Joe Pyeweeds, but this cardinal flower has done so well, that I've thought about buying a few more of these plants this coming spring. At least I may as well enjoy the show before the willows take over. I may even be prompted to use the trimmer to keep the area right around them willow-free.

 

[Blueberry Acres]

It was a pollinator magnet as you can see in this video. Joe Pyeweed with Monarchs and bees

Wow! That's awesome!

 

[baymule]

I’ve never seen Joe Pyeweed. It does make some showy flowers.

 

[Branching Out]

Joe Pye Weed has lovely purple foliage as well as beautiful blooms-- but here in the Pacific Northwest it can become an actual weed. It grows 6' tall and spreads via underground runners, making it very difficult to contain and one heck of a lot of work to remove. It is for those reasons that we not longer grow it in our garden.

 

[FrannyNZooey]

Gosh, it's so hard to choose a favorite! It's hard to say, but I do love this particular one when it's in peak bloom. For whatever reason the delicate flowers and draping stems get me. Plus the bees and hummers love it, so it's always fun to see who's taking advantage of the nectar and pollen. We didn't plant it, it been here in the garden bed since we moved in in 2019. I've seen it around the neighborhood too. I think it's called "linaria"? Honestly any flower in full seasonal bloom is beautiful.

 

[Blueberry Acres]

Gosh, it's so hard to choose a favorite! It's hard to say, but I do love this particular one when it's in peak bloom. For whatever reason the delicate flowers and draping stems get me. Plus the bees and hummers love it, so it's always fun to see who's taking advantage of the nectar and pollen. We didn't plant it, it been here in the garden bed since we moved in in 2019. I've seen it around the neighborhood too. I think it's called "linaria"? Honestly any flower in full seasonal bloom is beautiful.

I love it! I had never seen that plant before.

For whatever reason the delicate flowers and draping stems get me.

Same with me!



I really love Lindheimer's Beeblossom (aka Gaura flowers) also because it's so delicate and beautiful in such a fragile sort of way. It comes in white and pink, white is my favorite.

(Not my photos)

 

[flowerbug]

i love some of the delicate woodland flowers and they can be out only for a few days and then gone.

this picture is from years ago when i took three pictures and then edited them together.