Southern Weeds = Northern Treasures

We just spent a pleasant week in Kentucky, for various reasons, and the vegetation was definitely a feast for the eyes.   Outside our first motel was this shrub bed, one of the few that was not well-weeded.  Its centrepiece was a Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica).  I have one here at home I am trying to nurse along in a big pot.  But, what were the weeds in this bed?  Some of the very plants I call exotic, and am trying to grow here in Nova Scotia.  

   Notice, on the lower left, above, a vigorous Redbud (Cercis canadensis) seedling.  And see, below, at the base of a rosebush, a Sassafras (S. albidum) growing.  Both of these were everywhere I looked in the countryside - in the woods, the fence-rows, and, yes, as a weed in the flowerbeds.  

Here is mine, below, at the cottage, growing very well this summer, after dying to the ground over winter.  I was thrilled to find this at a local nursery last summer.  It is a rarity here in Eastern Canada.

A real weed in the South is Paulownia tomentosa, Royal Paulownia.  Here is one getting a foothold in Mammoth Cave National Park...

it has been quite invasive in parts of the US, having been imported from the orient decades ago.  Here at home, I am struggling to get my seedling to flourish.  I started this from seed about five years ago.  It's growing slowly, and was half winter-killed before this past season. 

Next are a couple shots of other wild things in Kentucky and Tennessee that for me at home are special plants, receiving some attention and nurture at the Cottage.  I have not taken pictures of my plants; these are shots from the South.

Above, Rattlesnake Master, Eryngium yuccifolium, and below, Paw Paw, Asimina triloba.  Paw Paws were everywhere as an under-story shrub, but the developing fruits were hard to find.  My plant is a mere two inches tall!

And, finally, some photos from home.  These plants I'm growing I got to see in their native sphere, mature and flourishing...

Above is one of my Osage Oranges, or Bodark trees, Maclura pomifera.  Started these from seed in the spring of 2012. 

     Below is a real "weed" in many cities and southern places, Tree of Heaven, Ailanthus altissima.  This is the species of the classic US novel "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," by Betty Smith (1943).  It is also the plant nurtured in Canada by "Dave" in Stewart McLean's story, "Tree of Heaven" (2004). Dave finds a seedling growing in the dirt in on the floor of his car, and goes to extraordinary measures to keep it alive.  I'm so glad mine is flourishing, after mowing the three-inch stem off first thing this spring!  It's a foot and a half tall now.

Finally, I saw a few honeylocusts (Gleditsia triacanthos) in the wild, including seedlings, in the South.  Here at home, the one I purchased as a small seedling in Ontario years ago is finally taking off, and even bloomed, as it's four seed-pods can attest.

So, remember... some of your treasured specimens are weeds somewhere else on the globe; and some of your own weeds are highly valued by gardeners elsewhere.