Wildflower Wednesday: Pink, Pink, Pink, Yellow

At first glance this could be a geranium, but no... see the four petals, instead of five?  This is an Epilobium I see in the occasional ditch here in Nova Scotia.  E. hirsutum, Great Willowherb.  There is a healthy patch of it near my home, across from a farmer's market.  

Less showy, prominent, or common than Fireweed, E. angustifolium, Great Willoherb is still a good six or seven feet tall, alongside the cattails. (Well, I guess Fireweed is now Chamerion angustifolium... the nomenclature is always changing!)

It grows long, narrow seedpods, typical of its genus, that will open to shed their fluffy, flying seeds.  

   A bit closer to home, along our long driveway, a patch of Crown Vetch comes up each year.  I guess Coronilla varia (or Securigera varia) has been planted around the province, and gone a bit wild in places.  Does not seem to be spreading.  I've always been charmed by it and thought it a nice surprise to find.  

(Pay no attention to the Goutweed that the Vetch is clambering over!)

     When I wander into the adjacent, abandoned field, big clumps of Joe Pye Weed can be found.  I knew Eupatorium purpureum (or Eutrochium purpureum) as a wetland wildflower long before I saw varieties in people's gardens.  

 On sunny days I've seen it teeming with small, orange butterflies.  This dark, damp evening, only a few aphids and ants were enjoying this clump!

I always see it in the wild doing better than the bits in my garden.  The aphids seem to win on my property.  These wild clumps, with their roots in wetter places, fare very well.  

And, tramping back to the driveway, I find a new plant to me this summer.  At first glance, the blossoms fool one into thinking it's just the oh-so-common Bird's Foot Trefoil.

But this is growing like a vetch or other "pea," with tendrils at the ends of the leaves, with only two leaflets.  It's quite thick, matted, and luxurious in this abandoned field.  

This is Meadow Vetchling, Lathyrus pratensis, one more of the many, many introductions to North America of the Pea family, Fabaceae.

Check out Clay and Limestone for more links to Wildflower Wednesday in the gardening blogosphere.

Belated Bloom Day July '13

Left my camera home when I was at the Cottage yesterday, so I'm catching up today.  I have not yet visited Carol's May Dreams Gardens to connect with many other Garden Blogger Bloom Day posts.  Check it out on the 15th of each month.

  The hot, muggy weather here is fine with most plants... roses and day lilies are thriving.  Lot's of things putting on a show.

 I'm so glad last year's seedlings of cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum) are doing so well.  The plants are certainly robust, and just starting to bloom this past weeekend.  I will need to move them before next year.

The blooms of agave-leaved sea holly (Eryngium agavifolium) are subtle, but the structure of the whole plant is spectacular.  Growing perennials from seed is encouraging when a neat-o plant like this arises!

     A weed I collected this spring that is not too common in the province is viper's bugloss (Echium vulgare); it's great to get another true blue flower.  No offence intended toward good ole Clematis 'Jackmanii'.

 

I will say the day lily season is starting with a bang.

 

The bleeding heart, below, should bloom for quite a while.  Collected from my parent's home, it likely was planted years before by my paternal grandmother.  I like to think so, anyway.

I love the late-blooming azaleas, so I bought this reddish one just the other day.  Has a nice fragrance too.  I think it is named "Millennium."

     And the roses keep blooming... This is a moss rose I collected in a nearby ditch a decade ago.

 These final shots - for those who are curious - are of dyer's greenwood (Genista tinctoria).  A couple seedlings were kindly given to me by some friends here in Hants County.  First saw this plant blooming in Cape Breton, where it is wildly prolific in one North Sydney neighbourhood.

Good luck gardening AND blogging.  I can't seem to catch up with either... but am having fun trying!

Canada Day Weekend

On the past weekend - sometimes windy and quite wet - I discovered my roses at the Cottage doing well.  The unnamed yellow is just starting to open up, and Crocus Rose, below, is very happy.  Doesn't mind the wet weather at all.  I saw this variety first in a friend's garden, and liked it so much I got one for myself.  Its' great to have a friend who knows his roses.  I just send off an email asking for advice on my next purchase.

Seven Sisters is just coming into her glory, and is even chatting with a pink peony.  

Some of the peonies are weathering the weather remarkably well.  A few, like this pink one above, are fairly new to me, and really blooming for the first time this year.  We can all count on downpours when they reach their peak, eh?  Below is a crashing peony, with flattened carnation pinks.

My wife noticed what I did too... rather a lot of pink in bloom at the cottage just now.  Not intentional .. just happened.  One delightful pink rarity is the showy lady's slipper, Cypripedium reginae.  So glad it keeps growing, despite the weeds!  Got this through the mail a few years ago.  It grows wild, and quite luxuriously, in a local provincial park.  

And what Canada Day weekend would be complete without strawberries for shortcake!  There is a long tradition, at our particular cottage, of BBQ and shortcake on this holiday.  We happened to dine a day early, June 30.  It was the best weather day of the weekend!

Happy 4th of July to you gardeners "south of the border."