Sweet Autumn Clematis...

After we moved to North Carolina, I discovered Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora) growing here all on its own. I guess it could be considered a weed, but definitely not of the Kudzu variety. I have found it to be a useful addition to my garden.



It does reseed itself, although not insanely like the Morning Glories. It is easy to pull out and doesn't mind being transplanted (more carefully than pulling it out) if you do want to keep it, only in a different location.




My Sweet Autumn Clematis attracts these Blister Beetles. You don't want to mess with Blister Beetles! Apparently they have that name because they release a toxin that makes your skin blister. Also, if very many of them are in alfalfa hay eaten by horses, it can be fatal to the horses. So I just watch the beetles eat the plant and leave them alone.




Can ya guess why it's called Sweet Autumn Clematis? Oh, you think it has something to do with the fact that it blooms in the Fall (or late summer)? And that it is lightly fragrant? I'm thinkin' you may be right.



I have it growing several places in my garden, planned and unplanned. I've started it growing along the duck yard fence. Some year maybe I'll get it over the entire fence. The ducks like take naps in its shade.




It also grows on the end of the deck, in Julie's white garden. As it climbs up the deck, it twines into the plants I have in pots on the deck, so it becomes part of my vignette as well as Julie's.


Have a beautiful day!

Partridgepea...

Here's another weed that showed up in my garden a couple of years ago. Of course, at the time it was just one plant and it was pretty and I thought, "Oh, what a nice accent." Well, the plant took that as an invitation and the next year there were lots and lots and lots of 'em.



So, this year, as they started coming up, I pulled out almost all of them. Yes, I did leave a few. Because they are pretty and they do make a nice accent.



You may have heard of the sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica). If you touch its leaves, they curl up. The leaves of the sensitive plant do look similar this plant, but the sensitive plant has pinkish-lavender pom-pom type flowers and my weed (Cassia fasciculata or Partridgepea) has the yellow flowers pictured.



Before I did my research as to the weed's botanical name, and discovered that it wasn't a Mimosa as I had mistakenly thought, I tried touching its leaves to see what happened. Well, after stroking this leaf for a minute or so, look what occurred! I guess maybe it is a little bit sensitive, too.



And I couldn't resist adding another butterfly-on-a-sunflower picture. Enjoy.


Have a beautiful day!

Jimsonweed...

O.K., so here's a fun one: Datura stramonium. This plant reseeded itself from last year's plants, which reseeded themselves from seeds that came with a huge load of horse manure that I brought home. It has made itself quite at home in what was supposed to be my hummingbird garden. Maybe next year it will be my hummingbird garden.



It is a pretty flower and the plant itself is can be impressive, but it is toxic. It can kill livestock and poison people. Apparently, some use it as a hallucinogenic, which, I must say, is rather dangerous. The "Jimson" part of Jimsonweed is a variation of the name Jamestown, where the colonists found it growing. I am just learning all kinds of things from the weeds in my garden.



I meant to get them all pulled up this year, but, as you can see, I didn't. So, I am enjoying the lovely flowers until I get out my gloves - the sap is irritating - and get it pulled out. Hopefully, I'll get that done before it makes its very thorny, very full of seeds, seed-pods. And I go through this whole process again. It does look nice with the Cleome, though.


Have a beautiful day!

Thistle...

In a weedy area of my garden... maybe I should say, in a very weedy area of my garden, since quite a lot of my garden would count as weedy... I discovered a "lovely" purple bloom.



Do I want more of these?


I don't think so. Just look at those thorns! Or should that be thistles?


I do have to say, though, that it is a rather interesting flower. I like the color and the texture. It's too bad I have to dig it out, but it is probably wiser not to let it spread.



The mosquitoes were thrilled to have me out there, taking pictures of a weed. They sure got their fill of me for their breakfast. If you are interested in the botanical name (I like to know the botanical names for plants, including weeds), it is Cirsium vulgare. I didn't know that before. So, this noxious weed added to my store of knowledge. Thank you, Noxious Weed.




I trust you'll forgive me for adding yet another chicken photo to my garden blog. I just thought this was a very sweet, quintessential chicken picture. Yes, she laid an egg for me. Dear girl.


Have a beautiful day!

Queen Anne's Lace...

O.K., so it is just way too hot today. I think it got up to almost 100 degrees today, but thankfully tomorrow is supposed to be about 10 degrees cooler. That will be wonderful. I realized that I am having the same problem now that I had during Winter: I want to work in my garden, but the temperature is keeping me indoors.




About the only thing out there that isn't wilting is the wild Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota). It looks so cool and frothy. Somehow it seemed like an antidote to the heat of the day. This clump grows in the ditch behind my mailbox. But there is also a little bit beside the mailbox, which is very charming.



Years ago when I was researching what plants to grow to attract beneficial insects, Queen Anne's Lace was always on the lists, but it wasn't something that I could grow in my garden. And now here it grows wild in the ditches and the fields. Isn't it pretty?



None of the houses in the pictures are mine. My house is down the driveway behind me as I took the pictures, in case you were wondering. But it does look like a quaint country road I live of off, doesn't it?



You can see pictures of my chickens eating watermelon on my Chickie Update. It was so hot today that I gave them some to help cool them down. They love watermelon and they are so cute eating it.


Have a beautiful day and stay cool!

Horsenettle...

For some reason, I wanted to call this post "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," but I really don't know why. There is no "good" about this plant. I guess you could argue that its seeds provide food for birds. Or that it gives shelter for insects. BUT, there are LOTS of plants out there with seeds for birds that don't cause so much trouble for people and horses. And LOTS of plants that support beneficial insects. I'll just grow some of them instead.





Carolina Horsenettle (Solanum carolinense) is invasive. And poisonous. And painful. It is just wicked. And those vile thorns go all the way down to the soil. I think they get thickest right where you have to grab the plant to pull it out. How diabolical.





So, now that I have photo-documented this dreadful plant, I will go pull it up. Well, at least as much as I can. Its roots seem to go all the way to the center of the earth and spread throughout my entire garden. Nevertheless, I will not be daunted in my battle against this evil invader.


Have a beautiful, thorn-free day!

Cardamine hirta

I have another flower blooming in my garden. I only recently learned its name: on Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, Daricia of "A Charlotte Garden" posted that she had Cardamine blooming in her garden. And that is how I discovered what it was. Cardamine is considered a bitter herb, so if you are an herb person, and know what you are doing, there are uses for Cardamine. But PLEASE don't go eat something or make something into to tea just because you read about it here! I don't know much about that subject at all! I did pick and eat some today. I think I like the way it tastes. Salad, anyone? Hey! Maybe it will cure my cold.

(Cardamine hirsuta)

There are quite a few of the Cardamine hirsuta plants scattered here and there, for it reseeds itself, but only a few of them, so far, have started to bloom. The white flowers are minuscule and the plants themselves are rather small and low-growing. Did I mention that they are considered noxious, invasive weeds? But I don't like to pull them out, even though I should, because the flowers are so delicate and charming. Besides, might their taproot help loosen the soil, or something beneficial like that?

(See the bulb the ice or the cats unearthed?)

Have a beautiful day!

Next year...

In “From the editor” of the December 2009/January 2010 issue of Horticulture magazine, the question is asked “What are you planning to do in your garden in 2010?” The layout box titled “new year’s resolutions” offers these ideas, linked to articles in the magazine: conquer dry shade, start a terrarium, plant something native, something honored and something new and/or choose the right mulch.




What am I planning to do in my garden next year? That started me thinking and here is what I came up with. I am planning to do better. I’d like to stay on top of the weeds, get stuff planted on time, keep things watered and fertilized when they need to be, get the nemesia out of the ground and into containers and into the greenhouse BEFORE the first frost so they don’t have to live in my kitchen for a week. I guess that amounts to spending more time in my garden; making it more of a priority in my life and not a guilty pleasure.




And conquering dry shade, planting something new, and choosing the right mulch are all good, too.




Have a beautiful day!

Cold plants...

The fields and flowers have frost on them this morning. I think the frost makes things look amazing - the way it edges and highlights the leaves, the designs it makes in water, how it changes the colors of the greens.

My Purple Rain pansies are a little different this morning.



Frosted weeds. (You have no weeds in your garden, right?)


Icy clump of bluegrass.


Chilly Nemesia on the wall.


Dianthus with fall leaves. So cool! (Pardon the pun.)


Have a beautiful day!