Outside My Window

Here’s a flower that I look for in September at Moraine State Park.  Closed or Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) likes to grow in damp soil so I risk getting my feet wet when I look for it.  It’s always a pleasant surprise to find it.

The petals of Bottle Gentians never open but a bumblebee can force its way into the flower at the top.  In fact, bumblebees are just about the only insect who wants to – and can – collect the nectar. 

It seems to me this is a lot of trouble to go to for each flower.  It must be worth it.

(photo by Dianne Machesney)

Here’s a flower that blooms in Pennsylvania – and in Acadia National Park in September.  

Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritaceae) probably got its “everlasting” name because it dries well for use in winter flower arrangements.  It’s a member of the Aster family.

(photo by Dianne Machesney)

Jewelweed flowers (Impatiens capensis) offer inviting landing pads for bumblebees.  The “jewel” in the name comes from the way water beads up on the leaves and sparkles like diamonds in the sun. 

This plant is also called Spotted Touch-me-not because the flowers are spotted and the ripe seed pods explode when you touch them as if to say ”Touch Me Not.”

The explosions are so cool that I am tempted to touch the plant even more.  I make it a contest and try to beat the seeds at their own game.  Whenever I find Jewelweed I look for the fattest seed pods and give each one a squeeze to see if I can capture the seeds before they leap from my finger tips.  I always lose unless I cup my hand around the pod.

(photo by Dianne Machesney)

Ragweed season officially begins today. 

Mercifully I have never been allergic to ragweed but I’ve had my share of outdoor allergies.  I know the agony of a sneezy, runny nose and itchy, watery eyes and the scratchy throat that itches all the way back into your ears.  Misery!  Once the itchy reaction starts it’s hard to stop. 

Eventually, through sneezy experimentation I figured out what caused my allergies – hay, cut grass, marigolds, cut ground ivy, privet flowers, chrysanthemums - and I learned not to sniff them deeply.  I’m helped by living in the city where there aren’t extensive lawns.  And no, you can’t tell me that cut grass smells sweet.  It smells like misery.

So ragweed sufferers, know thine enemy.  The leaves are dark green and deeply cut.  The flower is a pale green-yellow spike that it doesn’t look much like a flower at all.  Common ragweed doesn’t need to be beautiful.  It has no interest in attracting insects.  It’s pollinated by the wind and that’s why it’s so good at making you sneeze.  It produces a ton of pollen.  To add insult to injury, its Latin name is Ambrosia artemisiifolia.  Ambrosia!  

Good luck … and take an antihistamine before you go outdoors.

(photos by Chuck Tague)

In my Joe-Pye weed post last week I said I had two favorite late summer flowers.  Here’s the other one:  Tall Ironweed (Vernonia altissima).

Deep magenta-purple flowers in a showy flat-topped cluster at the top of a 10-foot plant.  The stem is so tough – like iron – that cattle won’t browse it in the fields so it stands as an ornament.  It’s so large you can easily see it from the highway, so beautiful it’s worth stopping to take a look.

(photo by Chuck Tague)

In late summer I have two favorite flowers.  Here’s one of them: Sweet Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum also known as Eutrochium purpureum).   As you can see, it’s a favorite with insects too.

The plant is huge – 10 feet tall – and the flowers, though individually small, are arranged in a large dome-shaped cluster 6 to 9 inches across.  Its size is amazing when you consider it grew to this height since April.  Click on the photo to see what the entire plant looks like.

Joe-Pye weed used to be considered a weed and was only found growing wild near creeks and in damp roadside ditches.  But now gardeners focus on native plants, so you don’t have to leave town to see it.  Stop in Schenley Park and look at the wildflowers across the street from the Westinghouse fountain.  The Joe-Pye weed is spectacular.

(photo by Chuck Tague)

As Chuck Tague pointed out last week, August is the end of the season for Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) but I couldn’t resist showing you a beautiful picture of this member of the milkweed family. 

True to its name, Butterfly Weed is very attractive to butterflies.  Here, a Coral Hairstreak drinks the nectar in Marcy Cunkelman’s garden. 

This plant has done well this year and is still in bloom.  Look for it in open, unmowed fields, especially at the recovered strip mines in western Allegheny County (also called the Imperial Grasslands).

(photo by Marcy Cunkelman)

Dense Blazing Star (Liatris spicata) is blooming among the goldenrod and the prairie is decked out in purple and gold. Indigo buntings sing from the trees and American goldfinches fly loops around the field.

Don’t miss your chance to see Jennings Prairie in bloom.  You can get a guided tour of the flowers on Friday July 31 at 10:00am when the Wissahickon Nature Club visits Jennings Environmental Education Center in Butler County. Meet at the Prairie parking lot.  Click here for more information.

…If I didn’t have to work, I’d be there!

(photo by Chuck Tague)

Looking for something beautiful and red?  Then you’ll enjoy finding Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) in bloom this month. 

Cardinal flower grows in wet places and is quite a hummingbird favorite.  I too love its deep, red color. 

You can find it along the Butler-Freeport Trail south of Cabot, in the woods at Jennings Environmental Center and in many other places in western Pennsylvania.  Check the creek sides, look in the shady places.  It’s worth a hike to find it.

(photo by Tim Vechter)

Here’s a plant worth going out of your way for:  Button Bush or Cephalanthus occidentalis.

Button Bush is shrub that grows in sunny, wet places.  It prefers to have its feet in or near water, so it’s found in swamps, along ponds and in wet stream beds.

The flower ball is fascinating up close.  To me, it looks like a TV satellite but is actually many small flowers, each with a tall pistil that stands out far from the ball.  When you take a close look you’ll notice another nice thing about the plant.  The flowers are very fragrant.

If you decide to look for Button Bush, check near ponds and rivers.   I found it pre-bloom next to the Youghiogeny River at Ohiopyle.  Dianne Machesney found this one at Independence Marsh in Beaver County.

(photo by Dianne Machesney)