What's growing @lmaxell-plants - Tumblr Blog

Wow I love spring, March is still way early for a lot of friends but signs of life are everywhere!

Lindera Benzoin - Spicebush (Laurel Family)

Really excited about this one because this is it's first year flowering, and because the plant is dioecious I can finally sex the plant (it's a boy!). I had more of this species hoping to have a pair but this is the only one that survived (a very helpful neighbor ripped up the rest). Anyways it's fine because now I can just buy a lady plant and maybe get some fruit!

Geum Trifolum - Prairie Smoke

Pennsylvania Sedge - Carex Pensylvanica

#illinois native plant #march #spicebush #prairie smoke #Pennsylvania Sedge #carex #geum #lindera

I think the thing I love about gardening/plants is puzzling out/identifying species. Over the years Ive added so many seeds/seedlings to the garden beds/seed bank that when something comes up it's always a little puzzle until it's old enough to have some diagnostic feature.

One such plant is this fabaceae, who could be any number of native peas I've planted (Senna, partridge pea, bundleflower, lupine, milkvetch, leadplant, ticktrefoil, baptisia, prairie clover are all in my garden in one way or another)

Every day I've been more and more confident it's a Chamaecrista fasciculata -- partridge pea, but I've been holding out that it's a Desmanthus illinoensis -- Illinois bundleflower that hasn't started doing it's smaller fractal leaves. But today I spotted this tiny ass who is definitely bundleflower.

How fun, I fricken love plants.

#illinois native plant #mystery fabaceaes #Chamaecrista #Desmanthus #in yard #native #from seed #z4 #fabaceae

lmaxell-plants

Baptisia Australis - Wild Blue Indigo

Native

Fabeaceae (pea family)

Notes: planted this in 2023, it was the first of the baptisia to come up and bloom. The blooms were rather short lived, maybe a week. Iconic pea flower shape.

Links:

lmaxell-plants

She really liked the competition from the crows-foot, helping keep her shape.

#baptisia australis #wild blue indigo #fabeaceae #pea family #in yard #may #native #planted 2023 #purple #z4 #i planted this #illinois native plant

lmaxell-plants

Camassia Scilloides - Wild Hyacinth

Native

Asparagaceae (asparagus family)

Bloom: April

Notes: purchased and planted in fall of 2023, really soft blue/white flowers that seem to only last a day or two,surprisingly the ones planted in the stonier section are doing better than the ones in the more organic soil.

Links:

lmaxell-plants

Stunner, this is it going to seed. Only these two survived getting weed wacked by the neighbors landscape company

#camassia Scilloides #atlantic camas #wild hyacinth #asparagaceae #asparagus family #in yard #native #illinois native plant #white #blue #april #planted 2023 #z17 #i planted this

lmaxell-plants

Veronica Peregrina - Purslane Speedwell

Native

Plantaginaceae (Plantain Family)

Bloom: April

Notes: I'm not 100% confident on this id, Veronica isn't a genus I feel confident in. I'm hoping it's this one because it is indeed native after I've been pulling up a lot of the ivy-leaf speedwell (veronica hederifolia) which I'm also not convinced on my id of. Too many Veronicas.

Links:

lmaxell-plants

I've been leaving her up. IDK, it's an annual and it's a nothing of a plant, if it becomes a problem we'll see.

#veronica peregrina #purslane speedwell #native #illinois native plant #plantaginaceae #plantain Family #white #april #may #in yard #z15 #z16 #z10 #z11 #volunteer #z2 #z3 #z4 #annual

lmaxell-plants

Capsella bursa-pastoris - shepherd's purse

Not Native

Brassica (Mustard Family)

Bloom: April at least, maybe earlier, definitely later.

Notes: iconic seedpod, wild that I only noticed this plant today and it already has seeds on it. The basal leaves remind me of geum/avens which we've been trying to look for.

Links

lmaxell-plants

This is still everywhere, still blooming in mid-May. Really obvious though and pulls out easily.

#Capsella bursa-pastoris #shepherd's purse #not native #in yard #April #White #brassicaceae #Mustard Family #Z16 #Z15 #z4 #volunteer #basically everywhere

lmaxell-plants

Sedum ternatum - wild stonecrop

Native

Stonecrop Family (Crassulaceae)

Bloom: mid April

Notes: This is the first plant in this blog that wasn't a volunteer! We bought this from Farmers Market in 2023 and separated it into a dozen plants. This one is doing the best but we have nearly a dozen full plants now (april 2024)

Links:

lmaxell-plants

What a stunner, this picture is a little late and most of the flowers are done but even still. Got fucking weed wacked last year around this time hopefully it survives the landlord this year

#Sedum ternatum #Native #Wild Stonecrop #Crassulaceae #Stonecrop Family #white #April #Z12 #may #In Yard #Planted 2023 #illinois native plant #i planted this

lmaxell-plants

Viola sororia - common blue violet

Native

Violet Family (Violaceae)

Bloom: Mid-April

Notes: this is growing everywhere, really cool rhizomes. I couldn't get rid of this if I tried

Links:

lmaxell-plants

Violet is still going strong, we love her

#Viola sororia #Common Blue Violet #Native #In yard #April #May #Violaceae #Violet Family #Z1 #Z2 #Z3 #Z4 #Z5 #Z6 #Z7 #Z11 #Z15 #Z16 #Z19 #Basically everywhere #purple #illinois native plant #volunteer

lmaxell-plants

Ranunculus abortivus - littleleaf buttercup

Native

Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae)

Bloom: Started noticing in late march into April.

Notes: it's pretty dense in the area it's growing in, and the basal leaves remind me a lot of violet (which I also have growing everywhere)

LINKS:

https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/sf_buttercup.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranunculus_abortivus

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/126371/browse_photos

lmaxell-plants

Really let this one go wild in the garden this year, chopped it down early May. I feel this plant gave good competition and shade for early spring, did look weedy though.

#Ranunculus Abortivus #Small-Yellow Buttercup #Crowsfoot #Native #In Yard #April #may #Ranunculaceae #Buttercup family #Z6 #Z3 #z4 #Z10 #yellow #illinois native plant #volunteer #biennial

lmaxell

Stellaria Media - Common Chickweed

Not native

Pink Family (Caryophyllaceae)

Blooming: as early as March, maybe late February (and still noticing it through April)

Notes: Really wanted this to be the native variety, but the three styles confirm it to be a member of Stellaria instead of the 5 style cerastium. Growing primarily along the north-west fence in disturbed ground.

Zone: 6

lmaxell-plants

Still a problem in the yard, still blooming in May. Pulling it out in most of the garden beds

#Stellaria Media #Not Native #In Yard #March #April #May #Caryophyllaceae #Pink Family #White #volunteer #z2 #z1 #z3 #z4 #Z6 #z10 #z16 #basically everywhere

Really great plants at the park today

#differential grasshopper #orange jewelweed #american senna #hairy white oldfield aster #new england aster #tall boneset #goldenrod #illinois native plant #river park #Impatiens Capensis #symphyotrichum pilosum #senna hebacarpa #symphyotrichum novae-angliae #solidago sp.#eupatorium altissimum #chicago

Clematis Virginiana - Virgin's Bower

native

Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae)

Notes: This guy is going crazy covering out front fence, covered in small white flowers. It's seed pods are also very visually interesting and stay throughout the winter as puffs. If any of it's vines touch soil it WILL try to set roots and make another plant, which happened this past year and we though "Sure this is fine" but it wasn't, dear reader, the plant is in control.

Clematis virginiana (also known as devil's darning needles, devil's hair, love vine, traveller's joy, virgin's bower, Virginia virgin's bowe

#Clematis Virginiana #Virgin's Bower #buttercup family #Ranunculaceae #White #July #In yard #I planted this #Planted 2023 #Native #Illinois Native plant #Z19

Acalypha Rhomboidea - Rhomboid Mercury - Common Copperleaf

Native

Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae)

Notes: This is a volunteer, don't really know much about it but it's colonizing a part of the yard where we don't really have a lot and the Monarda Bradburiana doesn't seem to mind too much.

Acalypha rhomboidea (common three-seeded mercury, rhombic three-seeded-mercury, rhomboid mercury, copperleaf, rhombic copper-leaf, three-see

#Acalypha Rhomboidea #Common Copperleaf #Rhomboid Mercury #Spurge Family #Euphorbiaceae #Orange #green #volunteer #Native #illinois native plant #July #z19 #In yard

Liatris Spicata - Marsh Blazing Star

native

Aster Family (Asteraceae)

Notes: Dr. Seuss ass looking plant. These are so fascinating to me and the pollinators love them. We have planted so many in this genus that it's going to be really special seeing them through the year. This one was also being bullied by the hibiscus and is really leaning trying to find sun. It's just the beginning of this one's bloom but I've been behind so we're getting the pic at this stage.

Liatris spicata, the dense blazing star or prairie gay feather, is an herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the sunflower and daisy family

#Liatris Spicata #Marsh Blazing Star #Asteraceae #Aster Family #In Yard #Native #I planted this #Planted 2023 #illinois native plant #July #Purple #z2

Asclepias Incarnata - Swamp Milkweed

native

Milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae)

Notes: last year this was covered in milkweed aphids but they seem to have calmed down this year. This plant also had a short lived bloom in the spring but now it seems to have really started. Lots of polinator activity on it but mostly syrphids. I have yet to see any monarch larva but maybe I'm just not looking enough because it's in a back corner being bullied by goldenrod and hibiscus. I also believe this is a cultivar with more pink in the flowers than the straight species.

Asclepias incarnata, the swamp milkweed, rose milkweed, rose milkflower, swamp silkweed, or white Indian hemp, is a herbaceous perennial pla

#Asclepias Incarnata #Swamp Milkweed #Milkweed Family #Asclepiadaceae #Native #illinois native plant #I planted this #Planted 2023 #Pink #July #In Yard #z1

Monarda Didyma - Scarlet Bee Balm

Native

Mint Family (Lamiaceae)

Notes: Got these bare roots this year but this one decided to throw up blooms kind of out of season but whatevs. Also getting that multi-tiered habit from the blooms that's common for the spotted bee balm. Excited to see how well these do and to eventually use the leaves. Slightly more pink than I was expecting which makes me curious if it's a straight species or some kind of cultivar. Didyma's so hard to acquire though and this one is doing well so I can't be mad.

Monarda didyma (crimson beebalm, scarlet beebalm, scarlet monarda, Oswego tea, or bergamot) is an aromatic herb in the family Lamiaceae, nat

#Monarda Didyma #Scarlet Bee Balm #Lamiaceae #Mint Family #Native #In yard #I planted this #Planted 2024 #Red #July #Illinois Native Plant #z18

Pycnanthemum Virginianum - Common Mountain Mint

Native

Mint Family (Lamiaceae)

Notes: very aromatic leaves and small white mint flowers, this is currently trying to cover a lot of ground so it's not growing very tall, once it gets some competition it'll be really showy.

Pycnanthemum virginianum, the Virginia or common mountain-mint, is a plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is a herbaceous plant with narr

#Pycnanthemum Virgianum #Common Mountain Mint #Mint Family #Lamiace #In yard #I planted this #Planted 2023 #White #Native #illinois native plant #July #z6

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