More loveliness from commentor Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson):
For your enjoyment, here is a small selection of white flowers while you ignore the blizzard outside. They are all from our garden in Berks County in southeastern Pennsylvania and are from the last few years.
Looking back at pictures from recent summers is something I like really to do at this time of year and it helps me get through the short, dark winter days to spend time remembering the flowers of spring and summer. Also it makes me really look forward to something beyond the next few snowy months!
So, when Anne Laurie said she was about out of pictures for Sunday Garden Chats I thought it was about time I got my act together to share some pics of our garden with you all. We have just a little over an acre and it isn’t all native plants, but we do have a lot and that has been our focus over the last 25 (of the 35) years we’ve lived here. So here we go…..
The first two species are members of the one fragment of what used to be the Lily Family (sensu lato) and are now part of a more distant lineage the Melianthaceae. One characteristic of this family is nectar or sap that is toxic to some insects. The best-known plant in the family with this character is Fly-poison (Amianthemum muscitoxicum). Another character I like with these lovely white flowers is that after pollination the petals* don’t wither and fall, they just turn green with chlorophyll and start photosynthesizing!
(*or tepals as botanists call them in families where petals and sepals look the same)
This Common Featherbell bloomed in our garden this summer — it was the first time I’ve ever seen this lovely flower as it doesn’t grow in eastern PA. It is found in the mountains of W. PA and south.
(Also top pic) Virginia Bunchflower (Melianthemum virginigum syn. Veratrum virginicum)Its cousin, Virginia Bunchflower is a plant of circum-neutral soils and grows in damp meadows on limestone or trap rock (diabase) soils. I know of three places where it grows within 25 miles of our house, but it only blooms regularly in the one that is a powerline right-of-way in full sun. The other two populations are in shady woods and only occasionally have a flower when a tree falls and allows some extra sunlight through the canopy of leaves to the hit the ground. We grow it in our rain garden and it loves it there.
Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum) is also a damp or wet meadow plant, but it isn’t fussy in the garden where ordinary soil conditions are fine. The flowers may be white as in these pics or lavender in hue. Bumble bees love them either way!
I’m not sure of the origin of this species common epithet, but I assume it is from herbal use by a Mr. or Mrs. Culver in colonial days. Several large clumps of this species grace our front yard meadow and hold their own with the tall asters, grasses and rosin-weeds.
Declined Trillium ex. Susquehanna (Trillium flexipes)Growing Trilliums from seed is something I’ve been doing for over 20 years, and it’s fortunate I started when I was younger, as it takes about seven years to get from seeds sprouting to flowering plants in this wonderful genus.
Many people are familiar with the Large-flowered Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) and I could share hundreds of photos of that beautiful species, but I felt maybe another less common, but equally pretty species deserved a little time in the spotlight. This is a plant we grew from seed from a population to the south of us along the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County.
The population of Trilliums in the Susquehanna River valley have been confusing botanists for over a century. They are apparently a hybrid swarm with the two parent species being the white-flowered Declined (or Drooping) trillium and the more upright and red-flowered Ill-scented Trillium (Trillium erectum) resulting in what botanists now call a “population with a reticulated phylogeny”. The plants can have a mixture of characters between the two parent species. This plant in our garden has the white flowers and large white ovary of T. flexipes but is upright like its T. erectum ancestors and not drooping at all. It and its siblings are excellent every April in our woodland gardens and we are glad they are happy here! I do have to give them a little bit of crushed eggshells or pelletized dolomite every year so they get enough calcium which is lacking in the very acid sandstone-derived soil here in our yard.
Starry Campion (Silene stellata) a summer star rather than a Christmas star. This lovely native woodland flower seems to prefer sandy soils. The flower petals may wilt on a hot summer afternoon, but the revive every morning.
2020 was also the first year we had this nice summer flower bloom in our yard. It was grown from a few seeds sown about two years earlier that came from a local population. I’m looking forward to how they will do as more mature plants next summer.
satby
Lovely! And thanks for the background on each one too, I’ve never heard or seen these varieties near me.
Steeplejack
Love the gazing globe!
Mary G
I love white flowers. My first garden in my old house was majority white flowers, and they looked wonderful in the moonlight. Very soothing.
I’ve never seen any of these; thanks for introducing me.
ETA: I didn’t know what a rain garden was and had to look it up; it’s John’s willow!
Lapassionara
What a lovely set of photos! Thanks.
OzarkHillbilly
Good stuff. Nice pics too! ;-)
mrmoshpotato
@Steeplejack: Gaze into its globey goodness! Closer! Closer! Too close! Bumped your nose!
mrmoshpotato
Very nice. Thanks for sharing, MikeS.
NotMax
Not exactly flowers, but it is nature – in the raw. Lava lake webcam on the Big Island.
JPL
Thanks for the pics. I had a neighbor who planted white flowers in her backyard, It was magical in the moonlight.
NotMax
Small coding fix.
Not exactly flowers, but it is nature – in the raw. Lava lake webcam on the Big Island.
Baud
@NotMax:
I initially thought you had put a spy cam in my house.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax:
Volcanic hazards on a volcano? What is this world coming to?
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: Baud! 2024! Nature – in the raw!
satby
@NotMax: whoa! The night shots especially.
satby
OT, but the best part of the after Christmas time is NO MORE CHRISTMAS MUSIC on the radio!!! Joy to my world.
raven
@mrmoshpotato: A newscaster in Nashville said the explosion indicated “explosive material”!
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
mrmoshpotato
Fine. But why does this bullfrog have a wine collection?
mrmoshpotato
@raven: “Garbage in garbage can. Hmmm makes sense.” -Homer Simpson
satby
@mrmoshpotato: well, as a matter of fact….
edit: I’m exposed to the unmitigated dreck that is popular Christmas music at the hellscape that is the farmers market, and only listen to streamed classical music on the radio at home. Even that palls after a while, though it’s a more extensive variety.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I overslept this morning, by which I mean Mr DAW woke me up at 6:30 to make sure I wasn’t dead. Lovely pics to start my day
satby
@Dorothy A. Winsor: ??
debbie
These flowers are all so lovely!
Immanentize
@Dorothy A. Winsor: is Mr. DAW OK? Or did you send him to Emergency Care?
Mike S. — I love white flowers. Those Susquehanna whites are just perfect. I am not sure I have seven more years left in this big old house, however….
WereBear
@satby: Retail hazard.
mrmoshpotato
@Dorothy A. Winsor: bright-eyed and
bushy-tailednot deadHappy Sunday!
satby
@WereBear: more like retail torture. Thank FSM I intend to retire for reals later this year.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Immanentize: Mr DAW knew enough to rush out to buy bagels and a giant cup of coffee. None of that half-caff crap either. The real thing.
Immanentize
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Did coffee (or bagels) explode?
Nothing but stress dreams last night. I had to pack my clothes at a hotel where I didn’t have a room before the bus came to take me home Clothes could not be found, but other things suddenly had to be packed too. Everything packed, went running for the bus — just missed it. Decided on a cab, but no cab at the cab stand but yay! One pulls up. It is a ford fiero with a very large driver. Oh no, I left my suitcases inside the hotel! Be right back, keep the meter running…. Go inside and no suitcases can be found where I left them. That’s ok, I’ll just come back to the hotel tomorrow to pick them up. Cab’s waiting! But look at all these shirts lying about that I forgot to put into my backpack! Start packing them….
My night was a Twilight Zone episode.
satby
@Immanentize: I know the feeling! My move to MI was to downsize houses and upsize yard and outbuildings for rescue, but turned out I missed having a big enough house to have guests without us all being jammed together. Then my emergency move to South Bend found me in a huge house with a much smaller yard, just as all the stuff I planted in MI was maturing gloriously. Now I’m going to start seeing the fruits of all I’ve planted here the last four years, and I’m realizing that in another several years I’ll probably move somewhere else, for the last time. (Like a condo nearer one of my sons).
Long story short, I should have stayed put in Chicago, but it’s been an adventure. Give it a lot of thought. I had, and it all changed anyway. Edit: sorry, that was a lot of words to say “plant the white flowers”.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: What kinda drugs are you taking?
Immanentize
@Dorothy A. Winsor: By the way, I think that the Turkish coffee you got in Turkey must have been the “tourist” coffee. Or did you use one of those sugar cubes with cardamom? The Immp has been turning out some fabulous cups (no cardamom). “It’s all in the foam!” He tells me.
It so often is.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: The brown acid, obviously.
Kristine
Lovely flowers. And as others have said, thanks for the background information.
Already mid-30s here in NE Illinois. Could rain this afternoon. So, gloomy winter day, but I have some indoor flowers to brighten things up. The gerbera daisy should be going dormant, but it’s putting out a couple of swan song flowers instead. One of the kalanchoe has buds, and the African violets are taking turns.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: What kind to you have? I’ve been having really lucid dreams and have been doing CBD oil before bed.
satby
@Immanentize: After you mentioned them, I went looking at the Turkish coffee pots. Now they’re on the list.
Immanentize
@satby: That’s good advice. Like trees, I guess — plant them yesterday if you want one somewhere.
Immanentize
@satby: This is the one I got the Immp. To me it had the most pleasing of the designs (not too busy)
Linky
Down side — metal handle can get hot. The ones with wood handles might be better, but we have gas flame burners. I’ve toasted some wooden pot handles….
Kristine
@Immanentize: Ugh. I’ve had my share of stress dreams, which changed over time depending on awake life. When I was going to more SF conventions, I dreamed about missing planes, trains, and being waylaid by friends and missing panels. Haven’t had a stress dream in a while—maybe brain realizes that awake time has been bad enough and is giving me a break. The latest crop involved me losing my phone and being utterly lost.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
satby
@Immanentize: Oh, nice! I’d opt for a wooden handle though, because my stove here is (spit) electric.
satby
@rikyrah: ? rikyrah!
Kristine
@rikyrah: Good morning ☁️ ☕️!
debbie
And since reading satby’s eariler post, I’ve been humming damn Christmas music non-stop. ??♀️
OzarkHillbilly
In garden news I’ve been spreading and tilling a lot of compost in a couple of areas, currently in the meat bird graze. Several years ago I had spread a bunch of compost in what was then the much smaller grazing area I had for the 25 birds I raised each year. 2 years ago I started raising some for my son and stepdaughter as well and so I expanded their graze. The difference in forage between the old and the new is vast. The old has vibrant green, thick, lush grass and clover but in the newer area it is scraggly, patchy, and dingy. So, the next batch of birds will be even happier than the last. And now I’m thinking of doing the same in the layer’s graze.
But before I got into all that, I first spread 3 yards in half the island so that the 200 Glory of the Snow bulbs I got could thrive. I decided against replanting the area with grass and ordered a bunch of wildflower seeds from High Country Gardens (3 different mixes I intend to mix together with the hope that a wide variety of pollinator/beneficial bug perennials take hold) In the process of all this, out came the existing stone walkway (which is a generous description of a mish mash of found stones thrown haphazardly on the ground in a wandering line) so now it has to be replaced, with something, tho I have no idea what. As usual, this project has grown beyond what I had originally intended and no doubt will inspire some more not so well thought out additional works.
No rest for the wicked.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Immanentize: It was grainy and bitter. I like the bitterness of coffee, but this was over the top for me. At least the cup was tiny
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Immanentize: Your dream is very long. On the rare occasions I remember my dreams, they’re just glimpses.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: @raven: My dreams have returned to the humdrum “searching for something I never find” type with the overcoming of many obstacles, both of the physical and human type. Nothing quite so vivid or bizarre as that last one I related.
Denali
My Christmas cactus bloomed on Christmas day. But it was not white.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Against the receding gray snow, the Glory of the Snow will be stunning! ?
debbie
@Denali:
Mine did not. Time to take cuttings and start over.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: I plant a lot of stuff I will never get to enjoy in all their fullness. I think of it as my gift to the future. Of course, chances are pretty good that who ever follows us here will tear it all out, but c’est la vie.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Denali: That’s pinpoint blooming!
Immanentize
@Dorothy A. Winsor: it was one of those dreams I couldn’t escape. Even waking a bit, rolling over, not kicking the sleeping cat, back to sleep — the dream just kept on keeping on.
germy
Ancient snack stall uncovered in Pompeii, revealing bright frescoes and traces of 2,000-year-old street food
JPL
@Immanentize: A few months ago, I dreamed that I was sitting outside with my son, his wife and the grand imp. It was a beautiful day and we were talking about life after trump. It was such a pleasant dream. Then a plane approached flying low and suddenly you heard a crash and sirens.
This is what trump has done to me. Pretty sure that I mentioned it before, but whatever.
joel hanes
According to the fine folks at the Prairie Moon native plant nursery, the name Culver’s Root is “derived from Dr. Coulvert of the late 17th to early 18th century, who found laxative properties in the plant”.
https://www.prairiemoon.com/veronicastrum-virginicum-culvers-root-prairie-moon-nursery.html
For those in the upper midwest, Prairie Moon is a recommended source for seeds and seedlings of native species.
raven
When I wake up early in the morning
Lift my head, I’m still yawning
When I’m in the middle of a dream
Stay in bed, float up stream (float up stream)
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: the assholes who bought my old house in MI did, most of it. Including the trees I had planted over my deceased pets.
There’s a reason we’re told “never look back”.
raven
Just one more mornin’ I had to wake up with the blues
Dorothy A. Winsor
@germy: That’s a great article. The pictures are fabulous.
joel hanes
@raven:
One of my faves, largely because of that opening line.
Thanks.
debbie
@joel hanes:
That whole album! ?
NotMax
Testing out a new set of headphones which have been sitting unopened in the box for a while now. Nothing wrong with the old trusty ones except the ear cups are fast getting well past the ‘getting ragged’ stage.
The bargain price belies the quality performance. Putting out clear sound reproduction of both music and voice. Excellent bass, with no distortion, and the highs evidence not a whit of tinniness. Using the wired jack; haven’t yet tried listening via Bluetooth. Included are more features than I’ll ever have a use for. Also spiffy looking and extremely comfy. Have had them atop the noggin for over four hours now and can barely tell they are there. Plus none of the damn LED lighting decoration so many of the modern units sport.
MazeDancer
What a remarkable batch of photos, Mike S.
Hope your book “Growing Locally” is in the works.
Lyrebird
@joel hanes: Thanks! We got our Culver’s root plants from Prairie Nursery, which also seems like a good source. Unfortunately, either deer or rabbits thought the young foliage was tasty. The only one I managed to cover has done well, though.
raven
@joel hanes: I was lucky enough to see Duane with them twice.
Amir Khalid
@NotMax:
I take it the earcups on the old cans are not the replaceable kind?
NotMaxn
@raeven
Swear on a stack of film cans I first read that as Durante.
;)
raven
@NotMax: It’s not a Red Ryder but you get the idea (note the cast on the broken arm)!
NotMax
@Amir Khalid
You are correct.
Really only use them when I’m toting the tablet somewhere, such as the laundromat (a stop I’m overdue to make) or on the plane and during the NY trip. But might make more use of these new ones with the PC as they are so comfortable. I suppose joggers and the like would appreciate that they have a micro SD card slot.
NotMax
@raven
Ah, the days when a pair of dungarees weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of six pounds.
:)
stinger
@OzarkHillbilly:
Story of my gardening life! Well, my life, actually.
stinger
@NotMax: Description from the link: These headphones…
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: I just missed him. My first Allman Brothers concert was the first tour after his death.
Gary K
Berks County! In a normal year we’d have been in Shillington 3 or 4 times. In Year of the Covid, we left on January 2nd & haven’t returned. Maybe in 2021 we’ll get back to the routine.
Gary K
Mike — There is a retired Albright College botany instructor who leads monthly walks at varying places around the county. I don’t know if that is on hold this year. When we make one of our frequent trips to Berks (in a normal year), we make sure to find out if one of her walks is going to be happening. Last year we joined the walk through Nolde Forest. My wife is the one who actually understands & retains what she tells us about the plants; I’m a hanger-on (just as I’m a BJ lurker).
I’m delighted to learn that you now have a Democratic Congressperson.
WaterGirl
What a stunning collection of flowers! Thank you Mike S. Having a democratic congressperson seems to suit you. :-)
NotMax
@Gary K
Albright College! Memory trigger, that. Appeared in a dinner theater production there a lo-o-o-ong time ago.
BigJimSlade
Is the the Hour of the Tower of White Flower Power?
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: Not at the Barn in Peoria?
Brooklyn Dodger
@NotMax: Came for the flower bomb, got a hot tip for new headphones. Thanks for the link!
raven
@Brooklyn Dodger: I ordered too!
opiejeanne
Today is our 51st wedding anniversary. It’s nearly 10am, and mr opiejeanne is still asleep. I’ve been reading here since 8:30 and I think I’ll get up now, quietly, so he can sleep some more.
We didn’t have a party for our 50th because of the date, and because our kids weren’t going to be around, they weren’t here on Christmas, so we decided to wait until May or June, and well, you know the rest.
We did not alert the White House because who would want congratulations from the Squatter in Chief? I suspect they haven’t even been doing that since he got there. I’ll wait until Biden is sworn in and send them a note then, with an explanation.
opiejeanne
@NotMax: I wish I had seen this last week. I just ordered a more expensive set for myself and choked a little at the cost, even with a discount price.
I can’t use ear buds for very long because they start hurting after about ten minutes; maybe my ears are too small?.
Steeplejack (phone)
“Democrats announce plan for peaceful transition of power.”
Dahlia
@opiejeanne: Many happy returns of the day!
opiejeanne
@Dahlia: Thank you.
jeffreyw
@NotMax: I keep a pair of noise cancelling ‘phones for listening to audio books when I am mowing in the summertime. Hardly ever use them otherwise although I keep them plugged into the PC for use when Mrs J is taking a nap.
Amir Khalid
@opiejeanne:
Earbuds almost always come with three pairs of rubber tips — small, medium, and large. The medium-size tips are the ones already on the earbuds; you can pull them off and put on the small ones.
Now I need to pout for a bit because Liverpool threw away two English Premier League points by drawing 1-1 with visitors West Bromwich Albion. Pout.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@opiejeanne: Congratulations!
cain
I have this curry leaf that my cats that seemed to have died after being shocked because of a cat attack. It’s been this dead husk – yesterday I noticed that new leaves were sprouting! I was like whoa.. I didn’t even water this thing.. but I think it must have gotten enough ambient moisture to fee like putting new leaves out. Nice.
Yutsano
@opiejeanne: MAZEL TOV YA CRAZY KIDS!!!
My parents just crossed the 51 threshold in September. We’ll see if they make it to 60 without killing each other.
WaterGirl
@cain: Now you should water it and attend to it obsessively, thinking you are helping with its new life.
*do not do this.
NoraLenderbee
@opiejeanne: Happy anniversary!
Amir Khalid
@opiejeanne:
Tahniah atas ulangtahun perkahwinan kamu yang ke-51!
J R in WV
@opiejeanne:
Congratulations!
Wife and I will be at 50 years next May. 3 days after her graduation at WVU.
opiejeanne
@Amir Khalid: Not the ones from Apple, and none of the other generic (cheap) ones I own. It’s fine, I’m sure I’ll like these, and if not I can return them: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089CNKL9H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
opiejeanne
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Thank you. Isn’t your 51st around this time?
I was a teenager when I got married, a mere 19yo with 1.5 years of college.
opiejeanne
@Yutsano: haha! It’s a life sentence.
opiejeanne
@NoraLenderbee: Thank you.
MagdaInBlack
@opiejeanne: Congratulations on 51!
I was 19 as well. WTF were we thinking ? =-)
opiejeanne
@Amir Khalid: Terima kasih.
opiejeanne
@J R in WV: Thank you and congratulations to you and everyone else who has made this long trip.
opiejeanne
@MagdaInBlack: I seem to remember that we knew everything and were ever so smart.
MagdaInBlack
@opiejeanne: And in LUV =-)
Eta: and as it turns out, we were right.
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
@Gary K: Yes, Dr. Susan is a good friend of mine and Nolde Forest is just a few miles from our house, we walk there often.
To Everyone: I just got home from doing my 2nd Christmas Bird Count of the Season and be fore I take a nap I just want to say that I’m glad you all enjoyed the pictures! Happy New year to all Juicers!
I’ll put together another set for Anne Laurie this week. I want to tout our native perennial sunflowers for your edification.
oldster
Dear Mike,
bless you for “sensu lato,” which did my old heart good.
For those of you who did not have to struggle through latin in your youth, that phrase mean, “in the broad sense,” or “loosely speaking.”
cain
@WaterGirl:
Oh no.. the woman I got the plant from was quite firm with me on how ot take care of it. Barely wet the ground with water, and put water every few days.
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
@oldster: You’re Welcome. Botanical taxonomists use Sensu lato and sensu stricto all the time as scientific groupings are shifting due to new analyses and data and opinions shift on what groups should be classified together in a new clade or family or whatever. Referring back to the old group as the “old Lily Family” and new lily family doesn’t convey the right meaning.