Wildflower Garden in My Backyard

My Wildflower Garden in the Creekbed – Don’t Mow It!

I first discovered that I had a small wildflower garden when I found blue flowers blooming in the rear of the backyard. Such gorgeous blue flowers had to have a name. After posting photos on Facebook to see if someone could identify these pretty flowers for me, I found out they were Great Blue Lobelia. 

It was pleasing to have a surprise wildflower garden that I didn’t even know I had. As I noted in that previous post, it could have been provided from seed carried by a visiting animal or bird. And the best thing about it?  The drift of wildflowers is increasing each year. I have a LOT of them now.

Wildflower AGarden in my backyard

Finding those flowers made me realize that the area around this small runoff ( I hesitate to call in a creek) across the back yard creates a little wildflower and wildlife border and I should protect it. My husband likes to mow the area under our trees, but I asked him to leave this small area undisturbed by the mower. He has cooperated pretty well. My grandson and his little friends are a different story. I have had to run them out of that area a few times.

Colorful but tiny flowers in my wildflower garden

I guess it makes a great “off-road” spot for him to race bicycles or wagons across, especially when there is water in the creek. Stop doing that!

My Wildflower Garden - Help ID These Plants

There are some tree stumps along with various rocks. Even a few broken hypertufa pots which constitute a “graveyard” for all my mistakes. Once they grow some moss or develop some aging characteristics, I think they blend in well.

What are these plants in my wildflower garden?

It was a wonderful surprise to find that over the last few years, many more wildflowers have arrived, rejuvenated, returned…whatever the case may be. I am not sure if they had been there all along and just allowing Mother Nature to tend the area that those other flowers all came up on their own. Or more birds have brough “deposits” that resulted in my wildflower garden. But however it arrived or developed, color me happy!  ( This is the area where the butterweed came up in the spring. I wrote a post about it here.)

This is where the wildflower garden is located

I have learned a few of the various flowers, and if you can help identify or correct me,  I am glad to hear your input.  It is hard to identify sometimes because the wildflower will be budding, in bloom, or just waiting to develop buds and the images I find by googling “weeds” or “wildflowers” look so different at various stages.

These are some of the wildflowers and I am naming them to the best of my knowledge.

Impatiens capensisorange jewelweed

Jewelweed - Impatiens capensis

Great blue lobelia

Great Blue Lobelia - Late summer blooming

White Snakeroot – Eupatorium rugosum or boneset – Eupatorium perfoliatum (which?)

White Snakeroot

Epilobium

Epilobium - willowherb

These are a couple of mystery weeds which I couldn’t put a name to. Maybe you can help me?

Mystery Plants

A. This plant was a tiny airy little ground-hugger. There were little balls with an imprint of the star shape of the flower. Those little balls turned dark and burst open.

B. This plant was larger, possibly 15-20 inches tall. It had a raceme of flowers in threes. They were white-green and then gradually darkened to pink. I had some in all stages. I thought at first it was pokeberry, but it is not. The pink in the photo is almost a star shaped but like a stuffed pillow. 

Help me if you can to ID these. You can see them in the video too!

References:

http://www.florafinder.com

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