Walking Through my Gardens

Good morning everyone, I love walking through my gardens especially on Sunday to see what God has sent down for the coming week. This morning I noticed some interesting plants or maybe weeds that I decided to do a search to see what they are.

Butterfly Milkweed

I’m starting a butterfly garden and I already know what this is. It’s my butterfly milkweed which I planted a few weeks ago. This is the host plant for Monarch butterflies to lay their eggs to turn into caterpillars then butterflies. In just the few weeks the flowers have multiplied. While I haven’t seen any butterflies yet I was excited to see what was new this morning.

I was excited to see one plant had numerous milkweed pods starting to grow. Once they are grown to full size, they turn brown and dry out. They will start to split when totally dry and that’s when you harvest the seeds to plant in the fall. I will be added more varieties of the milkweed and butterfly weed as they become available.

American Pokeweed

I found this growing in a pot with one of my other plants. It’s American Pokeweed or it’s official name is Phytolacca Americana which is a perennial and considered a nuisance plant and was probably planted by a passing bird. The plant and berries are poisonous to dogs and the berries are poisonous to humans. However the song birds love them.

The berries start as a little white flower than turn into a tiny pod like berry before turning into a dark purple berry that the birds love.

I have a section behind my shed that no dogs or people can get to and I leave that area for the plants that are safe for the birds.

Silverling

I found this plant which is more like a tiny tree growing in my Mexican Petunia area. It’s officially named Baccharis Halimifolia but also called Consumption Weed or Silverling. It’s a native shrub to the daisy family and is heat, drought, and salt water tolerant. I haven’t seen any buds but it starts with white to cream colored flower heads in the fall and winter. This is one I will have to leave until fall and see if it flowers. The other thing, it can grow from five to twelve feet high!

American Burnweed

This is American Burnweed or Erechitites Hieraciifolius. Not sure where or how they come up with these names! The Burnweed is known as the fastest growing native North American annual plant and this also is in the daisy family.

I’m anxiously waiting to see if it will have the cylinder like flowers as this is also a pollinator plant for bees and butterflies. It’s a great source for nectar in the later part of the season. Many people consider this a weed but it ialso has medicinal uses for skin issues like poison ivy and good for digestive problems.

Mimosa or Partridge Pea

The verdict is still out of these young seedlings. They look like either Mimosa or Partridge Pea leaves. The main difference between the two are the shape of the leaves but these are such early ones I think I’ll have to wait. The Mimosa leaves are more elongated with points while the Partridge Pea leaves are rounded. These started with round ends but now they are having points on the ends. I’ll be patient to see how they grow. I’d love if they were Mimosa seedlings, I love those trees!

Roundleaf Greenbrier

This is another I’m not sure of but it looks like Smilax Rotundifolia also commonly known as Roundleaf Greenbrier, Common Greenbrier or Bamboo Vine. I love the glossy heart-shaped leaves, It says the stems are rounded with sharp spines and that’s what these look like. I haven’t seen any flowers or even buds but if it is smilax they have greenish white flowers that turn into a bluish black berry in the fall. This is another one I’m waiting for the verdict! What ever it is, I love the heart shaped leaves.

I hope you enjoyed walking through my gardens with me. Of course the main one I’m waiting for is the Butterfly Milkweed to see if the Monarch butterflies will come lay their eggs. Wishing you all a blessed Sunday and a wonderful week to follow.