Let it grow: Part 1- Plants

As summer progresses my flower beds are a little bit out of control.

The catnip plants have gone as wild as they make the cats. They self-seed and easily take over the garden. I was going trim most of them back, when I realized that the flowers were being visited by hummingbirds and bees. Goldfinches were also feeding on the catnip. I guess I will let them grow.

Outside of the garden, I had graciously let some pokeweed grow and am now regretting that. While it is a native plant, it is one that will quickly take over. I tried to limit it to one plant in the yard. However, it quickly got away from me. 

Also overtaking part of the yard is some common burdock with an emphasis on "bur". I really dislike this plant for its burs in the fall. Of course, the dogs and cats always find the burs despite being told to leave the area where the plants are. The burs are terrible. They fall apart when one tries to pick them or brush them out. However, I spotted a swallowtail and some bees visiting the flowers or potential burs. So I will let them grow, at least until the flowers die. Although, they are truly an invasive plant.

Around the area where the burdock grows, appeared a light purple flower that I hadn't seen before. After a post on a Facebook group it was identified as a mallow plant. There are many different types of mallow and I just didn't have the patience to try to narrow down the right one for that plant. Nonetheless, it's pretty and it is not hurting anything.  I'll let it grow and mow around it.

The same Facebook group also helped me narrow down the ID on some sedge I had been seeing. Posts of some mace sedge on the page looked like some of the plants I had seen at the neighbor's pond. However on closer inspection, it wasn't the same plant.
Again folks on the page pointed me to the right direction to what is called sallow sedge.
According to a post on gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org, the sedge is "an abundant and sometimes weedy species."

The site listed that its habitat included Anthropogenic or man-made or disturbed habitats, marshes, meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes and swamps.

Meanwhile back on the Pennsylvania Native Plant Society Facebook page, members pointed to this being a good year for ghost pipes (Monotropa uniflora L.) or Indianpipe.
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An article by Chantelle DeLay on the U.S. Forest Service's website www.fs.fed.us, described the plant's appearance.

"These perennial plants are generally four to eight inches tall, with small scale-like leaves, and white five parted flowers. Plants only have one flower per stem, and flowering occurs roughly from June through September.
Stems can be found alone, but are commonly found in small clusters," DeLay posted.

DeLay went on to write that the plants do not have the green pigment chlorophyll and how the ghost pipe survives without it.

"Chlorophyll is responsible for harnessing the sun’s energy to produce carbohydrates, a process known as photosynthesis.

​Ghost pipe saps nutrients and carbohydrates from tree roots through an intermediate source, myccorhizal fungi in the genera Russula and Lactarius," DeLay continued.

A separate post on the Forest Service's site gave a description of how the flower matures.

"Upon emerging from the ground, the flower is pendant (downwardly pointed). As the anthers and stigma mature, the flower is spreading to all most perpendicular to the stem.

The fruit is a capsule. As the capsule matures, the flower becomes erect (in line with the stem). Once ripened, seed is released through slits that open from the tip to the base of the capsule. The plant is persistent after seed dispersal," that post said.

In the past few weeks, I seemed to have observed it popping up all over the forest floor. There appeared to be more this year than in the past.

In addition to the pipes, mushrooms of all shapes and sizes have been sighted.

The forest floor is also home to a small patch of downy rattlesnake plantain which has been painfully slow to bloom.

Meanwhile back in the garden, color has emerged everywhere. From morning glories to coneflowers, the hues are beautiful. The stray sunflowers that the chipmunks planted various places add to the colorful chaos of the garden. One sunflower is currently rooted in a hanging basket. I'm gonna let it grow and see what happens. 

That's just the nature of things 'round here.