Snow-on-the-Mountain

There are a couple different plants that bear the beautiful nickname Snow-on-the-Mountain.  One is the aggressive and often invasive Aegopodium podagraria.  (You might know it by less grand nicknames, such as Goutweed and Bishop's Weed.)  The other is the lovely native annual Euphorbia marginata.

Snow-on-the-Mountain
Euphorbia marginata

This native Snow-on-the-Mountain is very deserving of such a name.  It has little white flowers that bloom in summer and into fall, but what attracts the most attention are its striking, white-as-snow edged leaves.

Snow-on-the-Mountain, is native to much of the continental U.S., and was one of the plants collected by Lewis and Clark on their expedition across North America.  (A specimen believed to be collected by William Clark in 1806 can be found in the Lewis & Clark Herbarium at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.)

This drought-tolerant annual can be grown in sun or partial shade, but it popped up this summer in a fairly shady part of my garden and is doing quite well.  It grows to a height of 2 or 3 feet and is not very picky about soil, as long as it is not too wet.  It has few problems with pests or disease.

I've read that Snow-on-the-Mountain will attract butterflies and smaller bees, but mine mainly seems to attract flies and wasps as its pollinators.  (Aren't I lucky?)

Euphorbia marginata is supposed to be long-lasting as a cut flower if its ends are seared - but it is a cut-at-your-own-risk type of plant.  Unfortunately the stems contain milky sap that can cause a skin reaction for some people (especially those allergic to Latex), so cut stems must be handled with gloves.  Some early cattlemen even used the sap to brand cattle in place of a hot iron. (Yikes!)

Some Native Americans used this plant medicinally.  The Lakotas made a tea out of it to stimulate milk production in new mothers and crushed its leaves to use as a liniment for swelling.  The Kiowa used it as chewing gum, since it forms a type of latex.  It is now considered mildly toxic when eaten, as it is rather purgative.  Deer and other animals generally tend to leave this plant alone.

There are several cultivars of Snow-on-the-Mountain available. It is best to sow the seeds directly where you want the plants or to plant deep plugs, as it doesn't like to be transplanted.  They will then self-seed for the next year.

seed pod forming on Snow-on-the-Mountain

I likely have a bird to thank for my new plant, as it must have popped up from an errant seed.  It grew in the back of my border, behind a tree.  I hope next year I will find a few new plants near the front of the border, where everyone can actually see it!

Happy Gardening!

Today is Wildflower Wednesday!  You can see native wildflowers blooming in other bloggers' gardens at the site Clay and Limestone.

Have You Ever Eaten a Ground Cherry?

For several weeks this summer, my 7-year-old would wake up early, put on her rain boots, go outside (still in her pajamas!), and go straight to the garden... to pick and eat Ground Cherries.

Ground Cherry

Even though the Ground Cherry is native to most of the Americas and was eaten by Native Americans and Pilgrims, most people have never heard of this little fruit.  Indeed, I had never had one until last year, but after tasting them I immediately wanted to start growing my own!

Physalis pruinosa, also synonymous with Physalis pubescens, has many nicknames, including Ground Cherry, Husk Cherry, and Husk Tomato.  The Ground Cherry is related to Tomatoes and Tomatillos, but the little fruits are more sweet and fruity tasting.  Even though they keep well for a long time, they have likely fallen out of favor now because they are so small and each one has a papery husk on it that you have to remove before eating.

A Ground Cherry is actually about the size of a small grape.

I often hear Ground Cherries described as tasting like a cross between a pineapple and a tomato.  The taste can be rather variable.  I've tasted two different kinds.  A nearby farm grows a variety that tastes rather like a pineapple, but with an earthy flavor, rather like ripe banana.  The ones I grew this year were brighter tasting, like a cross between a pineapple and a mango - absolutely delicious!  I think the variety I grew were much tastier, but they were smaller and seedier than the farm-grown ones.  

There are only a few known named cultivars of Ground Cherries - Aunt Molly's, Cossack Pineapple, and Goldie.  (The Ground Cherry seeds that I grew were not named.)  Physalis pruinosa does also have many edible relatives, such as the similar-looking Physalis peruviana, aka Cape Gooseberry.  

Even though you grow them the same way you grow Tomatoes, Ground Cherries are hardier and much easier to grow.  They are not as picky about soil, they don't have to be staked, they don't have as many problems with disease, and critters don't eat them, since most of the plant (including the husk surrounding the fruit) is toxic.  The plants are short and wide, resembling Tomatillo plants more than Tomato plants, and the plentiful fruit look a lot like little Tomatillos.  The papery husk on them turns yellow as it ripens, and when they are totally ripe, they will fall to the ground - thus the nickname Ground Cherries.  

plants loaded down with green Ground Cherries

Ground Cherries are very versatile - they can be eaten plain or cooked in savory or sweet dishes.  According to Edible Omaha, some Native Americans tribes used Ground Cherries to make a savory relish.  A recipe from the Zuni tribe combines them with onions, chili paste, and coriander.  On the other hand, early European settlers used them to make pie and jam.  I think Ground Cherries would taste great in a salad (with some goat cheese, perhaps?).  And we all knew it was just a matter of time before someone dipped them in chocolate...

Unfortunately (for me), I was not able to collect very many Ground Cherries this year for cooking - my kids ate them all before I got the chance!  I wanted to try a pie, but even then I had to supplement my scanty leftover amount of Ground Cherries with peaches.

Ground Cherry and Peach Pie... yum!

They are supposed to reseed easily, so hopefully there will be even more Ground Cherries next year - enough for the kids and for me!

So have you ever eaten a Ground Cherry?

Gaze Into the Cosmos

It is now September.  Gone are the multitude of Purple Coneflowers, but in their place are now one of my favorite cottage annuals - Cosmos!

Cosmos bipinnatus 'Picotee'

I read on a garden website somewhere that if you have trouble growing Cosmos, well, you might just want to take up golf!  I, for one, am thankful for such easy to grow plants that put on such a great display with very little effort from me.

the front garden

Cosmos bipinnatus are ridiculously easy to grow from seed.  In the spring I went around the garden throwing seeds all over right before a good rain, and that was pretty much all the care I gave them.

a Cosmos bud about to open

Cosmos bipinnatus are part of the Aster family and are sometimes called Mexican asters (since they are native to Mexico).  They tolerate poor or dry soil.  Just give them plenty of sun.

The bees love them, and soon the Cosmos will be bursting with seeds and attracting Goldfinches in droves (as well as a couple children that like collecting the seeds for their next year's garden).

center of Cosmos 'Versailles Red'

If it is possible to stop gazing at the Cosmos (they are mesmerizingly beautiful), there are other things going on in the garden.  The chilly weather we've suddenly been having turns a gardener's mind to Asters and Mums, both of which went into my whisky barrel planters.

The Nicotania is still going in the mailbox garden.  

(That stuff is seriously like the Energizer bunny of the plant world!)

The Caryopteris 'Worcester Gold' is in bloom, to the delight of many different types of bees.

Carpenter bee on Caryopteris

This time of the year is also when the Goldenrod blooms.  I didn't personally plant any Goldenrod in my garden (in fact I weeded some out), but all the wild areas around the yard are full of the beautiful golden flowers.

Plasterer bee on Goldenrod

It's hard to believe that the summer is pretty much over.  There's a nip in the air, and newscasters are already talking of possible frost.  I refuse to believe it!  

I'm going back to gazing at my Cosmos and thinking summery thoughts!

I hope you all are enjoying the last few days of summer gardening!

To see what other garden bloggers around the world have blooming in their garden, visit Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens blog.

Leaves of Three, Let It...Bloom?

Growing up, I was never allergic to poison ivy, so when I started gardening as an adult, I never bothered to learn what it looked like.  After an intense weeding session several years ago, however, all of that changed.  I was apparently no longer immune to poison ivy - and I was bound and determined to never suffer such a bout of itchy miserableness again!  I quickly learned to spot the infamous 'leaves of three'!

This area is known for having copious amounts of poison ivy (as many fellow gardeners told me after moving up here to the Northeast), so I was dismayed but not surprised when many 'leaves of three' popped up this spring in the shady area under my back deck.

Every few weeks I went into the backyard carefully armed and protected with gloves and plastic bags and removed all the offensive seedlings.  My kids were not allowed to play there under the deck, and when we had to stain the wooden deck supports this summer, Mr. Red House and I wore protective boots and dreamed about our future patio that would smother all of this poison ivy.

Then the other day I noticed a very curious thing.  I spotted a poison ivy plant that I had missed in my weeding, and it was... blooming?

All those plants under my deck weren't poison ivy at all!  Those impostors were actually Bidens frondosa - I had been most carefully pulling up a harmless native wildflower.

Bidens frondosa

An annual native to North America, Bidens frondosa is also known under such descriptive names as Devil's Beggarticks, Common Beggar-ticks, Devil's Pitchfork, Sticktights, Bur Marigold, and Pitchfork Weed.  I somehow get the impression people are not very fond of it...

This Bidens has been introduced into other parts of the world, such as Europe, Asia, and New Zealand, and has proved to be a noxious weed there, as it grows so readily.  The seeds of this Beggar-tick are much like all the other similarly nicknamed plants - they cling onto animal fur or clothing or anything that brushes up against them and can be a pain to get off.  (That, and the fact that the seeds are shaped vaguely like a pitchfork, is probably what earned it the nicknames 'Devil's Beggarticks' and 'Devil's Pitchfork'.)  As you can see, this is one of the non-showy Bidens, as it doesn't have outer yellow petals like some other Bidens have.  Thus the flowers are not really noticeable or that pretty (unless you are a pollinator, anyway).

Bidens frondosa prefers moist soil and will grow easily in light shade or in full sun.  It has compound leaves, usually with either 3 or 5 leaflets.  Thus it can sometimes be mistaken by certain gardeners for poison ivy...

So how can you tell the difference between this wildflower and poison ivy?  Well, apparently the leaves of poison ivy alternate along the stem, while the leaves of Bidens frondosa are opposite each other.

Aha! Leaves are directly opposite each other = not poison ivy!

Well, I am thankful that our backyard is not as infested with poison ivy as I thought.  I do wonder about this plant in the front yard though...

It looks rather suspicious...

What do you guys think?

An August Turn About the Front Gardens

It's been a nice, cool summer this year, and while that hasn't been so great for all my spicy pepper plants, the flowers are loving it.

In the front of the house, the Purple Coneflowers and Nicotiana are still going strong, and the Cosmos are starting to bloom.  The rockstar of the front garden right now, though, is my Hibiscus 'Cranberry Crush'.  Is it possible to outshine this?

'Cranberry Crush' Hibiscus

This Hibiscus is a hybrid cultivar.  Its parentage includes various hybrids of the native species H. moscheutos, H. coccineus, and H. laevis.  I absolutely love the billowy, cupped shape of the flowers, and the foliage is even quite pretty, with a reddish tint to the leaves.

On the other side of the driveway, though, my blue garden is trying it's best not to be outshone.  The blue Balloon Flower has been blooming nearly all summer long, and next to it is blooming some amazingly blue Salvia.  (The seed packet was labeled 'Sky Blue' Salvia, but I'm guessing it is the same as Salvia farinacea 'Victoria'.)  They look absolutely beautiful next to the 'Worcester Gold' Caryopteris with its contrasting golden leaves!

Sadly, the blue Salvia are so little that they really need a mass of plants to make more of an impact.  Very few of the seeds in the packet even germinated so I didn't get too many plants, but what can you say?  It was one of those impulse seed packet buys from a grocery store.  (You know we've all done it!) Thus the moral of the story is to stick with seeds from reputable dealers only...

Thankfully, my Balloon Flower has quite a presence!

In addition to working on the bed around my new red greenhouse, I've also been determined to do something this summer with the strip between the road and the sidewalk (known in the gardening world as 'the hellstrip') next to my mailbox.  I've planted some grasses, more Purple Coneflowers, Coreopsis, Nicotiana, and Yarrow there.  I can't wait until my plants get large enough to choke out all the weeds that have been constantly springing up!  (The weeds love this weather, too!)

I've also transplanted a few rocks that I found growing in my yard.  So far out of everything they seem to grow the best here, no matter the weather.  The rocks do quite fine with transplanting - the gardener, not so much.  It seems anytime I move rocks around my yard, it irritates the tendonitis in my wrists, so I am back to being good for a few weeks.

I hope all of your gardens are enjoying the summer weather as much as mine is!  For more of what's blooming in gardens around the world, check out Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens blog.

Happy Gardening!

With this Kale, I now Pronounce that you have Turned into your Mother

As similar as I am to my mother, there were several things we disagreed on growing up.

I didn't understand why in the world we would need to make our beds when we were just going to sleep in them again that night.  I vowed that when I grew up, I would never tell my children 'because I told you so.' Being forced to eat whole grain bread was cruel and unusual punishment (and let's not even talk about spinach).  And I certainly didn't understand how anyone could stand to watch that many episodes of the extremely boring home improvement show 'This Old House'.

Our differences also stretched to the garden.  Those blue Hydrangeas that my mom loved?  I informed her that blue flowers and green leaves do NOT match.  Irises?  Pretty flowers, but those leaves are too poky-looking.  And in the fall when she bought Ornamental Kale, I thought they were the ugliest plants alive.  Who in the world would buy a plant that looks like it should belong in (ugh) a salad?

Of course, now that I am grown up, my tastes have changed.  I love Hydrangeas and blue flowers of any kind.  I find myself looking for the types of Irises that my mom used to grow when I was young.  My dislike of Ornamental Kale, however, held out for quite some time...

...until this year when I was looking for something to fill a fall-blooming container.

Well, since planted the Kale has edged out most of the pansies and pushed a little Juniper to the side in its quest for Gigantic Awesomeness.  And you know what?  I find that I don't mind a bit.  In fact, I wonder how in the world I could dislike this plant for so long.

Oh, the brilliant fall color!  The beautifully veined leaves!  

And after a frost?  Divine!

So I do apologize to my mother for criticizing her planting choice for so long.  I am now off to go lie on my neatly made bed and watch some home improvement television after feeding my kids a healthy supper that included whole grains.

Hey, at least I didn't serve them spinach.