Growing Native

The photos are mine of Verbesina encelioides. Although it’s quite pretty, “a common weed of roadsides and waste places.”* *Kearney and Peebles, Arizona Flora

This episode is about a fall blooming plant called Ageratina herbacea. Ageratina means a small or smaller Ageratum… another beautiful blooming plant….herbacea means herbaceous. Duh. It’s probably just me, but I think ageratina makes for a nice common name. How about fragrant ageratina? Oh yeah. The photos are mine.

I was looking though some old notes of episodes and realized that I have talked about coral bells (Heuchera sanguinea) many times over the years. Like a favorite trail or dirt road I keep coming back to it. There are six species of Heuchera found in Arizona and they’re among the 40 to 50 species found in North America, not to mention numerous cultivars. The photos are mine and taken along the trail that my partner, lover and significant other and I keep coming back to.

Both jackass clover (Wislizenia refracta) and clammy weed (Polanisia dodecandra) are in the Cleome family Cleomaceae, having left the caper family Capparaceae due to DNA analysis. A crime is solved! But listen, many of the plants in Cleomaceae can be quite aromatic or foetid smelling. Both jackass clover and clammy weed live up to that description and it’s your choice. By the way, I want you to know that I showed great restraint in not shouting jackass several times during this episode. I’ve matured over the years. The photos are mine of the flowers of both species jabbered about in…

Hummingbird trumpet (Epilobium canum) is a favorite late summer and fall wildflower in the wild or in a nursery. Well, in the wild is wonderful, but then get one for your personal habitat to remind you of the wild one you saw. The photos are mine.