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MORE WILDFLOWERS
BY
In June 2012 I had an article on “Nebraska Wildflowers In My
Yard” using the 1972 “Wildflowers of Nebraska” as a reference. (1) In
1990
The tallest one is the “ One of my early spring favorites is the “Bloodroot” (Sanguinaria canadensis). Sanguinaria is Latin for blood. Never very tall 6-12 inches), each leaf coming separately from the ground with the flower rolled up inside. Leaves are unusually shaped, almost round, with deep rounded cuts in a slowly widening clump. In 8 years it has never strayed very far. The white, small, single, one inch flowers are waxy looking to me. If you pull up a plant to see the roots it will bleed a red (blood) sticky juice that Indians used for a red dye. The plants will go dormant if they dry out and do it naturally a few weeks after blooming. Around the edges of my grey garden on the “hell strip” I have some “Pussy Toes” (Antennaria sp). As with many grey plants they are densely hairy but under 2 inches tall with the blooms about 6 inches tall. I usually cut them off as the plant spreads by roots. Plants are either male or female and if you have a colony it may be all of one sex.
“Solomons Seal” is a taller plant, up to 4 feet, preferring
shade. In a good location it can spread fairly fast. An interesting
thing is that it produces its blooms hanging down in clusters under the
leaves. I have a clump under a “Pine Tree” and a variegated one under a
“Redbud Tree”. The
variegated one (work of plant breeders) is more popular than the
original with its white stripes, and comes up as a pink knob. This is a
complete plant and can be easily moved. As usual it was considered a
medicinal plant by the Native Americans.
Another of my favorite wild flowers is the “Wind Flower” or
“Meadow Anemone”. It is found in the wild over a great deal of
The “Wild Petunia” (Ruella humilis) that I mentioned for dry
soils, found especially in
If you like Asters, especially tall ones, the “New England Aster”
will grow 4 to 5 feet tall in a good summer.
Usually they bloom in August and September but I expect this
summer the blooms will be much earlier. However, to keep them from
getting 5 feet tall each summer before July 4th I cut them
back by at least one half. They will immediately send out branches and
cover themselves with blue or red blooms.
The blues are always more vigorous for me. References: (1) “Nebraska Wildflowers” by 2) “Field Guide to Wildflowers of Copyright 2012 *************************************************************
WISE USE OF WATER IN DRY TIMES
BY
Farmers are having mandatory water restrictions in some
In searching the internet I ran across the following quote from a “Weather adjustments to an automatic irrigation
system can conserve
A LOT of water. A
system applying 1 inch of water to an average size lawn (approximately
5,000 square feet) that has already received sufficient rain (or water
from your system), wastes over 3,000 gallons of water-a year’s supply of
drinking water for 17 people.” (“Make Every Drop Count On Your Yard” a
publication by Also check out the following NebGuides at “www.ianrpubs.unl.edu”. Type the name or number in the search box on the left. “Perennial Flowers for Water-wise Gardeners” (G1214) “Mulches for the Home Landscape” (G1257 “Landscape Sustainability” (G1405) Copyright 2012 |