Spring

Eastern Blue Star

Amsonia tabernaemontana

This is one of the first plants in the meadow to bloom in the spring but look for its golden yellow foliage in the fall. Milky latex material seeps out when stem is broken. This can be mildly poisonous to humans but even more so for dogs and cats. Not surprisingly, it is deer resistant.

What’s in a name: Amsonia honors Dr John Amson (1698m-1765?) an English amateur botanist who lived and worked in Williamsburg Virginia during the colonial period. The epithet honors a German (d. 1590) whose Latin version of his name is Tabernaemontanus.

Foxglove Beardtongue

Penstemon digitalis

Penstemons are among the first plants to appear in the garden in the spring, so don’t expect to find them after June. These delicate white or lavender flowers are not choosy about where they grow and seem to enjoy our meadow. They are certainly a favorite of the bees.

What’s in a name: In Latin, ‘penta’ means 5 and ‘stemon’ means stamen. Stamens are the male reproductive part of a flower which includes as sac of pollen at the end (anther). See if you can count 5 stamens. The common name, Foxglove Beardtongue, may come from the idea that its flowers look like fox’s open mouth with the stamens looking like a tongue. Mmmm……..

Butterfly Weed

Asclepias tuberosa

Milkweed is the host plant for the eggs and larva of Monarch butterflies, but this particular variety of milkweed, called Butterfly weed, is not a preferred host for Monarchs because its white sap is not as toxic as sap found in other milkweeds. It is this sap which gives the butterfly a terrible taste, driving off predators. Butterflies love the flowers though.

Native Americans harvested fibers from the dried stems to make ropes and in weaving cloth. Its tough, tuberous root was chewed as a cure for pleurisy and lung ailments.

Look for this incredibly beautiful seed pod in the late summer and fall as it bursts open and the seeds fly off in the breeze. The seed floss has found many uses: stuffing for life jackets, in cleaning up oil spills, and as insulation.

What’s in a name: ‘Asclepius’ was the Greek god of medicine and healing something this plant has been associated with in legend and ‘tuberosa’ refers to its ‘tuberous’ roots. Its common name correctly suggests that it is great at attracting a variety of butterflies.

Summer

Coming soon…

Fall