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2024 Native Plants of the Year
Backyard Perennial of the Year (2024)
Lobelia siphilitica, Great Blue Lobelia, is the blue brother of remarkably red cardinal flower, L. cardinalis. They are both part of the very garden-worthy bellflower family, Campanulaceae. In the wild, where it is thrilling to come upon, Great Blue Lobelia is most often seen in part sun to part shade, near streams, sloughs, and other wetlands, telling you that in the garden it prefers moist soil. Where content, it attains a height of two to three feet and colonizes through self-seeding. In most gardens, it persists for years. The summer flowers of Great Blue Lobelia are various shades of violet-blue, lipped, lobed, and arranged on a long stalk. They are an important food source for several native bees, bumblebees, and hummingbirds. Photo by Mary Free, Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia
Rare Plant of the Year (2024)
Seeing Pink Lady’s Slipper on a walk in the woods, sometime in May, a plant lover’s endorphins really kick-in. The pink and tan flower has an unusual moccasin shape and dangles from a stem that rises from a pair of veined basal leaves. It has a unique design feature for pollination by bumblebees, which requires them to follow a one-way path through the flower, forcing insects to take a pre-determined route past its reproductive parts, sort like the way Ikea makes you travel past all their sales displays before you get to the exit. Cypripedium acaule is not common but can readily be seen at various places in New Jersey, such as near Ramapo Lake in Bergen County and at Cheesequake Park near the center of the state.
Some Great Plants from Hubert and Millie Ling’s Awesome Native Plants Site
Its a New Year and a New Spring
Trailing arbutus is an early bloomer. You can find them on slopes where the leaf litter has slipped down hill to expose the leatherly leaves. The flowers have been described as functionally dioecious because structurally they sometimes appear to be bisexual but are not. Their seeds are dispersed by ants but not as bloodroots and spring beautys. Learn more about Trailing arbutus. Look for these on your early spring hikes. Also see our Spring Plant Profiles & Photos
Winter Woodlands
It’s pale papery leaves are persistent in the winter forest. It is a solemn landscape as the BLD (Beech Leaf Disease) threatens to put them into oblivion. A sobering thought. To learn about the tree and its utility click: Beech (1) and Beech (2). Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana) which depend of beech trees will have the same fate : Click here.
Wingstem – – NEW PAGE
Consider these tall early fall blooming plants for your yard next year.
As a composite, they have flowers that are relatively easier to observe in detail. See the basic structure of composites. Did you know that all composites use the ‘plunger’ technique to expose their pollen like the cardinal flowers? Read more about basic composite features and wingstem. Click here.
Autumn Colors
Contributing deep reds to the collage of yellows and greens are the red maple leaves. Red maple is one of the most abundant trees in the east. It grows in a wide range of conditions. Click here to learn more about Red Maple. See also our collection of plants with colorful fall leaves: Click here.