Misidentified mystery plant: not Dame's Rocket - it's Money Plant

My most recent mystery plant turns out to be something I can keep. It's not the invasive Hesperis matronalis (Dame's Rocket). Instead it's Lunaria annua, better known as Money Plant.

These seed pods formed very quickly and were a dead giveaway. This plant is growing in a sunnier location than the ones I photographed earlier this spring. I was taking a stroll near the vegetable garden when I noticed this mass of flat seed pods. And I quickly checked the plants near the brick patio. Yep! They had the same flat seed pods.

I recognized it as money plant. A quick Google search and I found the name: Lunaria annua. 

Since I had seen many of the purple flowers growing in the woods near my home, I decided to see if I could locate a plant when I went for my morning run. Near the road I found several plants that still had fading flowers and pulled one up. Unlike the plants growing in my garden, the roadside plants had long, skinny seed pods. As shown in this photo. These plants also have longer, thinner leaves that barely wrap the stem at all. This plant actually is the invasive Hesperis matronalis. When Dame's Rocket and Money Plant are in bloom it is difficult to tell them apart. The flower structure is identical, so it was no help. The best clue before the seed pods form will be the leaves. Money plant has wider leaves that clasp the stems. Dame's rocket has thinner, smaller leaves; much like phlox. The trouble in identifying my money plants came from not plucking a plant sooner so I could compare.

I remember thinking the leaves looked like Brunnera last fall. They were large and deeply veined; nothing like the leaves on the flower stems. I plan to cut most of the stems before the seed pods dry; leaving a few to start new plants next year. I'll keep an eye on the plant that's left to see if the leaves continue to broaden or if this plant is a biennial and what I witnessed last fall was the first year plant.

I'm glad I found out this wasn't an invasive before I pulled them all up. Money plant is really pretty!

A little peek at my road trip

Here's a little peek from my road trip. I took many photos, but only can show a few tonight.

My aunt and I started out Tuesday afternoon from Olympia, Washington, and drove along the north side of the Columbia River (pictured above).

My photos don't nearly capture the grandeur. The views from the road were breathtaking. Much of Wednesday was spent in Idaho and Utah. I didn't know until Thursday how much there was to see in Utah, particularly just west of Green River along Interstate 70. I was speechless.

For now I'll share just a couple of photos I snapped of roadside wildflowers in eastern Utah. I'm still working on identifying them, so more to come about them soon. Enjoy :-)

Pond beginnings

Alright, now that my sunroom is finished and the builder finally graded the front yard, I can work :-)

Here's a picture from the outside of the sunroom. You can see my dog, Doogle, standing very near the large hole that will be my pond.

The pond will be kidney shaped and easy to see from several areas. Anyone walking to the front door, seated on the deck, or sitting in the sunroom will have a great view of the water.

Here's the hole my builder dug for me. It was a great help having him excavate the deepest part for me. My last pond was only 3' by 6' and digging that was enough to tell me that this wasn't a job I could do.
This is the view standing next to the sunroom windows. I had just finished digging the shelf for water plants. The area near the shovel will be the gravel bog filter.

In this photo you can see that I've added a cinder block foundation to support the wall that will partition the filter from the rest of the pond. After checking the outside edge with a level, I also placed a line of cinder blocks to support the liner beneath the moss rock that will edge the pond.

My next steps are to place a level line of concrete pavers around the edge of the pond and install the underlayment. The pavers will make a nice, even edge for the liner that is slightly raised to keep water and dirt from washing in. I'll use carpet pad to protect the liner from protruding roots and rocks. I think before I put the underlayment in I will do more trimming of roots. There are a lot of them and some are really big. Look at the one on the near side of the photo. It's like a tree branch.

I'll be out of town for a week, so not much will happen in the garden. I'm driving across country from Olympia, Washington. So, even though nothing will change much in the garden, I should have some great pictures to share from the trip.

Columbine and iris in the backyard garden island

I'm very familiar with the native columbine, Aquilegia canadensis, because it grew freely on the rocky bluff near the lake at my former home. The red and yellow flowers with their down facing habit are pretty and bright, like little fairy lanterns.

This one is growing in my backyard in a space I call the island garden. It's the same garden that last fall was filled with fading purple coneflowers; the same flower heads that I left standing all winter to feed the American goldfinches and other birds. I have a view of this garden from my kitchen window.

In the background of this photo you get a little glimpse of the other columbines in the garden. See the tall purple flowers?

There are nearly as many of the purple columbines in my garden as there are the natives. The purple form is much taller and the flowers are larger. Here's a closeup of a particularly blue one with very long petals. It's a small plant that is nearly overrun by the rapidly sprouting purple coneflowers. But others with flowers like this that appear a little more pink are also much taller. I found this little blue one particularly nice.

Another color I've found in this garden is this one: burgundy. I have never planted a columbine. As I said earlier, my last garden had the native form growing everywhere. But, from my browsing of perennial catalogues, I don't remember seeing many of this burgundy color. There is only one like this in my garden as far as I can tell. Very pretty.

One other columbine in this garden is purple with a white center. I didn't get a good photo of that one, but it's similar to ones I've seen in catalogue and garden centers.

The garden is also home to this iris. It's unusual with its white spot surrounded by purple. It is also very tall; over 3 feet.

With the exception of the red and yellow columbines everything in this garden that's blooming right now is purple, even a sage that's blooming ahead of it's companions. I'm guessing it was planned that way.

I'm enjoying the garden Bob and Judy created. I watch it daily from my kitchen vantage point. it often draws me outside to get a closer look, which leads to a stroll around the vegetable garden. And then I'm hooked for as long as the demands of life will allow.

I'll get busy soon moving many of the coneflowers to a different space - maybe to different gardens. There are plenty to share. That should allow the columbines some room to grow. But I wonder if they like the shade of those larger plants. I'll be careful and watch for signs of distress.

I remember thinking last fall that there were columbines growing like weeds under all the coneflowers as I hurriedly planted some of the herbs I brought with me from my former home into the edges of this garden. It didn't bother me at all if I stepped on a columbine. I thought they were all the native plants that I knew were easy to grow. They all seem to have survived my trampling. But, still, I'll be more careful now. :-)

Tulip tree or tulip poplar

The other day when I looked up at the large tree in my neighbor's yard I saw this; a pair of very pretty and large yellow-green and orange flowers. I noticed the tree last fall and thought it was a tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera. These flowers confirm it. This is a huge tree with pendulous branches. I'm guessing the tree is well over 40 feet tall. It stands west of my house providing shade for my sunroom; shade that sparkles with light as the sun sets and a wind flutters those large leaves. Wow.

I have to tell you that I really, really love the view from my desk in the newly finished sunroom. Sights like this are enough to make this goofy plant freak teary-eyed . . . and happy.

White Throated Sparrow

Remember I mentioned a little bird whose song sounded like a thinly whistled "old Sam Peabody-Peabody-Peabody"? That was when it was still frigid the tress were bare. Well the little birds are still around and I got a close-up look at a few near a window of my sunroom.

The little one pictured here is missing his tail feathers. But he is definitely the most frequent visitor to the area beneath the feeder by the window near my desk. I hear and see many others, including one with the alternate tan striped head. They are cute little birds with a fun and easily identifiable song that hop around in the mulch and fallen leaves. They are a tiny bit smaller than a house sparrow (the non-natives that are everywhere) and have a bright white throat and black and white striped crown.

You can read more about this bird on the All About Birds site.

It makes me happy to know they like my garden enough to hang around for a while. I think they tend to nest farther north than Missouri, but it might be nice if they decided to raise their family here in my messy garden :-)

Hesperis matronalis - that's what it is

Hesperis matronalis is also called Dame's rocket.
This is the plant I recently mentioned I couldn't identify. But, with the help of the Missouri Plants website, I found the species name. The site has great close up photos that are very helpful.

Unfortunately, when I searched for this plant on MoBot's plant finder, I learned it's an invasive weed. It's really too bad because the plant is lovely and the flowers are fragrant. After reading that the plant is invasive, I noticed that it is blooming in the woods along the railroad track behind my house and in woody areas on vacant lots - kind of everywhere.

I'll be sorry to see this one go from my garden :-(

Maybe I can remove the seed heads and keep one or two plants??? Darn, it's tough to be principled.