Georgia's Fall roadside wildflowers

17 years ago

The native wildflowers that bloom in late summer and early fall are a welcome sight on the roadside. One of the most prolific is Goldenrod: Solidago canadensis. It is often mistaken for ragweed, a common allergen. But the pollen on goldenrod is too heavy to become windborne and an irritant; itÂs pollen must be spread by insects:

The flowers turn to fluffy white/grey puffs of tasty seeds for birds in the fall.

Ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia is the true culprit. It has green flowers and goes unnoticed by many. But itÂs lightweight pollen gets picked up by the wind, causing problems for those allergic to it:

One of two beautiful and majestic purple wildflowers, Ironweed, Vernonia altissima towers over most other plants, itÂs strong stem keeping it upright:

Joe pye weed, Eupatorium purpureum is the other majestic purplish wildflower. Flower colors range from pale mauve to deep rose pink. Tolerant of both wet and dry conditions, this flower is a magnet for butterflies. Growing 8-10 feet tall in the wild, it is hard to miss on the roadside. Shorter cultivars are now widely available for the home garden, where it makes a gorgeous backdrop for shorter perennials:

One of the most screaming red flowers I have ever seen is Cardinal flower, Lobelia cardinalis. Often found in wet areas, it grows just as well in average garden soil. It even tolerates a bit of shade, itÂs electric red flowers lighting up an otherwise quiet corner of the garden. Long admired and cultivated, it is the Georgia Native Plant SocietyÂs 2006 Native Plant of the Year:

The many and varied members of the Aster family will be popping into bloom from otherwise non-descript tangled groups of foliage. Ranging from white to pink to purple/blue, they are a cheerful sight:

Peeking out from woodland edges, the shadiest member of the Sunflower family is now coming into bloom. Appropriately named Woodland Sunflower, Helianthus divaricatus blooms atop rough and wiry stems. The leaves are so rough, I think you could use them for sandpaper in a pinch! Look for it where woods give way to sunny edges:

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Comments (12)

girlgroupgirl
17 years ago
Thank-you esh. The photographs are beautiful.

Also lovely in bloom now in my garden is the blue native lobelia, and some hybridzed natives.
Aster "Purple Dome"
Solidago "golden fleece"
Helianthus "Low Down"

GGG
efam
17 years ago
You're right...that is a common misconception about Goldenrod vs. Ragweed. All this time, I thought that was Ragweed...

Thanks for the info!!
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Thanks texasflip. We also get Eurybia hemispherica here, but that plant usually has narrow leaves up to 8" in length and doesn't normally show up till August. I was mostly curious to know if this was, indeed, an aster, and if any of the genus is expected to bloom this early.
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organic_gardenhag, We usually come to GA. around the end of June and they are blooming. I'm not sure when they start. Maybe someone that lives there can answer. When I was a kid we called it chigger weed so I didn't dare touch it. I saw some blooming here already and mine will be blooming in the next week or so. The only other butterfly weed I have is asclepias curassivica and it's just now coming up.
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Comments (19)
Yes esh ga that is it! Good job! You've just identified all of my mysteries. I'd never recognize it without the berries, but that surely is it. Yucca. Everywhere. Took my son to a specialty doctor last week in duluth, and we tend to take the long way (shorter distance, longer travel time) because I like it so much better than going all the way down 75 to 285 and across. So we take 140 all the way to roswell instead. It's a nice winding country road. I must have seen yucca growing in a few dozen yards. Now I had yucca here when we first moved in, but every spring it became literally covered in thousands of little bugs. I don't know what they were, but the yucca was planted right next to the garage door. I have a teenaged son who skateboards; he practically lives in the garage and on the driveway. After living here for a few years now, I have changed my mind about that, and I no longer let him leave the garage door up all summer because of air conditioning costs. We live in a raised ranch, so allowing the garage to fill up with heat isn't wise. I didn't know that then, and I tore out the yucca and planted a rose vine to keep the yucca bugs from infesting the garage. But the yucca keeps coming back! I cannot seem to get all of its tuberous root. Since it is determined, and I am cheap, this year I dug out part of it as could be dug out and planted it elsewhere -far from the house. What are those bugs? It's been a couple years so I don't remember them, except for that they were smaller things, and they flew, and they apparently travelled in packs of hundreds and loved yucca. And on that same basis -the fact that I'm cheap- I might have considered moving some elderberry into my backyard. My backyard is pretty big, and almost completely bare. When we moved in there was nothing but a large pool and a row of wax myrtles growing behind it up against the fence. I pulled out all but four of the myrtles the first year, and have been trying to get them evened out ever since. I started planting other things, and planning a nice big veggie garden, and then my husband brought home a large rambunctious labrador "puppy". Long story short ending, I have revised my backyard plan to basically a shrub garden. If you could see my still pretty bare back-yard you'd understand my considering the elderberry shrubs, lol.
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Comments (32)
I have rescued many plants over the years and taken cuttings and/or diggings from many more. But I always follow certain guidelines. This is how I determine what I will take and what I won't, for what it's worth: 1. I never take anything from private property without permission. 2. I never, ever take cuttings from public gardens or botanical gardens, as those are display gardens. If everyone took cuttings, there would soon be nothing to display. 3. I am very cautious about taking wildflowers from the wild, as most don't transplant well. And if there is any chance they are endangered or threatened in the wild, I leave them alone so they can grow and reseed where they should be. BUT... 4. Anything in the path of a bulldozer is fair game. Like most of you, if I know an area is being developed, I figure I'm saving the plants that I take from certain death. That's how my mother got the beautiful butterfly orchid that I've had for more than 30 years now. 5. Plants that are obviously not natives but are growing in wild areas are usually just fine to dig and take. They don't belong there, anyway. Exceptions would be areas that have been deliberately seeded with wildflowers, etc. But I have found all sorts of neat things that volunteered in areas where they really didn't belong. 6. I have taken plants from roadside ditches, both native and exotics, for my enclosed ponds. I never dispose of any of them in any way that would release them back into our natural waterways. But I've snatched water hyacinths, water lettuce, pickerel weed, arrowhead, duckweed and more from ditches in the past. This is probably an activity that is punishable by fines, at least, since water hyacinths are such a terrible nuisance in our streams & rivers. But I know that any I take are "out of the system" for good, so I don't feel too bad. (Just be aware that if you are caught taking them, you could be fined, at the very least. The law probably doesn't care HOW responsibly you use them.) 7. And lastly, anything already broken off and laying on a sidewalk, or in an aisle, or on a path is fair game. That's going to be a goner if you DON'T pick it up and pot it, so why not? Just my thoughts. Found plants are a blessing I would hate to be without, but I try to use common sense and be fair to others. Marcia
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quirkyquercus
17 years ago
I guess I should stop pulling those out then, huh?
Ever since she posted the last topic on Ragweed, I've been removing every one that I see!

Helpful post as usual, El. Keep'em comin.
woody_ga
17 years ago
I really like the look of the Cardinal flower. Does anyone know of a local source for seed. Maybe I've just overlooked it at Pike's or HD, but I don't recall seeing it.
Iris GW
Original Author
17 years ago
Well, I'll have a lot of seeds at the end of the season, so I could be a "seed source" for you! They would be easy to mail.

I don't know how often you'd find this at Pike's or HD, but the smaller nurseries might have it. On the web, it is often found listed by stores that sell aquatic and aquarium supplies. But it grows fine in a garden or a bog.
Iris GW
Original Author
17 years ago
By the way, if you are interested in native perennials, I heartily recommend a relatively new book by Allan Armitage: "Armitage's Native Plants for North American Gardens".

In addition to describing the species plant in great detail (including propagation tips), he also makes note of available cultivars that have been developed.
buford
17 years ago
I bought lobelia cardinalis, which is cardnial flower a few years ago at HD. It is not doing too well this year in the heat/drought. It usually has many amazing red flowers.
buford
17 years ago
Speaking of the roadside...what is all that red stuff I see growing now? Is it something new, or something just changing color early?
Iris GW
Original Author
17 years ago
buford, some of my cardinal flowers have been attacked by small worms that eat out the base of the stem, causing the plant to wilt, fall over and even die. That may be happening to yours.

When you say the red stuff on the side of the road, I guess you mean the leaves are red. Sumac should be turning bright colors very soon now.
buford
17 years ago
Yes that looks like what I saw. It's not poison sumac, is it? I've been finding poison ivy in my yard, and the new leaves are reddish.
Iris GW
Original Author
17 years ago
No, it's just sumac, not poison sumac.

Poison ivy can have spectacular fall color, look for vines growing up trees on roadsides this fall. Still not enough reason for me to grow it in MY yard.
buford
17 years ago
I just saw an piece in the new issue of Southern Living about Sumac (not poisonious). I may have to get one. Spectacular color. (maybe I'll just stop by the road side and dig one up)

Georgia's Fall roadside wildflowers

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girlgroupgirl

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Georgia's Fall roadside wildflowers

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