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What kinds of flowers are these?

11 years ago

I live in N. GA, and I found a plant with some pretty white flowers recently growing next to a creek. What kind is it?

Within about 50 yards of this creek (just outside my property), someone has a flower garden. Nobody lives on these acres of land, but for some reason the owners decided to make a small garden enclosed with rocks. This year, though, it has been left unattended, so anything coming up is something from an earlier year. Anyway, what kinds of plants are these?

To see close-ups of these photos, please click on each one here:

The last plant looks like coleus to me, but I'm a bit confused. The plant is coming up even outside the bounds of the garden, where it probably wasn't planted. However, I thought coleus was an annual. We got below 20 degrees last winter. Could coleus survive that?

Comments (9)

fatamorgana2121
11 years ago
Looks like:

Mountain laurel
Petunia
Asiatic lily
Perilla

FataMorgana
neptune25
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks, FataMorgana. Wow, you're really good! I read a little bit about perilla, and apparently it's not frost-hardy. If the perilla plants are coming up again this year (I saw them last year as well), would that be self-seeding, I guess?
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so you guys are absolutely sure.. this thing could not have had some dead branches?? obviously the tree guy left the live parts.. suggesting to me.. there were some actual dead branches ... now i might not trust with plant lore.. is the real estate seller.. crikey ... they may have thought crabgrass was an exotic looking plant.. lol .. you can get the name of just about anything in this forum ... so lets not rely on strangers outside their specialty.. to tell you about what is in your garden ... and.. BTW... who could have damaged this plant severely .. is the lawn service ... you need to remove a 3 to 5 foot circle of grass... and add a mulch ring.. to keep the nut with the lawnmower and weedwhip away from it .. weedwhips damage more plants than tree guys.. and real estate peeps.. and it could have happened with the prior owner ... i dont think you really know how long the dead parts were dead.. now do you??? ken
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fatamorgana2121
11 years ago
Glad to help! From what I understand, perilla is a marvelous self-seeder - to the dismay of some.

FataMorgana
neptune25
Original Author
11 years ago
Makes sense. Maybe another year I can try planting some perilla myself. Apparently it's edible too.
fatamorgana2121
11 years ago
If you look up "shiso" or "shiso recipes," you'll get all sorts of culinary listings for perilla.

FataMorgana
trilliumsrme
11 years ago
Here in GA, no one would purposely plant Perilla. It's very invasive.
I believe the wild petunia is Ruellia if the flower is purple instead of the brilliant blue it appears on my screen.
neptune25
Original Author
11 years ago
Oh, so shiso and perilla are the same thing? Thanks, FataMorgana.

I didn't realize that perilla is invasive. On second thought, maybe I *won't* plant it here in GA. :) Yes, I believe the petunia was purple (it was gone a few days later when I went back to check on it ;). I think something ate it. Ruellia, huh? Thanks for the info, trilliumsrme.
fatamorgana2121
11 years ago
Perilla frutescens is the botanical name. Shiso and beefsteak plant are two of the common names.

FataMorgana
Iris GW
11 years ago
I don't think that Petunia is Ruellia - it looked like one of the very old fashioned reseeding ones. Ruellia has opposite leaves, yours has alternate leaves.

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