Desmodium canadense in bloom

Desmodium canadense, known in English as "showy tick trefoil", "Canada tickclover", "beggar's lice", or "Canadian tick-trefoil" and in French as desmodie du Canada, is a perennial native to eastern Canada and northeastern and central US.

This picture does not show showy tick trefoil at its prime; for photos where it actually looks showy, see the Desmodium canadense page at Missouri Plants, which includes some amazing closeups of individual flowers. The "tick" in the English common name refers to the seeds, which, like ticks, cling to animals' fur (and peoples' clothing).

I photographed this plant at High Park.

Cichorium intybus in bloom

Cichorium intybus, known in English as "chicory", "blue sailors", "succory", "coffeeweed", "cornflower", or "Italian dandeliion" and in French as chicorée sauvage, is a perennial native to Europe, which is a widespread roadside weed here in Toronto. I photographed this plant in High Park.

Alliaria petiolata: seed pods

Do I really need to do yet another post about garlic mustard? Yes, because there are still zillions of garlic mustard plants invading the wild spaces of Toronto, and now they are going to seed. So if you see these plants, please remove them if at all possible! (Read Sarah Battersby's article, Top 10 Reasons to Search and Destroy: Garlic Mustard if you don't understand why this plant has to be eliminated from Toronto.)

Actaea pachypoda with fruit

Actaea pachypoda, known in English as "doll's eyes", "white cohosh", or "white baneberry", and in French as actée à gros pédicelles, is a perennial native to eastern and central North America. The berry is white with a black spot, hence the name "doll's eyes". "Baneberry" refers to the toxicity of the fruit. All parts of doll's eyes are considered poisonous to humans. There's a better photo of the berries at Wildflower.org.

I photographed this plant at High Park, where it was planted as part of restoration efforts.

What's blooming in High Park, late July

The Toronto municipal workers' strike meant that the High Park Volunteer Stewardship Program didn't do any actual stewardship this past Sunday, but we did tour the wetlands of High Park, and I saw loads of great (and not so great) flowers:

Natives

• Asclepias syriacus (common milkweed, asclépiade commune)
• Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade, herbe-aux-sorcières)
• Desmodium canadense (showy tick trefoil, desmodie du Canada)
• Desmodium glutinosum (pointed-leaf tick trefoil, desmodie glutineuse)
• Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot, monarde fistuleuse)
• Nymphaea odorata (American white waterlily, nymphée odorante)
• Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose, onagre bisannuelle)
• Penstemon digitalis (foxglove beardtongue, penstémon digitalis)
• Rubus odoratus (purple-flowering raspberry, ronce odorante)
• Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan, rudbeckie dressée)
• Silphium perfoliatum (cup plant, plante bain d'oiseaux)

Non-natives

• Cichorium intybus (chicory, chicorée sauvage)
• Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace, carotte sauvage)
• Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink, œillet arméria)
• Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan balsam, balsamine de l'Himalaya)
• Melilotus alba (white sweet clover, mélilot blanc)
• Melilotus officinalis (yellow sweet clover, mélilot jaune)
• Silene alba (white cockle, silène blanc)

Why you really shouldn't grow invasive plants

I just have to respond to Michele Owen's blog post, What's Invasive? Telling People What They Can't Plant In Their Yards, on Garden Rant. It's really disappointing that a professional garden writer is so uninformed about invasive plants, and is spreading misinformation through a widely-read blog.

Owens writes:

A civilized society makes the fewest rules possible. If it's not hurting you, it's fine for me to do it.

I totally agree, and I think most people would. The problem is, invasive plants, by definition, hurt others—invasive species are second only to outright destruction in causing habitat loss. Habitat loss not only harms wild animals who are driven extinct, it also harms people as we lose all the benefits of well-functioning ecosystems:

• purification of air and water
• mitigation of droughts and floods
• generation and preservation of soils and renewal of their fertility
• detoxification and decomposition of wastes
• pollination of crops and natural vegetation
• dispersal of seeds
• cycling and movement of nutrients
• control of the vast majority of potential agricultural pests
• maintenance of biodiversity
• protection of coastal shores from erosion by waves
• protection from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays
• partial stabilization of climate
• moderation of weather extremes and their impacts
• provision of aesthetic beauty and intellectual stimulation that lift the human spirit

Source: Biodiversity and Human Health: Benefits of Ecosystem Services

(For more information on invasive plants, native plants, and their impact on ecosystems and all life on earth, I highly recommend Bringing Nature Home by Douglas W. Tallamy (Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2009).)

Owens' response is that naturalized invasives, like the Hemerocalis fulva (orange daylily, lis d'un jour fauve) which grows by the roadside, are pretty. It's true, some invasives, like H. fulva, are pretty. But why grow them, destroying habitat, when there are so many other plants which are pretty and ecologically benign?

Owens rhetorically asks,

Should our world therefore be nothing but weeds and overbred, super-fussy garden plants?

Of course not! But it's just wrong to assume that the only alternatives to invasive plants are "weeds" and fussy plants. Many native plants are as beautiful as the invasives she admires, if not more so. Here in Toronto, our showy natives include:

• colourful prairie forbs like Monarda didyma (bee balm, monarde), Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckie dréssé), Echinacea pallida (pale purple coneflower, échinacée pourpré clair), Verbena hastata (blue vervain, verveine hastée), Penstemon hirsutus (hairy beardtongue, je ne peux pas trouve le nom français, desolée), Solidago canadensis (Canada goldenrod, verge d'or du Canada), Liatris spicata (blazing star, liatride à épis)
• dramatic ornatimental grasses like Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem, barbon de Gérard), Elymus histrix (bottlebrush grass, élyme hystrix), and Sorghastrum nutans (Indian grass, faux sorghum penché)
• graceful ferns like Osmunda regalis (royal fern, fougère royale) and Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern, onoclée sensible)
• delicate spring ephemerals like Trillium grandiflorum (white trillium, trille blanc), Hepatica nobilis (hepatica, anémone hépatique), and Erythronium americanum (trout lily, érythrone d'Amerique)
• beautiful flowering trees like Amelanchier canadensis (serviceberry, amélanchier du Canada), Cornus florida (flowering dogwood, cornouiller à fleurs), Prunus spp. (cherries and kin, cerises, etc.)
• majestic shade trees like Acer spp. (maples, érables), Quercus spp. (oaks, chênes), etc.

There are too many plants native to Toronto to list here (the index to my 25 posts listing them is here), and the same is true for any part of the world where plants grow.

In addition, there are many well-behaved non-natives that are not "overbred" and "super-fussy". Indeed, if she had looked more closely at the list of invasives that she complained about, she would see that it's only so long because it covers all of the United States, a large country with many different ecosystems which are vulnerable to many different invasives. Yes, Alcea rosea (hollyhock) is on the list, but is only a problem in California, so New Yorkers like Owens can still grow it in good conscience. (Click each plant name on the list to see where it is invasive in the U.S.) Wherever you live, there are many non-natives which will grow well and not invade local ecosystems. (Although, read Bringing Nature Home to learn why you should grow lots of natives.)

(Owens also wonders why Aruncus dioicus (goatsbeard, barbe de bouc), which grows freely in her garden, is not on the invasive list. The answer is simple: because it is a native plant! It's a contributing member of the ecosystem in New York where Owens lives and elsewhere in North America.)

Owens attributes concerns about invasive plants due to "paranoia and lack of trust". If only. Extensive experience has shown that certain plants in certain areas are extremely harmful. It doesn't make sense to ignore decades of scientific research just because a gardener thinks some invasive plant is pretty.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, July 2009

I've been so busy with summer fun (went to Ontario Place yesterday!) that I almost forgot today was Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

First, my beloved natives:

Monarda didyma (bee balm, monarde) is one of my favourites. Such a pretty shade of red!
The Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed, asclépiade tubéreuse) is getting huge! Hard to believe that a couple of years ago it was a single stem, about 20 cm tall, with no blooms.

Liatris spicata (blazing star, liatride à épis) is just starting to bloom.

The Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckie dréssé) has opened a few tentative blooms. It will be smothered for next GBBD, I'm sure!

Next: the new and exciting!

I wasn't expecting the Dionaea muscipula (Venus fly-trap, dionée attrape-mouche) to bloom! (I've already killed two of these.) I think it's very happy to be out in the sunshine with lots of bugs. According to carnivorous plant expert Barry Rice, you shouldn't let your Venus fly-trap flower. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it was sending up a flowering stalk until it was too late (okay, I admit, I also wanted to see the flowers). Recently it tried making a second flower stalk but I nipped it in the bud like a good gardener.

The Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower, echinacée pourpre) is just starting to turn pink.

Not exactly new, or even a bloom, but too pretty to leave out: Athyrium niponicum var. pictum 'Applecourt' (Japanese painted fern, fougère peinte). Earlier this summer it was struggling, I guess due to transplant stress, but it seems to be on the mend.

The hostas (cultivar unknown) are in full bloom now! Of course the flowers cannot compete with the gorgeous foliage.

I believe this is Campanula rapunculoides (creeping bellflower, campanule fausse raiponce), which is unfortunately rather invasive in southern Ontario. I'll be deadheading this religiously; I can't remove it completely because my landlords' son is attached to it.

Hemerocalis fulva (orange daylily, lis d'un jour fauve) is another invasive my landlords' son won't part with. Here it's growing with native Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane, érigéron annuelle).

This Helianthus annuus (sunflower, tournesol) was a volunteer. The parents were probably 'Velvet Queen' and 'Autumn Beauty'.

The Dianthus chinensis 'Double Gaiety Mix' (China pinks, œillets de Chine) which I started from seed in March is in full bloom now.

This Mentha (mint, menthe, don't know the species) grows like a weed in our garden— indeed, when we moved in, we practically had a mint lawn! I never noticed before how fluffy their flower spikes are.

Lastly, the old standbys:
The Viola x wittrockiana 'Delta Pure Rose' (pansy, pensée) is still soldiering on despite the hotter weather.

The planter my landlords' son put together is filling out nicely. It's dominated by Petunia 'Sanguna Lavender Vein', the dark purple, pink, and 'Famous White' petunias are apparently not nearly as vigorous. The fuchsia also seems to be flourishing.

The calibrachoas are still going strong. The basket with bright pink petunias and verbenas, on the other hand, is petering out, so I didn't even bother photographing it this month.

Tagetes tenuifolia 'Lulu' (signet marigold, tagète tachée) just keeps getting better. This is the most successful plant I've grown from seed this year.

Only one of the seeds of Nicotiana hybrid 'Perfume Mix' (flowering tobacco, tabac d'ornement) grew and survived to bloom. The flowers are okay but not terrific, and are not especially fragrant. I don't think I'll bother with these in the future.

Lastly, the mystery Sedum that the landlords' kids and I rescued from a garden down the street (the new owner replaced it with a lawn) is growing like a weed and blooming for the first time!