What's it good for? Ragwort

When the landscaper selected Golden ragwort (Packera aurea) as one of the primary plants for the front yard, waxing rapturously about what it looks like in bloom, I shrugged because I had never heard of it. He is right about the blooming, but before and after, the stems look kind of weedy. In previous years, I cut back the stems, but this year let them go. Then I observed one use for this plant: food for goldfinch.

The plant is a natural for my yard, as it tolerates wet soil and both sun and partial shade. It spreads by rhizomes and by seed, already showing up in other parts of the yard with no assistance from me. When not distracting me with its yellow flowers (which attract pollinators), it makes a great ground cover. And the foliage is one of the few larval food sources for the northern metalmark butterfly (which I've never seen around these parts). So I guess I'll keep it.

(Most of my ragwort information is from this site.)

Meanwhile, around the yard....

The ninebark is blooming, something I had not really considered when selecting it, as I was primarily concerned with the foliage. A nice surprise, though.

I do believe this miniature forest is volunteer asparagus, something I have never observed before. I love asparagus, but let the patch go except for a few hardy plants. Now it looks like I will have plenty in the future. My neighbor says it is good frozen, which is something to consider.

All four of the green bean seeds germinated, but two of them never formed primary leaves. I will replant them and have a staggered harvest, completely by accident.

Every year I say I am going to remove the climbing rose, but then it blooms. Red is my favorite color.

The hairy beardtongue is the primary bloomer in the front yard now. Ordinarily, it would be attracting fat bees, but the weather has been so erratic lately that there are few insects out and about, even on sunny days.

It hardly feels like summer, as highs have been stuck in the 60's. But Monday and Tuesday promise to be HOT. The neighbors had their pool filled with water today, so it must be true.

Tired of winter

After that lovely snow, this week rain fell on top of the snow, then everything iced up with a little snow on top of that. Today the sun is trying to shine while the clouds try to snow. It's not totally ugly out, but cold, cold, cold. February may be the shortest month of the year, but it feels like the longest.

Since not much is happening out in the yard, I thought I would spend some blog posts on new plants for the yard that I am not familiar with. First up is roundleaf ragwort, Packera obovata. It will be planted in the area between the castleblock and the front sidewalk, where its yellow flowers will bloom early on 1.5' stalks while spreading to its heart's content, thereby smothering weed growth. It tolerates dry soil but it also thrives in rain gardens, which is good because that bed is a bit sandy but also sometimes holds standing water. All I have to do is cut the spent flowers before they go to seed, when they may spread like dandelions.

Photo courtesy of Missouri Botanical Garden

Another newcomer is hairy beardtongue, Penstemon hirsutus. This plant tolerates sun and shade, which is what it will get on the east side of the house. It serves as the larval host to checkerspot butterflies; the Baltimore checkerspot is found locally. It also attracts hummingbirds. I have grown penstemon before, the latest attempt a container experiment (Penstemon barbatus 'Coccineus'). Those will be transplanted into an area in the backyard, so we should have hummingbirds coming and going.

Photo courtesy of Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

So those are two newcomers. Seed catalogs keep arriving, but I think I will have plenty of new plants to deal with without adding more... at least, this year!