All the Dirt on Gardening

Yellow Iron Weed is one of the tall, native beauties we have planted our gMuskogee garden to feed flying wildlife and to shelter crawling wildlife. We picked up ours from a plant sale someplace - it spreads with delight so many gardeners are happy to divide theirs for your garden, too. If you enjoy learning about wildflowers, subscribe to the Arkansas newsletter, "Know Your Natives" at http://anps.org website where you will find the subscription form on the right side. Here's their article about Yellow Iron Weed. Click here's a link to the article itself . Sid Vogelpohl's informative article and spectacular photos are worth congratulations. Tip of the Trowel to Sid! Yellow wingstem or yellow ironweed ( Verbesina alternifolia ) of the aster (Asteraceae ) family is found in the U.S. from Texas to Nebraska to Wisconsin and thence east and south.   In Arkansas, the species is found throughout much of the state, though is less frequent in the Mississippi Alluv...

Plants.usda.gov American bluehearts are native to about half of the US, from TX, OK and KS east to NY and FL, usually along wet places and in limestone and sand as well as open woods. It is important to know what they look like so we don't inadvertently speed up their extinction. They are considered threatened and endangered now. The distinction hemi-parasitic means they are able to grow independently without a host but grow best when attached by parasitic roots called haustoria. During droughts they tend to multiply their activity to the extent that they can actually damage small trees. Bluehearts favorite hosts are white oak, eastern white pine, green ash and cottonwood. Buckeye butterfly caterpillars use American Bluehearts as a host plant. Click over to this post on the Arkansas Native Plant Society to read more about these fascinating plants - by Eric Hunt.