Thursday, July 15, 2010

Minnesota Natives - Butterfly Weed, Royal Catchfly, Coneflowers, Etc.

Just a few photos capturing the current stars of our lakescape.  I took these late this afternoon.

This is Butterfly Weed.  It's part of the milkweed family.  Our milkweeds haven't started to bloom, yet.

I just learned that much of the plant is toxic unless it's boiled but it's edible if you boil it.  Who do you suppose was brave enough to figure that out?  I dunno...not so sure I'd want to eat it even if it wasn't toxic.  You can also dip the blossoms in batter and deep fry them.  That might be good...maybe I'll even try it.  Will keep you posted.



This shrub with the berries is Wolf Berry or Wolfberry.  From the little bit of research that I've done, it's possible that this is in the same family and possibly the same exact shrub as the Chinese Goji berry bush.  If so, we've got a dandy little pharmacy right in our lakesacape!  Goji berries are known for their cancer fighting properties.  And the leaves are supposedly delicious in salads, etc.

Am going to get the facts straight as soon as I can but don't quote me on this...yet.  

The purple Coneflowers (Echinacea) are really prolific, this year.  They're pretty even when they go to seed. 






And then we have Royal Catchfly with its vivid red blossoms.  The only really red flower we've got in the lakescape.  They took a little longer to spread than the other native flowers so we don't have as many of them.



That's it for now...stay tuned.
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Posted by CherylK at 10:58 PM
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23 comments:

  1. Cheryl these are so beautiful, all of them! With the coneflower when they go to seed do they spread? I'd love to know what type of flowers (perennials) I can plant around the sides of the house and I want them to look like they belong in the country... any suggestions? Something easy to grow which survive a freezing cold winter... I don't ask for much now do I! lol
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  2. Lovely photos. I love coneflowers. They also seem to attract butterflies. If those are the same, we have a lot of those wolfberry plants in the nearby park. They're incredibly bitter-tasting. Yeah, I tried it once. ;)
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  3. Just lovely, Cheryl. Aren't flowers fun?
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  4. Very pretty. I don't care how long something toxic is boiled. I'd still decline.
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  5. Very pretty - thanks for sharing these. I have to agree with cousin Leah - think I'll pass on the toxic stuff.....
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  6. One of my daughters likes coneflowers. Nice photos here.
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  7. Beautiful. I luv them.

    Sorry, not adventureous to try eating any of them.
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  8. These are really lovely flowers. Some of them we have too, but some not.
    Maggie X

    Nuts in May
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  9. Lovely flora and I adore them!
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  10. Such lovely flowers, and great photos! I especially like how you took a low angle to capture the coneflowers, the different perspective makes for a really unique composition. :)
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  11. Thank you, everyone! I'm away all day and come home to find these nice comments...doesn't get any better than that!

    darlin', the coneflowers do seed themselves so every year you would have more of them. It's a great perennial. They'd be perfect for you and we have our share of -30 degree weather, too. You could plant anything I have in my lakescaping and it would survive your frigid winters.

    Hi Hilary! So glad you tried the wolfberries...now I won't! Or maybe I'll try them and if they're bitter I'll know they're the same as yours. Not sure...maybe I won't. Yep, butterflies like coneflowers and I think all the plants we have in our lakescape. Some day I'll list them all.
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  12. Flowers ARE fun, Teresa.

    Leah and Bag Lady, I agree...you could boil them until the cows come home and I would not touch them!

    (Am heading out to dinner with friends who are at the lake for the weekend...so will be back later!)
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  13. Very nice selection of Nature's salad, eye candy, pharmaceuticals -- and more. Plants and their properties are fascinating. I look forward to learning more from my visits here.
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  14. TechnoBabe, there are yellow coneflowers, too. I know someone who actually grows fields of them. They sell them commercially. That field is gorgeous when it's all in bloom.

    J.R., Maggie & M. Hassan, thanks! I luv them, too!

    Hi Hannah...Thank you. I'm trying different settings on my camera and I used the macro setting to get close up. I'll be using that more often...seems to work great! (wonder why your photo didn't appear?)

    Frank, thank you! I love how you described the flowers and you are right about them being fascinating. Mother Nature sure knew what she was doing. I've learned lots from your writing, too.
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  15. So beautiful. Thanks for sharing this pictures with us :)
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  16. Cheryl, what stunning shots. That butterfly weed does sound pretty good deep fried :) or is it that it's lunch time here and I'm hungry. What I really enjoy so much about your photos is the detail and the info you provide as well.
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  17. I like the Coneflower pics. They look like something Van Gogh would have liked to paint.
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  18. I love your pictures. I definitely need to get a better camera. Now that my Yellowstone Dreaming adventure is over, I have started a new blog, judyohio.blogspot.com. I hope you can follow.
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  19. Nikki-ann, so glad you enjoyed the flower pics. Thanks!

    Poetic Shutterbug, if I ever deep fry the butterfly weed blossoms I will post photos! And thank you for the kind comments.

    Michael, thank you. I would love to see a Van Gogh painting of coneflowers. Wonder if they were growing way back then?

    Thanks, Judy. I have already been over to your new blog and can see your stamp of humor in it already! My camera is really nothing special...just learning how to use it right is the key. And I'm no expert, yet.
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  20. Beautiful flowers. Love the purple coneflower (2nd photo is my favorite). Lake Mary must be spectacular!
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  21. Hi Janell! Thank you. Yep, Lake Mary is pretty nice. In the summer. In the winter? Not so much :-(
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  22. Wow - another set of gorgeous flowers. You're right to get 'em while you can - so nice to look at again when the snow is flying. My fav is the butterfly weed - love that colour orange - yep, must be my Dutch background ;-)
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  23. I think it's awesome to have such large stands of flowers. I have a few butterfly milkweeds scattered here and there. I'm thinking about putting more together. I do have one that is dying, though. I don't know if it's a disease that would spread, or what.

    Anyway, I especially love your huge area of coneflowers. I have some that have come up from seed, and plan on letting them grow so there will be more coneflowers in that area.

    I don't know if I've seen that catchfly available here. I had a white blooming plant that volunteered, and I'm thinking a neighbor said it was a catchfly. I'll have to look it up. The flowers were similar to your red ones.

    Oh, a very long time ago, I went to a local class on eating from the wild, and we deep fried some wild milkweed flowers. I don't remember if I liked them, but don't think I disliked anything we had.
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