Remember this flower from Garden Bloom Day yesterday?
Well, it's "foliage" isn't so cute.
A big scratchy tangle of brambles is what that is!
And it's taken over my back yard!
That and these tall WHO KNOWS WHAT things you see there.
Here's a better picture from earlier this year,
when they were starting to bloom...
when they were starting to bloom...
They look about the same before, during, and after blooming,
actually. They're taller than me!
actually. They're taller than me!
Here's an up close picture...the blooms has faded.
Now you're probably asking, how did I let things go so much
that I have 7 foot tall weeds. Well, I was curious...
what would I find if I left my back yard un-mowed
that I have 7 foot tall weeds. Well, I was curious...
what would I find if I left my back yard un-mowed
this summer? I called it my Backyard Experiment.
And it started out beautifully! Through May, June and July I
discovered one gorgeous wildflower after another.
Then August hit, the wildflowers dried up, and my
backyard became unbearable.
Half of it is still as you see above, but here's the other half now:
I mowed it all, except for two tall wild grasses which had these whispy
ends, sort of like a pampas only not so large.
Looks kinda plain but better than the jungle that was there.
As the weather cools hopefully I'll be more motivated
to add some more flowers and foliage.
___________UPDATE___________
BUT WAIT!
THE WILDFLOWER DISCOVERIES AREN'T OVER!
After posting this late last night, I spend a quiet morning inside and
this afternoon looked out my window to find THIS...
A sea of whispy pink beauties covering the unmowed half of my backyard!
THESE WERE NOT THERE YESTERDAY!!!
Wow...what an amazing surprise! It nearly took my breath away when I saw them.
And just when I was complaining that all the wildflowers were gone!
I think I'm gonna have to do some "strategic" mowing
when I get to that, cause I don't want to loose those!
(OK, I know this was supposed to be FOLIAGE follow-up,
but I couldn't not share those with you!)
______________________
OK, and now for my Aloha Friday question:
See all those weeds and wildflowers up there? What are they?
If anyone knows I would love it if you would tell me!
These grow wild in central Texas. Thanks!
No clue? Here's a second question:
What's the longest you've ever let your lawn go un-mowed
and what did you discover?
_______________
UPDATES ON FIRST QUESTION:
Thanks to the blogger from Rock Rose for helping me identify the pink flowers...
Garardia, Agalinis purpurea.
discovered one gorgeous wildflower after another.
Then August hit, the wildflowers dried up, and my
backyard became unbearable.
Half of it is still as you see above, but here's the other half now:
I mowed it all, except for two tall wild grasses which had these whispy
ends, sort of like a pampas only not so large.
Looks kinda plain but better than the jungle that was there.
As the weather cools hopefully I'll be more motivated
to add some more flowers and foliage.
___________UPDATE___________
BUT WAIT!
THE WILDFLOWER DISCOVERIES AREN'T OVER!
After posting this late last night, I spend a quiet morning inside and
this afternoon looked out my window to find THIS...
A sea of whispy pink beauties covering the unmowed half of my backyard!
THESE WERE NOT THERE YESTERDAY!!!
Wow...what an amazing surprise! It nearly took my breath away when I saw them.
And just when I was complaining that all the wildflowers were gone!
I think I'm gonna have to do some "strategic" mowing
when I get to that, cause I don't want to loose those!
(OK, I know this was supposed to be FOLIAGE follow-up,
but I couldn't not share those with you!)
______________________
OK, and now for my Aloha Friday question:
See all those weeds and wildflowers up there? What are they?
If anyone knows I would love it if you would tell me!
These grow wild in central Texas. Thanks!
No clue? Here's a second question:
What's the longest you've ever let your lawn go un-mowed
and what did you discover?
_______________
UPDATES ON FIRST QUESTION:
Thanks to the blogger from Rock Rose for helping me identify the pink flowers...
Garardia, Agalinis purpurea.
Shared on Throwback Thursday
what a great blank canvas! in your last photo. It most be quite overwhelming to have weeds taller than your self in your backyard. I haven't got a clue what your weed is but your last photo looks so much better without it.
ReplyDeleteI am so bad with flower names, I just love looking at them. They have taken over the yard!
ReplyDeleteI don't mow the lawn. I know, these questions got me ;-) I have a gardener. I am really a plant lover, like stuff I know, roses, mimosa, bulbs, etc. Smiles.
Thanks for joining Thursday Two Questions.
Oh those little pink flowers are so pretty. I hope someone will be able to give you an id on them - my knowledge of native plants only extends to UK ones.
ReplyDeleteThe white flower in the first photo is New England aster..We have them grow wild here, Michigan..The pink one is really pretty but I don't know the name.
ReplyDeleteThe longest time for me not to have the lawn mowed was a month..and I find all sorts of different flowers and fungi..
This was fun..Thanks for joining Thursday Two Questions! Really appreciate it!
Only a guess, as I can't see the leaf form, but this looks like Garardia, Agalinis purpurea. It shows up in the fall.
ReplyDeleteEven weeds can have pretty flowers. Some I hate to mow down. I still mow my yard. In the summer once a week. Now, about every two weeks if it rains. The grass probably will not be growing as much from now on. At least, I hope not.
ReplyDeleteA weed is just a wildflower that grows where we don't want it to.
ReplyDeleteMy guess on your flower would be the same as Lancashire Rose, Purple Gerardia. It is in the snapdragon family.
I let a patch of my yard grow wild this past summer but it was mostly clover.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI'm not much help with wildflower names but I love the way you let your place go wild! I sort of do that. I let things go for awhile and then I mow around my faves so there's all these goofy clumps of flowers. :)
We call it "prairie" here :)
ReplyDeleteHave a great Friday!
http://harrietandfriends.com/2010/09/shes-older-than-i-am-doesnt-have-a-wrinkle-can-still-dress-like-that-and-a-great-looking-car/
we can't let our lawn go in our city it can't be longer than 6 inches so we never let it go
ReplyDeleteI think one summer we had so much rain that hubby was unable to mow the back lawn for almost 6-8 weeks. It was up to my knees. Nothing great growing during that time though.
ReplyDeleteI have no clue what those are. And the longest we've left ours unmowed was one whole month and I was very surprised that it was not at all overgrown, or with weeds.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a fun experiment! Our house backs up to a small creek like thing and so I have always been a little leery of letting the grass get very high because of water moccasins and other snakes.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite flower ID books is Roadside Flowers of Texas. The paintings are excellent. The artist is Mary Motz Wills and the text is by Howard S. Irwin.
I LOVE the little purple wild flowers. We have a giant bush in our front yard that looked like a bunch of dead sticks when we first moved here, but literally a few weeks later it turned into this towering bush of yellow flowers that stood taller than us and deep enough I could hide inside it. Texas flora is crazy!
ReplyDeletei have no clue what they are...
ReplyDeletegood luck! :)