August Blooming Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

Friends of the Wildflower Garden

Seasonal Photos - August

Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary

August has a look all its own, field and meadows are turning from green to yellow. Meadows waysides are aglow with golden-rods mingling with the blue and purple of asters. Birds songs are no longer heard to any extent, yet the air is full of insect music, outstanding of which is the whirring crescendo of the big cicada, as well as the chirps of crickets, katydids and grasshoppers. So the summer is retreating before the slow but sure advance of autumn and already carries a hint of the changes soon to take place. Former Curator Martha Crone.

In late summer, mid July to early September, the Upland Garden becomes a riot of color with plants of all sizes blooming in a multitude of colors. All the plants pictured on this page are usually blooming around mid-August. More photos and plant information can be found by looking up individual plants in the "Plant Name List." Alternate common names for plants are listed here in ( ).

**Sweet Scented Joe-Pye Weed**(*Eutrochium purpureum*). Family: Aster. Located in the Upland Garden in numerous clumps, the flowers are very attractive to butterflies. This variety has a solid stem, greenish with purple usually only at the leaf nodes.

**Wild Bergamot** (*Monarda fistulosa*). Family: Mint. Varieties of this plant are marketed in the nursery trade as "Monarda". The plant is very attractive to bees.

Gray-headed cone flower — **Gray-headed Coneflower** (*Ratibida pinnata*). Family: Aster. Found in Minnesota south of the Twin Cities. A different Genus than the other coneflowers.

Goldenglow — **Green-headed Coneflower** (*Rudbeckia laciniata*). Family: Aster. The early center disk is greenish-yellow, turning to brown as the flower develops. The leaves differ from the Gray-headed Coneflower and there are multiple flowers per stem. Upland and Woodland Gardens. Found around Minnesota in scattered places.

Partridge Pea — **Partridge-pea** (*Cassia fasciculata*). Family: Pea. Leaves are sensitive to daylight and fold the leaflets toward each other with darkness or when touched. Upland Garden.

Spotted Jewelweed — **Spotted Touch-me-not. (Jewelweed)** (*Impatiens capensis*). Family: Touch-me-not. Late summer color in the Woodland Garden. Prolific in wet years.

**Prairie Dock (Prairie Rosinweed)** (*Silphium terebinthinaceum*). Family: Aster. As the tallest flower in the Upland Garden you cannot miss this giant. This is the last of the four *Silphiums* in the Upland Garden to bloom.

Field Thistle — **Field thistle** (*Cirsium discolor*) Family: Aster. Upland Garden. A common plant of fields and roadsides with deeply cut leaves. A favorite of bees and butterflies.

**Northern Blazing Star (New England Blazing Star)** (*Liatris scariosa* var. novae-angliae). Family: Aster. Upland Garden. Stems are erect - from 1 to 3+ feet in height. Blazing Stars are also called Gayfeathers.

**Chicory** (*Cichorium intybus*). Family: Aster. Upland Garden along the edges of the paths. The flowers will only open in the sun and may close by early afternoon. A native of Eurasia, now naturalized in parts of Minnesota. Spreads easily by seeds so beware in the home garden.

**Flowering Spurge**(*Euphorbia corollata*). Family: Spurge. Upland Garden. Small flowers in open clusters branching out above a distinctive whorl of leaves, which are otherwise alternate below the whorl. Occurs most in Southeastern Minnesota.

**Obedient Plant** **(False Dragonhead.)** (*Physostegia virginiana*).Family: Mint. Woodland Garden on the marsh path. Bloom begins in mid August. The common name is from the tendency of the flower to remain in a position it is placed in. Common to most of Minnesota in moist areas.

**Royal Catchfly** (*Silene regia*). Family: Pink. Brilliant red in the Upland Garden near the trail to the Woodland. Not native to Minnesota but grows well here.

Zig Zag Goldenrod — **Zigzag Goldenrod** (*Solidago flexicaulis*). Family: Aster. This plant from the Woodland Garden. Flowers in the leaf axils. Leaves tend to be more oval at lower parts of the stem, which develops a characteristic zig-zag. Found widely in Minnesota except the original dry prairie areas.

**Tall Bellflower (American Bellflower).** (*Campanulastrum americanum*). Family: Bluebell. Woodland Garden. The star-shaped flowers a light blue with a prominent curved style in the center. Found most in the southern woody third of Minnesota. A shade loving plant.

**Spotted Beebalm** (*Monarda punctata*) Family: Mint. Spotted flowers surrounding the stem separated by lilac colored bracts. In the Upland Garden. Also called 'horsemint'. The plant's oils contain 61% thymol, long used in medicine.

©2015 Friends of the Wildflower Garden, Inc. All photos are ©G D Bebeau unless otherwise credited by copyright. Links on the plant name will link to an information sheet with more photos of each plant. www.friendsofeloisebutler.org [012826]