Welcome to my zone 9 garden. My roots are deeply planted in the sandy soil of sub-tropical central Florida, where the summers are long and hot, but the rest of the year is paradise!

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Terrific Weeds

These weeds (for lack of a better word) growing on the rear of our property, in an area untouched by me, are very attractive to the butterflies. I probably wouldn't have even noticed them had I not been looking down in order to avoid a snake hidden in the tall grass. I am sorry to say that I don't know their names because they are certainly worthy of being known. They are simple little flowers that were attracting a variety of butterflies in all sizes. They darted from flower to flower, happily sipping nectar on a sunny autumn afternoon.


This looks like a morning glory but it wasn't growing on a vine. Perhaps it is a wild petunia.





This one was the butterflies favorite!

I believe it was Emerson who said, "A weed is a plant whose virtues have not been discovered."

7 comments:

Dave said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dave said...

That first picture sure looks like a morning glory to me. I had one of those pop up that wasn't any more than 3"-4" tall. The vine didn't have time to grow before the temperatures got cooler so it flowered in an attempt to reproduce. That's my guess at least. :)

Susan said...

Dave...After thinking about it, I agree with you that it is a morning glory. The interior of the flower looks very much like it.

Christy said...

It's beautiful! I love how butterflies are completely indiscriminate - they don't care about a flower's pedigree.

Susan said...

Christy...Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could say the same for humans! :-)

SophieMae said...

I think the last picture is Spanish needles. Butterflies love them. If you're interested in identifying wildflowers, check your library for The Guide to Florida Wildflowers by Walter Kingsley Taylor. It's one of my top 3 favourites. I'll have to look up the exact titles and authors of the others. 8-]

Susan said...

Sophiemae...Thanks for identifying the flower and also for the book recommendation. I will check it out.

Popular Posts


Related Posts with Thumbnails