This is a large shrub native to eastern Asia, considered an invasive species here. The leaves are silvery in spring, but turn greener throughout the summer. The flowers are lightly fragrant. They’ll have red fruit that is edible (works well as a dried fruit) and has loads more antioxidant lycopene than tomatoes!
Japanese silverberry, Autumn-olive, Spreading oleaster (Elaeagnus umbellata)
Later these blossoms open up, but at this stage they really look like the toes of a little white cat. I cannot find any information on why it’s also called Woman’s Tobacco. More on this later. Native.
Plantain-leaf Pussytoes, Woman’s Tobacco (Antennaria plantaginifolia)
Alert Flowerophile Donna is really on the ball here, spotting a bunch of these little trees at Centennial. They are full of these big white blossoms and I can’t believe I never noticed them in previous years. These are native to the U.S., but primarily occur in more southern regions (like South Carolina to Texas), so I don’t know if these might have wandered out from someone’s yard? They’re very striking.
Silver bell, Snowdrop tree (Halesia diptera)
These are so amazing looking, I decided to appreciate them with three pictures.This blooms in my yard every year. In all the time we’ve lived here (17 years), it’s never spread beyond this one little plant. Family: Buttercup (Ranunculaceae). Native. Flowers April to July.
Good fact from illinoiswildflowers.info: “Because the foliage is toxic, it is little bothered by mammalian herbivores.”
Wild Red Columbine, Rock Bells (Aquilegia canadensis)
Another variety of violet emerges in my yard. I love their colors and their beautiful faces. The history here is that I got this from Dr. Whiteside’s garden in Illinois, who got it from his botany teacher who discovered it by a golf course in Rock Island, Illinois.
Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia)
Thanks to Alert Flowerophile Donna for noticing a flock of these little lilies at Wilson Mountain. Sessile means sitting or resting on the surface — these have sessile leaves, which means the leaf comes directly out of the main stem, but the leaf itself has no stem of its own. From the Lily family. Native to this region.
Sessile Bellwort, Wild Oats (Uvularia sessilifolia)
These came as hitchhikers with my violets and beauty berry. They’re wood poppies. The sap is a yellow latex that stains! They are wild and native to eastern and midwest North America.
Wood Poppy, Celandine Popppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)
Another violet has appeared. Great shape and pattern. I don’t know if it occurs wild like this or is a hybrid…
Freckles violet (Viola sororia)
The dark purple violets have withered, but new kinds are opening! This white violet has none of the blue smudge of the other white violets I have. I hope I’ve identified it correctly:
Small White Violet (Viola macloskeyi)
