It’s mid-May, what I consider to be the official beginning of the outdoor season in the Twin Cities. Despite the early-April heat spell, we’ve had a pretty cool spring. Things got green pretty quick, and then slowed down.
I put seeds down in the fall, and I’ve been watching all the cotyledons come up in the bare dirt where I put them. I’m still not sure what a lot of them are, besides ragweed.
As for all the starters I put in throughout the season last year, I’ve been identifying them as they come up. Many of the tags went away.
Here is a list of what has come up so far, when it went in, and what form it was planted as. These are roughly in order by area, starting in the southwest and going east, north, and then west to end in Northwest.
Yellow Coneflower
Ratibida pinnata. Early summer. Adult transplant from my old house.
Giant Hyssop
Agastache scrophulariifolia. Late summer. Starter pot.
Purple Meadow Rue
Thalictrum dasycarpum. Early summer. Adult transplant from my old house.
Virginia Waterleaf
Hydrophyllum virginianum. Early summer. Accidental transplant from my old house.
Culver’s Root
Veronicastrum virginicum. Late summer. Starter pot.
Lion’s Foot
Prenanthes alba. Late summer. Transplant from where I first planted it as a starter pot in the early summer. It was badly sunburned and dried up after transplanting, and left for dead.
Heart-leaved Aster
Symphyotrichum cordifolium. Early summer. Adult transplant from my old house.
Wild Geranium
Geranium maculatum. Fall. Transplanted roots from elsewhere in the yard.
Canada Columbine
Aquilegia canadensis. Early summer. Starter pot.
Common Evening Primrose
Oenothera biennis. Early fall. Transplanted taproot from elsewhere in the yard.
Lindley’s Aster
Symphyotrichum ciliolatum. Fall. Starter pot.
Big Leaf Aster
Eurybia macrophylla. Summer. Starter pot.
Short’s Aster.
Symphyotrichum shortii. Summer. Starter pot.
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis. Summer. Starter pot.
Wild Bergamot
Monarda fistulosa. Late summer. Starter pot.
Scarlet Bee Balm
Monarda didyma. Summer. Transplanted from elsewhere in the yard.
Cup Plant
Silphium perfoliatum. Late summer. Starter pot.
Compass Plant
Silphium laciniatum. Late summer. Starter pot.
Big Bluestem
Andropogon gerardii. Late summer. Starter pot.
Early Sunflower
Heliopsis helianthoides. Late summer. Starter pot.
Pale Purple Coneflower
Echinacea pallida. Late summer. Starter pot.
Blazing Star
Liatris. Summer. Starter pot.
Prairie Coreopsis
Coreopsis palmata. Late summer, Starter pot.
Prairie Sage
Artemisia ludoviciana. Late summer, starter pot.
Prairie Smoke
Geum triflorum. Summer. Starter pot.
Plains Oval Sedge
Carex brevior. Late summer. Starter pot.
Little Bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium. Early summer. Starter pot.
Cut-leaf Coneflower
Rudbeckia laciniata. Early Summer, Starter pot.
Wild Petunia
Ruellia humilis. Summer. Starter pot.
Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea. Late summer. Starter pot.
Indian Grass
Sorghastrum nutans. Late summer. Starter pot.
Side-Oats Grama
Bouteloua curtipendula. Late summer. Starter pot.
Purple Prairie Clover
Dalea purpurea. Early fall. Starter pot.
So far no sign of Butterfly Weed or Lead Plant