Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Mystery Plant.

8-29-12 VERMONT: Today is cool, dry, breezy and crisp with deep blue sky that says “fall.” We ended up with 1.5 inches of rain the other night, enough to fill the pond back to the top.

I have cleared the culvert, sawed up a big broken branch in the pasture, and put a lot of stuff away. Judy is bringing in the corn and tomatoes because we go back to NJ tomorrow. The house will be in the hands of Alison, Dan, Anna and Lily for the week.

I mentioned a ‘mystery plant’ a few posts back. It appeared this year in the bed below the east side of the deck. I do not recall planting it and don’t have a nursery tag for it. You might suspect that it’s just a weed, but nothing like it grows in the yard or pasture. The mature plant is about six feet tall and bushy. It just started to bloom with small, half inch whitish-purple flowers.

I do have some boltonia, but it is less than three feet tall, hasn’t started to bloom yet, and its flowers are white. It grows in the shade, while the mystery grows in full sun. The pictures are below, any ideas appreciated.


Bottle Gentian. It doesn't open at all,  how does it get pollinated? The early settlers used this for purple dye.

Mystery Plant, it is almost six feet tall and just now starting to bloom. I think it's a boltonia, anyone got another idea?

'Boltonia' flower has a hint of purple. It's less than an inch wide.

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