Barbara’s Buttons

Enough of those DYC’s… those abundant yellow flowers we have so enjoyed this spring. This column will focus on three other flowers that I am enjoying and all three are close to my home in the Spoke Hollow neighborhood. The first one is a white flower, about 6” – 18” tall. The flowers are little white or cream fuzzy balls on the tips of the stem. Only one flower per stem. This is a perennial plant that grows in and near ditches throughout our area. :Marshallia caespitosa is its botanical name. Spoke Hollow Road and nearby Hillview have a convenient and current display of them.

Another flower on these same roads is Skeleton-Plant. (Lygodesmia texana). Its name comes from the fact that it appears almost leafless. This plant grows 10”- 24” tall and has pink to lavender flower heads on a few branches. The flowers are 1 – 2” in diameter so they are easy to spot. Several people has noticed them and asked for the name of them.

The third plant that many people around here probably consider a “weed” and mow it down, is growing in my yard. It is Common Mullein. (Verbascum Thapsus). Its grey velvety. leaves at the base of the plant can reach 12” in length and are quite showy because of their size . Mullein sends up a single stem that can reach as much as 6 feet tall from its base of rosette leaves. As the long stem grows upward, the leaves become smaller and they hug the stem. At the top of the long stem, a spike of yellow flowers that are, in my opinion, fairly insignificant, crowds along the stem but this spike contributes to the plant’s dramatic appearance. Though not generally used in this area as a landscape plant, I understand that Colorado and probably other states do.

If you are looking for some somewhat less abundant wildflowers, check these three out.

Written by Martha Knies