Robin’s Plantain Wildflower

Turkey Tracks/Interesting Information: July 2, 2020

Robin’s Plantain Wildflower

You saw this picture before of this vase of flowers in my kitchen window. At the time, I didn’t know what this little pale lavender flower with the yellow center was. It is Robin’s Plantain, and when I cut it, the lavender was a much stronger color. Now it has faded to almost white. This plant can also be a much darker lavender. The depth of color may depend on where it grows?

Next to it—the white lacy one like Queen Anne’s Lace—is Bishop’s Weed. It is also known as Goutweed or Snow on the Mountain. It’s pretty and lacy, yes, but it is horribly invasive, and I fight it all the time. At least one gardener online (Ecosystem Gardener) has called it “an invasive insidious persistent thug.” Another said, based on research, that it can displace a whole forest as it takes away all nutrients from the other plants. It is really hard to get all the roots, and it will come back from the roots left in the soil. Plus, it will put up a stalk right jam up to an existing plant, which makes it really hard to pull out without harming the plant too. Plus, it creates astonishing numbers of seeds if allowed to bloom.

Remember the Yellow Devil/King Devil wildflower I put online the other day. I had one in the arrangement above, and it died and dried out. Look how quickly each of those flowers can go to seed. I guess it has to be quick in our short and sweet summer.

The cheerful yellow flower below is Sundrops, and is in the Evening Primrose family. The pale pink sweet little blossom is a geranium form.

Sundrops are invasive too, but in a much more controllable way. They kind of have a life of their own in my garden, though when they show up in unwanted places, I just pull them out and send them to the side of the garage, where they can come up if they want.