Thanks, I believe it's called Baby Joe, it's very reliable but blooms quite late for me, so it's nice to see something fresh as most flowers have succombed to autumn.

peren.all, you have my sympathies ! My photos weren't showing up on my laptop for awhile because my icloud connection from phone to laptop had stopped syncing (phone changed automatically to low power mode or something) So I had to fiddle with that ... I don't try to post from my phone.

I can't comment on HB or AG, but yes, the species Dawn Redwood is extremely fast. This one planted in 2016 from a root bound 6' tree, which meant hacking much of the root system. Still, 10 years later...shovel in foreground for scale.

Tecoma for sure! Thanks! attracts tons of hummingbirds

Definitely not cypress vine - here's a pic for comparison - flowers are only about 1/2" across - it pops up like a wildflower here...

Seed pods look just like morning glory pods but smaller.

That's what it looks like to me as well.

Especially love that photo with the aster and goldenrod and...

Vitex agnus-castus is hardy to zone 5. Vitex trifolia is hardy to zone 9. It's a tropical from the Phillipines.

Thanks Nollie. I've heard of Girona but never given thought to how the climate would differ from Barcelona. Considering it's not far away at all, it definitely has more summer rainfall so I can imagine your area gets even more. The foothills are where this clash of weather systems occurs...Stresa and Maggiore are not up in the mountains, they are just on the lake, but they are quite wet in summer.

Thanks for the UK info Floral. Maybe, like crape myrtle, P. tobira needs our blistering hot summers to fully ripen and be hardy for winter. China is a 'milder' version of a continental climate, but it's still a continental climate vs. a maritime one...and there's every reason to think the Chinese ones would be hardier than those from NZ. (same is true of the Podocarpus...I've tried every supposedly zn 7 hardy NZ podocarp, mainly the small boring alpine ones, and they eventually fail. OTOH the hardiness selected P. macrophyllus from the SE US is fine here)

Well regardless of climate, I’ve planted it in that sheltered spot against a south-facing stone wall, between two berberis bushes. It’s just coming into bloom, so I will enjoy them for a while at least. If we get a mild winter and if I wrap it in several layers of fleece, who knows, it might just survive against all odds!

I worked as a professional forester for 50 yrs. and have treaded across thousands of acres from Ohio to Ga. Only encountered cucumber tree a few times. Never saw a stand of cucumbers trees. We did have one on the north Ga property that was 40-50 ft tall. My mother in law didnt believe me when I told her what is was. Unfortunetly, we lost the tree due to as land slip.

Erechtites hieracifolium is a useful colonizer species. The flower buds never open but the plant produces a couple small disc flowers, that protrude out at the tips for cross pollination, to keep the gene pool healthy. It has a unique taste. Certain insects depend on it, like the leaf miners in the photo. Some other plant had to be the culprit that gave you a rash.

I've got these in numbers. I don't remember them when I moved in, but a couple yrs ago I noticed one or two, now there are many (and 6 ft or more tall). But not a concern for my unmowed areas.

The seed is airborne, like dandelions or thistles. It'll spread far and wide given the right conditions.

They are all gone for the year niw, last one sighted on 16th sept. In my garden, they love pentas the most, followed by zinnia, monarda, jasmine grandiflorum, agapanthus, single flowering fuchsia and lantana. They will sometimes try petunias, gladiolus, mandevilla, russian sage, salvia nemarosa, pelargonium and even clematis but those are not frequented much. I haven't been able to get a cuphea or a salvia greggi but those are my on my list for next year.

This was my 1st year growing the annual Drummond Phlox and it can set seed and grow a second generation all in 1 season. Tall Bellflower is a good late summer plant for hummingbirds. They seed themselves around and don't require much care other than removal when they are done flowering.

Symphyotrichum novae-anglae

Symphyotrichum prenanthoides

Symphyotrichum racemosum

The middle aster prenanthoides is the Crooked Stem Aster, not New York Aster, Symphyotrichum novi-belgii. To me I think the white aster is Symphyotrichum racemosum because Boltonia asteroides flowers are larger and have a much larger number of ray petals. All the flowers are blooming on one side of the stem and are in a racime. There are pendelous linear leaves within the inflorescence. The only other 2 white asters in your area are pilosum and lateriflorum.

New York Aster, Symphyotrichum novi-belgii

Jay, thanks for correcting me! So I’ve never heard of crooked stem aster, but I grow it. :)

Closeups of the white aster today —

And crooked stem aster:

Wow, that's beautiful! I just re-discovered begonias last year, they really are workhorses aren't they?

@Jay 6a Chicago So P x advena might be an interspecific hybrid as you say. But some sources I read claim that this is not proven, and there are journal articles now claiming it may be a separate species. What's weird here is that such a popular plant in the nursery trade has such a contested lineage in the academic journals.

The only thing that everyone seems to agree on is that the old classification of Pennnisetrum setaceum "Rubrum" is wrong. In spite of that, many nurseries still use that label, which just throws even more confusion around the topic.

Here's a Pennisetum setaceum (invasive) near my home in California. This one is over five feet tall.

Thanks. The plant is and has been up on my roof, where it essentially receives Full Sun all day. And it's in a very large planter...probably about 16" or so in diameter.

I use FoxFarm Happy Frog potting soil....always add plenty of perlite to the mix, and during the Summer months - in particular - the plant was watered daily, in the early evening. The planter has drainage holes so that I can clearly see excess water draining out, when watering the plant...

It's always been dry here. The stem does have a hairy feel to it, but not excessive.

I guess that's it then.

Thanks . I'll be collecting seed this fall.

It's stunningly good looking and deserves to have its own place in the sun.

I just discovered last year that I had a nice patch of S. flexicaulis. Finding the

S.hispida makes for a nice combo. I am definitely going to propagate them.

Everybody was bashing me after I cut down all my Oak trees(50) and since then its turned into a jungle of new species popping up here and there. I planted Balsam fir and some are now 20' tall. Paper Birch popped up too.

I checked out my river recently and discovered a dozen tall Iron Weed with their shimmering bright purple flowers. The Monarch butterflies are migrating now and they were hanging out on the Iron weed.

I have a lot of Mayflower and last year I potted some up for you, but they didn't survive in the pot. I'm trying again. Maybe next Spring there will be a surprise.

I do not have Bunch Berry but I've seen it around. It's on my transplant list.

I've never seen Leafcup but do have Prenanthes. It pops up here and there.

The Elm-leaved Goldenrod looks very nice too.

Vernonia, Iron Weed.

Wow Jay. Thanks. That must be it although I don't detect an hairs. The name sounds a little familiar to me so I probably bought seed at Prairie Moon years ago. They don't list it any more. That's why I couldn't find it.

Mn wildflowers lists it as being in my area

I'm going to transplant some of it this fall into better surroundings.

Sorry, Jay, I pulled the clump and tossed it on tbe compost pile.