Guest Post by Nic Cormier, Education Intern
Last weekend, Erin and I took a walk around the gardens talking about what should be done with what and where. While we were in the more open section we noticed some interesting flowers that neither of us had seen before. They are round and some of them are multicolored, red, red/pink or pink/white. The unopened blossoms look very much like green Sea Anemone’s (spiky and round). There are also 2 other flowers we don’t quite know what they are, both are growing in mostly shaded areas and are about 2 to 3 feet in height. The first has leaves that resemble the Rosaceae family, like Sumac or Mountain-ash and at the top of the stem is a cluster of small pink/white flowers. The second is about the same size but has small pinkish flowers all up the stalk, the flower petals are pulled back like a Lilly and the anthers are long and black.
So far things we know we have are Bladder Campion, Snapdragons, Petunias, Thistles, White-Cedar, Christmas Fern, Sensitive Fern, either Ladies Fern or something like it, Wild Geraniums, Spotted Jewelweed, Blu Flag Iris, Yellow Iris, Bleeding Hearts, Forget-me-nots, Wild Bergamot and cultivated Bee-balm, Lasy’s Mantle, Lilacs, an ornamental Willow, Raspberries, Sedums, Dame’s Rocket, Lupines, Goldenrod, Milkweed, Oxeye Daisy, Chives, Wild Strawberris, Skunk Currant, Tall Buttercup, Creeping Buttercup, Self-heal, Ground Ivy, and of course Dandelions.
There are plenty more that we have not I.D.’d yet but were working on it. Our main goal is to have a Bird and Butterfly Garden of Native New England/Vermont plants and through this blog we can instruct people of the species benefited by the plants and hopefully get some feedback on what others have learned so please, we encourage all voices and opinions on this subject!
