Find Your Local Florist:Everything you want to know about flowers!
Ask the Expert: What is the name of this flower? Tragopogon dubius
Yellow Goat's Beard
Plant Expert Reply:
This wildflower is called Yellow Goat’s Beard (Tragopogon dubius). It is often found in fields, meadows, waste ground, roadsides, railroads and blooms April through July.
Lavender Rhododendron
Ask the Expert: What kind of flower is this?
My friend has this flower in her yard and doesn’t know what it’s called. I think it”s beautiful and I would love to use it in my wedding but cannot find the name of it.
Thank you! Lindsey
Plant Expert Reply:
Your friend has a lavender Rhododendron. This shrub is fantastic in the garden. However probably not a good one for wedding flower use. If you want to incorporate these into your wedding, you will probably need to use potted ones. Of you will need to check with your local florist as to the availability of potted Rhododendron in your area and during the season of your wedding. Your florist might be able to provide potted Azaleas which are part of the Rhododendron genus.
Ask the Expert: Lilies
I have some beautiful lilies that are about 3 feet tall, orange, and they have what looks like a black seed. It is attached between the leaf and the stem-about the size of a peanut. Are these seeds? If not, what are they? If they are seeds, what do I do with them…plant them or what? Thanks!!!
Sherry
Plant Expert Reply:
The lily family has many members most of which form round black seeds. Usually the seed form at the end of a bloom stem. You can plant the seeds now or harvest and save them to plant later. If you want to save them wait until the pod opens and collect the seed. Place the seed in a plastic resealable bag. Be sure to remove as much air as possible. Place the bag with seeds in your refrigerator vegetable crisper until you need them.
Variegata Weigela
Ask the Expert: Can you help identify this plant
We bought this plant last year and did not keep the tag and can’t remember what it was. It has bloomed so beautifully this year and are hoping to find out what it is so we can purchase more like it. Can you please help us identify the plant? I has been in bloom for about a week now.
Thank you! Cheryl
Reply:
You have a variegated weigela which is a shrub that attracts hummingbirds.
Mock Orange
Ask the Expert: Flowering Tree/Shrub Identification
The attached tree/shrub is in our backyard. It’s bloomed for the first time this year (this month) and I’ve had no luck identifying it. Any ideas? Any suggestions on care? The blooms are sparse, can I do anything to coax additional blooms in future years?
Philadelphus
Thank you. Aubrey
Plant Expert reply:
I believe what you have is a member of the genus Styrax commonly referred to as snowbells. There are several spiecies like
Styrax americanus (American Snowbells), Styrax grandifolius (bigleaf snowbells), Styrax japonicus (Japansese snowbells). What you have is either Styrax officinalis or Styrax japonicus.
Styrax
During the growing season use a well-balanced fertilizer once a month. This should help with the blooms for next year as well as the health of the plant this year. These plants bloom on previous and current year’s growth and will need minimal pruning. You can prune these in late winter or early spring when dormant. Over pruning can keep plants from blooming.
I stand corrected. Jason commented that Aubrey’s plant was a mock orange and not a snowbell. I sent this message to Aubrey:
We had someone on the blog you believe your plant is a mock orange instead of a snowbell. One way for us to determine which identification is correct is to discuss fragrance. Did the plant have a sweet fragrance when blooming? Also if you have a picture of it in full bloom could you please send it.
Aubrey replied this morning
The blooms look much more like the mock orange, now that I’ve looked it up. I only had 3 blooms this year, and they are gone now (this is the first time it’s ever bloomed). The blooms had a pleasant fragrance, slightly sweet.
I’m hoping a bit a fertilizer will results in a full bloom next year.
Thanks.
Aubrey
Since the plant had a fragrance and Aubrey believed the actual blooms looked like a mock orange, the plant must be a mock orange. I have changed the name on the original photos to mock orange – Philadelphus. I have also attached a picture of a snowbell.
Thanks Jason for correctly identifying the plant.
Gloriosa superba
Salvia x sylvestris 'May Knight'
Ask the Expert: What is this?
This flowering plant is currently planted in central Pennsylvania and is about 18-20′ tall. What is it? :)
Thanks,
~Karen
Reply:
You have a beautiful specimen of a perennial from the salvia family. The plants name is Salvia x slyvestris ‘May Knight’ or May Knight Salvia. It is a wonderful plant and the butterflies and bees love it. Although I have a pretty one in my garden, it is not nearly as beautiful as yours.
Ask the Expert: plant identification
Hi. I purchased a plant a few years back at a flea market. The proprietor told me it was a sugar maple plant. The leaves grow on forked branches and overlap. I am forever pulling leaves off. It flowers with upside down orang/red “pods” that have a stamen (??) hanging out. I would like to prune it to shape it better but I am not sure how. Pinching back just causes more forked growth and the plants looks crowded. When I google it I get entries for trees. This is more like a miniture bush. Can you help? sandras
Reply:
The only sugar maple I know of is a tree. So, that is why when you search for sugar maple all of your results will be for a tree. However, common names are often confused as they are passed along. So the original owner probably mis-communicated the name of the plant.
With plant identification it helps to have a picture. Since you didn’t send one, I have included a few to help with the identification. Do any of these look like what you have?
Abutilon Pictum - Flowering Maple
The first picture is a Abutilon pictum (Flowering maple, Indian Mallow). (Photo is from © 2006 Luigi Rignanese). If this is your plant you can trim as necessary. You can give a good pruning in the mid or late spring.
There are several different kinds of Abutilon. The flowers and leaf color will all be a little different but the general shape and leaf structure will be the same.
Ricinus Communis - Caster Bean
The second picture is a Ricinus Communis or Caster Bean. (picture is from MissouriPlants.com). This can also be pruned as need. It is generally pruned once a year in mid to late spring.
Just a little side note: This plant is poisonous.
If neither of these plants looks like yours, please send me a picture. Then I give it another shot.
Every once in a while a question comes in when even with a picture, I have trouble identifying it. Some times it is the perspective in which the photo is taken. Flowers and leaves can often resemble other plants depending on the camera angle or in this case my tired eyes.
Balloon Flower
Ask the Expert: Please can you identify this plant?
I have attached a photograph. Jan
Reply:
My inital thought was that it was some sort of weird kalanchoe because I thought the leaves looked thick. But that identification just didn’t seem right. So I emailed Jan and ask her to take a picture from a little farther distance and to give me an approximate bloom size. Jan was nice enough to send me another picture.
Balloon Flower Platycodon gradiflorus
Instantly, I knew what this plant was and a little mad at myself for thinking it was a kalanchoe. This is a Platycodon grandiflorus commonly known as balloon flower. It is one of my favorite perennials. I have both white and blue in my garden. It is called balloon flower because the bloom buds look like little balloons. The buds open up and become 4 petal flowers. If you live in zone 4-9, I highly recommend planting balloon flowers in your garden.
It is amazing how changing the perspective of the picture can make identification easier or maybe I just need glasses.
Ask the Expert: Identify flowering plant
I have this plant in my garden. It has long, about 18\” tall, stems that have very thin, like pine needles, green leaves all the way up the stem. It has baby blue flowers, 4 or 5 petals per stem, about 1″ wide. It blooms from April through summer and flowers close up in late afternoon. When they die off in the late Summer-Fall there are small rounds pods that have little seeds separated by pod sections, like in oranges. I don’t have a picture, wish I did, as it would probably make your search alot easier. Thanks for any help that you can
give me. Terry
Reply:
Phlox Austromontana Photo By Thomas Stoughton
Yes a picture would help. So, I’ve found one that can help us narrow the choices. This is Phlox austromontana or Mountain Phlox. It can have light blue flowers and has a needle like foliage. I found the photo on the Cal’s Photo website and the photographer was Thomas Stockton. Does your plant look anything like this one? If not we’ll try another route.
