It was another fun week sharing pictures you sent me plus some I had. When people send us pictures to identify, sometimes they are in focus, sometimes not. Sometimes it is a leaf or a petal or even a dormant branch. It sure helps to have leaves and flowers, but there are so many plants out there! Good job gardeners with all your answers.
Mystery plants Week of March 30
March 31 – Viburnum rufidulum or Rusty Blackhaw.
This native deciduous large shrub or small tree blooms early in the spring. The flowers are very showy, but there is very little fragrance. Although it is generally an understory tree in the wild, it will have more flowers with more sun. It has lustrous bright green glossy leaves, beautiful clusters of white flowers in spring, and attractive blue fruit in fall. The leaves turn shades of pink or purple in the fall. Rusty Blackhaw can grow on almost any soil as long as it is fairly well drained. The name rusty comes from the rusty hairs on the buds, stems and underside of the leaves.
April 1 plant-
Ribes odoratum (also sometime listed as Ribes aureum) commonly called Clove currant is another native deciduous shrub. The plant can grow 6- 8 feet tall and wide. It will grow in full sun to partial shade, but in Arkansas would prefer some afternoon shade. It has wonderfully fragrant yellow flowers for about two to three weeks each spring.
Several people guessed currant plant, flowering currant, and a few put in spice bush. This is where common names can be misleading. Clove currant does have a spicy fragrance, so I can see the reason for the common name, but Lindera benzoin is most commonly called spicebush, and is host to the spicebush swallowtail butterfly. Clove currant is an old-fashioned pass-along plant not frequently seen in nurseries, but it is tough and so fragrant when in bloom.
April 2, Ajuga reptans blooms.
I could not tell you much about the variety, since I can’t see any leaves in this picture. Ajuga or bugleweed, is a great evergreen groundcover. It is sold more for the shade, but it also grows in the sun.
This year the flowers are quite nice. It blooms once a year in the spring, but the foliage adds color and texture year-round. It needs a well-drained soil. There are quite a few varieties available with varying leaf shapes and colors.
Friday April 3 mystery plant was a mystery to everyone.
No one even had a guess! The plant is a form of Bauhinia or Orchid tree. We saw several of these when we were recently in Costa Rica, but the flowers were larger and usually pink.
The mystery picture is a variety that is a bit different with more fringe-like flowers. The give-away is the foliage.
There are two distinct lobes on the ends of the leaves, sort of like two leaves merged into one. Commonly called Cowfoot because the leaves look like the hoof a cow. Often the flowers have larger petals, but this variety is Bauhinia divaricata with more strappy petals. Bauhinia is in the legume or bean family, and the resulting fruit is a bean pod. Long flowering season where this tropical tree survives outdoors. We saw them used almost like our crape myrtles in Costa Rica when we were just there.
Mystery Solved!