On June 14 Karen Lang and I looked for fledglings at two peregrine nest sites along the Ohio River. When we got to Monaca Karen pulled into an open area between a house and an old industrial site on the upriver side of the Monaca-East Rochester Bridge. All around us the edges were blooming with bright blue flowers.
Ohio spiderwort, Tradescantia ohiensis or bluejacket, is a native perennial that’s often cultivated. It’s tall and showy but each flower lasts only a day. According to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, “When touched in the heat of the day, the flowers shrivel to a fluid jelly.” (Click here for another view.)
The flowers were also blooming in the homeowner’s garden so my hunch is they spread on their own to the river’s edge.
It’s fitting that Ohio spiderwort grows next to The Ohio.
(photo by Kate St. John)
Always heard them called “widow’s tears” down here in the deep south…. very invasive, and so beautiful when they are in full bloom!
Nannie, interesting that they are invasive. It certainly looked that way at Monaca.