In western Pennsylvania there aren’t many flowers in June but things start to get exciting in July. Here’s what I’ve seen in the past week.

It’s lily time! The Turk’s cap lily (Lilium superbum), above, is blooming along the Butler-Freeport Trail. The Canada lily (Lilium canadense), below, was blooming in Raccoon Creek State Park on July 9.

Tall meadow rue (Thalictrum pubescens) is also blooming everywhere.  This one was along Nichol Road at Raccoon.

And here’s a puzzle.  The photo is a nice “beauty shot” but doesn’t show enough of the flower for me to positively identify it. My best guess is woodland sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus).  I wish I’d taken photos of the stem!

(photos by Kate St. John)

While visiting England and Finland my husband and I traveled by train. (Wonderful transportation!  I wish we had good trains in the U.S.)  In both countries I noticed beautiful flowers blooming along the rail lines.  As I feared, the flowers are invasive.

England’s railroad flowers:

In England the railroad waste places are crowded with butterfly bush, Buddleja davidii (pronounced “BUD lee ah”).  Originally from central China and Japan, buddleja has many cultivars and is planted around the world for its beauty.  It’s now invasive in most temperate regions outside its homeland including England, New Zealand and North America.  Yes, it’s invasive in Pennsylvania.  Here are Three Reasons to Never Plant Butterfly Bush Again.

Finland’s railroad flowers:

In Finland I was surprised to see so much lupine because it’s a treat to see it growing wild in North America.  Unfortunately Lupinus polyphyllus was imported for Finnish gardens and has escaped to waste places along the roads and railways.  It’s everywhere!  When I remarked on its beauty our Finnish friends said, “It’s awful! Very hard to get rid of.”   Here’s some lupine by the railway, taken from inside the train to Helsinki.

Click here to read about five invasive species in Finland. The North American mink is one of them.

Pennsylvania’s railroad flowers:

Though it’s hard to find a passenger train in western Pennsylvania, we still use railroads for freight and, yes, we have railroad flowers.  Ours are orange daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva), a garden cultivar from East Asia that grows wild along roadsides and rail lines.  This gave it two nicknames:  Ditch Lily and Railroad Lily.

Orange daylily seeds are sterile so the plant spreads by fibrous roots and rhizomes. These are so hard to get rid of that the plant is invasive in Pennsylvania.

Many invasive plants line the roads and railways of the world.  Fortunately the railroad flowers are beautiful.

(most photos are from Wikimedia Commons; click on the images to see the originals.)

Here’s a surprise.  Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is listed as invasive in Europe!

In North America we’re urged to plant milkweed to provide food for monarch butterflies but in Europe it’s so out of control that people struggle to get rid of it.

What is missing in Europe that keeps common milkweed in balance with other plants here in North America?

If we could answer that question — in reverse — for Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) we’d have happier landscapes in North America.

(photo by Kate St. John)

Mid to late June is not a good time for wildflowers.  The woodland flowers have gone to seed and most field flowers haven’t opened yet so it’s hard to find anything blooming.  Heal-all (Prunella vulgaris) obliges. It blooms from June to September.

Heal-all or Self-heal is a member of the mint (Lamiaceae) family native to Europe, Asia and North America.  It’s not picky about sun and soil and it survives mowing so you’ll find it in waste places, lawns and along woodland edges. This photo from the Netherlands shows a typical setting.

Though it’s mixed in with other plants heal-all’s flower head stands up like a knob studded with small tubular flowers that range in color from deep purple to pale lavender-white.

If heal-all is annoying in your lawn consider this:  You can eat it or apply it as a poultice on wounds or irritated skin.

For another look at the flower and some musing about its presence in North America, see this vintage article from 2010: Heal All

(photo credits, Creative Commons licenses: top photo from Flora Pittsburghensis, second photo from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the images to see the originals)

Speaking of poisons as I did yesterday, here’s a poisonous plant that’s probably growing in your neighborhood.  In late June it’s five to eight feet tall.

Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) is an invasive weed made famous for killing Socrates.  Arrested and condemned to death, Socrates had to drink hemlock infusion as the capital punishment of ancient Greece. If you’re curious about what happened next, click here.

How do you know if it’s in your neighborhood?  Look for a member of the carrot/parsley family that has purple splotches on its stems, as shown below.

Find out more in this vintage article from June 2011: It’s Best To Know What You’re Dealing With

(photos from Wikimedia Commons. Click on the images to see the originals)