#native ecology

Sun: full sun to part shade

Soil: average to dry

Bloom: april-september

This licorice scented plant has some pretty neat medicinal value! Used by indigenous peoples for ear, tooth, and headache, it also has blood clotting properties that can stop bleeding! Due to this it should NOT be used with blood thinners!

Its a plant thats able to grow in nutritionally poor soil and spreads aggressively in disturbed areas without dense planting, and spreads by rizomes. It does have non native varieties which has lead me to deeper research on this topic. Long story short; theres many sub species in this family all listed under the same name, varying on where you are in the states. East coast yours will be more closely related to european yarrow, and west coast asian. I have yet to find much of a guide on how to tell the differences, but that may change! There may also be cross breeding between the native and non native varieties further making the differences muddied. Bottom line is: if you plan on adding this to your garden get from local native nurseries so you have your regions ecotype. The brightly colored ones are typically cultivars and i would personally avoid due to my purist mindset on this stuff.

Overall, not a lot of wildlife value, though good for pollinators and acts as a host plant for some species including the yarrow plume moth and painted lady butterfly, but i have yet to see a specific list on the other "several caterpillars". According to https://www.northeastpollinator.com/products/achillea-millefolium-yarrow?variant=40450926248045 it also hosts some specialist bees such as the cinquefoil masked bee, and the sanicle masked bee! Birds also enjoy the leaves for nest building!

I GREW THIS BIG FLOWER!

I was finally able to snag some pokeberries before the birds got them and I'm going to attempt to get the seeds out, so I can show them in my garden beds. The seeds will need to be overwintered after gathering but I'm not even sure how many I'll be able to get. I'll update in a couple days with the results.

In order to propagate from seed, collect the berries and crush them in water. Let the seed sit in the water for a few days. Skim off any seeds that float to the top; they aren’t viable. Drain the remaining seeds and allow them to dry on some paper towels.

This flower is known commonly as jack-in-the-pulpit or Arisaema triphyllum. It's native to the US and found commonly in woodland areas around the country. I took these pictures in Maryland back in May. The plant flowers through June and then apparently the plant produces berries that ripen right around now and are bright red!

Please enjoy this photo taken through our very dirty window of what we believe is a Hackberry Emperor Butterfly Asterocampa celtis.

We have a couple large sugar hackberry trees in our backyard and a few smaller ones in the front yard. This species of butterfly is one of an entire genus of butterfly whose only host plant is the hackberry tree.

They have adorable flowers and some people also call them sticky willy which is so silly.

Also their seeds look like little testicles. I'm in love with this plant.