Gerardia

Gerardia purpurea is a member of the snapdragon family as you can see by looking at the flowers. It blooms in the fall and added to the colors of goldenrod, asters, and ageratum it is beautiful. It is also called purple false foxglove, or just false foxglove. It is parasitic on the roots of grasses, but judging from the roadsides, I would say it does not hurt the grass much. Each flower is about an inch wide. Once I tried to cut some for a vase, but they wilted right away.

Fall Roadside Wildflowers

                                                          Goldenrod and Ageratum

                                                      Goldenrod, Eupatorium, and Gerardia

The roadsides have been glorious these last few weeks. They still look good, even though some of the flowers are fading. None of these flowers would I ever plant, especially in a flower bed, as they are all thugs, but on the roadsides and waste places, they are  just perfect. Golden and blue flowers accented with white and pink.