Wild Poinsettia

 Two or three years ago I found a wild poinsettia growing beside the road. I pulled it up, took it home, and planted it in my flower bed. Maybe I should not have done that. In the beginning the poor plant seemed to struggle and I tried to help it along by giving it extra water when it was dry. The next year there was one more measly tiny plant a few inches from the original. I wished the 8 inch tall plants would grow a little better.

 This year, after a rainy spring these flowers are popping up all over my flower bed. The tallest is about 2 feet tall. They are very pretty, providing dots of color and clear green foliage, but their numbers have started to worry me.
 I found out that my lovely little wild poinsettia's name is Euphorbia cyathophora, a member of the spurge family, a family well known for at least one invasive member (leafy spurge). Spurges have milky sap that irritates some people, but overall, we know there is little to fear from poinsettia. There are several other species that are used and enjoyed for their exotic looks by the horticultural trade.
 I guess I will let these grow and try to dispose of some of them before they go to seed and take over the whole bed. They are pretty.

Christmas Yard Decorations

This is a poor relative of the fabulous Poinsettias that are ubiquitous this time of year. I actually posted this picture in September, but with the beautiful big red ones everywhere these days, I thought you might have forgotten where they came from.

In summer I have annuals in several large pots around the yard. I used these pots to stage groups of greenery decorated with ribbon and sprayed sticks. I like the winged sweet gum sticks, but plum twigs with their bumpy surfaces and fruiting spurs are also good. Dogwood stems are also beautiful.  Most of the stems I sprayed silver and one set I sprayed red to look like the red stem dogwood (Cornus sericea). This was a fun and simple project.
 The mailbox decoration used an assortment of local evergreen trees and shrubs as well as some dried berries that I sprayed lightly with artificial snow. The base is a styrofoam block with attached wire usually used for artificial flowers on head stones. It fits the top of a mailbox just right.

Wild Poinsettia

Last year I dug this small plant up and brought it home to my flower bed. I was really surprised when  it returned this year, as I had thought it was probably an annual. There is no doubt that it is a Poinsettia, though, even as small as it is. It is called by several names: Fire on the Mountain, Wild Poinsettia, and Painted Leaf. It is in the genus Euphorbia (know it by the milky sap it exudes when broken) and is currently classified as E. heterophylla although at various times it has been called by other species names. On your walks, keep an eye out for this one to remind you that Christmas is coming. My information says these plants can grow to 3 feet tall, but I have never seen any that big.

Golden Rod??

 

This looks suspiciously like golden rod to me but it was blooming in the Ding Darling Preserve. It looked so fresh and springy I had to snap a shot of it. In the process of the photography I got beggar lice all over my pants. But I guess it was worth it to me to remember just how pretty this common old weed is.
The second picture is a wild poinsettia growing in the same area.