harvesting wildflower seeds

 

vivipary = seed heads sprouting

This wildflower was finished blooming and was forming seeds. But its seed head sprouted green leaves!  Fascinated, I looked closer.  Some of new seeds were actually germinating and sprouting while still in the seed head. Usually, they wait until they are in the perfect place (soil, moisture, temperature, sunlight) to begin new growth.  Sometimes you see this while seeds are still inside the fruit, like a tomato or green pepper.  In plants, it is called vivipary (Latin for 'live birth') and involves seeds germinating before their determined time.  I first learned about this a few years ago when my grandson sent me a photo of a sunflower seed head that was doing the same thing.

summer native bloomers

Blossoming among the grasses and rushes around the pond are Blue Vervain, Culvers Root, Wild Bergamot, Evening Primrose. Seed heads of Penstemon stand as they dry in the sun.

seed pods

Northern Blue Flag Iris versicolor bloomed in June at the edge of the pond. Now, in July, seed pods have formed. When they are ripe, we'll sow the seeds.  These were only tiny foliage two years ago, and now they can propagate new flowering plants.
 

nectar and pollen

Before June, dandelion flowers are one of a few important food source for pollinators, providing both nectar and pollen for bumblebees and honey bees. Other various insects like beetles, hoverflies and butterflies use the nectar as food. Some birds eat the seeds. 

seed harvest

 

Birds are already pecking out the sunflower seeds (top) and goldenrod flowers are releasing each seed with pappus, a tuft of hair that helps it disperse in breezes (bottom).

bugs by the pond

If you would walk around this pond today, you might see many insects on the flowers.  

Along with searching for a meal, they also carry pollen from plant to plant. Pollen allows the plants to set seeds and reproduce more plants of the same kind.

Here, a Leatherwing on Boneset flowers. This insect also eats eggs and larvae of other insects.

Below, a Ladybug sits on milkweed flowers.  Ladybugs eat aphids, scale insects, and other plant pests.

 

scouring rush

Scouring Rush Equisetum hyemale grows in the wetland around the pond.  It is also called 'horsetail'.

This plant's ancestors have been on earth millions of years.  

The tough stems can be used as reeds for musical instruments.

They also have coarse fibers and silica deposits, so mammal herbivore don't eat this plant.  

Rather than seeds, the Scouring Rush reproduces by spores made by structures on the top of each fertile stem.

mallow

Small wildflowers grow in the riparian area surrounding the pond. Some are invisible to the casual observer because of their small stature, or because they are hidden by the many taller grasses and reeds.

One of these tiny weedy wildflowers is Common Mallow Malva neglecta, with 5 petals of palest pink with stronger pink stripes. 

The leaves resemble geraniums but the two families have different reproductive structures.

Mallow is also called 'Cheeseweed' since each seed looks like a miniature wheel of cheese.

winter gardening

Some of the wildflowers need special treatment before they can reproduce.  This is not the desired form of 'special treatment' for people, but some seeds germinate only if they first endure a few months outside in the cold. I sowed several seeds in these small containers, hoping they germinate in early Spring. One benefit is that I know where they are, rather than hiding among the many other wildflower seedlings.  When they sprout I can nurture them until it is time to move them to a permanent spot.

Read more about the process at https://northerngardener.org/winter-sowing-perennials-works/

 

bulrush

 Some plants stand through winter, displaying their structure and form with monochrome colors frosted in snow.

ironweed in winter

 

seed heads

 

I have been wandering the riparian buffer and clipping some of the wildflower seed heads to distribute them around the pond. Some native wildflowers exist here already, and we want to spread desirable plants throughout the buffer. 

The clipping process is "a few for spreading to make new plants, most left for the birds." 

Even after the seeds are gone, the structure of the plant is interesting!

yellow loosestrife

Autumn chores for me include wandering the riparian buffer around the pond and assisting dissemination of wildflower seeds.  Some native plants exist here in clumps.  Our goal is to spread desirable wildflowers throughout the buffer, while suppressing the 'weeds'.  The many tiny seeds on Yellow Loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata form in small round capsules after the flower matures.

 

The capsule is formed from the five sepals, 

those green triangular-shaped structures behind or below the petals of the flowers.  As they dry out, the capsules harden.  When the seeds are ripe the spheres burst, the five parts open, and the seeds are released.  This is a perennial plant in the Primrose family, and important to native bees in Minnesota.  Next season they will bloom again, bright yellow.

bur marigold

Even while fading and going to seed, the Bur Marigolds Bidens cernua nod as their seed load gets heavier.  They are called 'Nodding Bur Marigold' for good reason.  That makes them sound benign but their middle name 'bur' refers to the hard angled seeds with 4 barbed hooks that give them a free ride on passing animals or people to where they might sprout anew.

monarch on vervain

The Blue Vervain blossoms have mostly gone to seed. In the buffer around the pond, they've been blooming since mid-July. The flowers of Verbena hastata open one by one from the bottom of spikes held on the crown of the plant.  This Monarch butterfly looked for nectar in the few remaining flowers at the top of the spike. Along with butterflies, bees and other insects visit Vervain.  Now, the seeds will be food for birds like Cardinals, Sparrows, and Juncos.

queen anne's lace

Queen Anne's Lace Daucus carota is a member of the carrot family.  There are several of these tall striking 'wild carrot' plants in the disturbed area around the pond. 

Each bloom is an umbel of small flowers that form a shape like an open umbrella.  Its flower looks like poison hemlock or wild parsnip, two plants you want to avoid.  The few small magenta flowers in the center help identify Queen Anne's Lace.
(photo left)

It is interesting and pretty, but if allowed to proliferate it can crowd out native wildflowers. 
We hope to limit Queen Anne's Lace spread by  clipping the flowers just before they go to seed.  Meanwhile, we can enjoy the white (sometimes pink-tinged) blossoms.

full bloom thistle

The Musk Thistle Carduus nutans I've been watching since May is now blooming.  The plant is more than 5 feet tall and branched out regally to stand above the other flowers near it.
Several blooms, each opening in their own time, reveal deep magenta color at first.  (See 6/7/2020 and 6/17/2020.) Then, as the flower head ripens, it seems pale lavender. The plant flowers over a seven- to nine-week period, and begins to disseminate seed about two weeks after it first blooms. 
Note: This is a non-native invasive plant that can compete with native wildflowers, so we will try to control the seeds.

chamomile

Daisy-like flowers are scattered here and there around the pond.  Most are the Ox-eye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare, a common wild flower. 

This flower, German Chamomile Matricaria chamomilla, is another plant grown in some places as a crop. The flowers contain a blue essential oil that is distilled and used in health care and beauty products.

German Chamomile has an upright stem that branches with fine fern-like foliage and multiple flowers that do look like small daisies.

In some places this plant is considered a nuisance weed.  We (and the pollinators) enjoy its presence as a bright spot among green wildflowers, grasses, sedges, and rushes circling the pond.

Blackbird fledglings

Hiding in the reeds, unsure of what to do next, these three young Red-winged Blackbirds are waiting for instructions from a parent.  They fledged from their nest today, and flew a short distance. They hatched only 10 days ago (see post on 6/10/2020), then grew and developed to almost their adult size.  The mom will feed them and teach them to find food on their own for the next few weeks.  Seeds are most of their diet year-round, but for summer they will learn to hunt insects hiding among plants surrounding the pond.  Later, once each develops agile flight, they will catch flying insects mid-air.