Henbit could probably best be described as a weed. It grows wild here in North Texas in the yard and the garden. But I have grown fond pf these little flowers. The color is pretty, the shape of the flower is interesting even if it is quite small. Anyone else acquire a bit of an affinity with a weed?
8
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.These Henbit are pretty! I have read the name before but have no personal experience.
I have become increasingly fascinated with the local weeds. Bit by bit I am learning about several of them. My latest fascination is with promoting native plants. Guess what. A lot of our weeds are invasive species, not a good food source for the native creatures so totally counter to the food web.
As for favs, I have a few. Dewberries(an eastern U.S. trailing vine cousin to blackberries) ...are a native weed here. I am actively promoting them in my back yard, and they are blooming right now. The birds will likely beat me to the berries unless I throw bird netting over them. Either way they'll feed somebody.
I have blue mist wild ageratum also vying for the same areas as the dewberries.
There is a little golden daisylike flower I have blooming in boggy areas of my yard in the fall. Haven't figured out which of the many similar looking species it is.
And finally, I have a lawn weed that a very low, ground-hugging vine that blooms adorable quarter inch white 4-petal star flowers in several cycles from spring to fall. I found a reference for it, though the name escapes me at the moment. I would be happy to replace all my remaining lawn with that. It requires no mowing, but it does die back to the ground with the first winter frost.. I have no photo of that, unfortunately.
MikeInBatonRouge
Level 8
Feb 23, 2020
1
My ex just told me we DO have henbit here. Live and learn!
Dewberry is a plant I had experience with but it was when I was young and hiking in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. My brother and I came across a stand of bushes with a few ripe berries which we tried. They were tasty but not as juicy as a blackberry: more like a raspberry. I wasn't certain it was the same plant as you referred to since my experience was so long ago (40+ years) so I looked it up on the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center site and found that California was not listed. Confused, I decided to check the USDA site. There, the distribution shows all the states from the Wildflower site plus California all by itself on the west coast. I assume it is the same plant, but who knows.
Anyway, the blue mist wild ageratum are very pretty. They look a bit like a Texas native I don't recall the name of. Frogfruit is a low growing plant that is supposed to be good for groundcover. I had the same thought as you about replacing the lawn with it because it was low enough not to need mowing. The problem is that I never found it growing in the same places of the yard year to year, and that could be a problem. So I still own a lawn mower.
@MikeInBatonRouge - I was looking at native plants for my area and I came across a plant that looks a bit like the yellow flower you posted a picture of on the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower site.
Until they take over the garden, I don't mind invasive flowers. When they get in the garden is when the battle begins. A certain columbine has a tendency to spread its seeds everywhere and when established it's hard to remove without digging it out. The most invasive plant around here is goutweed. It's almost impossible to fully remove from a garden.
flower_nut
Level 7
Feb 23, 2020
1
Dandelions!!!!!!!!! Harbingers of warmer weather!
AnneWimsey
Level 9
Feb 22, 2020
2
Johnny Jump Up - they can have as much of my lawn as they like [gardenersnet.com]
RavenCT
Level 9
Feb 22, 2020
2
I love those. I've bought Johnny Jump-Up seeds from the nursury and planted them in my garden. I wouldn't mind if they grow in the lawn too. I might give that a try.
Pretty plant. I grow weeds indoors in pots on my window sills.
Here's some Google info on this plant:
Edible
Henbit can be consumed fresh or cooked as an edible herb, and it can be used in teas. The stem, flowers, and leaves are edible, and although this is in the mint family, many people say it tastes slightly like raw kale, not like mint. Henbit is very nutritious, high in iron, vitamins and fibre. You can add raw henbit to salads, soups, wraps, or green smoothies. According to Natural Medicinal Herbs (dot net) this plant is anti-rheumatic, diaphoretic, an excitant, febrifuge, a laxative and a stimulant.
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OldGoat43
Level 9
Feb 22, 2020
2
Here in Australia but in fact also around the world the poisonous weed echium plantagineum known as Paterson's Curse or Salvation Jane is considered by some, Prince Charles amongst them, to be pretty :
Here are old friends Jason & Chloe Roweth singing about it:
FrayedBear
Level 9
Feb 22, 2020
2
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