For two years, plants with dark green leaves and small blue flowers have wound their way around the base of my tomato plants, appearing as suddenly as fireflies and disappearing by the next day. I would think to photograph them, then forget, then return to find only green, no blue.
This year, I remembered to capture them, and I planned to post them up, see if anyone could identify them. After all, there are times when even Google doesn’t come up with the right answer for “small blue wild flower that looks like it should be on the side of a china cup.”
Lucky for me, I know people. Before I could even post my own shot of one of these beauties, Don of An Iowa Garden identified it for me: Asiatic dayflower.
This is one of those weeds, like Queen Anne’s Lace, that I would plant on purpose if I had the right set of seeds. Especially now that I know what they are.
That is just lovely. I’ve never seen that around here. I was similarly fascinated with blue-eyed grass awhile back … Looks like you have a bit of ground ivy growing there in the background, too. Now you can make all of those handy German medicinals …
We are thinking alike. I posted on this flower a while ago here: http://heathersgarden.typepad.com/heathers_garden/2007/09/more-fun-with-p.html
Now I know you’re not reading my blog or you would have already known what they were. Picture a tear trailing down my cheek, lol.
It is a very lovely little flower.
The close-up that you shot is really beautiful.
It is one that you should frame-really.
It’s always good to know people
Heather, OK, it wasn’t THAT long ago! Mea culpa, and those of you reading the comments should go check out Heather’s post, because besides addressing the Dayflower issue, she also posted some fabulous photos.
Chigiy, thank you! I might just do that…
AB, hmm…German medicinals…that sounds like an interesting project worth pursuing!
Lovely shot of this flower. It would be a great framed photo. Like Chigiy said.
Thanks for the compliment, Genie. I really was kidding. I know I don’t read everyone’s blog daily and it’s easy to miss a post here or there.
Curtis, thanks so much!
Heather, I know, I know…but I hate to see a fellow blogger cry, even in jest. :-)
Hey Genie, I went to Heather’s blog. Lovely pix! Her mystery flower (I think) is borage. I just love borage. Probably you could credit the Germans for borage, too, but I have no proof of that.
It’s a beautiful little flower – but be careful what you wish for. I was so happy to see little bunches of violets the first spring we lived here… so pretty, so sweet. I was told they were weeds, but did I listen? Nope, they were violets. After 3 years I curse them every time I see them. They get into everything, grow through the black plastic on the paths…
Oh hell, they’re still pretty and I think I’m going to turn that whole section into a wildflower garden..If you can’t beat’em…
I’ve seen that one around, Genie… It was pretty enough so that I’d let some of it pop up in Illinois and at our other house in Texas, but if it went where I didn’t want it it was dug out. A little is enough, but the color is valuable.
I obeyed you and went to Heather’s, too ;-]
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Genie, A lot of people have obeyed you and come over. You’ve doubled my normal daily readership! Feel free to give me a shout out any time, it’s been really fun to know I had new readers, but I’m going to be depressed when my numbers go back down to normal, lol.
your attitude of appreciating the beauty of “pests” and “weeds” is uplifting.
AB, ooh, borage! Good call — thanks for giving the scoop! You’re totally becoming my plant-and-animal-and-insect identification go-to girl. How’s that for a title?
Katiez, I don’t know…having a sweet little (or big) patch of violets doesn’t sound that bad to me. At least you know you don’t have to do much work on them…
Annie, so it grows in Texas, too? Cool! It seems like a pretty heat-tolerant plant.
Wayne, glad to be uplifting — I really do think there are some amazing “weeds” out there to enjoy — invasiveness aside, sometimes the wild beauty is more amazing than the cultivated.