Feel free to post images or descriptions of plants you would like to be identified here. I, or others here, can give our best judgement as to what the plant is...and maybe even its purpose and where to put it in the landscape.
Also, neat plants with which you have had good success fit here as well.
I'll try to post some trivia images to get your brains and creative juices going as well.
tk: is the threadleaf coreopsis your favorite for groundcover or the yellow flowers? The flowers are similar to black-eyed susans but not as strong in color.
Some houses here in Indy have the funniest plant around them: in winter, the homeowners remove all the foliage and are left with clumps of 6-12 stalks, each stalk about 24-36" tall, with a big ball - 4-6" d. - of dried brown flower at the end. They look so Dr. Suess-ey, I love them.
I've tried to figure out what they are as they look so cool in winter - maybe a rhododendron of some kind?
Daniel-
Do you know an easy way to tell the difference between a Tree of Heaven and a walnut tree? I have several of these types of trees that border my property.
That kind of reminds me of milk weed. My mother had some in her garden, and it attracted monarch butterflies. Anthropomorphic-wise (if you could call it that), the plant grew just tall enough to protect the monarchs from our cat who spent countless hours leaping after them.
My mother used to let me scatter the seeds on the brisk autum days at the end of summer.
Once, as teenagers, my friends and I made Staghorn Sumac Tea from the pods and smoked a big spliff from the leaves in a makeshift Native American ceremony...then we went fishing. The tea tasted like Mango Snapple and the leaves didn't do anything. Overal the experience was rather cool and sublime....we were one with the prairie ;)
When I was a boy scout, my entire patrol rendered their faces immobilized by chewing yarrow. Blame it on the Indian Lore merit badge training that taught us that the Nez Perce used it to deal with tooth discomfort.
FOG: god bless the Jacaranda. One of the most magical things about Los Angeles (and presumably whatever South American country they properly belong to).
Thanks Janosh - Crap, exactly what I feared. They aren't Walnut trees. They are everywhere behind me. I cut down three smallish ones and have two more to go.
Yeah FOG - great pic. That sexy flower has it's own canopy - it's no wonder so many building forms/elemants are abstracted from plants (or should be)...the architectural implications are endless.
tunamelt, if it's growing in an urban area, it's almost assuredly ailanthus. another give away is the bark. ailanthus is smooth. walnuts have incised diamond shaped bark. and of course the fruit is going to be different.
i love plant identification. woody plants with profs. burt barnes and ed wagner was hands down the best class i took at the university of michigan.
I'm definitely in an urban area and the bark is pretty smooth and light colored. I was pretty certain they were ailanthus, but after seeing some of remnants of what I was unconsciously hoping were walnuts made me think that perhaps I was wrong. I pretty much love anything that deals with plants. I think that was one of the main reasons why I bought my house... so I would have a small yard to play in in the summer. It's only recently that I've been playing with the idea of taking master gardener classes and or getting a masters in horticulture or landscape architecture or design (or are they one in the same?)
Ailanthus ends to have an umbrella form to the overall three. A black walnut will have a full canopy of branches and overall be a taller, larger and fuller tree. Also the leaves of a black walnut have an odor you cannot miss when crushed.
Also, I remember the leaflets of Ailanthus being more assymetrical and having a "horn" or shark's tooth shape toward the base of each leaflet. The leaflets of a walnut are more symmetrical-ovate.
Again, I am going on memory (not looking in a book), but aren't the edges of the leaves on an Ailanthus entire (smooth), and the walnut serrated (slithly toothed)?
No they are not the same. Horticulture is the study of the science and propagation of plants. Landscape architecture is architecture of the outdoors- making spaces in the the landscape.
Landscape design differs in that it pretty much deals only with plants and maybe some flatwork paving. It is not a licensed profession like landscape architecture is.
I think some of your images may be of flame sumac (Rhus copallina) and not staghorn. Staghorn sumac is taller, has more sturdy limbs, and yes, is pubescent.
It IS a hydrangea, I image googled "hydrangea winter" and this is what I got:
This one is fuller than the ones I see around here, which are sparser and thus more goofy-looking. Thank you!!! Next winter maybe I'll have my house surrounded by them!
walnuts leaves have a strong smell and i think most parts of the plant will stain you (green, At least for the "Juglans regia" species.) dont know about the Ailanthus though.
Ooooh Liberty, that does have great plumage. I might have to add that around my house too. I also like the way sedum looks in the winter.
Daniel - I'm 99% sure it's Ailanthus. I guess should take a photo of the blasted tree and figure out how to post it. It's got a very distinctive odor to it as well.
Growing up in the south, hydrangeas were always a staple in household flower decorations. The flowering part is also beautiful when dried properly.
On a side note, Brice Marden uses ailanthus branches to paint with. I've read in a few interviews that he tried several other branch types and found the ailanthus to hold paint the best!
Hold the tuna! Tunamelt, hydrangea is a great plant (changing the colors of hydrangea sounds like fun, too), but they take a lot of water, according to the bible in my area (Sunset Western Garden Book) and require a lot of nutrients. Perfectly okay in grandma's garden. Perfectly okay if you live in a place that supports it.
The ghost plant (Graptopetalum paraguayense) is a succulent that seems to work well in Silver Lake adjacent. It has sublime coloring. But I hope it doesn't get on the "Boilerplate 10" list. It's too special.
Oh, google pictures of Aloe marlothii. Plant it in the front, and you don't need a guard dog. Scary.
RAE- Yeah I know hydrangeas need a lot of water. They might actually be fine in my yard as I have a swail. We shall see, I haven't actually thought everything through quite yet. What I really want though is a Japanese maple and a lilac tree but I'm not sure I have to right kind of conditions for both.
mdlr - Wow, I've never seen one of those. Absolutely gorgeous.
not a big fan of the lilac. they look good during bloom. the rest of the year they are hoo hum. i see plants out that actually look good all year round and not just while flowering. for your japanese maple, i'd love to have room for a tiger maple, but i already have six maples of different varieties in my yard. the bark on the tiger is sublime.
True e, lilacs are rather humdrum after they bloom. But the scent... ah the scent. I used to live in a neighborhood that was full of them and when they were all in bloom the whole area smelled amazing.
certain orchids are high maintenance, depending on where you live. They grow on every continent, except Antartica, so they run the spectrum when it comes to growing conditions. People tend to 'over care' for them, which will end up causing more harm than good.
Plant Identification Thread!
Hi all,
Feel free to post images or descriptions of plants you would like to be identified here. I, or others here, can give our best judgement as to what the plant is...and maybe even its purpose and where to put it in the landscape.
Also, neat plants with which you have had good success fit here as well.
I'll try to post some trivia images to get your brains and creative juices going as well.
Daniel, RLA
thanks for starting this daniel.
threadleaf coreopsis are one of my current faves:
if anyone calls you a viola tricolor hortensis, kick their ass!
I give it an hour before someone posts the bud of the month.
tk: is the threadleaf coreopsis your favorite for groundcover or the yellow flowers? The flowers are similar to black-eyed susans but not as strong in color.
b
3:29
yeah, how long til this becomes a full blown marijuana thread?
Where's Staghorn Sumac ?
Nice one, cryzko.
Some houses here in Indy have the funniest plant around them: in winter, the homeowners remove all the foliage and are left with clumps of 6-12 stalks, each stalk about 24-36" tall, with a big ball - 4-6" d. - of dried brown flower at the end. They look so Dr. Suess-ey, I love them.
I've tried to figure out what they are as they look so cool in winter - maybe a rhododendron of some kind?
Daniel-
Do you know an easy way to tell the difference between a Tree of Heaven and a walnut tree? I have several of these types of trees that border my property.
LB, it could be a Staghorn Sumac - my favorite plant in the world! (And obviously Staghorn Sumac's)
Me too. But the "ball" would be a dark-rust cone -- and the winter stalks are wiggly (and fuzzy) rather than straight -- aren't they, Poczatek ?
(The fuzz is called pubescence *hee hee*)
The fuzzy cone atop this weed is very hairy, but Seuss-ish indeed.
That kind of reminds me of milk weed. My mother had some in her garden, and it attracted monarch butterflies. Anthropomorphic-wise (if you could call it that), the plant grew just tall enough to protect the monarchs from our cat who spent countless hours leaping after them.
My mother used to let me scatter the seeds on the brisk autum days at the end of summer.
ailanthus altissima -- tree of heaven
staghorn sumac
Tunamelt:
http://www.ableape.us/spcwc_weeds/ailanthus_id.htm
The secret is the dentile leaf margins.
ah yes, the jacaranda
Here's a good one-
staghorn sumac pods make great tea! they're also high in vitamin c and can be used as red dye in concentration.
the tree is to the northeast what kudzu is to the southeast. invasive weed that grows like gangbusters.
that and phragmites. anyone ever been to the "meadowlands" in jersey? the most inhospitable meadow is one made of phragmites.
Once, as teenagers, my friends and I made Staghorn Sumac Tea from the pods and smoked a big spliff from the leaves in a makeshift Native American ceremony...then we went fishing. The tea tasted like Mango Snapple and the leaves didn't do anything. Overal the experience was rather cool and sublime....we were one with the prairie ;)
When I was a boy scout, my entire patrol rendered their faces immobilized by chewing yarrow. Blame it on the Indian Lore merit badge training that taught us that the Nez Perce used it to deal with tooth discomfort.
FOG: god bless the Jacaranda. One of the most magical things about Los Angeles (and presumably whatever South American country they properly belong to).
Thanks Janosh - Crap, exactly what I feared. They aren't Walnut trees. They are everywhere behind me. I cut down three smallish ones and have two more to go.
Nice photos Poczateck and FOG
Yeah FOG - great pic. That sexy flower has it's own canopy - it's no wonder so many building forms/elemants are abstracted from plants (or should be)...the architectural implications are endless.
tunamelt, if it's growing in an urban area, it's almost assuredly ailanthus. another give away is the bark. ailanthus is smooth. walnuts have incised diamond shaped bark. and of course the fruit is going to be different.
i love plant identification. woody plants with profs. burt barnes and ed wagner was hands down the best class i took at the university of michigan.
I'm definitely in an urban area and the bark is pretty smooth and light colored. I was pretty certain they were ailanthus, but after seeing some of remnants of what I was unconsciously hoping were walnuts made me think that perhaps I was wrong. I pretty much love anything that deals with plants. I think that was one of the main reasons why I bought my house... so I would have a small yard to play in in the summer. It's only recently that I've been playing with the idea of taking master gardener classes and or getting a masters in horticulture or landscape architecture or design (or are they one in the same?)
tunamelt,
Regarding Ailanthus (tree of heaven) and Walnut.
Ailanthus ends to have an umbrella form to the overall three. A black walnut will have a full canopy of branches and overall be a taller, larger and fuller tree. Also the leaves of a black walnut have an odor you cannot miss when crushed.
Also, I remember the leaflets of Ailanthus being more assymetrical and having a "horn" or shark's tooth shape toward the base of each leaflet. The leaflets of a walnut are more symmetrical-ovate.
Again, I am going on memory (not looking in a book), but aren't the edges of the leaves on an Ailanthus entire (smooth), and the walnut serrated (slithly toothed)?
Hope this helps,
Daniel
tunamelt,
No they are not the same. Horticulture is the study of the science and propagation of plants. Landscape architecture is architecture of the outdoors- making spaces in the the landscape.
Landscape design differs in that it pretty much deals only with plants and maybe some flatwork paving. It is not a licensed profession like landscape architecture is.
SDR,
I think some of your images may be of flame sumac (Rhus copallina) and not staghorn. Staghorn sumac is taller, has more sturdy limbs, and yes, is pubescent.
Daniel
liberty bell,
Can you post images of this mystery plant in Indy? Sounds like it could be snowball viburnum or a hydrangea.
Daniel
Daniel, you totally rock!
It IS a hydrangea, I image googled "hydrangea winter" and this is what I got:
This one is fuller than the ones I see around here, which are sparser and thus more goofy-looking. Thank you!!! Next winter maybe I'll have my house surrounded by them!
walnuts leaves have a strong smell and i think most parts of the plant will stain you (green, At least for the "Juglans regia" species.) dont know about the Ailanthus though.
Ooooh Liberty, that does have great plumage. I might have to add that around my house too. I also like the way sedum looks in the winter.
Daniel - I'm 99% sure it's Ailanthus. I guess should take a photo of the blasted tree and figure out how to post it. It's got a very distinctive odor to it as well.
Juglans nigra will stain heavily- an olive drab green, if crushed. It will permanently stain clothing as well.
Growing up in the south, hydrangeas were always a staple in household flower decorations. The flowering part is also beautiful when dried properly.
On a side note, Brice Marden uses ailanthus branches to paint with. I've read in a few interviews that he tried several other branch types and found the ailanthus to hold paint the best!
Hold the tuna! Tunamelt, hydrangea is a great plant (changing the colors of hydrangea sounds like fun, too), but they take a lot of water, according to the bible in my area (Sunset Western Garden Book) and require a lot of nutrients. Perfectly okay in grandma's garden. Perfectly okay if you live in a place that supports it.
The ghost plant (Graptopetalum paraguayense) is a succulent that seems to work well in Silver Lake adjacent. It has sublime coloring. But I hope it doesn't get on the "Boilerplate 10" list. It's too special.
Oh, google pictures of Aloe marlothii. Plant it in the front, and you don't need a guard dog. Scary.
Daniel, this is a great thread.
mighty
staghorn sumac has lots of tanic acid in it (like lemons). This is why it tastes the way it does (like lemons)
rainbow eucalyptus - Eucalyptus deglupta
I fell in love with Dahlias when I visited the Dahlia Garden in San Francisco. Anybody ever been?
Day Lilies just make me happy.
Viburnum bushes and lilac trees are probably my favorite scents of spring and early summer.
I like the way the shape of the oak leafe hydrangea.
Okay, that's enough fun for the day.
RAE- Yeah I know hydrangeas need a lot of water. They might actually be fine in my yard as I have a swail. We shall see, I haven't actually thought everything through quite yet. What I really want though is a Japanese maple and a lilac tree but I'm not sure I have to right kind of conditions for both.
mdlr - Wow, I've never seen one of those. Absolutely gorgeous.
tuna
I have seen them at two seperate locations here in LA. They grow all over in Costa Rica, apparently
I have taken to growing oncidium orchids at the present time
not a big fan of the lilac. they look good during bloom. the rest of the year they are hoo hum. i see plants out that actually look good all year round and not just while flowering. for your japanese maple, i'd love to have room for a tiger maple, but i already have six maples of different varieties in my yard. the bark on the tiger is sublime.
For whatever reason, the idea of growing orchids has always intimidated me. I have this notion they are very high maintenance. Is this true?
True e, lilacs are rather humdrum after they bloom. But the scent... ah the scent. I used to live in a neighborhood that was full of them and when they were all in bloom the whole area smelled amazing.
certain orchids are high maintenance, depending on where you live. They grow on every continent, except Antartica, so they run the spectrum when it comes to growing conditions. People tend to 'over care' for them, which will end up causing more harm than good.
Where do you live, tuna?
Banyan
[img]http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/imgs/threatenedplants/280x400/Pohutukawa-tree.jpg[img]
Pohutukawa
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