Good morning! I hope you all fared well in the heat and that your gardens did, too. Dragging hose and setting and resetting sprinklers got to be a chore really quickly. The day lilies, astilbes, roses and phlox have arrived and so, unfortunately, have Japanese beetles. The bounty of the harvest is early, and raspberries and blueberries replaced strawberries far too quickly. But, the ins and outs of seasons and gardening are always interesting.

I was out driving some not-so-well traveled roads recently and was struck by the beauty of Queen Anne’s lace this summer. It is full and green with more beautiful blooms than I remember seeing for a while. I guess the wildflower/weeds of Maine benefited from the easy winter and early spring much like our garden plants. The daisies, tiger lilies and black-eyed Susans are also in abundance and, hence, this column today.

Through the years, readers have sent me many questions about and pictures of Maine wildflowers; and I know many of you have them in your gardens, whether by accident or design. I thought it might be good to discuss the positive and negative sides of several of these lovely, but sometimes troublesome gifts from Mother Nature.

First, it is important to understand that they get to your house in many ways, but the most common way is by bird.

Birds distribute seeds of every kind, both good and bad. If seeds grow near your property, the wind can also carry them to your garden. Unfortunately, they also come in loads of loam and in locally made compost that has not been “cooked” enough. When compost is not brought to a high enough and sustained temperature, some weed seeds can remain. I have a never-ending supply of pig weed and bind weed that arrived in just such a delivery. They can also come hitching a ride in purchased plants from stores and nurseries. With the many possibilities, it seems improbable that you will miss out.

In the case of the wildflower/weed, I would guess, and mind you I am just guessing, the birds are probably the delivery system. But those daisies and black-eyed Susans have to get around somehow, because they grace just about every roadside in the state. Anyway, I have picked six plants that seem to be quite common and we will discuss the good, the bad and the ugly.

Queen Anne’s lace: This plant grows from 3 to 4 feet tall and can be found along roadsides, in dry fields and sometimes in your garden. They have lovely white lacelike flower heads made up of little flowers. They flower throughout the summer. I find them most commonly in my gardens that are closest to bird feeders. They make quite a good cut flower for vases and add an airy feel to bouquets.

However, their foliage is not very pretty and they can look odd in otherwise maintained gardens. They also seed out, which explains their continued existence on roadsides. I always allow a few to grow at my house, but I have found the trick to identification. If you want to have some in the garden, train yourself to recognize the foliage of the young plants so you can control the number in the spring. If you do not want them, pull them before their flowers open and they can reseed.

I have not found a cultivated flower that is quite like it, but “queen of the meadow,” which is classified as an herb and in the filipendula or rose family, comes close. It has bloom stalks that rise 3 to 5 feet tall above nicely clumping foliage, and the flowers tend to give the same airy look to a bouquet.

Common mullein: This plant is an oddity, but interesting at the same time. You won’t miss it in your garden. The ones that appear at my house are always taller than I am, which means they are at least 6 feet high. This mullein is the common cousin of our garden verbascum plants. They are biennials, which means they grow, bloom and die in two-year cycles.

They have gray-green fuzzy leaves that resemble lamb’s ear, just much larger, and the plant grows like a big, flat flower perhaps a foot tall and wide with the stalk rising from its center. They bloom bright yellow in late summer. The birds and bees love them. They can be irritating to some people when their skin comes in contact with the leaves.

To get the same look in your garden, several of the cultivated and commercially sold verbascums will substitute nicely.

Common daisy: Our roadside daisy is actually an oxeye daisy and in the aster family, as are most daisies. This is the picture that comes into your mind when someone mentions daisies. Lots of people dig these plants up and bring them home. They grow throughout the United States. I have had mixed experiences with these daisies. Growing in unimproved natural areas, they can create a wonderful picture as wildflowers tend to do. However, if you put them into a garden with improved and fertilized soil, they can take over very quickly and destroy a garden in their exuberance. If you have areas along your roadway, or behind the garage or any other place that is not tended, they can be a great addition. They reseed like champions.

If you want daisies in your gardens, buy any of the many hybridized shasta daisies that range in looks from a bigger bloom version of the oxeye to doubles as well as ruffles and sizes from 1 to 5 feet tall. The hybridized varieties also have stronger stems and stand up to wind and rain.

Purple asters: These common plants are called wild asters, Maine asters and fall asters, among other names. They come in white, pinks, lavenders and purples, and are sometimes sold as fall plantings. Good gig if you can get it. Just let one mature in your yard this fall and let the 20 or 30 grow next summer. You can pot them up and sell them for $5 each. These grow at my house and I do leave a few for fall color in the gardens. But as with Queen Anne’s lace, learn to identify the foliage so come spring, you can pull the ones you don’t want to grow. They are hardy, grow in poor soil and would make a great addition to a wildflower garden. They behave quite well in regular gardens if you are watchful each spring for unwanted volunteers.

For the same look in your garden, simply plant the purple New England aster, which is available at most nurseries and greenhouses.

Black-eyed-Susans: These homespun and familiar flowers are like the daisy — everywhere. They are lovely. The wild ones do not create the problems of roadside daisies in your garden, but you are much better off buying a few at the nursery. The new hybridized rudbeckias come in a variety of heights, bloom widths, doubles, ruffles and with sturdier stems that stand up to wind and rain much better. The same rule applies to both wild black-eyed-Susans and roadside daisies when it comes to unkempt areas and hillsides around your house — they will be happy and they will multiply.

Tiger lilies: My advice concerning these hardy orange wild lilies has not changed. They make wonderful landscaping plants, the winter will not kill them and your lack of care usually won’t either. But do not plant them near any hybridized daylilies because of the virus they are sometimes known to carry. Tiger lilies will survive, but the daylilies will not. These lilies make a lovely sight when planted along stonewalls or in large groups. Tiger lilies have dark spots on their orange blooms, which tend to be small compared to hybridized daylilies.

If you want garden lilies, check any nursery or greenhouse for one of hundreds in all colors and all sizes.

Until next time, I hope you enjoy high summer and the bounty it brings to your visual senses and to the table. Keep picking those Japanese beetles and show some fireflies to a child and watch his/her face light up with wonder.

Happy gardening.

Jody Goodwin has been gardening for more than 25 years. She lives in Turner with her husband, Ike, her dog and two cats. She may be reached by writing to her in care of the Sun Journal, 104 Park St., Lewiston, Maine, 04243-4400 or by e-mail at jodyike@megalink.net.

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