Pickerel-weed, Pontederia cordata at the Gorman Nature Center pond. (click for full size)Pickerel-weed can be purchased at many garden stores, and purchasing native plants for your water features is a good way to protect the environment from some of the nastiest invasives to be found- the wicked witches of the wetlands! Promote the use of these gorgeous purple flowers on the edge of your pond, and watch your friends go frog green with envy.
Gorman Nature Center has one of the coolest ponds around, too bad we can't use it to take a little dip on a hot day like today, as it does look refreshing!Schedules have been crazy- so I am posting while at work in the nature center. So, let me take this opportunity to remind folks to support their local park districts, especially during tough economic times! Nature is a great healer and helps us put everything in perspective. Who can be depressed for long when there is so much beauty and wonder around us? Take a walk, look around you and develop your sense of: Why? Could this flowering mass of Pickerel-weed a possible host plant for dragonfly eggs? Is that why we see so many dragonflies here?
Visit the website and calendar page at Gorman Nature Center and see our diverse habitats in the landscape and the many interesting programs we have to offer! Hope you make it to our pond sometime soon!
Nice pickerel-weed photo. Good advice, too.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shot of the pickerel weed, Cheryl!
ReplyDeleteWe have marsh smartweed (polygonum coccineum) in W. South Dakota growing wild, it's pink and looks similar to your pickerel-weed. It is from the buckwheat family; what family is the pickerel-weed from?
ReplyDeletePickerel-weed is in the family Pontederaceae, which is best known for the Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), a common garden-center plant that has become an invasive species.
ReplyDeleteStick with the natives!