Five-Years Ago Today. Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

This “volunteer” Foxglove plant started blooming on my back patio. The plant was growing in the cracks between the bluestones. Once it started blooming, I put a tomato cage around it so it wouldn’t blow over. Since Foxglove plants are biennial, I must have ignored the plant the previous year (2019) — not removing it as a weed. Where it came from is a mystery. Foxglove seeds are very tiny, similar to the size of Poppy seeds. I have been planting wildflower mixtures (from American Meadows) for several years as I try to convert much or most of my backyard into a wildflower meadow. So maybe the seed blew in from there. I am always questioning when plants start showing up in the spring — are they a desired wildflower that I want or are they an undesired weed that would be competing for space, water, and nutrients.

It is hard when dealing with perennial or biennial plants that don’t flower the first year. Sometimes I can look up an identification with a picture uploaded to the PlantNet app. I do recognize infestations of Mile-a-Minute vine, Mugwort, and Poison Ivy. This spring I have observed at least two Foxglove plants blooming (one purple, and one white) in the backyard wildflower meadow. I also have another dozen Foxglove plants transplanted earlier this spring from a neighbor’s raised bed garden growing in some soft pot planters. Some of them have just started to bloom.