Name That Flower

We're going to play a game this Monday.  The game is called "Name That Flower."  If you bothered to read the title of this blog post, I suspect you were not at all surprised by the name of the game.  And, if you've read the first couple of sentences and you understood all of the words, you won't be surprised when I tell you that you're supposed to guess the names of the flowers I show you in the blog!

There are times in our lives when we just need a break.  There are times when we need something that helps us to feel good about ourselves.  So, I'm taking a break and I hope you will as well for just a few minutes.  Let's play a little "Name That Flower" and see how we feel at the end of it!

a) Monarchs have loved our long rows of these for years.

We'll start with what should be a relatively easy one for most people who read the blog.  But don't feel bad if you don't know it - that's not the point of the whole thing.  Instead, you should enjoy the pictures and the beauty depicted in them.  Appreciate the fact that Monarchs do like these flowers, and so do the larger bumblebees.  

These are an annual plant in Iowa and we grow long rows of them most years at the Genuine Faux Farm.  Oddly enough, this picture is not from our farm.  Instead it is from Blue Gate Farm.  So, that tells you this type of flower is commonly planted with vegetable crops on farms like ours.

And, before some of you get nervous, I am not looking for variety names here.  Low stress - remember?

b) A common Fall blooming perennial in Iowa

The next picture I am sharing with you is a plant at our farm.  It caught my attention because it is in full bloom right now AND it had three Monarchs on it at once.  Now, before you get all excited that we have lots and lots of Monarchs at our farm, let me disabuse you of that notion.  Sadly, it seems that the population continues to decline from our perspective.  It's not for a lack of trying on our part.

The biggest issue with Monarch decline in Iowa and the Midwest is how thoroughly we have removed connected habitat for them.  As always, there is more to it than that - but I did say this was supposed to be low stress.  Ups, sorry about that.

In any event, you will find reddish purple and purple versions of these flowers in some of the ditches in Iowa.  We've had several on our farm in the past, but it seems the dry year might have resulted in some decline this year.  Still, we've got some and we love their color and we appreciate how many different pollinators will visit them.

c) This flower, like many flowers, is known by several common names

Our next subject is another annual that we have planted most years at the Genuine Faux Farm.  It's an odd thing that the seeds are slow to germinate in the trays we use, but we often have volunteers that we can move to where we want them.  They have a range of colors that tend to go from white to purple and the plants can be as tall as four feet in height.

I will admit that I don't often see pollinators visiting these plants.  And yet, I am pretty sure someone visits them.  One of the cool things about nature is different flower shapes attract different pollinators.  There are so many different strategies for plants to produce pollinated and viable seeds - and that's part of what makes nature so interesting.

d) We grow an heirloom variety of this annual

I don't usually think of this flower as a big pollinator favorite, and yet, I have seen lots of traffic on these blooms this year.  Maybe it's because I made the wrong assumption and have not looked in the past?  I guess it doesn't matter because I have seen flies, bumblebees, honeybees, lady beetles and some very small bees on these plants in the last couple of weeks.  

And, yes, hummingbirds often check them out too, but I don't think they provide the type of flower the hummingbirds typically like.

e) Not every flower is grown just for the flowers

This picture is also from Blue Gate Farm.  We have grown this particular flowering plant ourselves in the past, but we haven't done so for the past several years for multiple reasons.  One of those reasons is that this plant is more productive where the weather is warmer and the growing season is a bit longer.  We have had some success in the past, but it's not always a sure thing for us.

It looks a bit like a hollyhock - but it's not.  I'll give you that much to go on.

f) a bright flower we usually grow in pots

Over the years, we've moved away from some of the hybridized flowers in an effort to stick with plants that might be truer to what our pollinators appreciate.  We remind ourselves that the characteristics that make a flower attractive to us often do not match what a pollinator is looking for in a flower.  But, we do indulge in a few things - and this is one of them.

This type of flower (maybe not this hybrid) is native to Southern Africa and works as a colorful ground cover.  We do sometimes see bumblebees visiting these flowers, but not frequently.

g) There are very few pollinators on this plant.

I have not seen many pollinators on this next plant.  Perhaps that is because it is self-fertile and it does not need to attract pollinators to reproduce.  Now, I will admit that I have not spent much time observing these flowers over time for a whole host of reasons.  One of those reasons is that it is related to some plants that are irritating weeds on our farm.  In fact, we know that there will likely be a host of volunteers where this ornamental is growing next spring.

That's ok, we'll be able to take care of it with minimal effort.  And I do hope to spend a little time before the first frost figuring out who might like visiting it.

h) You've likely seen this one if you've done vegetable gardening

There are several types of plants we have grown for some purpose other than their production of flowers - and yet we happily expect them to bloom and serve as food for our workers - the pollinators.  The plant you see above has a honey bee floating nearby - and we often see many types of smaller bees amidst the blooms.  In the past we would grow hundreds of row feet of these as a companion planting and as a food crop.

i) Another picture of the same flowers as in the very first image

And to close things out, I'll show you another picture of the flowers that opened the blog.  We definitely do not plant these for the flowers, but if they start to bloom, we know full-well that the pollinators will let us know that they like them.  And that's why we often leave them.

I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and maybe even tolerated some of the words that went with them.  Take your time guessing.  I'll post answers later this week in the blog - so stay tuned!