Fragrant Lady's Tresses Gone For ?

It has been awhile because the garden has turned frigid.  I have to wonder if I will see the lady's tresses again. Even if I don't   I have enjoyed them so much.  The last time I checked on them the cage had blown off and the flowers were gone, not gone to seed but gone, eaten, missing.  I replaced the cage but we have all heard that picking wild flowers can destroy plants. What if the animals eat them off?  What happens then?

 The plant has been happy here.  New growth shows at the base of the nipped off stems.  Perhaps it will make it through the Winter and  be back in the Spring.   Plants are amazing and I think there is a good chance it will  be back in spite of everything.  I will be very excited if it is!

Frost Caused Food Shortage

Several recent frosts have ended much of this year's growth of flowers.  Some still grow in sheltered locations and continue to produce pollen.  Insects of varying types find these flowers and some late food.  Clara Curtis chrysanthemums are quite hardy giving us flowers to look at and food for some bugs.

Goldenrod is highly invasive and has claimed many of our acres.  Exposed plants have been ended by hard frost while some take advantage of their sheltered location and continue to flower.  We have seen several different kinds of insects feeding on the same flower stem and even a fight between two wasps.  This fly gave us the best picture so it is included here.

Our asters have been widely placed in the gardens despite their common occurrence in roadside ditches.  Frost did not harm their leaves yet but most of the flowers are now dark masses with no pollen.  This bumblebee found one flower that remained intact.

Fragrant Lady Tresses flower late in the year.  Despite their southern native range, this plant continues on.  We have been trying to sample its scent by placing noses close to the flowers.  More than once bees like this one were working close to where we were sniffing.  No stings yet and the scent seems to be elusive.  We try to experience it at different times of the day under different weather conditions.  At best we have found only subtle samples of a very different but pleasing perfume.  This plant is well north of its natural home but we hope that it returns here  at winter's end.

Way Too Cool Fragrant Lady's Tresses

When Ed and I first moved here  after 30 years of living in the village, we explored every inch of the 36 acres that we could.  I spent a lot of time looking for wildflowers that grow here with my wildflower identification book in hand.  Once I found a type of lady tresses growing at the gravel bank.  I was never able to find it again.  When we went plant shopping at The Fernery this May, a pot of Fragrant Lady Tresses brought all that back.  Even though Ed had finished shopping, I couldn't resist digging in my purse to purchase one more plant.  It was not until later that I did some checking and discovered that New Jersey and Maryland are the Northern extent of the comfort range for this plant. It's bloom time is Sept. through Dec.  In spite of all that the plant seems to be fairly happy where we planted it.  This picture was taken early in September.

Just a little later in September the  stems were much taller and  it looked like maybe I would get  

to experience  the flowers of lady tresses again.  I am hoping that the new USDA 5A zone rating for this neck of the woods is right.  It helps to assuage my plant buyer's guilt.  I must say I have been watching this plant like a hawk. 

The green buds spread out in a spiral and began to show white.  It was after October 1 that the flowers began to open.  Ed and I took turns getting down on our knees to get a close look at these lovely little white orchids.   Both of us thought we could catch a whiff a pleasant fragrance.  Skies have been overcast and it has been cool during the day and cold at night.  We even had a frost.  When I went down to check on the plant after that I thought I might find a sorry looking sight.

I am delighted to report that the plant still looks great.  If we get some warm sunny fall days like we sometimes do, perhaps these flowers will enjoy them and fill the air with fragrance.  They already managed to bloom where they are planted.  Needless to say if the plant survives to come back in the Spring I will be thrilled.