Floral Update

Jan in Wyoming encouraged me to share if I followed up on that mysterious floral tangle from the last post. In case you missed it, BJ Parady chimed in with some information gleaned from her botany background:

So, if you want the scientific explanation of what's going on, the daisy is a member of the Composite family of plants. So called because each 'flower' is actually a composite of many flowers forming the structure. Usually there are two types of flowers--the ones on the rays and the ones forming the center. They often are ready for fertilization at different times and by different means (some self fertilize, others depend on insects). Now this particular bloom may have been so hybridized that it's actually sterile, or that the seeds won't grow 'true'.

I decided not to deadhead that particular bloom to see what might happen. As the petals wilted and drooped around the stem, the center became a perfect ball and that tangle began to straighten out.

I think I can see seeds in those tubes. One just has to be patient I guess.

Speaking of being patient, these plants were a surprise when they came  up out of the planter where I'd sprinkled a packet of "bee wildflower" seeds last spring. There was no trace of them last year. Up up up the one on the right grew. Finally it produced a tight bud that stayed tightly closed for weeks. It finally opened into this lovely yellow flower. The shorter plant developed a bloom as well and also took its time in opening. I swear it is the same plant as on the right so it was a big surprise that it has a different coloring to it, not just yellow but adding in some reddish brown.

And this lovely blue string of flowers is new since I took the photos in the previous post. I did toss a few more seeds from a bee flower packet in this container this spring so it may be from that. I didn't have any of these last year. They are small and delicate with widely spaced petals, and I am enchanted with their "tails". They remind me of what I might find in Carol Armstrong's Wildflowers: Designs For Applique & Quilting.

By the way, another surprise for which I have no photo came as I was deadheading this red flower. The center had gone to a bit of fluff, but I was totally unprepared for the way the dandelion-like seeds shot out of the center when I touched it.