A Little of This, A Little of That

I thought I’d start this post with a few plants that many people walk right by without noticing them. I know at least some do this because I’ve been walking behind them when they did. Or maybe they saw them and didn’t care. Anyhow, it doesn’t matter as long as you see them. I’m starting with brittle stem hemp nettle (Galeopsis tetrahit) because it grew at the children’s camp I once worked at and nobody ever noticed it. The knee high plant usually blooms in mid August in shaded places that get morning sun only. It’s considered highly invasive in some areas but locally it can be hard to find. Its small blue / purple flowers grow in whorls near the top of the plant, which can be branched on older plants. It is originally from Europe and Asia The small flowers remind me of both henbit and dead nettle in certain ways. They all have the same tubular shape and large lower lip where insects land. On brittle stem hemp nettle flowers insects can follow purple stripes into the blossom. Once…