WiseAcre Gardens

8 Responses

1. cabs Says:
   March 18th, 2008 at 11:31 pm

   I have heard of this plant but would not have known it if I saw it! Thx for the info. Glad those boulders kept you out of that poison ivy. My friend just got it all over her neck and cheek from her dog’s fur! I didn’t know it could be transmitted this way, even in winter! I really hate that stuff.
   Tjx for stopping by my blog earlier. You just missed my latest post and the newly updated blog design! You’ll see it next stop.
   Carol

   Carol,
   If the groundnut wasn’t in bloom I never would have seen it. I was walking along the riverbank looking for “escaped” yellow Flag Iris when the flowers caught my attention.

   I was careful about the posion ivy and even though I was pretty sure not to have brushed up on any took extra care removing my boots and clothes (lucky I was wearing rubber barn boots) since the oil/resin from the plants is easily transfered. I’m a bit surprised about winter exposure. The dog must have broken the stems and rubbed up against them since there wouldn’t be an foliage.

2. Joy Says:
   March 19th, 2008 at 4:20 pm

   Those are really unusual flowers .. and that colour is dramatic .. not as much as some … astibe ? LOL .. kidding .. it strikes me as a spectacular vine if you could coax it into your garden !
   Good job the boulders were there .. heaven knows what trouble you would get in to otherwise : )
   Joy

   Joy,
   There’s hardly anything to the vines but the flowers are cool enough to want them in the garden.

   Boulders owe me one. They tempt me into other kinds of trouble. One even killed my truck once I’ll have to get a photo of it this summer - it still has a smile on it’s face.

3. cabs Says:
   March 19th, 2008 at 9:08 pm

   Thx for your comment on terra nova design. Will she be teaching at Darrow School? I used to live juts over Lebanon Mt, in the Berkshires and travelled over Rt 20, thru Lebanon, to Albany for 2 years to do grad shcool. When my husband was an undergrad he tutored math at Darrow (many many moons ago!)

   cabs,
   Wow small world isn’t it? She will be teaching math at Darrow. I thought it might have been a little too far away for you to really know that area and it ends up you have an insiders view.

4. kate Says:
   March 20th, 2008 at 7:51 am

   That is a cool-looking plants. I was relieved to hear you missed the poison ivy. Just read the comments above and agree … ’tis a small world!

   Kate,
   Thanks for stopping by and saying so. I just hope it’s not too small for cabs sake - she might find me digging in her garden someday

5. Mr. McGregor's Daughter Says:
   March 20th, 2008 at 5:28 pm

   I have never heard of nor seen this plant before. (Must not be native to the Midwest.) It is so different - kind of like a cross between Wisteria, Chocolate Cosmos, and Sumac.

   Mr. McGregor’s Daughter,
   Groundnut is native from Minnesota and the Great Lakes area to New Brunswick. How far south it extends would be a guess on my part.

6. chigiy Binell Says:
   March 20th, 2008 at 11:42 pm

   O.K., so those brown nutty looking things are the flowers? They look like seed pods. I have never seen this plant before. I don’t think they grow in California.

   chigiy,
   Yes those are the flowers. They develop into long seed pods like peas and beans. Unless someone has bought seed and grown groundnut there you won’t see it. There have been attempts to domesticate the plant since the tubers have a higher level of protein than potatoes but it usually takes a few years for them to develop.

7. Pam/Digging Says:
   March 22nd, 2008 at 4:24 am

   I’ve never seen this one before either. It’s certainly interesting and perhaps even trendy, eh, with that chocolate color.

   Pam,
   They might look like chocolate but they are supposed to taste something like turnip.

8. ByrningBunny Says:
   March 23rd, 2008 at 11:10 pm

   I’ve never seen this before. Interesting that it grew right out of the rock — great setting for the pic!

   ByrningBunny,
   Not out but from between the boulders. If it wasn’t for the rock I never would have seen them though. I’m going to try remembering to go back this summer. I’d like to get a shot of the seed pods too.

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