We actually have about 7 plants we would like to identify, but I will break it up into separate threads. The first three photos is a large bushy plant that I suspect may be a "sweet william" variety. In the winter from the dead umbrels I thought it may have been in the carrot family, but these blooms are very very fragrant. The bees love these flowers and it is fun watching them go nuts collecting pollen. We could not find this in any of our books. Photos 4 and 5 did not turn out as well as I had hoped. They have not bloomed yet, but it looks like they may bloom white. I thought this might be some sort of astilbe or maybe meadowsweet, but the photos I have seen on the web don't match well. The plants are now between 1 and 1.2 meters tall. Photos 6 and 7 show a relatively tall plant with large leaves and cool flower clusters. The plant is almost 2 meters tall. thanks, Jon
I. Definitly not Sweet William. The opposite leaves with toothed edges, plus the flowers lead me to a Viburnum. Please can you post a close-up of the flower? However the soft new growth is giving me doubts. 2. I believe is an Actaea. The colour of the berries will lead to a more accurate name.Common name Baneberry.Some Actaea used to be called Cimicifuga. 3. ?
1...Ron. Hydrangea was my 2nd choice. However I couldn't see any sterile flowers from the photos, which is why I asked for close ups of the flowers.What gave you the clue?
I really had trouble getting the camera to focus on these flowers. I was taking the pictures with a cell phone camera and the individual flowers are so small it would not focus. The attached photo should give a better idea of scale anyway. I was wearing gloves since there are so many blackberry brambles in the area (almost ripe!). We have a common cultivated hydrangea in our backyard. It has HUGE flower heads in comparison to this and the leaves are totally different - but it does smell similar. We did not make the connection at all. Thank you all for helping us by identifying these plants. We have learned more from this site than any reference book we own.
Would this explain why there are several of these in the vicinity? By the way, I should have mentioned that all of these plants are growing in the wild - none of them are purchased nursery stock. If the flowers are not sterile how would a photo not help? I am nowhere near this level of understanding...
Other individuals would have some sterile flowers around the edges of the heads of fertile flowers in your picture, producing what is called a lacecap type of inflorescence. The sterile flowers are those that look like petals. Mophead-type garden hydrangeas have only sterile flowers.
Today when we went back there I tried to get a decent photo of the flower head. The sun was so bright it was very difficult to tell when the camera was in focus so the photo did not turn out that great. All of the individual flowers look the same to me but my eyes are not the best. Maybe I needed a loop. Can you see the sterile/non-sterile flowers from this photo? I have never seen bees react like this to any other flower. That nectar must be incredible.
Thank you Jon45150 for going back and taking futher pics. Ron is correct with Hydrangea arborescens. I did not realise before that there was a Hydrangea without sterile flowers. Which was why I was very grateful to him for for putting me right. Your close up shows no sterile flowers .( Sterile flowers just have petals with no "sticky out bits",i.e stigma and stamens
I would never doubt Ron! Why would a plant expend energy to create sterile flowers though? This seems counter-intuitive. Is it common for plants to produce sterile flowers, or are sterile flowers only produced from selective cross-breeding? I will have to look again at our "mophead" hydrangea in the backyard. I do like your "sticky out bits" description, though. You know your audience.
