Green in Winter: Ivy-leaved Speedwell

Veronica hederaefolia  (= V. hederifolia) seems to be expanding its range in the Midwest. During the growing season its abundant hairs give it a grey-green appearance, making it noticeable from a distance. It grows densely and flowers and fruits profusely. This attractive little weed certainly could become a menace. Photographed on January 4, 2013 in South Bend, Indiana, along the edge of an abandoned parking lot where it was discovered in 2004. 

Green in Winter: Birdseye Speedwell

This is probably Veronica persica, a common lawn weed in South Bend, Indiana. It is interesting to note that three flower buds (with rolled up blue corollas) are visible in the left third of the picture. The flower buds already have peduncles and the leaves are a bit too large for V. polita. Photographed in a South Bend city park on December 23, 2012. 

Green in Winter: Common Speedwell

The text and picture below were posted earlier as a plant quiz. The plant was correctly named by Scott as Veronica officinalis, Common Speedwell. Good call, Scott!   This attractive little garden escape has a definite preference for dry, eroded clay slopes in partial shade. 

Posted previously: This plant was growing on a forested clay slope in St. Joseph County, Indiana. Do you recognize it? Feel free to name it or just take a guess. Good luck!

Veronica persica, Bird's Eye Speedwell

Sunshine, blue sky, and mild temperatures worked their charm on northern Indiana today, and Bird's Eye Speedwell responded with a few sky-blue corollas. These flowers are quite large as speedwells go, nearly a centimeter in diameter! As the seed capsules develop the peduncles elongate quite noticeably.

Photographed in the horseman's campground of Potato Creek State Park in St. Joseph County, Indiana on March 6, 2012.

Halcyon Days!

How rare and wonderful when two days of warm, peaceful weather occur on a weekend in March! First, here’s a more cheery look at Erigenia bulbosa to replace the dark and brooding shot I posted earlier.




Veronica hederifolia (=V. hederaefolia), Ivy-Leaved Speedwell, was flowering away on a south-facing slope (degraded lawn), near the edge of the parking lot at an abandoned K-Mart in South Bend, Indiana. I’ve found this plant at 7 sites in northern Indiana and southern Michigan, and it is always growing densely and in profusion far and wide. Though attractive, it seems to have the potential of becoming a troublesome weed in natural areas. The setaceous hairs are so numerous that the colonies take on a grey-green appearance from a distance.

Populus tremuloides, Quaking Aspen, along the Norfolk Railroad in Starke County, Indiana.

Hepatica americana, Round-Lobed Hepatica, flowering abundantly on the summit of a west-facing slope above the Yellow River in Starke County, Indiana.

"Shall not a man have his spring as well as the plants?" Henry David Thoreau, journal, June, 1850.