Why I Oughta...

A couple of years back, I submitted some photos of a volunteer plant to the Morton Arboretum Plant Clinic and they came back and said that it was 'likely Wild Geranium'.  I left the plant to just 'be' and it has come back the past few seasons ever since.  This year, however, it is blooming pretty prolifically.  See below for the light-purple blooms that are standing up on tall stalks with green foliage: This small colony of Wild Geranium seems to be thriving along the fence.  The tree trunk in the middle of the photo is a tall/lanky Kentucky Coffee Tree .  And you can see some of the spreading Ostrich Ferns mixed-in there.  

Back in the shady parts of our yard, along the fence, we have these plants that come up in various spots.  My assumption is that they're weeds of some sort and for the past few years, I've been pulling them.  But, this year, I learned about Mayapples from Erin the Impatient Gardener .   Looking at what she shows off as Mayapples , I wondered if this mult-lobe'd plant was, potentially Mayapple.   The Missouri Botanic Garden has a listing up about Mayapple - or Podophyllum peltatum  - where they talk about it being used in naturalized gardens and talks about how it disappears during the Summer : ...native Missouri wildflower that occurs in both moist and dry woodland areas throughout the State. From a single stem, each plant grows 12-18" tall and features one or two, deeply-divided, palmately-lobed, umbrella-like, pale green leaves (to 12" diameter). Excellent for naturalizing in woodland settings, wild or native plant gardens. Because plants natur...