Wool-covered leaves delight children and make a decorative accent all year, so these are popular garden plants. But the purple flowers produce a good crop of small seeds that wash downhill easily, so patches of Lamb’s Ears often pop up in the city where no one has planted them. These were photographed June 8 in Beechview.
For a fuller description, see the Stachys byzantina reference page.
A delicate-looking wild morning glory that can survive mowing to light up lawns. These were photographed June 8 on a hillside in Beechview.
For a fuller description, see the Convolvulus arvensis reference page.
Also called “Perennial Sweet Pea,” this is a gorgeous and rampant vine that can take over a hillside, but it rewards us with these sweet-pea flowers over a long blooming season. These were photographed on June 8 in Beechview.
For a fuller description, see the Lathyrus latifolius reference page.
Also known as Pilosella aurantiaca, this is one of our most spectacular weeds. If you draw a line right across the middle of Pennsylvania from east to west, you will mark the southern border of the range where Orange Hawkweed is common. There are, however, isolated stations in the city of Pittsburgh, one of which is St. Peter’s Cemetery in Arlington, where these pictures were taken on June 3.
Of all the common names in circulation, “Seven-Sisters Rose” is the most polite. This is a weedy, thorny rambler that covers itself with heavenly white flowers once a year, scenting the landscape with rose perfume. The individual flowers may be a bit sloppy, but the overall effect is dazzling. Then, all too soon, the show is over, and the plant goes back to being a pest. Most of these were blooming next to a parking lot in Peters Township, but the picture directly below was taken in South Side Park.
