Garden List 2014 Update: June 22

I've reached an exciting milestone this morning! While I was out collecting more plants for my Garden List Herbarium collection, I found my 100th species! In fact, I found my 102nd species :) Every time I go outside looking for new things I'm amazed at what I find. I haven't even started collecting lichens yet, but I don't actually anticipate having many of those. Maybe 10 species? I might be surprised about those, too...

Here's an update on what I've identified so far! The legend:
- Plants in bold text are new to this iteration of the Garden List (numbered from the bottom up so new plants will always be at the top)
- Plants in green text are species native to northeastern North America (specifically, southwestern Ontario)
- Plants with an asterisk (*) beside their name are invasive in this area (again, specifically southwestern Ontario)
- Any plants that I've already blogged about have links included

Jen's Garden List 2014: 
77. Red sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum); not collected for the same reason as tomatoes.
76. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum); not collected because I like eating tomatoes, not squishing tomatoes between newspaper sheets!
75. At least four different cultivar of garden roses (Rosa sp.; many are unknown cultivars): you can read all about roses HERE and HERE.
74. Yellow daylily (Hemerocallis flava)
73. Meadow cranesbill (Geranium pratense)
72. Woolly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus, also known as Thymus praecox subsp. brittanicus)
71. Dog-strangling vine (Vincetoxicum rossicum)*
70. White clover (Trifolium repens)*
69. Red pine (Pinus resinosa dwarf variety): read all about red pines HERE.
68. Glossy buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula)*
67. Flowering dogwood, Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa): read all about the flowering dogwood HERE.
66. Climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris): read all about the climbing hydrangea HERE.
65. Yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus)*: read all about the yellow flag iris HERE.
64. Japanese iris, blood iris (Iris sanguinea): read all about the blood iris HERE.
63. Siberian iris (Iris sibirica)
62. Common garden peony, Chinese peony (Paeonia lactiflora hybrid of unknown parentage): read all about peonies HERE.
61. Weak arctic sedge (Carex supina)
60. Least hop clover (Trifolium dubium)*
59. Garden weigela, wine and roses weigela, old fashioned weigela, or any number of other common name used for this species (Weigela florida 'Alexandra'): read all about the "catnip shrub" HERE.
58. Little gem cotoneaster (Cotoneaster adpressus)
57. Purple creeping woodsorrel (Oxalis corniculata var. atropurpurea)*
56. Littleleaf lilac (Syringa pubescens subsp. microphylla, formerly Syringa microphylla)*: read all about the littleleaf lilac HERE.
55. Common or Philadelphia fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus)*
54. Red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea): read all about the red osier dogwood HERE.
53. Blue dogbane (Amsonia tabernaemontana): read all about dogbane HERE.
52. Hemlock waxcap (Hygrocybe/Hygrophorus sp.; a fungus without a published name [yet] that I discovered in my back yard growing under, you guessed it, hemlock trees)
51. Spring psathyrella (Psathyrella pseudovernalis; a fungus)
50. A fungus without a common name... (Hygrophorus camarophyllus; a fungus)
49. Rough bluegrass (Poa trivialis)
48. Canada bluegrass (Poa compressa)
47. Alpine pogonatum moss (Pogonatum alpinum)
46. Contorted hairy cap moss (Pogonatum contortum)
45. Cluster crumblecap (Psathyrella hydrophila; a fungus)
44. Annual blue grass (Poa annua)*
43. Mouse-ear chickweed (Cerastium vulgatum)*
42. Thyme-leaved speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia)
41. Lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis)*: read all about lily-of-the-valley HERE and HERE.
40. Great Solomon's-seal (Polygonatum biflorum or sometimes called Polygonatum commutatum or even Polygonatum giganteum): read all about great Solomon's-seal HERE.
39. Bugle (Ajuga reptans)*
38. Red oak (Quercus rubra): read all about the red oak HERE.
37. Common or umbrella liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha)*: read all about the umbrella liverwort HERE.
36. Sweet woodruff or sweetscented bedstraw (Galium odoratum)*: read all about sweet woodruff, aka master of the woods, HERE.
35. Woodland Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema atrorubens or sometimes called Arisaema triphyllum): read all about Jack-in-the-pulpits HERE.
34. Freckled violet (Viola sororia 'Freckles')*
33. Purple plum (Prunus cerasifera 'Thundercloud')
32. Fivestamen chickweed (Cerastium semidecandrum)*
31. Terrestrial water-starwort (Callitriche terrestris)
30. Yellow alyssum (Aurinia saxatilis or its other name Alyssum saxatilae)
29. Yellow rocket or winter cress (Barbarea vulgaris)*
28. Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)*: read all about garlic mustard HERE.
27. Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis): read all about lungworts HERE.
26. Common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)*: read all about dandelions HERE and HERE.
25. Fortune's spindle (Euonymus fortunei)*
24. Violet lesser periwinkle (Vinca minor 'La Grave')*
23. Northern blue violet (Viola septentrionalis)
22. Creeping wood-sorrel (Oxalis corniculata)*
21. Bleeding hearts (Lamprocapnos spectabilis): read all about bleeding hearts HERE.
20. Field pansy (Viola kitaibeliana)
19. Moss phlox (Phlox subulata): read all about moss phlox HERE and HERE.
18. Mountain rock cress (Arabis alpina subsp. caucasica)*
17. Norway spruce (Picea abies)*: read all about the Norway spruce HERE and HERE.
16. Tulips, at least 2 different unknown varieties (Tulipa sp.): read all about tulips HERE.
15. Hyacinths, at least 3 different unknown varieties (Hyacinthus orientalis): read all about hyacinths HERE.
14. Daffodils, 2 different unknown varieties (Narcissus sp.): read all about daffodils HERE in my blog post about plants of the Chinese New Year.
13. Judas ear (Auricula americana; a fungus)
12. Common violet (Viola papiliomacea or Viola sororia)*
11. English violet (Viola odorata)*
10. Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara)*
9. Eastern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis): read all about the Eastern white-cedar HERE.
8. Corn speedwell (Veronica arvensis)*
7. Wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
6. Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis): read all about the Eastern hemlock HERE.
5. Siberian or wood squill (Scilla siberica)*
4. Variegated lesser or dwarf periwinkle (Vinca minor 'Agenteovariegata')*
3. Purple lesser or dwarf periwinkle (Vinca minor 'Atropurpurea')*
2. Bigleaf periwinkle, greater periwinkle (Vinca major)*
1. Hoary/hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta)*

The inflorescence of the climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris) growing up the side of our deck stairs. The white fuzzy flowers are the male flowers (those are all anthers sticking out which make pollen), the round blobby flowers are the female flowers (which make the ovules that will become seeds), and the white four-"petaled" things are female flowers with ornamenal bracts (not actually true petals) to attract pollinators.

One of our varieties of rose, with some lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) growing around it, and growing in a bed of woolly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus)

Another variety of rose, this one surrounded by black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) that have yet to bloom, and some rough bluegrass (Poa trivialis). A butterfly bush (Buddleja sp.) is slightly out of frame to the left (looks rather pathetic this year after our harsh winter...I'll be surprised if it flowers).

June's official flower: the Rose

Species name: Rosa x damascena

Common name: Damask rose

Location: Ontario

Most species in the rose family are native to Asia, although a few are native to Europe and North America. This particular hybrid is a natural hybrid of rose originating in Europe from a cross originally of Rosa moschata and Rosa gallica, then the offspring of that cross was mated with Rosa fedtschenkoana (your guess is as good as mine for how to pronounce that one!). It wasn't long after this happened naturally that humans decided this was an unusually beautiful rose hybrid, and it was propagated in gardens across Europe, eventually making their way to North America. Most garden roses would be unlikely to survive in the wild since they have so many petals. This makes it exceedingly difficult for insects to find the stamens and ovaries of the flowers, and sometimes roses have been bred to completely lack sexual organs. For this reason, roses truly are an example of a domesticated crop. Roses are the official flower of June.

In general, there are two different types of Damask roses (named after Damascus): one type that only blooms in the spring, and one type that blooms in the spring and then again in the fall if the rose blooms are "dead-headed" (meaning you pick off the flower head as the petals start to fall off). Dead-heading roses prevents the formation of fruit, which often tricks the plant into flowering again. This isn't always in the best interest of the plant, since this does produce a significant strain on the plant. Dead-heading for a few years then allowing the plant to fruit on its own and produce seeds is the best way to ensure a long life out of your rose bushes. The types of fruit that roses produce (not all, but most ornamental roses do) is called a hypanthium, or a "hyp" for short. This is where we get the term "rosehip," and if you pick the fruit when it's ripe and dry it you can make a wonderful fruity tea. I'm not so sure I would just eat them since they are a bit tart (a "bit tart" is a "bit" of an understatement! They're about the same sourness as a ripe cranberry), but steep with some mint leaves and pour over ice. A great summer iced tea!