It’s a busy time of year

For plants that is. So many plants rushing to produce late summer and fall flowers, before the cold weather sets in.

I discovered these pretty flowers at one of the entrances to Hart’s Woods yesterday. It’s a native sunflower, Heliopsis helianthoides or Smooth oxeye, Oxeye sunflower, False sunflower.
I guess I should have photographed one of the flowers that had eight petals! Maybe I’ll get a chance for a better shot on my next walk?

Along the Oxbow Road trail, I found Oenothera, or Evening Primrose.

It appears to be a quite magical plant, with many medical uses.

Sold as Evening Primrose Oil,  it’s uses are many –Evening primrose oil is the oil from the seed of the evening primrose plant. Evening primrose oil is used for skin disorders such as eczema, psoriasis, and acne. It is also used for rheumatoid arthritis, weak bones (osteoporosis), Raynaud’s syndrome, multiple sclerosis (MS), Sjogren’s syndrome, cancer, high cholesterol, heart disease, a movement disorder in children called dyspraxia, leg pain due to blocked blood vessels (intermittent claudication), alcoholism, Alzheimer’s disease, and schizophrenia.

And my last plant today is a mystery so far.

I sent these three photos to Ellen Foltz of Amanda’s Garden Nurseries, and she identified the first two plants and is working on this last one. In the meantime, hopefully one of my readers could offer a name for this rapidly growing plant? It looks a bit scary, and I’m reluctant to touch it in case it bites or stings. Just look at the Bittersweet vine crawling up it. That stuff is everywhere.