The first sample had to do with a sunburned pelargonium, which is of no account here other than to mention these are sensitive plants and need to be hardened off a bit more carefully than most plants.
The second bag, however, contained a giant version of our more common "garden" chickweed. I knew it at once, because of its flower and because I had just walked through a huge patch of the stuff in the woods next to our property.
It is a funny thing about plants. Those that are in the same group usually have similar flowers, and most of the 100 plus chickweeds illustrate this point. They may differ in size, but you instantly recognize the family resemblance. Our garden pest, Stellaria media, has one-fourth to one-half inch flowers with five absolutely white petals. You see 10 petals? Look very closely: these are so deeply lobed that the five look like 10.
Here are two more fun chickweed identification facts. Garden chickweed has a single line of hairs running up its stem. And, if you slowly pull a stem apart, you will find an elastic "thread" at its center, but don't pull too hard.
Out in the woods the giant version, Stellaria longipes, thrives. It is a larger, more upright and much less competitive plant, but it has the same characteristic flower, only an inch or so across and really quite delicate and beautiful. You can usually find some growing in the understory along the coastal forests of Cook Inlet, which means anywhere you get off the road. Sometimes it even finds its way into a Southcentral yard, but it is never invasive in cultivated areas, as is its cousin.
I was glad that my friend asked abut her unidentified plant visitor. It gave me the chance to point out a moral to this story: When you find something in your yard you don't know, ask someone what it is or try to look it up. The same goes for things you see on hikes, be they plants along the road or in the woods. Take a picture of your find and identify it.
You may have an invasive on your hands and, while Alaska chickweed is not invasive, too many invasive plants are moving into our area to leave things to wonder.
The first place to look when you find a "scout" flowering plant in your yard is the website of the "Alaska Committee for Noxious and Invasive Plants Management" (CNIPM), www.uaf.edu/ces/cnipm/. This group is spearheaded by folks at the Cooperative Extension Service and at the state, DNR. In my opinion, all Alaskans have a duty to "click to download" the invasive plant guide available there. All of us should know which weeds in our yards (and along our driveways and roads) are invasive.
This is particularly important as more and more invasive plants make their move on The Great State. Wild caraway has been spotted and, speaking of spotted, so has giant knapweed (don't know what these look like? Google "CNIPM" and start learning).
There is a selfish component to this. Invasives are the one "excuse" used for using harmful chemicals. If you keep them out of your yard, you won't need to cross that bridge. This can only be accomplished if you know what to look for.
Jeff Lowenfels is a member of the Garden Writers Hall of Fame. You can reach him at teamingwithmicrobes.com or by calling 274-5297 during "The Garden Party" radio show from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays on KBYR AM-700.
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