My Corner Online

 

Packera obovata | Roundleaf groundsel, Squaw Weed, Roundleaf ragwort

2020 - Planted

2021 - First bloom

2022 April 12

2023 March 26 (began removing after bloom)

2024 March 31 (one survived for filming!)

 

Packera obovata | Roundleaf groundsel, Squaw Weed, Roundleaf ragwort

Asteraceae (Daisy and Sunflower Family) (Pronounced  ass-ter-AY-see-eye )

Pronounced PACK-er-uh O-BOH-vah-tah

( previously Senecio obovata)

Packera honors a North American botanist named John G. Packer.

Obovata  which is Latin meaning egg-shaped referring to the basal leaf shape.

I bought this plant at the Missouri native plant sale as it was recommended for me to fill in a ditch, but I believe my "ditch" is much smaller than the recommender was imagining. It is often found in the Ozarks of Missouri.

In 2023, after it bloomed, I began to irradicate this plant. I did love it, but it just was not right for my garden as it is too much of a vigorous spreader. It would be right for the perfect spot and I do recommend it if you have a perfect place for it. If you have a large area that you need to fill in with a taller groundcover that naturalizes, this is the plant for you!

I believe that this flower self-seeds very easily and that is why mine spread so quickly. It also thrives in shady locations. A rocky wooded hillside would be a perfect spot for this plant as it would also tolerate tough terrains. It is also a rhizome and spreads that way.

The flowers start off deceiving in that they are purple round balls and do not look anything like what they will become. The flowers are daisy-like, orange-yellow flowers in a ray of 7 petals from a central disc. The top of the stem has a cluster of flowers called a corymbs.

The stems are about 18 inches tall. The stems come up from a basal (growing from the base) clump of egg-shaped round leaves and the upper leaves are serrated smaller. A "basal rosette" is a clump of leaves at the plant base.

When done blooming, cut off the flowers to leave a semi-evergreen basal foliage as a ground cover for the rest of the garden season.

2024

7 petals around a center

This is the serrogated leaf.

2023

This shows how the flower buds are purple and deceiving.

2022

I actually think this is a weed daisy in front of them! Ah! Still lovely.

2021

The first year they bloomed after planting felt a success as I wanted it along the edging where I was directing water to flow, but then they spread everywhere!

 

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