I have finally decided that fall is my favorite season. Sometimes I think it is spring when the day warms up and new growth peaks through the duff. Sometimes it is summer with its heady breath and how much life is just happening around you. Then sometimes winter is romantic with its silhouettes of trees and silent sleepy feeling. But, no, fall is my favorite season. One of the reasons for this is roadside wildflowers. While there are plenty of them in all of the other seasons, there is something golden about the autumnal floral show.
This year the ditch daisy, most likely Bidens aristosa, is especially showy, due to the mowing regimes utilized by Department of Transportation contractors. It has taken advantage of openings in the vegetation, and has been able to thrive due to its extensive root system that can access deep pockets of moisture. It is in glorious full bloom all across Lee County.
Bidens aristosa is an annual, so the plants you see now will die over the winter. If we see them again next year, it will be their offspring! The seeds are barbed and are easily transported in animal’s coats and in people’s socks and clothing, so it could move around if deer and other wildlife brush by it.
Some botanists consider it native to the Central United States and say it has been moved by humans so now its range covers all of the area east of the Rockies. Some folks even go as far to say it is invasive. I wouldn’t go that far, as it is not especially competitive with other vegetation once other plants recover from mowing.
This beautiful yellow daisy-like plant has a menagerie of interesting common names, many of which are not especially flattering: bearded beggarticks, western tickseed, showy tickseed, long-bracted beggarticks, tickseed beggarticks, swamp marigold, and Yankee lice. This is the danger of common names though, as there are many species that go by “tickseed”, “beggarticks”, and “marigold” that are not related.
If you would like to encourage ditch daisy on your property, it is important to limit mowing in the late summer. It is better to not mow after mid July to let the plants recover and reflush. This time of our year can also be quite dry and hot, so plants are slower to recover and the stressful conditions can be more conducive to the growth of some plants over others. You could also save seeds from the plants and spread them in the areas you would like to see the plants. Just know they prefer wet areas over dry areas.
Fall is a great time to take a drive in Lee County to enjoy the roadside wildflowers. With a little luck and reduced mowing, we’ve had a beautiful year for ditch daisies. Who knows what next year’s mowing and weather will encourage next Fall!
Amanda Bratcher is the Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension in Lee County.
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