Woodland tick trefoil (Desmodium glutinosum) sprays pink into a shady setting

Rick Meader|Contributor

Summer in Michigan — I love it. I love the heat. I love the swimmable lakes. I love the deep green of our woods. But one thing that doesn’t thrill me is the lack of any other color in the woods.

In the spring, the woods are alive with whites, lavenders and pinks. In the summer? Green, lots of green. But, there are a few colorful members of the woods family, and we’re going to learn more about them today in the hopes that you might want to add them to wooded parts of your yard.

Woodland tick trefoil (Desmodium glutinosum) is a cute little plant that has nice foliage and dainty sprays of pink flowers sticking up about two to two and a half feet tall. The flowers don’t last long and form seeds with a Velcro-like surface that helps them spread far and wide.

It is blooming in my yard right now, and has been for the last week or so. Due to the “sticky” adaptation, it is now moving about the shady parts of my yard.

Thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana) adds some subtly colorful structure to a shady setting.

Rick Meader|Contributor

Thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana) is another plant that is blooming right now. It has a five-petaled yellowish-white flower that is about three-quarters-inch wide. It’s not super-showy, but it has a couple of cool things going for it.

First, the plant itself, which reaches a total height of three to four feet, has a tiered look, much like the Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia). It might be a neat landscape effect, if you have a Pagoda Dogwood, to plant a bunch of Thimbleweed around it, to accentuate the tiered effect of both plants.

The other fun thing about Thimbleweed — which, by the way, should not be confused with Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus), a plant more common up north that produces tasty berries that make a great jam — is that the seedhead is persistent and forms cottony balls at the end of the stalk which may last much of the winter. Thimbleweed also is adept at spreading itself, but not too annoyingly so.

Fringed loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata) is a moderately tall plant, about three to four feet tall, from the Primrose family that has bright one-half to three-quarter-inch five-petaled yellow flowers at the top of the plant that droop downward.

It’s not super showy, but its habit of forming masses that multiply the plant’s effect in the woods. While the “loosestrife” part of its name might cause fear in the hearts of some who have learned of the negative effects of purple loosestrife, this plant is a native, while purple loosestrife is not.

Fringed loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata) (Top) and Agrimony (Agrimonia gryposepala) add yellow to shady landscapes.

Rick Meader|Contributor

Agrimony (Agrimonia gryposepala) is another plant with sticky seeds, but it has little yellow flowers at the end of the flower stalk that add some subtle yellow color to the woods. It prefers moist to moderate soil conditions and full to partial shade. I have quite a bit of it in my yard which has partial shade and dry (but not sandy) soil. As I said, it has sticky seeds and these spread quite well — too well for my taste, but it is a plant with its fans.

Finally, while it’s not a flower, I’d be remiss in not mentioning the black/purple color that ripe black raspberries (Rubus occidentalis) are adding to woods clearings and woodland edges right now. The pain inflicted by their sharp thorns is definitely worth it (though severe) when you taste a handful of the juicy and seedy berries or put some on your cereal in the morning.

Black raspberries (Rubus occidentalis) are well worth the pain you might feel in gathering them.

Rick Meader|Contributor

Well, that concludes our tour of a colorful (but mainly green) wooded landscape. This week, blooming in my yard, are Woodland tick trefoil, Agrimony, Fringed loosestrife, Thimbleweed (in the shadier areas), Wild bergamot, Swamp Milkweed, Common Milkweed, False sunflower, Bottlebrush grass, Big bluestem and Yarrow. Get out and enjoy nature, and some black raspberries, everyone!

Rick is a local landscape architect with a special interest in all things natural, including native plants and the critters that eat them. You can contact him at yourland1824@gmail.com.