Those purple flowers in the corn fields signal a tough decision for farmers (2024)
The corn and soybean fields around Southwestern Indiana are alive with purple flowers this spring.
The colorful blooms signal to horticulturists that Southern Indiana has experienced a warm winter and an early spring.
“We’re a good two weeks ahead this spring,” said Jon Neufelder, an agriculture and natural resources educator at Posey County's Purdue Extension Office. “That’s a lot. Everything is coming along a lot faster.”
The purple blossoms are actually two different flowers that often grow together, said Larry Caplan, a horticulture educator at Vanderburgh County’s Purdue Extension Office. They’re winter annuals called Henbit and Purple Deadnettle. Both are in the mint family.
They grow in fields every year, but they are especially colorful in years with mild winters, when the warmer weather gives the cool season plant more time to germinate.
The rolling purple fields are a sign of more to come, Caplan said.
Most plants will bloom early this year. It’s too late to prevent crabgrass – it’s already growing. There will be a lot of ticks.
And, for area farmers, fields will be ready to plant weeks ahead of schedule. In fact, many fields are ready this week.
This presents local farmers with a tough decision. Do they risk planting early –and increase their chance at a bumper harvest this fall? Or if they should wait in case another freeze is coming?
It's common for Southern Indiana to experience one last flash of freezing weather around April– even during the warmest years, Caplan said.
“It is hard to predict what is going to happen,” Caplan said. “I know the farmers are getting kind of antsy, they want to get out in the fields. But it’s a gamble, because we might still get a big freeze this spring.”
Farmers face the question of when to plant each year. For corn and soy to grow, the soil must be sufficiently dry, and the weather above freezing.
“The ground is dryer right now than most springs,” said Andy Eisterhold, a Posey County grower. “That allows us to get in earlier. But we still have to pay attention to the calendar.”
Eisterhold plans to wait a couple weeks, just to be safe.
Other farmers may gamble planting now. Many have already begun prepping their fields, Neufelder said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see farmers planting later this week,” Neufelder said. “Soil conditions right now are about ideal.”
This is the first of many hurdles growers will face this year. If the Tri-State avoids a mid-spring freeze, farmers will next contend with rain.
“There’s always something to worry about,” Neufelder said.
Last year, the weather was warm enough to plant in early spring – but it was too wet. As rain kept farmers from their fields, they began to worry that late planting would mean a diminished harvest.
“It can be very stressful whenever Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate,” Eisterhold said. “The later it gets, the more stressful it gets.”
While impossible to predict, Caplan said, the purple flowers in the fields signal that this year's growing season may be off to a promising start.
They're winter annuals called Henbit and Purple Deadnettle. Both are in the mint family. They grow in fields every year, but they are especially colorful in years with mild winters, when the warmer weather gives the cool season plant more time to germinate.
The two most responsible for purple patches in fields are henbit and purple deadnettle. Both grow close to the ground, and can produce thick patches of cover. Purple deadnettle is more likely found in southern counties.
Phacelia has beautiful purple flowers, which attract insects for pollination. It has additional cover crop benefits including; providing organic matter and acting as a nitrogen catch crop.
What's the phlox like plant with its purple bloom along the roadsides? With its attractive purple- pinkish to white fragrant flowers, Dame's Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) is a highly invasive plant that can quickly displace the native vegetation along roadside ditches, wooded and open areas.
The Paulownia tree roadside. The late April flowers bloom before the leaves come out and can turn the entire top of the tree purple. Paulownia is most often noticed when it blooms in the Spring, right now in fact. Its large tubular purple blooms are quite showy along roadsides.
A favorite of pollinators, clustered bellflower is a purple flowering perennial that blooms all summer, as long as you keep the plant deadheaded. Reported to be deer resistant, the blooms of bellflower are grouped into balls atop the flower stems.
Cover crops (grasses, legumes and forbs) recommended for seasonal cover and other conservation purposes include annual ryegrass, oilseed radish, winter cereal rye, and oats used for scavenging unused fertilizer and releasing nutrients back into the soil for the next crop to use.
A groundcover is any low-growing plant (less than an inch to up to four feet in height) that can form a dense soil cover to help control erosion and suppress the growth of weeds.
purple passion fruit, (Passiflora edulis), also called purple granadilla or maracuyá, passion fruit also spelled passionfruit, species of passion flower (family Passifloraceae) and its edible fruit.
Lilacs. Lilacs are a beautiful edible flower that ranges in color from purple, pink, white, and blue. Lilacs are very easy to grow and are perfectly low maintenance if you'd like to have full control over your lilac flowers before using them in culinary applications.
Fescue lawns are getting to be a darker green. And all around town, you can see the blooms of henbit turning area lawns purple. Henbit, an annual winter weed, is a member of the mint family. If you rub the stem of these purple flowers between your fingers, you will find that it has a square-shaped stem and minty smell.
Sweet violet flowers are small and delicate and are usually royal purple or blue in color. They typically bloom in the springtime. Sweet violets need a cool climate to grow properly – as they may not do well in hot, humid weather, which causes the flowers to droop or wilt.
Blooms June through September. Purple loosestrife has flowers with 5–7 purple petals (petals can also be pink or white); the leaves are opposite or in whorls of 3, all the leaves lack teeth on their margins; the stem is stiff and 4-sided, often appearing woody at the base of large plants.
Passiflora incarnata, commonly known as maypop, purple passionflower, true passionflower, wild apricot, and wild passion vine, is a fast-growing perennial vine with climbing or trailing stems.
Datura is sometimes called moonflower but more commonly referred to as devil's trumpet. With large, showy, trumpet-shaped blossoms, these night blooming flowers in shades of pink, purple, yellow, or white are a beautiful addition to a night garden.
China Aster. With similar blooms to the chrysanthemum, the China Aster also comes in many colors and blooms in the summer. They often have a yellow center with bushy, long, colorful petals that are about 2 to 3 inches in length.
Have you seen gorgeous purple blooms on the roadside or in the woods? Wisteria is in full bloom! Wisteria is a vine that grows across Alabama and much of the Southeast. Though beautiful, some varieties of the vine are non-native and invasive.
Jacaranda trees are the queen of purple flowering trees yet unfortunately they grow in tropical environments so zones 9b-11. You could plant indoors in a sunny location while it is still young however it will eventually need to grow outside since it gets so large.
Purple flowers are said to symbolize success and even royalty, although feelings of admiration and tradition may also come through in purple flowers. A few of our favorite purple flower types include clematis, iris, allium, and bellflower.
The Middlemist Red flower is probably the rarest flower in the world, and it can only be found in London and New Zealand. The Chinese botanist John Middlemist brought this plant to London in 1804. The flower, formerly thought to have disappeared from London, is no longer present in Asia.
Winter cereal rye is generally the most economical. Spring Cereals (Oats, Wheat, Barley) can be planted anytime before September 15. When planted early they will likely produce a seed head that will shatter causing some reseeding. Soybean can be planted as a prevent plant cover crop option.
With regenerative agriculture, rather than leave the earth bear after the main crop, often, regenerative farmers plant cover crops. Cover crops are usually legumes such as alfalfa and clover, or cereals and grasses such as rye, barley, and brassicas.
On this page you'll find 7 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to ground cover, such as: covert, the earth, leaf litter, leaf mold, terra firma, and tree litter.
Ground covers stretch across the soil like a living mulch, providing many of the same benefits as regular mulch. Once established, they help deter the germination of new weed seeds and prevent old weeds from returning by crowding them out.
Violets. Like their close cousin, the pansy, violets are also edible and make a great, colorful addition to many dishes. They have a floral sweetness that goes great with fresh spring salads and delectable desserts.
You can eradicate Creeping Charlie using a targeted broadleaf herbicide that contains either dicamba or triclopyr. These chemical ingredients should eliminate the weed while leaving your grass alone.
You can try killing creeping Charlie with vinegar if you want to take a more natural method. Mix 2 parts vinegar to 1 part water in a spray bottle, and spray it all over the plant. Vinegar helps to get rid of creeping Charlie by causing foliage dieback.
Purple basil is beautiful and its lavender-purple flowers are also edible. In the herb garden, plant one or more of the many available varieties of purple-leaved basil.
Violet flowers can be used to garnish salads or flavor vinegar and syrup. Pick them fresh for salads or freeze them while you continue to collect enough of the desired quantity for an infused vinegar or syrup recipe.
Purple fruits and vegetables are rich in anthocyanins, which are natural plant pigments that provide foods with their unique color, registered dietitian Katherine Brooking writes for WebMD. Studies have shown that anthocyanins may benefit brain health, help to lower inflammation, and fight cancer and heart disease.
Clovers. The pretty red and purple clover you may find in fields or grassy meadows is considered edible. You can eat both the flowers and leaves raw; some people find the flowers especially tasty.
There are different associations of cornfield flowers depending on the type of soil. Sandy soils tend to have a community of plants that feature corn marigold, corn spurrey and field woundwort, whilst clay soils have hemp- nettles, dead-nettles and corn mint.
Echinacea purpurea, commonly called purple coneflower, is a coarse, rough-hairy, herbaceous perennial that is native to moist prairies, meadows and open woods of the central to southeastern United States (Ohio to Michigan to Iowa south to Louisiana and Georgia).
Violet flowers can be used to garnish salads or flavor vinegar and syrup. Pick them fresh for salads or freeze them while you continue to collect enough of the desired quantity for an infused vinegar or syrup recipe.
The tassel is the male flower, or inflorescence, of corn. This male inflorescence consists of many spikelets, which are located along the main spike and lateral branches of the tassel. The spikelets enclose 2 small flowers, or florets. Each floret contains the male reproductive structures, referred to as the stamen.
Cornflowers are often used as a boutonniere in weddings, and because of their popularity, have been bred to produce plants for a wider range of blossom colors, including white, pink, red-purple, deep burgundy (sometimes called black) and the crisp blue which is the only true natural color.
The ear is the female flower of corn. Potential ears are initiated at each node up to about the 12th to 14th leaf node, but typically only the uppermost ear fully develops. The female florets are located in paired rows along the surface of the ear.
Purple coneflower grows best in fields, prairies, or dry open woods. Fun Facts: Purple coneflower is a medicinal plant whose flowers can be used to make a tea that strengthens the immune system. Liquid capsule- or pill form plant extract is commercially sold in most drugstores.
Do Coneflowers Spread? Echinacea not an aggressive plant, but it will naturally self-seed and spread, which you can encourage if you wait to cut back until late winter. If you would prefer to prevent this, simply deadhead the flowers right after they fade.
Well, actually, it does look like a baby marijuana plant. Cleome, below top, are often mistaken for pot plants, below: showing the same flat, hand-shaped leaf formation. But cleome come into their own once they burst into flower. White, pink, rose and purple, they bloom from midsummer until fall.
Like cannabis leaves, Japanese maple leaves also have a toothed or serrated margin. However, the similarities between the Japanese maple and cannabis plant end here. In late spring and summer, Acer palmatum leaves usually turn red, pink, and purple hues.
Aconitum napellus (A. napellus, also known as monkshood or wolfsbane) is a perennial herb often grown as an ornamental plant due to its attractive blue to dark purple flowers. All parts of the plant, especially the roots, contain toxins. Aconitine is the most dangerous of these toxins.
In cauliflower, we eat the purple flowers. 'Violet Queen' is deep purple with open broccoli-like heads, and 'Graffiti' has brilliant purple heads. Both look great on a veggie tray. It's the plant's fruit that we eat in peppers and green beans.
Hydrangea. One of the most popular shrubs with purple flowers, bigleaf or mophead hydrangeas produce big, showy round flowers on a medium to large shrub. They like light shade and need a medium amount of water. Hydrangea blooms in a range of colors from white to purple.
Introduction: My name is Arielle Torp, I am a comfortable, kind, zealous, lovely, jolly, colorful, adventurous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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