What is this yellow flower?
I’ve not seen this yellow flower before, but this year it’s showing up all over the place in various garden beds. Is it at your place, too? Do you know what it is?
Filed in Gabriola Island,gardening 8 Comments so far
8 Responses to “What is this yellow flower?”
cheryl on 02 Jul 2012 at 7:00 am #
This is called Monkey Flower, it is a wild flower in our area and does come in other colors but I’ve only seen yellow ones around here . It can sometimes get as big a bush. But again I’ve never seen one around here just the little annul ones. I believe the Latin name is mimulus for the yellow one and there is one which is a pinky color with the Latin name mimulus lewisii.
and yes we have them pop up around our place from time to time you never know were they will show up. I think my mother told me years ago that they are called monkey flower the Latin info I got form looking up monkey flower on google.
skadhu on 02 Jul 2012 at 7:23 pm #
It’s certainly mimulus, but there are at least 3 kinds on Gabriola, and one is less desirable than the others—muskflower. That’s the one I think we have in our garden, alas. Common monkeyflower blossoms are supposed to have one or more red dots on the bottom lip; I think that muskflower is entirely yellow. Muskflower is described as having hairy leaves, whereas monkeyflower is described as hairless to sparsely haired.
When I first saw ours, I said, “Monkeyflower! Lovely!” But then I discovered its vile habits, so although it’s very pretty when blooming now I tend to yank it out, at least most of it. It crawls along the ground, chokes everything else, and grows aggressively by sending out roots that come up through other plants. (I have more trouble getting it out of my chives….) It’s fragile, so it tends to come apart when you yank it up, leaving the roots, which of course send up more plants. Oh, and when it gets old, and has covered everything else, it goes all slimy and nasty. Sigh. If you like it, be prepared to manage it.
My book says it was a prized cultivar brought from England because of its musk-like scent, but that the flowers for some reason have now lost their perfume.
cheryl on 03 Jul 2012 at 7:33 am #
The monkey flower we get occasionally in our yard doesn’t act the same as
skadhu’s and it isn’t hairy as she/he’s is. In fact I like it and wish I could get more of it to stick around I’ve never been able to collect the seeds. I’ve never had a problem with it invading our garden plots it shows up in the oddest spots though like in a crack in the rock bed or in the drain ditch. never in the grass. All in all I find it a pleasant little surprise now and then.
Gabriolan on 03 Jul 2012 at 9:38 am #
Thanks, Cheryl!
Gabriolan on 03 Jul 2012 at 9:40 am #
Thanks, skadhu. I’ll go read up on the various types of mimulus, and I think I’d better rip out the ones that have invited themselves into my veggie beds.
skadhu on 03 Jul 2012 at 7:56 pm #
Cheryl, if I could get the kind you get I’d be very happy!
Jane on 04 Jul 2012 at 11:06 am #
The wild yellow monkey flower needs to have its feet wet, it won’t bloom without lots of moisture at the roots.
Gabriolan on 08 Jul 2012 at 12:55 pm #
Thanks, Jane. We have lots of this stuff in bloom, which means it must be happy with the amount of moisture here, I guess.