As I mentioned last week, these pictures were obtained a week and a day ago. The flowers were fresher then. I suspect that they are all finished or nearly so by now, although money plant is still colorful in some sheltered situations. The flower that might be California bluebell did not last long at all. I should have looked for seed, but could not find it again. This is an odd batch. I know more about what I work with here than almost anyone else, but some unfamiliar items are baffling.
1. Is this Dutch iris? It was planted years or perhaps decades ago, but only started blooming, along with freesia and ixia, after overgrowth above it was cleared. I have never grown Dutch iris.
2. Is this money plant or honesty? I honestly believe that it is money plant. Others might bet money that it is honesty. I know they are the same. I would nonetheless prefer the proper name.
3. This one I can identify as wild cucumber. It is also known as manroot. The annoyingly weedy vines are surprisingly easy to pull out. However, the massive and resilient tubers make more.
4. This is supposed to be false Solomon’s seal, but is real enough for us, since it is the only one we know. It is native, so lives in the surrounding forest and sometimes moves into landscapes.
5. What is this?! Seriously, I have no idea! It appeared on a dry roadside after the taller grassy vegetation got cut down. The foliage seems to be that of California bluebells. It is likely related.
6. I know what this is, but doubt that you do. It is from one of only two species of its genus that is native regionally. The other species is endemic to every state except for Alaska and Hawaii.
This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate:
https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/
Tony Tomeo 
Honesty is what we would call it. And, Smilacena for the False Solomon’s Seal and how I’d love to grow the bluebells! Such a fabulous blue.
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I use both names for the honesty, but prefer money plant, since that is how others know it. No one seems set on one name of the other. Both seem to be okay. Smilacena is one that I have not heard, but I can see that it is a synonym for the genus name. I do not mind knowing it as Solomon’s seal (not false) if we all know it as the same thing. It took me a while to figure out that there really is a real Solomon’s seal, and that it is very different. California bluebells is a native wildflower that I have seen only a few times, and I do not remember it looking like this. It should flare out a little bit more, and should be lighter blue. I hope that, whatever this is, that it will bloom again. In the future, I would like to broadcast seed for native wildflowers, such as California poppy and sky lupine, and perhaps California bluebell. I just want to know that it will grow before broadcasting it.
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Solomon’s Seal is a common garden plant here – Polygonatum x hybridum being the most commonly planted.
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It may not be popular here because the cheap imitation was here first. The native (false) Solomon’s seal is not very popular either, probably because it is not so easy to grow in the nursery.
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Yes I agree the purple flower is what we call honesty and the first pic is Dutch iris.
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I figured that it must be Dutch iris. I could find no other iris that looked as much like it. I am impressed that is survived there for so long. That part of the landscape had been overgrown for many years. It was cleared and landscaped only a few years ago, and the Dutch iris and other bulbs grew up with the new but more open landscape.
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Are those aeschylus flowers? We might have them in bloom here in mid-May. I am more used to seeing them on the tree (if they are).
Karla
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Do you mean ‘Aesculus’, and do you mean #6? If so, no they are not. I thought that the (false) Solomon’s seal resembles Aesculus californic bloom. The fragrance is even similar. They will not bloom for a while.
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Love that blue flower, whatever it is!!!
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Yes, it was very prominent in a bunch of cut down grass. I hope it tossed some seed for next year.
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The deep blue flower looks very much like the picture on the seed packet for California bluebell that didn’t sprout for me this year. I love the false solomon’s seal. I have had my eye on it for the riparian restoration project we’ve undertaken, but so far no local sources.
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I sort of thought the same, that it looks like the pictures of bluebells. It just seems to be too dark blue, with a slightly different floral form.
False Solomon’s seal is something that chooses its own place in the garden. We planted none, but some happen to appear in appropriate places. I have never been able to move any, since I never find the stolons. They must be very deep. I should dig them up before they shed their foliage. There are some here that could be relocated out into a landscape where they could be enjoyed. No one will see them here.
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Don’t keep me waiting! What’s #6???
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Well, since it is the end of the day, I can say that is is a floral truss with seed of a bigleaf maple. It was just laying there like that in a driveway.
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Aha!
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Yes, . . . weird.
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Ah ha, so is no.6 a big leaf sycamore here. 😉 Is there such a thing? I love the iris, a very lovely thing to have uncovered.
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OH! I suppose I had that one coming. Yes it is a big leaf . . . sycamore.
A few other bulbs started blooming with the iris, within the new landscape. It was impressive that they had survived underneath all that overgrowth for so long. Some of them will stay. Some might get relocated, even if within the same landscape. They are presently scattered about randomly.
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