Identifying perennials in spring (image heavy)

Butterfly weeds are just emerging
Blue-eyed grass blooming

Mk Neal wrote: The first picture is a close up of Prairie trillium (Trillium recurvatum) which will have a maroon flower, surrounded by green rosettes of the biennial tall bellflower (Campanulastrum americanum).

AWESOME! I was looking far and wide this morning to find a pic of the bellflower basal rosette and couldn't find anything... until I was on Permies later and tried on a whim. I transplanted several 2nd year bellflower off a path that will be mown and into a flower garden, and now I can ID and transplant some 1st year rosettes in the same place so they'll bloom next year. Biennial fun!

False Solomon's seal

Passionflower/ fruit

Great Burdock

A correction, a month ago I posted a photo of shoots coming up between old milkweed stems, and I thought due to the location that they were milkweed.  However, as they grew they were NOT milky, and soon became apparent that this was gooseneck loosetrife (Lysimachia clethroides) that had invaded my milkweed patch!

Now a month later the TRUE swamp milkweeds (Asclepias incarnata) are emerging as pencil-thin, rubbery textured light green shoots, with the loosetrife in the background:


In another area, larger common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is also shooting up.
Here is is surrounded by violets, coneflower, and columbine:


And a view of the geometry from above:


Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) now in its prime. I have never seen it with a burgundy leaf like this one.


Blazingstar (Liatris aspera) is just starting to come up, one of the later perennials.


I think this is some kind of Rudbeckia, like Black-eyed Susan.

Some latecomers that did not show up until near the end of May:

Spotted Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium maculatum) rises from among grass-like leaves of Star-of-Bethlehem.  By late summer, the Joe-Pye will be 4 feet tall.


This cream wild indigo (Baptisia bracteata) is not competing very well in a mixed planting of prairie and savanna flowers; it is still quite small.  The foliage is similar to other plants in the pea family.


These are the seedlings of halberd-leaf rose mallow, (Hibiscus laevis). It is a large plant, up to 6 ft tall and spreads seed prodigiously within about a ten foot radius. I need to pluck these seedlings outof my vegetable beds all spring and summer.  I have not been successful at starting seedlings indoors, however.  

A few more spring perennials to add to the collection:

Turkish Rocket (Bunias Orientalis). I've yet to try the flowerheads which are supposed to be less spicy than the leaves, although I suspect the leaves would mellow on cooking. I now have a few plants, so maybe will get some seed set :)

Turkish Rocket Spring leaves

Udo (Aralia cordata) Again one I've yet to try eating, since it is still establishing for me. It has edible stems. I suspect I'm just a bit cool for it to do well and now wish I had planted it in a sunnier spot. It is supposed to grow huge but mine are still a bit pathetic!

Udo Spring shoots

What do we think this is? (Ontario, Canada, zone 5B.) I’m thinking cone flower maybe?

H Elizabeth and welcome to Permies. Hopefully someone will be able to recognise your sprouts and answer your question.