Look what I found growing among all the weeds in my “garden.” It’s the Obedient Plant (Physotegia virginiana) that I planted last year and thought had just disappeared. For some reason I’ve never been able successfully to grow Obedient Plant (I’ve planted it several times) even though friends of mine call it “Disobedient Plant” because it spreads so aggressively.
Obedient Plant
I had to pull a few weeds just to get this picture. Believe it or not my intention is to get the whole “garden” weeded by winter.
FROM WEEDS TO BEES 
I’ve never seen Obedient Plant in bloom before–that’s really pretty! Do you have any idea why it’s called Obedient Plant?
Deb
I love the names of many native plants! There are some creative people “in charge” of naming these beauties. For example: Hoary Skullcap, Yellow Monkey Flower, Sneezeweed, and now Obedient Plant.
Just out of curiosity, I looked up those flowers in my National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers. Here’s what I found: Hoary (or Hairy) Skullcap has hairy stems and flowers and a prominent hump on the top that resembles a cap; Yellow Monkeyflower has flowers that look something like a monkey’s face; Sneezeweed is so named for the use of its dried leaves in making snuff, inhaled to cause sneezing which would rid the body of evil spirits; and Obedient Plant is called that because if the flowers are bent, they tend to stay in the new position for awhile. So there you have it! Deb