Dame's Rocket

I saw these attractive flowers along Bunkum Road yesterday and wondered what they were. They look a lot like phlox, but the flowers only have four petals, not five. I am pretty sure that it is Dame's Rocket, or Hesperis matronalis. It is not a wild flower, though it is often sold in wildflower seed mixes, but a garden flower that has escaped cultivation and is now considered an invasive species.

Flowers like these remind me that I need to spend less time blogging and more time working in the garden. It may be time to plant the things that do not tolerate frost. I have volunteer tomatoes coming up. In fact I have a lot of volunteer plants in addition to the tomatoes--lettuce, dill, a couple potatoes, and lots of carrots. (I left a couple of carrots grow last year that had overwintered, and they produced seed. Carrots are biennial, producing their seed the second year.) Last year I had a lot of volunteer squash, some of which were interesting hybrids--so far none have appeared and maybe I will avoid them. Rhubarb is already ready to harvest--maybe it will be on sale at the first farmers' market of the season this Saturday.