Can anyone at all please identify this flower?
By blackbriar
@blackbriar (9076)
United States
August 16, 2009 2:52pm CST
I created a discussion about it last year but it wasn't flowering so noone could help me. Now that it's flowering, I'm hoping someone can. It a perennial that grows in full sun to partial shade and up to 4'tall. Bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies are all attacted to the flowers. Flowers are purple and open from the bottom up as you can see in the picture. A friend gave me a clump long time ago and called it "Seven Steps to Heaven" but I know that's not the proper name. Anyone know what this flower is called?
3 people like this
3 responses
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
16 Aug 09
Since you haven't posted a picture, I searched for flowers of that name and came across this post in which someone (mememe - 6th response) identifies a flower as "Seven Steps to Heaven"
http://www.flowersforums.com/identify-flower-63509.html
There's another picture of a Cleome or Spider Flower here (which looks rather different):
http://msucares.com/news/print/sgnews/sg01/sg010625.html
Hope that helps!
2 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
16 Aug 09
It's a very pretty and dainty flower. The close-up of the individual flowers is somewhat reminiscent of the foxglove flower, though much more slender, so it's possible that it may be a Digitalis or, more likely, another member of the Scrophulariacea. I have some reservations, though, about calling it a foxglove - mostly because the flowers grow all the way round the stem, not on one side as most foxgloves do.
The foxglove family is native to Europe, parts of Asia and North-East Africa but, of course, has been exported to the States and, I believe, grows wild in places. Your plant looks pretty naturalised, so I wonder if it's native to Illinois.
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
16 Aug 09
Sorry, I forgot to hit the upload button when posting. The link you provided is not the flower I have. I uploaded a close-up of one of the flower stalks in the post above yours and one here to show it's height.
2 people like this
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
17 Aug 09
I never seen it in the wild here and everyone who sees these flowers love them and want to know what they are called. I've given away a ton of clumps thou. They look nauralized because all the flowers in my front flowerbed are allowed to spread as they want. I have several different varities of flowers but other than the purple coneflower, I have no clue what the others are. Some I dug up in ditches cause I liked them. This one was actually given to me over 8yrs. ago by a former neighbor/friend. Maybe it is a offshoot of a foxglove which could be why flowers are all around the stem instead of just one side?
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
16 Aug 09
Here it is, Elic. I forgot to hit the upload button while starting this. 
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (157648)
• United States
16 Aug 09
could it be a foxglove or digitalis?
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157648)
• United States
16 Aug 09
It is hard without a picture to look at. I have found one reference that says a variety of Cleome is sometimes called seven steps to heaven.
