First Wednesday Taking Care of Wildlife Challenge: For Your Reading and Listening Pleasure

 

 I am taking a July break, but I didn't want to leave you without a few suggestions for your listening and reading pleasure. If you have any podcasts or blogs, vlogs about nature you want to share, please do share,  I am always looking for more! Please feel free to add the recommendations in the comments on this post or in social media where this will be posted. Thanks.

xogail

 

 I often listen to gardening podcasts while gardening and on walks. Here are a few I have enjoyed and I hope you will, too. Just follow the highlighted links. 

Mark Fraley Podcast is a good listen and I especially recommend his interview with Dr Kim Sadler, MTSU, Center for Cedar Glade Studies. If you're a middle Tennessee resident plan a visit. I love their stark beauty. Also, he has interviewed Joanna Brichetto several times. 

 In Defense of Plants podcast. His most recent is Understanding Forest Disturbance. I loved Fireflies and Plants. You can revisit a conversation between Dr. Sara Lewis and Matt Candeias as they discuss some of the intriguing connections between fireflies and plants.

 The Joe Gardener podcast  Episode 421 Doug Tallamy Answers the Question, How Can I Help? Another good interview is with Dr Suzanne Simard about forest resilience and renewal.

Ted Talks Daily: Why Climate Action is Unstoppable and climate realism is a myth with Al Gore

Growing Greener podcast with Thomas Christopher. I haven't listened to this one yet, but, "An Ecological Perspective on Tick-born Diseases sounds important.

The Plantastic Podcast: Sam Hoadley is interviewed about plant trials at Mt Cuba  An excellent interview of Heather Holm on Pollinators and Native Plants

Native Plants Healthy Planet podcast: Check out what Tom and Fran have to say and whom they might be interviewing. Recently they spoke about Leaving the land better than we found it with Kyle Wendtland

Backyard Ecology podcast: Shannon Trimboli is the host. Folks she's just north of Tennessee in Kentucky so her programs are apropos for middle Tennessee. Recent podcasts.

Bug Banter Xerces Society podcast   Many great talks.

Margaret Roach  https://awaytogarden.com/podcast/: I especially enjoyed her interview with Kelly Norris. Kelly is an ecological landscaper and author of several books. 

 

Here's a list of a few of my favorite native plant garden blogs and websites.

Sidewalk Nature: Joanna Brichetto's blog/website and her tag line says it all~ Look Around. Nature is us, our yards, sidewalks, parks, and parking lots. Joanna iwrites wonderfully about the many things she's observed in nature.

Nashville Native Plant Symposium: Updates on the symposium that's happening in late July and frequent sharing of beautiful native plants.

Humane Gardener : Nancy Lawson's tag line is Cultivating compassion for all creatures great and small.

WildOnes:  Wild Ones promotes native landscapes through education, advocacy and collaborative action. The link will take you to the Middle Tennessee chapter.

Home Grown National Park : Join the native plant homegrown garden movement. The website has links to keystone plants in your eco-region.

Nuts For Natives:  A self taught gardener (like many of us) who loves native plants.

Joy Biven/Wonder Gift and Garden: You will love her Friday sharing post!

Nurture Native Nature  fun  and informative blog posts 

 

Have a safe and wonderful July. I'll see you in August! xoxogail

Want to Take the Taking Care of Wildlife In Our Gardens Challenge?

The first part of this challenge is to do something, even lots of things, each month that support the critters living in our gardens. Gardening with native wildflowers, shrubs and trees that make sense for our ecoregion is a good place to start or continue (as the case may be). Plants and their pollinators are a classic example of mutualism: they have coevolved through evolutionary time in a reciprocal beneficial relationship. This is also true for other critters that visit and live in our gardens. 

Activities that increase our knowledge of the natural world are equally as valuable. Helping others learn about nature is included. Golly gee whiz, there are so many things you can do. 

The second part of the challenge is to post about it somewhere: Your blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even your neighborhood listserve. Wouldn't an article in the local paper be a coup for nature! Why post it? Because positive publicity is needed to educate our friends, neighbors and communities about how important even the smallest changes we make as gardeners can be for pollinators, birds, insects and mammals, including humans, that live all around us. 

Why now? My neighborhood is changing. Yours might be, too. Every day an older home along with many (if not all) of the mature oak, hickory, maple, Eastern cedar and hackberry trees are cut down. Insects, birds, even mammals lose their home site and food supplies when we lose trees. During construction soil is compacted by bulldozers, trucks and piles of debris cause runoff; surface runoff that can carry pollution to streams and rivers. It's important that our neighbors and our community have information about how important trees are to our ecosystem. Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife.

In place of the "bee lawns" composed of Claytonia, Salvia lyrata, Ruellia humilis, fleabane, Western Daisy, Violets, self-heal, clovers, native grasses (in my neighborhood it's poverty oat grass) and sedges, they're being sodded with non-native grasses. These monoculture turf lawns contribute nothing environmentally. Here's what we lose when our diverse lawns are replaced with pristine turf grass:

• Gone are the lightening bugs.
• Gone are the ground dwelling/nesting native bees.
• Gone is the habitat for insects, spiders and other critters. 
• Gone is plant diversity. 
• Gone are trees that provided for hundreds of moths, butterflies and other insects.
• Gone are the nesting sites for woodpeckers, hummingbirds, Chickadees and other birds. 
• Gone is a healthy foodweb.
  

 It breaks my heart. 

We can't stop the progmess, but, maybe we can make a lot of educational noise and help our new neighbors see the value in providing for critters and ultimately helping the environment.

A gardener can hope! 

xoxoGail

Here's an incomplete list of things you might consider doing or changing in your garden, and things you can do for and/or in your community. But don't limit yourself to my list, make your own list or check out the internet for ideas.

 

Looking for ways to get involved go here for a list of environmental advocacy groups.

Buy the best wildflower, butterfly and bird id books for your state.

Read nature books to your children and grandchildren. Buy them nature books.

Get in the garden with your children and grandchildren.

Give nature books as baby shower gifts (Nature books for infants and toddlers)

Shrink your lawn and make your planting beds larger.

Plant your favorite native perennials and shrubs. Leave them standing after they've gone to seed to continue to provide for wildlife. What you plant in your yard makes a difference to wildlife. I garden for wildlife so every tree, shrub and plant is chosen with wildlife in mind.

 

Plant more natives and then consider planting even more. "A typical suburban landscape contains only 20-30% native plant species. Try reversing that trend in your own landscape by using 70-80% native species." (source) 

Plant for bloom from late spring to early winter. Bees are most active from February to November (longer in mild climates) late winter blooming Hamamelis vernalis and the earliest spring ephemerals (like the toothworts, hepaticas, spring beauties, and False rue-anemeone) are perfect plants for a variety of pollinators.

Commit to never, ever, ever, ever using pesticides in the garden.

 

 

Stay away from native plant hybrids and cultivars that are double flowered. They are sterile and have no pollen or nectar for insects and no seeds for the birds. If possible plant “true open-pollinated native wildflowers”

If you want to garden for wildlife and pollinators, don't let lack of space stop you! Plant your favorite wildflowers in large containers. You just might have the prairie or woodland garden you've always wanted...in a pot!
 
Create a water feature. Provide water year round that is accessible to birds, bees and other critters.

Make a rain garden in low spots to collect and mitigate runoff.

Show some soil! Our native ground nesting bees nest in bare soil, so don't mulch every square inch of your garden. 

Get rid of the plastic weed barriers in your garden, it's not good for anything.

Invite bugs into your garden. Plant annuals that attract beneficial bugs.

 

Learn to tolerate damaged plants. Imperfection is the new perfect.

Don't be in a rush to clean up the fall garden. Leave plant stalks and seed heads standing all winter. Leave those fallen leaves or as many as you can tolerate! Insects over winter in the fallen and decaying leaves. Leave a layer of leaves as a soft landing material under trees for moths and butterflies to over winter. Many caterpillars drop to the ground from the trees in the fall and need a soft landing site and a place to live over the winter.

Allow a fallen tree to remain in the garden. Limbs on the ground are a perfect shelter for small animals such as rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels and a habitat for beetles, termites and other insects.

Make a brush pile. Stack fallen brush, cut tree limbs, broken pots for ground beetles. Ground beetles are excellent at eating "bad bugs". Bugs are also good bird, toad and small critter food. 

Rethink what you consider a pest. Lots of good bugs eat aphids. Spiders are important predators and they're great bird food!

Add nesting boxes for birds. 

Turn off your yard up-lighting, eave lights and porch lights after 11pm. This is important for nocturnal critters including mammals, snakes, insects, bats, birds (especially during migration). (Birdcast suggestions)

Plant shrubs and small trees that provide berries and nuts.

Keep a nature journal: You can observe visitors to your water feature, make note of when they visit. Notice which flowers attract the most pollinators and which ones are just pretty faces. 

Join your state native plant society (Tennessee Native Plant Society)

Join WildOnes even if there's no local group you can join the national organization.  (Middle Tennessee WildOnes)

Support your local native plant sellers. (GroWild in middle Tennessee, Overhill Gardens in east Tennessee,  Resource Guide TN Native Plant Society)

Encourage your local garden clubs to offer native plant talks.

If your garden club has a plant sale encourage them to sell more native plants.

Get trained as a naturalist (Tennessee Naturalist Program. Almost every state has their own Master Naturalist training program

Take an online course on tree, fungi and wildflower id. 

Take an online course on designing with native plants.

Take a walk in your neighborhood and observe nature. To quote Joanna Brichetto in Sidewalk Nature "Look Around. Nature is here, is us, our driveways, our baseboards, parks, and parking lots."

Read! There are hundreds of books on gardening for wildlife, the environment, and rewilding our world. There are delightful blogs with wonderful and informative articles.

If you are already gardening with wildlife in mind then add a few signs that help educate your neighbors. (Xerces Society, Pollinator Partnership)

Join the Xerces Society.

Set up an information station where neighbors can pick up brochures about your garden and other info. 

Get certified (National Wildlife Federation, check to see what your state offers)

Support trees by joining the effort to make sure developers don't remove more trees than are necessary for their project. Work to make sure there are tree removal permits and that they are actually enforced in your community.

 

 

 

 

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener, Tennessee Naturalist and nature writer in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: American Tall Bellflower

 My garden always surprises me.

I am just as surprised by what lives and thrives as I am by what barely hangs on or dies. And I am always surprised when seeds germinate and I get wonderful flowers, especially since, I have failed so often with seeds. So when I saw the blue flowers of a Tall Bellflower waving at me across the driveway I was delighted, you might even say shocked. I've been trying to get American bellflower established here for dozens of years. I've tried seeds and plants, but, nothing has taken. I didn't know I had a tall bellflower in my garden until this beauty waved to get my attention. 

 

I have no idea where this lone flower came from. It sprouted, grew and thrived in a container amongst plants I've been saving for my son's garden. Is it possible that I have created my own seed bank after years of broadcasting seeds? Or  could it have been transpooped by a visiting bird? I don't care how it got here, I just hope it will seed itself about.

However this seed got here, it germinated and bloomed. And for that I am grateful.

Campanulastrum americanum or tall bellflower prefers rich, moist, well-drained soil in part shade. I don't really have constantly moist soil unless I water often. The pot where it was found growing gets regular watering.

Tall bellflower is either a biennial or annual and it has a fairly long blooming period. To top that off, it's very attractive to bees and butterflies. A long bloom period is pretty wonderful in a native plant. 

Are wondering how it can be either an annual or biennial? If it germinates in the spring it will be an annual. If it germinates in the fall after planting seeds in late spring and overwinters as a basal rosette, it's a biennial and won't bloom until the next year. There are of course other factor like moisture, timing and sun, but I am keeping it simple!

I don't know if my lone bellflower is in its first or second year but, I am thoroughly enjoying the bright blue/lilac starry blooms scattered all along the spiky stem.

Unlike other plants in the genus Campanula that usually have bell-shaped flowers (from Latin campana meaning little bell), tall bellflower produces flowers that are, oddly, quite flat. "The star-shaped, five-lobed, light blue flowers (to 1" across), each with a distinctively curved and recurved style and a pale white ring at the throat, bloom solitary or in clusters at the leaf axils in summer (June-August). source 

American bellflower is native to moist open woods, moist meadows, streambanks, and ditches in shady areas of the Eastern United States and Canada. Plant it in rich, moist, well-drained soils in partial shade. Those of you north of middle Tennessee with cooler summers can have good luck growing it in sunny moist conditions. Here it will need more shade. 

It should readily reseed itself so plant it with plants that like similar conditions like Elymus viginicus, Carex blanda, Geranium maculatum, Geum canadense, Carex pensylvanica, Lobelia cardinalis and other shade loving native plants. I like it massed and that was my wish when I first tried growing it from seed.

Wish me luck in collecting seed and having success getting it to germinate at Clay and Limestone. 

xoxogail 

 

The Particulars

Botanical name: Campanulastrum americanum formerly known as Campanula americana 

Common names: American Bellflower, American Tall Bellflower, Tall Bellflower 

Family: Campanulaceae

Type: Annual or biennial. The life cycle is quite unique and is dictated entirely by when the seeds germinate: Fall/Winter Germination (Biennial): Seeds that drop in the late summer or fall and sprout before winter will form a tight basal rosette. They will go dormant in the cold, and then shoot up their tall, blooming stalk in their second year. Spring Germination (Annual): Seeds that wait to germinate until the following spring will usually grow, flower, and set seed all in that same single season. 

 Distribution: Native: United States--AL , AR , FL , GA , IA , IL , IN, IA, KS , KY , LA , MD , MI , MN , MS, MO , NE, NJ, NY, NC, OH , OK , PA , SC , SD , TN , VT, VA , WV, and WI ; Canada--Ontario and Quebec 

USDA Plant Hardiness Zone: 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b 

Bloom Time: June to August 

Flower Color: Blue and/or Purple/Lavender 

Flower Inflorescence:  Star shaped flowers

Dimensions:     Height: 3 ft. 0 in. - 6 ft. 0 in.     Width: 1 ft. 0 in. - 2 ft. 0 in. 

 

Source

 

Light:  Full sun if you have cooler summers (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)  Partial Shade for the rest of us (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)

Maintenance: They need regular and even moisture 

Fruits: the fruit is a capsule that changes from green to brown or gray-brown and splits open to expose the seeds. Seeds drop when ripe.

 Wildlife Value: Long-tongued bees are the primary pollinators, including bumblebees and leaf-cutting bees (Megachilidae), including the specialized bees Megachile campanulae and Colletes brevicornis. Other pollinators are Halictid bees, butterflies, and skippers. These insects seek nectar, and some of the bees collect pollen from the anthers. It also attracts hummingbirds.

Propogation: Seeds need light to germinate. Surface sow in seed starting mix or similar medium. Moist cold stratify 30-60 days then bring to 70°F. Plants self sew around plant (what I hope happens here)

Comments: Beautiful massed in a meadow or natural area. Perfect for Riparian (along streams, lakes, rivers),woodland, native, rain, shade gardens. 

 Tolerances: Deer Tolerant, Clay Soil Tolerant, Wet Soil Tolerant, and Black Walnut Tolerant 

 

Welcome to Clay and Limestone and Wildflower Wednesday.  This day is about sharing wildflowers and other native plants no matter where one gardens~the UK, tropical Florida, Europe, Australia, Africa, South America, India or the coldest reaches of Canada. It doesn't matter if we sometimes share the same plants. How they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most. So please share your wildflowers on your favorite social media site. Share to help educate others!

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener, Tennessee Naturalist and nature writer in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Fist Wednesday Taking Care of Wildlife Challenge: Rewilding Our Urban and Suburban Landscape

Is the theme for the 2026 Nashville Native Plant Symposium that's happening this August and registration opens on June 5th, at 7am!  

 

This symposium builds on the goals set in the Spring 2025 Symposium when gardeners, ecologists, land stewards, and community members met to focus on ecological restoration, native plant landscaping, and pollinator habitat building. 

Our second symposium will bring together plant enthusiasts, conservation professionals, and community members to re-imagine our neighborhoods, parks, and home gardens as thriving habitats that support biodiversity and strengthen our regional ecosystems.

We'll gather on August 22, 2026, at the Southeast Community Center for an inspiring and educational day of presentations and opportunities for networking. Featuring keynote speaker Dwayne Estes of the Southeastern Grasslands Institute.

This is an opportunity for participants to make a positive impact on our community and the environment while enjoying a day filled with learning, inspiration and networking.

Hope to see you there. 

xoxogail 

 PS  There will be fabulous excursions to sign up for when you register!

 

 

What's The First Wednesday Taking Care of Wildlife Challenge About?

The first part of this challenge is to do something, even lots of things, each month that support the critters living in our gardens. Gardening with native wildflowers, shrubs and trees that make sense for our ecoregion is a good place to start or continue (as the case may be). Plants and their pollinators are a classic example of mutualism: they have coevolved through evolutionary time in a reciprocal beneficial relationship. This is also true for other critters that visit and live in our gardens. 

Activities that increase our knowledge of the natural world are equally as valuable. Helping others learn about nature is included. Golly gee whiz, there are so many things you can do. 

The second part of the challenge is to post about it somewhere: Your blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even your neighborhood listserve. Wouldn't an article in the local paper be a coup for nature! Why post it? Because positive publicity is needed to educate our friends, neighbors and communities about how important even the smallest changes we make as gardeners can be for pollinators, birds, insects and mammals, including humans, that live all around us. 

Why now? My neighborhood is changing. Yours might be, too. Every day an older home along with many (if not all) of the mature oak, hickory, maple, Eastern cedar and hackberry trees are cut down. Insects, birds, even mammals lose their home site and food supplies when we lose trees. During construction soil is compacted by bulldozers, trucks and piles of debris cause runoff; surface runoff that can carry pollution to streams and rivers. It's important that our neighbors and our community have information about how important trees are to our ecosystem. Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife.

In place of the "bee lawns" composed of Claytonia, Salvia lyrata, Ruellia humilis, fleabane, Western Daisy, Violets, self-heal, clovers, native grasses (in my neighborhood it's poverty oat grass) and sedges, they're being sodded with non-native grasses. These monoculture turf lawns contribute nothing environmentally. Here's what we lose when our diverse lawns are replaced with pristine turf grass:

• Gone are the lightening bugs.
• Gone are the ground dwelling/nesting native bees.
• Gone is the habitat for insects, spiders and other critters. 
• Gone is plant diversity. 
• Gone are trees that provided for hundreds of moths, butterflies and other insects.
• Gone are the nesting sites for woodpeckers, hummingbirds, Chickadees and other birds. 
• Gone is a healthy foodweb.
  

 It breaks my heart. 

We can't stop the progmess, but, maybe we can make a lot of educational noise and help our new neighbors see the value in providing for critters and ultimately helping the environment.

A gardener can hope! 

xoxoGail

Here's an incomplete list of things you might consider doing or changing in your garden, and things you can do for and/or in your community. But don't limit yourself to my list, make your own list or check out the internet for ideas.

 

Looking for ways to get involved go here for a list of environmental advocacy groups.

Buy the best wildflower, butterfly and bird id books for your state.

Read nature books to your children and grandchildren. Buy them nature books.

Get in the garden with your children and grandchildren.

Give nature books as baby shower gifts (Nature books for infants and toddlers)

Shrink your lawn and make your planting beds larger.

Plant your favorite native perennials and shrubs. Leave them standing after they've gone to seed to continue to provide for wildlife. What you plant in your yard makes a difference to wildlife. I garden for wildlife so every tree, shrub and plant is chosen with wildlife in mind.

 

Plant more natives and then consider planting even more. "A typical suburban landscape contains only 20-30% native plant species. Try reversing that trend in your own landscape by using 70-80% native species." (source) 

Plant for bloom from late spring to early winter. Bees are most active from February to November (longer in mild climates) late winter blooming Hamamelis vernalis and the earliest spring ephemerals (like the toothworts, hepaticas, spring beauties, and False rue-anemeone) are perfect plants for a variety of pollinators.

Commit to never, ever, ever, ever using pesticides in the garden.

Stay away from native plant hybrids and cultivars that are double flowered. They are sterile and have no pollen or nectar for insects and no seeds for the birds. If possible plant “true open-pollinated native wildflowers”

If you want to garden for wildlife and pollinators, don't let lack of space stop you! Plant your favorite wildflowers in large containers. You just might have the prairie or woodland garden you've always wanted...in a pot!
 
Create a water feature. Provide water year round that is accessible to birds, bees and other critters.

Make a rain garden in low spots to collect and mitigate runoff.

Show some soil! Our native ground nesting bees nest in bare soil, so don't mulch every square inch of your garden. 

Get rid of the plastic weed barriers in your garden, it's not good for anything.

Invite bugs into your garden. Plant annuals that attract beneficial bugs.

 

Learn to tolerate damaged plants. Imperfection is the new perfect.

Don't be in a rush to clean up the fall garden. Leave plant stalks and seed heads standing all winter. Leave those fallen leaves or as many as you can tolerate! Insects over winter in the fallen and decaying leaves. Leave a layer of leaves as a soft landing material under trees for moths and butterflies to over winter. Many caterpillars drop to the ground from the trees in the fall and need a soft landing site and a place to live over the winter.

Allow a fallen tree to remain in the garden. Limbs on the ground are a perfect shelter for small animals such as rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels and a habitat for beetles, termites and other insects.

Make a brush pile. Stack fallen brush, cut tree limbs, broken pots for ground beetles. Ground beetles are excellent at eating "bad bugs". Bugs are also good bird, toad and small critter food. 

Rethink what you consider a pest. Lots of good bugs eat aphids. Spiders are important predators and they're great bird food!

Add nesting boxes for birds. 

Turn off your yard up-lighting, eave lights and porch lights after 11pm. This is important for nocturnal critters including mammals, snakes, insects, bats, birds (especially during migration). (Birdcast suggestions)

Plant shrubs and small trees that provide berries and nuts.

Keep a nature journal: You can observe visitors to your water feature, make note of when they visit. Notice which flowers attract the most pollinators and which ones are just pretty faces. 

Join your state native plant society (Tennessee Native Plant Society)

Join WildOnes even if there's no local group you can join the national organization.  (Middle Tennessee WildOnes)

Support your local native plant sellers. (GroWild in middle Tennessee, Overhill Gardens in east Tennessee,  Resource Guide TN Native Plant Society)

Encourage your local garden clubs to offer native plant talks.

If your garden club has a plant sale encourage them to sell more native plants.

Get trained as a naturalist (Tennessee Naturalist Program. Almost every state has their own Master Naturalist training program

Take an online course on tree, fungi and wildflower id. 

Take an online course on designing with native plants.

Take a walk in your neighborhood and observe nature. To quote Joanna Brichetto in Sidewalk Nature "Look Around. Nature is here, is us, our driveways, our baseboards, parks, and parking lots."

Read! There are hundreds of books on gardening for wildlife, the environment, and rewilding our world. There are delightful blogs with wonderful and informative articles.

If you are already gardening with wildlife in mind then add a few signs that help educate your neighbors. (Xerces Society, Pollinator Partnership)

Join the Xerces Society.

Set up an information station where neighbors can pick up brochures about your garden and other info. 

Get certified (National Wildlife Federation, check to see what your state offers)

Support trees by joining the effort to make sure developers don't remove more trees than are necessary for their project. Work to make sure there are tree removal permits and that they are actually enforced in your community.

 

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener, Tennessee Naturalist and nature writer in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.