Willowleaf aster, a must for your garden!

While you're perusing the garden catalogs for beauties to add to your garden please look for Symphyotrichum praealtum.

Just look at the color and bloom the morning after out temperatures dipped into the teens (Fahrenheit). A plant like this needs to be in your garden!

"Symphyotrichum praealtum is a tall grass prairie native that is harder to find than a tall grass prairie in Tennessee. It's listed as an endangered and threatened species in several states, including Tennessee, and in several Canadian provinces. (Go here to read about rescue efforts in Canada.) " Luckily for me, blogging friend, Sweetbay, generously shared several starts of 'Miss Bessie' a few years back.  They bloomed that first fall and every November since then. It's ironic and wonderful that an endangered Middle Tennessee wildflower found its way home from NC.  The resident pollinators send their thanks and love to you SB."

I've written about 'Miss Bessie' before...Sweetbay refers to Willowleaf aster as 'Miss Bessie' and I do, too. 'Miss Bessie' has been the star of several Wildflower Wednesday post and she's a member of the Clay and Limestone rough and tumble wildflower club. Most of the rough and tumbles are late summer/early fall bloomers, but, Willowleaf aster shines in my November garden!  You know how much I love all the rough and tumble wildflowers, they're simple flowers that bloom their hearts out and require no special care, well, that's exactly how I would describe Willowleaf aster. She's an ex-aster, expect her to travel, but, you can easily transplant any seedlings to other parts of your garden. She stands straight and tall until the top heavy blooms lean toward the sun. The flower heads sway in the slightest breeze and only patience and hundreds of shots yields a good photo of nectaring pollinators.
(excerpted from earlier posts)

Green metallic bees just before the frost

Knowing that this extremely important late fall pollinator food source could survive several 17F nights makes me jump for joy.

Native in green~Not sure why South Carolina is not on the list!

I recommend we all plant more of this native beauty! As you can see, it's native in eastern North America...except South Carolina! Sources suggest that it's a go to food source for migrating Monarch Butterflies. If you garden along the monarch trail Willowleaf aster might be a perfect addition to your garden. (Prairie Moon Nursery has seeds).

So, my dear readers, please join me in planting more native ex-asters! I know your pollinators will appreciate the marvelous and floriferous 'Miss Bessie' and you'll love having blooms in late fall.

xoxogail

PS It goes without saying, but you know me, I have to say it. If you want pollinators to visit your garden, you must, never, ever, ever, ever use pesticides. I'm not kidding...NEVER!


Posts about 'Miss Bessie':
One of the last bees to visit (here)
The best native ex-aster is a very late bloomer(here)
Where have all the pollinators gone? (here)

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist 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.

One Of The Last Bees To Visit

Is the Metallic Green Bee.

Photographed last week swarming all over the Symphyotrichum praealtum 'Miss Bessie' and her offspring. It was a sunny warm day and the little bees and a few bumbles came out to nectar.

Regular readers might remember how very much I love Symphyotrichum praealtum. It's a wonderful very late blooming native Ex-aster that begins blooming in mid to late October just as the Little ex-asters are starting to fade and continues blooming through most of November.  All the pollinators adore this beauty, and by all, I mean every Bumble, tiny little fly, beetle, small bee or Skipper that's in the garden can be found nectaring on the sweet lilac-blue flowers from the time the sun moves past the canopy trees and warms up the garden, until it sets and everything cools off.

native bees are valued for the role in pollinating our wildflowers and food crops

But, I digress! Let's talk about the  Metallic Green Bee. Their busy as a bee manner makes me happy when ever I see them darting from flower to flower faster than I can click an infocus photo. But, I must be honest with you, there are several subfamilies and I cannot tell them apart. I am pretty sure my Metallic Green Bees are from the genus Agapostemon (a true native bees in the family Halictidae). They are small to medium sized bees that are often metallic in color. Some are communal, a dozen or more females may share a nest entrance, but underground each bee creates and cares for her own brood cells. They line the individual cells with water resistant chemicals and provision them with a pollen ball to feed the individual larvae. They are the among the most important and common visitors to prairie wildflowers, and are seen flying/nectaring about my garden for most of the growing season. (source)

Composite plants produce high quality nectar

Learning about native bees still greatly interests me. They're a diverse group, they come in a wide array of sizes, shapes, and colors, they have different seasons of activity, flower preferences and nesting requirements. One of the first things I discovered when I began researching bees was how well adapted they were for collecting and feeding on nectar (for energy) and pollen (protein). Their furry bodies are pollen magnets and their tongues are well adapted for seeking out nectar in the many different flower shapes.

Verbesina is perfect for short tongued bees

Speaking of bee's tongues! Bees are classified as either long or short tongued, based of course on the length of their proboscis (a kind of complex tongue). Bees with long tongues have the pick of the crop, they can nectar on most flowers, but bees with shorter tongues need short, open flowers with nectar within easy reach. The Metallic Green Bees have short tongues and favor Asteraceaes or composites, with its easily accessible and high quality nectar. (source)

They're floral generalists, meaning they will visit a wide range of flower types and species when seeking out pollen

Metallic Green Bees are floral generalists and keep busy in my garden from early spring to late fall. Just before the last big freeze they and the Bumbles were still nectaring on the native ex-asters, the Sheffield mums and the few Coreopsis still in bloom.

They will be out and about as long as the day warms up above 50F and there are blooms on the last remaining Willowleaf aster. On the whole, generalist bees, are more resilient and not dependent upon a particular flower's pollen to survive, as long as there are composites in bloom they will feed.

The females forage our gardens for nectar and pollen to feed herself and her offspring.

What they are dependent upon are gardeners like us to provide a well planned pollinator friendly garden.
It's quite easy to do, just...

• Plant more native plants, annual and perennial, known to attract your regional bees
• Make sure you have several different plants in bloom from early spring to late fall
• Provide shelter from the wind, rain, or cold
• Provide nesting spots~Soft and exposed soil, decaying logs, nesting boxes, build a pollinator condominium. (see here). Research what they need.
• Don't be in such a hurry to tidy up the garden or cover every piece of earth with mulch.
• Provide water.
• Never, ever, ever, ever, ever use pesticides. They're poisonous to pollinators.

October 2013

Now's the perfect time to begin planning for next year.
xoxogail


Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist 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.