Wildflower Wednesday: Necklace gladecress (Leavenworthia torulosa)

Leavenworthias, generally known as gladecresses, are late winter rosette-forming annuals with the sweetest little flowers. Our Wildflower Wednesday star is Leavenworthia torulosa and could easily be mistaken for another of the Leavenworthia  found in middle Tennessee. What made identifying this species from the others was the necklace/chain of beads' pod holding the seeds.

 

the necklace seed pod for id

 Gladecresses are members of the Brassicaceae/Mustard family and have a few iconic features.

• Usually herbaceous plants    
• 4 petals form a cross     
• Fruit: a pod or a capsule that is either a long and slender pod (silique) or short and broad pod (silicle)
• Flowers usually have 6 stamens (male flower parts), 4 tall and 2 short 
• Flowers are usually yellow, white, orange and lavender
  

 There are eight species of Leavenworthia native to the southern and southeastern USA. Four are native to Middle Tennessee.

1. Leavenworthia alabamica  
   
2. Leavenworthia aurea
3. Leavenworthia crassa
4. Leavenworthia exigua (TN)   
   
5. Leavenworthia stylosa(TN)
6. Leavenworthia texana
7. Leavenworthia torulosa(TN)
8. Leavenworthia uniflora(TN)

 Ecologically they are plants that are restricted/endemic to Cedar Glades in middle Tennessee, limestone glades and other thin-soil areas where limestone bedrock is at or near the surface. 

 

The winter wet seeps are a perfect growing medium for our star and other Leavenworthia. They tolerate growing in standing water and disappear before the extremely hot and dry summer conditions that you inevitably have where soil is thin and limestone is close to the surface or exposed.

I discovered our Wildflower Wednesday star about a dozen years ago growing in a wet depression in a sunny field/lawn not too far from my house. Being wowed doesn't begin to describe how excited I was to discover them. It was late winter/early spring and the ground was incredibly soggy. At first there were one or two flowers but, as the days warmed up more flowers opened and they made a lovely ground cover.  

 I am thrilled that the small population hasn't disappeared. They're winter annuals and once the flowers are pollinated and seeds develop in that necklace like pod they get dispersed in late spring/early summer, then germinate in the fall, and individuals overwinter as little rosettes before flowering begins in the early spring (from Baskin and Baskin).

Fortunately, all that's completed before spring and summer mowing begins.

Although, Hillwood, my neighborhood in Nashville, is not in a cedar glade, it has many areas of shallow soil and exposed limestone; including my property. Which make it attractive for many plants that would also be found in a glade. Unfortunately, the seepy area in my habitat is in the shade and there are no Leavenworthia.

The particulars

Botanical name: Leavenworthia torulosa

Common name: Necklace gladecress

Family: Brassicaceae

Species description: Annual

Habitat: Cedar glades, pastures, seepy areas, thin soil over limestone beds, roadsides, old fields Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia (?) and Kentucky.

Bloom: Late winter, February through April

Size:  About 3-4 inches tall. 

Bloom Color: White, yellow, lavender 

Comments: It's considered common in Tennessee because of the abundance of habitat, but, habitat is disappearing fast with the growth in middle Tennessee.

Propagation: Seeds are pollinated and then dispersed during late spring and early summer, they germinate in the fall, and individuals overwinter as quiescent rosettes before flowering begins in the early spring (Baskin and Baskin) Go here for MOBOT's research on plant adaptability. I don't know of any seed sources.

Wildlife value: I've done a pretty deep dive and have seen a few mentions of small bees and honeybees visiting gladecresses, but, L torulosa is self-compatible/self fertilizes, so it doesn't rely on pollinators. Researchers say that this can mean smaller flowers. Pollinators or not, they are really cute little flowers.

click for source

If you live in Middle Tennessee I urge you to visit a Cedar Glade.

 I fell in love with them on my first visit. It has a beauty that can't be easily defined. It requires one to look closely at the ground to see small plants like Leavenworthia, Sedum, moss and lichens; while remembering to look ahead to see the huge expanses of exposed limestone and to the shrubs and trees at the edges of the glade. 

Historically they've been unappreciated and used as quarries, parking lots and dumps.

 

They're botanically unique ecosystems with rare and beautiful plants. One of my favorite times to visit is late winter when the seeps, wet swales, or ephemeral streams are flowing and Leavenworthia are blooming in the standing water. But, early summer is another great time to visit when you'll see the  Tennessee coneflower following the sun. I think you will be enchanted by the glade's stark beauty. I always feel awe when I'm there.

xoxogail

 

Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. I am so glad you stopped by. WW is about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers. Please leave your url when you comment. I love your comments, so thank you for leaving them.

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.

Wildflower Wednesday: A Few Spring Epemerals from Clay and Limestone

Neither rain nor cold, or even more rain and  then very cold weather could stop the delightful harbingers of springtime that are blooming at Clay and Limestone. The delicate white or pinkish flowers of ephemerals bloom early in spring, set seed, then disappear until the next spring.

 If you had to choose one of the earliest spring ephemerals as a favorite...Would you? Could you?

Claytonia virginica or Spring Beauty

 Would you choose the candy striped Spring Beauty? 

 Claytonia virginica's flowers are about the size of a dime with five petals that spread wide as the sun warms them. From a distance, the flowers appear white, but, each petal is suffused with a delicate network of pastel pink veins. Those pink veins are nectar guides. Spring Beauties are pollinated by over 100 species of insects. That's a lot of bees, flies and other winged creatures relying on nectar and pollen. That makes them an important early food source and extremely important in our garden habitats and near by woodlands.

Jo Brichetto of Sidewalk Nature has written about and captured a wonderful photo of the Spring Beauty mining bee (Andrena erigeniae).  Follow the link to her article. Jo's posts reflect what many of us are observing~the destruction of habitat and the loss of native plants. The consequences to critters and to us is enormous.

Claytonia virginica still blankets some neighboring lawns. It's a glorious month of bloom and pollinator activity, but development and a strange love of a monoculture lawn has decimated them. There's plenty we can do~see the Wildflower Wednesday Challenge below for ideas.

The Particulars

 Botanical name: Claytonia virginica 

Common Name: spring beauty  

Type: Herbaceous perennial 

Family: Montiaceae 

Native Range: Eastern North America 

Zone: 3 to 8 

Height: 0.50 to 0.75 feet 

Spread: 0.50 to 0.75 feet 

Flower: Showy Bloom Time: March into April (middle Tennessee)

Bloom Description: White to pink 

Sun: Full sun to part shade 

Habitat: prefers dappled sunlight with rich loamy soil. NO way can I give it deep loamy soil, so I enjoy the few I have.

Wildlife value: Pollinators need this early bloomer. This beauty has a bee that specializes on it. Small, potato-like, underground tubers (corms) are edible (chestnut-like flavor) and were in fact consumed by early Americans, but are time-consuming to collect in quantity sufficient for a meal.mall, potato-like, underground tubers (corms) are edible (chestnut-like flavor).  Chipmunks and small mice aren't bothered by the time it takes to dig them up!

Comments: Naturalize. Mow late after plant has gone to seed. DO NOT USE WEED AND FEED.

Perhaps, you would choose the perfumed flowers of Cardamine concatenata/Cut-leaved toothwort! This is a common plant in Middle Tennessee, but that would never detract from its charm. Like many early blooming spring wildflowers this one is low to the ground (and you can count on getting dirty knees trying to take a decent photo). While you're crawling around you might notice their sweet fragrance. It's especially noticeable on sunny warm days.

Cut-leaved toothwort

 If you have one plant, you will soon have more. It spreads by rhizome and seed~But, don't be afraid...It's an ephemeral and will disappear after setting seed.

Each flower has four petals characteristic of the mustard family (arranged in the shape of a cross), as well as four green or purple sepals, a single pistil, and six stamens with conspicuous yellow anthers. The flowers appear bell-shaped because they never completely open. The flowers are visited by several types of bees and less commonly by early-flying butterflies or bee flies. Look for honey bees, bumblebees, Mason bees, Cuckoo bees, Miner bees, Halictid bees, and Andrenid bees (which specialize on toothwort).

Andrena arabis collect pollen on toothworts

Toothwort and other woodland flowers require a forest habitat to survive, so they depend on the oaks, hickories, maples, and other trees around them. The presence of toothwort in an area can be an indicator that the soil has not been disturbed by such activities as construction or plowing. 

The Particulars

Botanical name: Cardamine concatenata

Common Name: cutleaf toothwort  

Type: Herbaceous perennial 

Family: Brassicaceae 

Native Range: North America 

Zone: 3 to 8 

Height: 0.50 to 0.75 feet Spread: 0.50 to 0.75 feet 

Bloom Time: late February to March in middle Tennessee  

Bloom Description: White flowers with hints of pink

Fragrance: Yes, on warm days

Sun: Part shade 

Water: Medium 

Comments: Naturalize. DO NOT USE WEED AND SEED on your lawn or beds.

Wildlife value: Attracts: Specialized bee~Andrena arabis collect pollen and other pollinators.

Or, does your taste go to Enemion biternatum.  This lovely ground cover with Columbine like leaves and the sweetest delicate white flower. It's often confused with Thalictrum thalictroides.

it's easily overrun by invasives like garlic mustard, bush honeysuckle and wintercreeper

This is another little spring flower that makes pollen, but, no nectar. Small bees and flies visit to collect and feed on the pollen. Keep an eye on the beds where this lovely grows and remove all invasives that can easily crowd it out.

Isopyrum/Enemion biternatum or False rue anemone

Eastern False Rue-anemone, False Rue Anemone or Enemion biternatum is a sweet little Spring ephemeral in the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It's native to shady rich or calcereous woods & thickets; floodplain woods and limestone ledges. (slightly alkaline soil) and is native to Middle Tennessee. I was lucky to find it in the garden when I moved here.

 

The Particulars

Botanical name: Enemion biternatum

Common names: Eastern False Rue-anemone, False Rue Anemone

Family: Ranunculaceae

Plant type: True ephemeral (summer dormancy)

    
Flowering Period: Early Spring, Mid-Spring

Flower Color: White

         
Sun/Shade Conditions: Filtered Shade, Partial Shade. The preference is partial sun to medium shade, moist to mesic conditions, and a rich loamy soil with abundant leaf mould.

Soil Moisture: Average, Moist, can handle some flooding
 

Soil pH: Adaptable, Alkaline

Soil Type: Loam, Clay, Humus-rich

Flower: Five 'petaled' (sepals) flowers with the showy yellow center stamens
Native

 Faunal association: Pollinated by small bees and flies that visit it for its pollen. 

 

 

If you like a different looking flower your taste might lean toward, Trillium cuneatum. I love the dramatic mottled foliage and those twirling sessile flowers!

Trillium cuneatum was one of the first native plants that I discovered when we moved here. The first spring in our new home I found blooming Toadshade (another common name) in the wayback backyard and transplanted it to my new woodland garden. That was over 35 years ago, but, I remember carefully digging around it to get all the rhizome and roots and gently placing it in the garden. They survived and thrived despite my gardening ignorance. Please do not dig from the wild. Do not pick the flower...the plant will not survive.

Old stands of native ephemerals are precious do not dig from the wild

 Trillium cuneatum typically flowers from early March to mid April. It can be found in rich, mostly upland woods, but, it is especially happy growing on Middle Tennessee's Ordovician limestone soils (neutral to basic soil). The two I transplanted multiplied to many. Trillium will be happy in your garden, if you give it a rich, moist soil, in shade, protect it from browsing critters and keep aggressive perennials from crowding it. They can live for a long time and usually do not flower until they are several years old. It's found growing across Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

seeds waiting to ripen and be harvested

 The Particulars

Botanical name: Trillium cuneatum

Common Name: whip-poor-will flowerlarge toadshade, purple toadshade, and bloody butcher

Type: Herbaceous perennial

Family: Melanthiacea, Little sweet Betsy falls within the sessile group
Flowering: flowers from early March to mid April. Showy, fragrant

Native Range: Southeastern United States

Zone: 5 to 8

Size: 1.00 to 1.50 feet tall and will spread to 1 foot

Bloom: Maroon to yellow to orange to reddish-green

Sun: Part shade to full shade

Water: Medium

Maintenance: Low

Foliage: Colorful

Pollinators: produces pollen, but, I have never seen its pollinators! I assume Hymenoptera insects, including honey bees, bumblebees, and wasps visit the plant.
Propagation: Ants collect and disperse the seeds of Trillium spp. They're attracted to the elaiosome, which is a large, lipid-rich structure attached to the seeds. The ant dispersal process is known as Myrmecochory.  The ants take the seeds to their nest, where they eat the elaiosomes and put the seeds in their garbage (midden), where they can be protected until they germinate.Yellow jackets are also seed disperses.
Wildlife: Can be browsed by deer and roots and rhizomes can be eaten by voles.
Comments: Never pick flowers or leaves, you will lose your plant. Each plant in the genus Trillium features three leaves in a terminal whorl. A single flower emerges on a stem which is either peduncled (on a stalk) or sessile (stalk absent). Trillium cuneatum is a sessile form.

 

 I choose all of them! I choose to protect and celebrate them all. xoxogail

 

Don't forget our Wildflower Wednesday monthly challenge! 

The first part of this challenge is to do something every month during 2023 and beyond that supports native wildflowers, pollinators, and the critters that visit and rely on 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 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 that have been there for over 75 years are cut down. In place of the "bee lawns" composed of Claytonia, Salvia lyrata, Ruellia humilis, fleabane, Western Daisy, Violets, self-heal, clovers, and dandelions that grew so well in the shallow soil that sits on top of limestone bedrock are sodded non-native lawns that get daily watering, whether it rains or not. 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. It breaks my heart. We can't stop the multi-million dollar houses from going up, but, maybe we can make a lot of educational noise and help our new neighbors see the value in providing for critters.

A gardener can hope!

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

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)

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.

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.

Make a brush pile. Stack fallen brush, cut tree limbs, broken pots for ground beetles. Ground beetles are excellent at eating "bad bugs'. They're 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 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: Observe visitors to the 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. (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 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."

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

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

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

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)

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)

 

Visit

Welcome to Wildflower Wednesday. I am so glad you stopped by. WW is about sharing and celebrating our native wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers. Please leave your url when you comment. I love your comments, so thank you for leaving them.

 

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.

Wildflower Wednesday: Clematis viorna

I love Clematis and when I discovered that there were native Clemmies I had to have one or two or more. So far I've planted three in my garden: Clematis virginiana, C pitcheri and C viorna. I wasn't surprised to find out that like other Clematis they can be placed in groups that determine how and when to prune. Clematis viorna is our star and it fits in group 3, which means it blooms on new growth and you need to give it a hard pruning in late winter. Be sure you've harvested seeds or enjoyed their frothy fall look before pruning.

But, I digress, let's start with getting you acquainted with this delightful herbacious vine native to rich wooded banks and thickets throughout the north, central and eastern United States.

Clematis viorna has many common names, but the one I am most familiar with is Leatherleaf. It's a delicate looking vine given to irregular branching that will scramble across the woodland floor looking for someplace to climb. Expect it to reach ten to twelve feet in your garden when given a sturdy structure. "The scattered 1 inch flowers are mostly solitary at a branch tip or a leaf axil. Each is purple-rose in color, the usually 4 sepals (no petals) being very thick and fleshy (leathery) with the shape of the flower being a "closed-looking" vase or urn with slightly turned up sepal tips, usually facing downward." The tips are creamy white. (source)

Photo by Fritz Flohr Reynolds

One of the many characteristics that I love about Leatherleaf is its long bloom time. The first bloom at Clay and Limestone was May 26 and it still has buds today. That's three months of charming flowers, cool buds and delicate twining stems.

last week in July 2022

 It climbs by twining petioles/leaf stalks, so give it a structure or even a shrub to climb on that will accommodate its mature growth. The flowers attract hummingbirds, bees and butterflies and then mature to become beautiful, dramatic seed heads for birds to enjoy. The achenes with their feathery tails extend the attractiveness of the vine into the fall, so hard prune it once the seeds have been collected, eaten or wind dispersed. (source)

Seeds starting to feather fluff up which helps the wind disperse them

It's happily growing in a large container in morning sun where I can see it every day and keep it well watered. It likes moist, rich soil that is well-drained. Clematis viorna is a classic woodland plant and would have gotten lost in my habitat of rough and tumble wildflowers which I manage by letting them go to battle for garden dominance. Also, it needs to be watered regularly in what has turned out to be a brutal summer of drought and heat.

I plan to collect and sow seeds, eventually planting them among the smooth Hydrangeas and Hamamelis vernalis.  I think it will look smashing scrambling along the ground and eventually climbing into the shrub's branches. Planted in that bed assures that this delicate Clemmie will get the filtered sunlight and moist soil that makes it happy. 

I sure hope you give this sweet Clematis a try. It's worth the hassle of trying to locate one online! Nashvillians try GroWild. While you are looking try a few other native Clemmies. Thanks for stopping by.

xoxogail

 The Particulars

Scientific Name: Clematis viorna L.

Common Names: Leatherflower, Vasevine, Northern Leatherflower

Family Name: Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family)

Plant Type:  A small, mostly non-woody, herbaceous perennial vine.

Light Requirement: Full sun, Partial/sunny, Partial/shady

Bloom Times: May, Jun, Jul, Aug

Flowers (or reproductive structures): Single, bell-shaped, perfect flowers 1" across by 2" long, in various shades of pink, violet to dull purple, with thick, fleshy, reflexed, petal-like sepals (no petals), creamy white interior. 

Flower Color: Pink/rose

Soil Conditions: Moist, well-drained soil with a neutral to a slightly alkaline pH. 

Fruit: Large seed head with many individual seeds, each seed attached to a fuzzy plume of a tail for wind distribution. 

Natural Distribution: rich woods, thickets 

 

 

USDA Hardiness Zone: 4 to 9 

Comments: Great for naturalizing, meadows. Showy fruit, with great fall interest

Wildlife value: Bumblebees pollinate the flowers. Other insects (thrips, midges) feed destructively on the flowers. Butterfly, moth and fly larvae feed on the foliage and stems. The foliage is probably poisonous to mammalian herbivores. All Clematis provide useful cover and nesting habitat for many songbirds in open wooded areas.  Attracts bees, Attracts Hummingbirds, Attracts birds, Showy fruit, 

Pharmacology: All parts of this plant are toxic, causing internal bleeding of the digestive tract if ingested in large amounts. Foliage has bitter taste and is therefore safe from pets. It is also reported to be deer resistant.  

Propagation: From seed/Achene (dry, flat seed, in this case dark brown) or, by semi-hardwood cuttings, or by layering.     

Don't forget our Wildflower Wednesday monthly challenge!  The first part of this challenge is to do something every month during 2022 that supports native wildflowers, pollinators, and the critters that visit and rely on our gardens. The second part of the challenge is to post about it somewhere: Your blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even your neighborhood listserve. 

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 that live all around us. 

An incomplete list of things you might consider doing or changing in your garden

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) 

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.

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

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.

Make a brush pile. Stack fallen brush, cut tree limbs, broken pots for ground beetles. Ground beetles are excellent at eating "bad bugs'. They're 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 bird food!

Add nesting boxes for birds.

Plant shrubs and small trees that provide berries and nuts.

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

Volunteer to remove invasives in a local part or natural area.

Join your state native plant society.

Join WildOnes even if there's no local group.

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

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."

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

Read nature books to your children and grandchildren. 

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.

Turn off your porch lights, eave lights and uplights to help mammals,  birds, critters that live in the dark survive.

If you live in Nashville join the Facebook ReWild Nashville Group and the Middle Tennessee WildOnes

 

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.

Please leave your links in comments,  I am not using Mr Linky any longer.

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.

Wildflower Wednesday: Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium

I am challenging you to say our Wildflower Wednesday star's name 5 times....very quickly! I could barely get three out before I was dropping consonants. Here's the phonetic spelling soo-doh-naf-FAY-lee-um ob-too-sih-FOH-lee-um in case you aren't familiar with it.

Here's the story of how it became our star.

It was a beautiful day, with a clear blue sky and bright late morning sun overhead. We were taking a walk on a road near a house we rented for the weekend in Ellijay, GA and had stopped to visit with a very friendly donkey. 

 

the very friendly donkey

Across from the fenced in donkey growing among a hodgepodge of weeds, grasses and pine tree seedlings were flowering plants that looked like they needed a second look. One plant caught my eye. The silvery stems, leaves and the unusual white, tubular clusters of flowers with a bit of yellow that were still in bloom stood out among the weeds. I recognized Rabbit tobacco immediately and wondered how many people passed by it and never realized what a cool wildflower it was. That's when I decided to make it the Wildflower Wednesday star.

Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium is  known by a variety of common names including, Cudweed, Fragrant Cudweed, Fragrant Rabbit Tobacco, Blunt leaved sweet tobacco and Sweet Everlasting. I've only known it as Rabbit Tobacco and was introduced to it a few years ago by a dear gardening friend who shared it on her blog. Although, it's native to Tennessee, I've never seen it available for sale locally, nor do I have it in my garden.

This sweet little composite family member supports American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) butterfly larvae and attracts bees, butterflies, pollinators and predatory insects. As my friend said in her Wildflower Wednesday post over a decade ago: " I just wish there was more of it! The American Painted Lady butterfly is said to favor it for egg laying, reason alone to have a field of it."

Rabbit tobacco growing in the 'weedy' roadside

Sweet Everlasting is a summer annual or biennial plant that's about 3 foot tall with narrow/elliptical silvery-green stems and leaves. The underside of the leaves, stems and base of bracts of this plant are covered with dense white woolly hairs that one source described as cottony. The silvery white makes a good impression even in the bright sun. The leaves and stems are aromatic when crushed. One source says the crushed leaves smell like maple syrup. I did not crush any leaves to test for fragrance since it was on private property! Oh, but, I wish I had!

 I liked its looks and ordered seeds when I got home. 

The Particulars

Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium (formerly Gnaphalium obtusifolium)

Family: Asteracaeae

Common Name(s): Cudweed Fragrant Cudweed Fragrant Rabbit Tobacco Rabbit Tobacco Sweet Everlasting

Life Cycle: Annual and biennial

Range: Alberta east to Nova Scotia, south to Florida, west to Texas, and north to Nebraska and Minnesota. 

 Cultivation: Woodlands, coastal dunes, sandy pinelands, roadsides, and disturbed area. Needs some sand in soil to drain well.

Maintenance: Low, although, it doesn't like wet roots

Light: Full sun, partial Shade

Soil Drainage: Good Drainage appears to be a must.

Plant: 12 inches-3 feet

Flower Color: White with a touch of yellow

Inflorescence: Corymb, Panicle The flower head has disk flowers only.

Fragrant: Flowers and leaves when crushed

Bloom Time: Summer into fall

Flower Shape: Tubular (photo source)

 

Flower Description: Branching panicle of corymbs of yellow or brown buds that emerge to white tubular flower heads on 1-2 ft. stem. Flowers are 1/4" 

Propagation: Self seeding, wind born seeds. Seeds need light to germinate.

with long tailed skipper (source)

Wildlife Value: Supports American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) larvae.  Visited by short-tongued bees, wasps, butterflies, skippers and flies for nectar. Wild turkey eat the foliage and deer browse the foliage. (source)

Comments: With fabulous wildlife value, Rabbit tobacco is a good addition to a pollinator or butterfly garden. It is also a wonderful plant for a naturalistic planting and to enhance your native plant/wildlife friendly habitat. The unusual flowers and silvery leaves and stems are especially attractive in winter because they stay standing until the following spring. Ethnologists have documented the use of Rabbit Tobacco for treating asthma among the Rappahannock, Eastern Cherokee and other Native American groups. (source)

It's time for Cudweed, Fragrant Cudweed, Fragrant Rabbit Tobacco, Rabbit Tobacco, Sweet Everlasting or what ever it's called in your part of the gardening world to have the attention it deserves. It's time for this underappreciated native to shine. Should you want to add it to your garden you can order seeds from Prairie Moon Nursery.

Thank you for stopping by to meet our star!

xoxogail

Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. WW is about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not, and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers. Please leave your link in comments section.

 

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.

Rough and Tumble Oenothera biennis

Night blooming Common Evening Primrose is our rough and tumble Wednesday star. This tall biennial is  found growing in fields, prairies, glades, thickets, waste ground, disturbed sites, and in other sunny medium to dry sites. While native to almost all the states it's found more often in the central and eastern US.

 While researching the plant I noticed that it showed up on several state weed sites! That's always disconcerting to a wildflower/native plant enthusiast, but, not all wildflowers are appreciated or valued by everyone. Some might be put off by it's height or it's unremarkable foliage, neither bother me. I find the yellow flowers that are still blooming when I walk the garden early in the morning to be quite charming.  I like catching their sweet lemony scent and watching the occasional pollinator visitor that's out that early.

The sweet lemon scent is designed to attract moths

At the top of the over six foot tall, hairy, olive green leafy stalk are the lemon-scented, bright-yellow, four-petaled flowers. Flowering begins in June on second year plants; the stalks continue growing throughout the season, so there are flowers until fall.

 

 In my garden it's happily growing with Rudbeckia triloba, Silphium perfoliatum, Verbesena virginica and Asclepias syriaca. Use native grasses, Verbesinas, and/or Coreopsis to disguise the lower bare stalks.

Each flower has 4 petals, 4 reflexed sepals, 8 stamens and a prominent style with a cross-shaped stigma.

  Oenothera biennis takes 2 years to complete its life cycle, with basal leaves becoming established the first year, and flowering occurring the second. It's not difficult to have flowers every year, just save the seeds and keep planting them. You shouldn't have trouble collecting seed since each seed capsule makes at least a 100 tiny seeds.  Don't get too alarmed about all the seeds...they're an important goldfinch food.

 

  This plant can get tall, plant it where it won't block other pretties, but, where you can still enjoy the flower show and catch its lovely lemony scent.

 Wildlife value

Common evening primrose is open for the night shift. That's when the pollinating creatures of the night are out and about. Sphinx moths and other moths pollinate the flowers. I saw bats flying around the flowers and deduced they were there for the moths and other night visitors.

 Other visitors have included: Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, honeybees, bumblebees, and the Primrose Miner Bee. These insects seek nectar, although some of the bees collect pollen. The caterpillars of several moths feed on the foliage. This includes Endryas unio (Pearly Wood Nymph), Desmia funeralis (Grape Leaffolder Moth), Hyles lineata (White-Lined Sphinx), and Mompha eloisella (Momphid Moth; bores through stems). Various beetles feed on the foliage, including Popillia japonica (Japanese Beetle), Grahops pubescens (Leaf Beetle sp.), Altica fusconenea (Flea Beetle sp.), and several Curculio beetles. The seeds are eaten by goldfinches. (Illinois Wildflowers)

 

I appreciate scrappy native plants like Oenothera biennis that are often the first to show up in disturbed areas. They're automatically members of the rough and tumble wildflower club at Clay and Limestone. I wish that all the disturbed areas around the country could be repopulated with natives, but, too often the non native invasives arrive first. Count yourself lucky if the good guys show up!

xoxogail

PS If you're new to Clay and Limestone, rough and tumble wildflowers are simple wildflowers that bloom their hearts out and require the easiest of care. Many have never been hybridized, which means they haven't had their best characteristic bred out of them. Rough and tumble wildflowers are doing the job nature intended them to do, which is to make a lot of food (nectar and/or pollen) and bloom exactly when the critters need it-just in time for provisioning a nest for the winter or for migrating birds. Once bloom is past and the seeds ripen, they become feeding stations for over wintering birds which seek out those seeds.

 

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.