Wildflower Wednesday: There Are Wildflowers That Like to Challenge the Boundaries!

At Clay and Limestone we call several of them good friends and Conoclinium coelestinum is one of the best!

Conoclinium coelestinum

This rough and tumble wildflower makes gardening on my shallow, too often dry garden soil worth the effort! It's an enthusiastic growers but, I decided years ago that a plant with lovely fuzzy lilac flowers that attracts bumbles, small bees, skippers and was a host plant to several moths was worth my having to pull out a few errant plants.

Yes, given the right conditions it can be an enthusiastic colonizer. It begins blooming in late August (Middle South) and continues through early fall and into October. The fuzzy appearing lilac-blue flowers add a softness to my late summer and fall garden when the Susans, Goldenrods, Cup Plant, Verbesinas, Joe-Pye weeds and Ironweeds are making a large and loud scene. It's especially beautiful when allowed to naturalize and make its own big statement.

There's the rub, you have to be willing to let blue mistflower do its thing to get the big effect of its lovely misty presence. That means living with the rough, but not unattractive leaves until the summer wains and the blooming begins.

The tall red stems are place holders while you're waiting and trust me the wait is worth it. I think they're quite attractive.

I discovered it years ago in the front garden where all the Susans once reigned supreme. The lilac blue blossoms against the pale green foliage was spectacular. It was an especially wet summer and I have to make a point to keep it watered if I want those delightful fuzzy blooms. It never disappears but it is lovelier when the soil is consistently moist.

Doesn't it look smashing with the gold flowers of Gaillardia? You can use it anywhere. I like it with the Rudbeckias, Coreopsis, the ex-asters and I'm thinking that it would be nice with grasses or edging the woodland garden. It's a perfect plant for a meadow, a pond edging, naturalized in a wet area. The possibilities are endless...except extremely dry soil.

compact corymbs or clusters  with up to 70 flowers per cluster

It's a shame that many gardeners under appreciate the charms of rough and tumble colonizers like Hardy Ageratum. Like many of the species related to Eupatorium, blue mistflower is a copious nectar producer and attracts butterflies of many species. When in more open areas, monarchs will spend a lot of time feeding on this plant, especially if near milkweeds. I've seen skippers, swallowtails and bees visiting the nectar-rich flowers, while birds goldfinches, juncos, and sparrows, are known to feed on the seeds, which also offer nesting material and cover for wildlife. If you want more, and once you see it massed you will, it's easily propagated from seeds, cuttings, rootball divisions or layering. It thrives best in a well-drained acidic to neutral soils in a sunny environment. If you want easy care this is a great wildflower, but, it does naturalize easily spreading by rhizome and seed (and is pulled out just as easily).  

If you have the space and temperament to let this plant go, please do. Conoclinium coelestinum is a plant that looks its best when allowed to naturalize. Cut it back in mid summer to keep it looking bushy and beautiful, and then let it do its beautiful thing.

 xoxogail

PS If you want to provide for fall pollinators you must never, ever, ever, ever, use pesticides in your garden. I mean never!

 

 

Family: Asteraceae

Botanical name: Conoclinium coelestinum

Common Names: Ageratum, Blue Boneset, Blue Mistflower,  Hardy Ageratum, Mistflower Wild Ageratum   

Life Cycle: Perennial

Native range: 

source

 USDA hardiness zones 5 through 10

Flower Color: Blue, Pink, Purple/Lavender 

Flower Inflorescence: Corymb 

Value To Gardener: Long bloom season     

Height: 1 ft. 6 in. - 3 ft. 0 in.     

Width: 1 ft. 6 in. - 3 ft. 0 in. 

Aspect: It grows in full sun to part shade such as low woods, wet meadows, and ditches.  

Bloom Time: Fall 

Flower Size: < 1 inch 

Flower Description: Flat-topped clusters of disc flowers that lack rays. It has numerous small, fluffy, tubular, blue-purple flowers (to 1/ 2” across) and blooms from July to October.

Stem Color: Green, Purple/Lavender, Red/Burgundy

Stems and leaves: Stems are clothed in pairs of attractive triangular, ovate or heart shaped leaves. 

Maintenance: Medium to high care due to water needs and possible need to edit it 

Propagation Strategy: Division, Root Cutting and Seed

Wildlife Value: Host plant to 13 specialist moths, including Eastern tailed-blue, hackberry emperor, American snout and aster flowerhead caterpillar. Mistflower provides abundant nectar for monarchs, swallowtails, queens, soldiers, pearl crascents, white peacocks, little yellows, and many other butterflies. Attracts native bees and skippers. 

Comments: Like many of the species related to Eupatorium, blue mistflower is a copious nectar producer and attracts butterflies of many species. Can be confused with Fleischmannia incarnata another member of the Eupatorium tribe Excellent in a meadow,  naturalized area, a pond edge, butterfly garden, native garden, pollinator garden, and mass planted. 

This species is pest resistant and foliage is unpalatable to deer and other herbivores.    

 

Thank you for stopping by and 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 your wildflower is in bloom or not; and, it never matters if we all share the same plants.

  

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: Autumn Equinox in Flower

I wasn't sure which of the glorious wildflowers of the Autumn Equinox to showcase for Wildflower Wednesday!

My first candidate was Salvia azurea. It's the best blue in my fall garden and each time it blooms I wish I had more.  

Pitcher sage is not only beautiful, it's a favorite of bees. The bumbles are the primary pollinator of this salvia and fit nicely into the lipped flowers. The Carpenter bee, although another frequent visitor, is not a pollinator.  It cannot fit into the flower, instead it slits open the corolla and robs the nectar while avoiding contact with the pollen. Occasionally, butterflies visit, but, I've not captured any photos this year...It's a sweet flower that's native to North Carolina south to Florida; west to Texas; north to Nebraska and Minnesota. It's happy in full sun or partial sun as long as it gets good drainage.

Conoclinium coelestinum

I considered Hardy Blue mist flower as a contender and even wrote a post, which I'll share later this season. It's another of my rough and tumble, take care of themselves wildflowers. Many gardeners under appreciate the charms of Hardy Ageratum. They consider it too weedy and aggressive for their gardens, until it blooms and then they, like me, begin wondering why the heck they haven't more of it! I am not wondering this year, I let it spread about 4 feet down the side of the Susan's bed and I am thrilled with the river of blue.

the red stems and the rough leaves are attractive, too.

It's a plant that you might want to consider using as a ground cover on most any soil, but it excels in heavier, moist soils. This wildflower species is native to eastern and central North America, from Ontario south as far as Florida and Texas.

Tall Coreopsis

The yellow composites were also in the running for Autumn Equinox star. Check out Coreopsis tripteris, it's still going strong. Imagine a Coreopsis on steroids, but, just the stems! These  plants can get really tall and are good at the back of most borders. We don't do that here...we plant where ever there is soil and no bedrock! Tall Coreopsis rather charmingly leans over and gently brushes against its neighboring plants! It's what happens when the trees create a shadier garden than the plants need. 

 I am so glad it's still in bloom to cuddle up next to the ex-asters. It can be found naturally occurring in the eastern US as far north as Rhode Island, south to Florida and across the Mississippi River as far west as Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa.

Ex-asters, Goldenrod and Tall Coreopsis

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae are the first of the ex-asters to bloom. They're tall and gently sway in the slightest breeze and look especially beautiful this year. I didn't weed them this past spring and they've spread to make a lovely show in pinks and purples.

found in every state but a few western ones and LA, TX  and Fl

They are pretty nondescript in a summer garden, but, more than make up for their greenness in mid September when they open up to feed the bees, skippers and butterflies. This native of eastern North America is an autumn-flowering gem with blooms ranging from pale pink to deep purple. New England asters are a critical late season nectar source for migrating Monarch Butterfly, so if you're lucky to be on the Monarch migration trail please plant a lot of them!

narrow elongated foliage and self supporting stems are a plus

Another good looking Asteraceae that was under consideration was Helianthus salicifolius 'First Light'. The later bloom is a plus for this tamer sunflower! Willowleaf sunflower has dozens of golden-yellow flowers with dark brown eyes on stems that need no support~even in my shadier space. If you grow 'First Light' or the species in shade it will be taller and less floriferous. When happy it might spread so be prepared to divide it every three years.

Birds enjoy the seeds and  the crab spider hiding on the petal lets me know that bees and small pollinators visit the flower. Helianthus salicifolius is not a native of Tennessee! I love it anyway! It is a native of the central United States, primarily in the Great Plains and Ozark Plateau (States of Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas).

Rudbeckia fulgid var fulgida might be my favorite of the Susans this year! They bloom late, and flower for a very long time. The long stemmed beauties have smaller flowers and are a favorite of the smaller bees. I've been growing it in containers to keep the more aggressive R fulgida from running it over.

If I had the energy I had 10 years ago I would take out most of the R fulgidas and plant this species. The stems are taller and the flower is in my opinion prettier. But, that's probably because the Susans are looking pretty seedy right now!

The Goldenrods are also star material for the Fall Equinox post.  I like to plant New England aster with goldenrod. A dynamic duo. A perfect marriage of good looks and functionality. They provide color and nectar at a time of year when both can be in short supply.

ambush bug just waiting for dinner to drop by

There are 100s of Solidago species in North America and you can be sure you will find several that make sense for your garden. I grow one cultivar~Solidago 'Fireworks' and love it. The rest are species, some prefer the woodland garden shade like Zigzag goldenrod and others are happiest in full sun.

I couldn't choose one, I love all my fall stars!

Give me this time of year with the intense yellow of goldenrod, the brilliant pink and purple of the New York asters and the lilac-blues of Hardy Blue Mistflower against the Autumn blue sky. These early fall blooms with their intense, rich colors are a treat for the senses.

But, they are so much more than pretty faces. Each one of these darlings provides more pollen and nectar return on investment than many other flowers combined. All of these native wildflowers are landing pads of deliciousness for butterflies, bees, wasps and moths. They're magnets for all kinds of insects; including some that are themselves food for spiders, birds and other insect eating critters.

These beauties are essential nectar and pollen sources for late visiting bees and butterflies, but also are known host plants for many moths and butterflies. The caterpillars of  Pearl Crescent and Checkerspot butterflies feed on Symphyotrichum novae-angliae; about ten different moths and butterflies rely on the foliage of Goldenrod; although, Mistflower is primarily a nectar source~it's foliage is eaten by several moth and butterfly cats.

My love affair with native plants has been going on for so long that now they are more beautiful to me than many classic garden flowers. I love  rough and tumble, take care of themselves wildflowers. I love their good wildlife value. I love that they are absolutely perfect for Clay and Limestone! 

Happy Wildflower Wednesday my friends.

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 a comment when you add your url to Mr Linky.



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: Fifth Anniversary!

 I can hardly believe that 5 years have passed since the first Wildflower Wednesday meme post. I want to thank each of you for joining me on my continuing journey to create the best wildlife garden possible.

Verbesina virginica

 At first I wasn't sure what I wanted to do to celebrate this anniversary and then it occurred to me that I could share that first official Wildflower Wednesday post with some updated text and photos. So that's what I've done. If you like you can link back to earlier Wildflower Wednesday posts by clicking on the plant name.

Panicum virgatum

Here it is~a trip back in time to February 2010, with a bit a lot of tweaking!

Rusty Blackhaw/Viburnum rufidulum

Almost thirty years ago we moved to what has since been christened Clay and Limestone Garden. Long time readers know that the relationship between gardener and garden has been a passionate affair, filled with moments of deep love and equally deep despair.

Hamamelis vernalis

It was a long time before I was able to accept the limitations and gifts of the shallow, clay soil that is as dry as concrete most summers and wet and sticky all winter. (here for more of the story)

Mistflower

Even in the face of over whelming evidence that wildflowers naturally occurred and thrived here, I tried to create an English cottage garden, a Mediterranean garden and a New England woodland. They were failures and I despaired that there would ever be a garden.

Tradescantia virginiana

In my haste to create these idealized dream gardens I had over looked the native ex-asters, mistflower, columbines, trout lilies, trilliums, mayapples, downy woodmint, Blue-eyed grass, False garlic, penstemons, dicentras and a host of other beauties that were already growing here.

Green Dragon/Arisaema dracontium

It was a wonderful day when I stumbled upon Thomas Hemmerly's Wildflowers Of The Central South.

 Harbinger of spring

I've never had the honor of meeting Dr Hemmerly*, but, he became my garden mentor and helped me  understand and appreciate the special native plants that grow in Middle Tennessee. He introduced me to concepts that were important to know if I were to have any success at gardening. I learned that Middle Tennessee was part of the Central Basin, that it has very interesting wildflowers that grew nowhere else, and that the rock in my garden is an Ordovician limestone bedrock overlain with thin soil. I finally understood that plants have to be rugged to survive in my garden and that planting native wildflowers made the most sense, after all, they had evolved and adapted to our wet winters and dry summers.

Golden Ragwort

Once my eyes were opened, it was easy to see that on the edges of the garden, beyond, the weedy lawn, were wonderful wildflowers and abundant wildlife.

Ex-aster

My head and heart were quickly filled with all things wildflower. I devoured articles about native plants, visited cedar glades, read botany articles and every book I could lay my hands on that discussed gardening in the Central Basin.

Joe-pye weed

Before long, it became clear to me and my gardening friends, that wildflowers had become my garden soul mates. Of course, when you have a relationship like that you want to share it with the world!

False Dragonhead/Physostegia virginiana

Wildflower Wednesday started out as a regular post to celebrate the wildflowers in my garden. I was hoping that there were other gardeners who also felt that wildflowers were special and wanted to share them. There are and you're all delightful.

Danthonia spicata and Asimina triloba two garden experiments

Many years later~I've met wonderful gardeners, made new friends, learned to write a little bit better, and have learned a few valuable gardening lessons. If there's one thing I would like to pass along to new gardeners, it's this: What ever you do, don't fight your garden's unique characteristics or ignore its plant communities. Embrace them. If your garden is rocky, sandy, slow draining, fast draining, acidic or alkaline, a desert, a cold climate or even tropical, what ever climate, where ever in the world, there are native wildflowers, shrubs and trees that will be perfect for your garden. They will not only survive, they will thrive. Trust me, you will be a happier person and have greater success at gardening.

Practically Perfect Pink Phlox Pilosa

Finally, here's my promise to you~ If you plant wildflowers the critters will come! Your garden will be filled with buzzing bees, singing birds, fascinating insects and spiders and fluttering butterflies. You'll also be a host to snakes, raccoons, squirrels, turtles, chipmunks, hawks, owls, and rascally rabbits and who knows what else!

Native wildflowers are good for the earth and good for its inhabitants. Now kick up your heels and dance with The Dancing Tree! Happy anniversary to all of you and let's continue celebrating our wildflowers.

xoxogail

Wildflower Wednesday 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.

I hope you join the celebration..It's always the fourth Wednesday of the month!

*BTW, I have finally gotten to meet Dr Hemmerly!



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: Some Plants Like to Challenge the Boundaries!

At Clay and Limestone we call several of them good friends.

Physostegia virginiana, aka, False dragonhead is a good friend of my garden. It's one of the rough and tumble wildflowers that makes gardening on my shallow, often dry garden soil worth the effort!

It's an enthusiastic grower, but, I decided years ago that a lovely lilac river of spiky flowers that attracts bumbles, small bees, skippers and hummers was worth having to pull out a few errant plants. (go here for more on this plant)

This mint can get a root hold in your moist, rich garden soil

Successful colonizers like False dragonhead do create work for gardeners. I've even heard several gardenblogging friends say they've banned them from their gardens! My dear friends, it's your garden plant what ever you want, but, please, don't call them invasive! They're colonizers! They're thug. They're highly competitive, but, they are not invasive species. Let's not scare off gardeners who may be considering planting more natives!

the first flowers open from the bottom

As many of you may know, my mostly native garden has its fair share of colonizers. I let them duke it out all summer and I am never disappointed by the fall show!

I do have to step into the fray occasionally to stop some of the more highly competitive plants like the  Solidagos from taking over. Goldenrods are the king of colonizing wildflowers, some more than others! Don't let that stop you from adding them to your garden, they are quite possibly the best wildflowers for critters and there are many delightful cultivars that are NOT thugs!

A Locust borer stops by for a snack

Goldenrods have great wildlife value. Native bees rely heavily on Goldenrods for both pollen and nectar to provide food for the winter brood's survival. Migrating butterflies stop by for the nectar to help them on their long flight and the seeds are needed by chickadees, finches and pine siskins during the winter. Goldenrods are also important attractors of beneficial insects like soldier beetles, hoverflies and pirate beetles.

We need those predators in our organic gardens....so plant goldenrods! Trust me, there's a perfect one for your garden!

This is the famous Frostweed in flower. It's a favorite of bumbles.

Verbesina virginica is another assertive native plant! Seedlings have germinated far from the parent plants thanks to wind and birds! That doesn't mean I would ban it from the garden, but, I am ruthless about removing seedlings of this biennial!

Buckeye butterfly visiting Verbesina

Verbesina is another good wildlife value plant. Bumbles, carpenter bees, beetles, butterflies and moths are frequent visitors. It's also the host plant for the caterpillars of the Silvery Checkerspot butterfly.

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae is another healthy colonizer, for which I am very grateful! After a long summer of Black-eyed Susan's I am ready for a big show!

New England aster with Helianthus salicifolius 'First Light'

A big lavender show is exactly what I have...This ex-aster spreads by seed, but this gardener is the one who has transplanted it to a dozen spots in my small sunny border! It's the perfect purple! It looks beautiful from across the garden and it is the perfect partner for one of my favorite late summer blooming asteraceas, Helianthus salicifolius 'First Light'.

You'lllove this flower massed in the garden

The same applies to this fantastic mist flower! If you have the space and temperament to let this plant go, please do. Conoclinium coelestinum is a plant that looks its best when allowed to naturalize. Cut it back in mid summer to keep it looking bushy and beautiful, and then let it do its beautiful thing. (go here for more on this wildflower)

Butterflies, skippers and bees are drawn to the nectar-rich flowers, while birds eat the seeds. If you want more, and once you see it massed you will, it's easily propagated from seeds or divisions. It can spread quickly if happy, but is pulled out just as easily. It grows in any soil except extremely dry. If you want easy care this is a great wildflower.

Thanks so much for stopping by to help me celebrate a few of my favorite boundary challenging native wildflowers! I've used words like colonizing, aggressive, thuggish, assertive, highly competitive, naturalizing, rhizome spread, and rough and tumble to describe them. But, don't let that scare you, colonizing plants make good garden friends.

Trust me, I'm a gardener!
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 a comment when you add your url to Mr Linky.



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.