Little Ex-Asters Everywhere

Ex-aster time is the best time to be in the garden. The days are warm and Autumn angle of the sun makes everything glow.

Leaves from the oak and hickory canopy have begun to fall and the sunlight that gets blocked all summer is now able to reach the woodland floor where it warms up the garden and spotlights these little beauties.

Even on cool mornings the sunny spots are alive with bees and other pollinators. You have to be very patient to capture a photo of the Bumbles, they're very busy in their mad dash to collect pollen and nectar to fortify their nests for the winter.

 Later in the day the skippers and Sulphurs can be seen flitting from flower to flower.

 Bee mimics, like the fly above are busy nectaring, too.

Green metallic bees are all over the little ex-asters.

 Although, the Bumbles are my favorites, I am pretty crazy about all the critters that visit and live in this garden. The little bees make me smile, they always travel in a pack. If you see one step back and look around and you'll see dozens of them.

 The ex-asters introduced me to the Bumbles and we've been friends ever since...

Asters (as they were once known) and other Central Basin natives grew with happy abandon in the forested woodland where this garden now stands. Sixty years ago a neighborhood was carved from the woodland and a house was built. Homeowners came and went, while the asters grew quietly on the woodland  edge. Thirty years ago almost to the day, my husband I bought this garden and this brand new gardener fell head over heals in love with the blue clouds of flowers that were covered with bees and butterflies.

 I built my garden around the flowers. I've allowed them to root and seed themselves with abandon.

They've spilled into the paths, crept into the wildflower beds and cozied up to the benches all over Clay and Limestone.

Each fall I wait with anticipation for those first blooms. With them come the pollinators. It's not that there aren't pollinators during the spring or summer, it's knowing that these will be the last until next spring that makes my heart soar and finds me dashing to the garden first thing in the morning.

What a beautiful dance. Swaying flower stalks and busy bees.

It's been a happy and successful relationship, if I do say so myself!

xoxogail

PS All the pollinators~ Bumble Bees, honeybees, Green metallic bees, hover flies, Miner bees, and large Leaf-Cutting bees, bee flies, beetles, butterflies, and skippers that visit the flowers for nectar and/or pollen are essential for cross pollination. So never, ever, ever, ever use pesticides if you want pollinators to pollinate your ex-asters and other plants!

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.

Fall is the best time to bee in the garden!

Sunday was the best day so far this fall for the gardener, the bees and the little asters to play and dance together. It was a wonderful October day with sunshine and a warm breeze. The soil was still damp from the deluge the week before and the shrubs and trees were just beginning to wear their fall colors.

The little asters were dancing in the breeze while Bumblebees flew from flower to flower.  I snapped hundreds of photos but, only a few were in focus. They refused to pose for me, they were caught up in their mad dash to collect pollen and nectar to supply their nests before the cold weather arrives.

But, the ex-asters (Symphyotrichums and Eurybias) were blooming their pretty flower heads off and they were the perfect subject!

If you are new to Clay and Limestone you might not know that the little asters were the first wildflowers I met at Clay and Limestone in mid October 28 years ago. Back then the yard was a weedy mess of non-native lawn grasses and native sedges and Danthonia (I had yet to discover). On the edges among the forsythia and bush honeysuckles were blue and lilac flowers that arched over the lawn and seemed to be covered with bumble bees and honeybees. They were dancing in the autumn breeze.

They completely captured my heart, so, I built my garden for those flowers and the bees.

I move them around, I scatter seeds, I let the wind carry the fluffy seeds wherever it takes them and I add new species that make sense for this garden. By September Symphyotrichum shortii, S cordifolium, Eurybia divaricata, S lateriflorum and S ericoides var. ericoides, S novae-angliae, S praealtum~Miss Bessie, S oblongifolius, S patens and S priceae have begun to bloom. They've spilled onto the paths, they've crept into the wildflower beds and cozied up to the chairs and benches all over Clay and Limestone creating a dancing blue cloud and a buffet for pollinators.

It's a lovely sight and you're welcome to stop by.
oxoxgail

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 Different Kind of Aster, It Clambers, It Climbs, It's Fragrant!

Sometimes we make a decision to plant a native that's not from our neck of the woods and might  require a bit more work care than usual. That's what I decided when I saw Carolina Climbing Aster at my favorite native plant nursery. Here's my Wildflower Wednesday story.

Of course it came to live in my garden~who wouldn't want a climbing aster

I was smitten the first time I saw Carolina Climbing Aster and thought it would be perfect for a sunny
south-west facing wall right off the driveway. Although, the color of the brick is rather orange, I didn't care if there was color clash, I had hopes that after a few seasons it would cover the trellis and obscure the wall with its lovely foliage and bloom. What I didn't take into consideration was that this delightful plant hailed from fresh water marshes along the southeastern coast from the Carolinas to Florida or that the next few summers in Middle Tennessee would bring moisture loving plants to their knees. I just knew that I loved it and like many a gardener before me, I fell for its pretty face, a pretty aster face in this case.

That was 2009 and I am happy to report that it is alive and blooming in my garden today. Carolina aster has survived drought and flooding and has only required that I make sure it has good sun, a mulch to keep the soil moist and a big drink of water once a week during our hot, dry summers. I think it has been worth a little effort.

 resembles Symphyotrichum paten's flower and clasping leaf form.

What makes this aster especially unique is that it's the only woody perennial scandent (climbing) aster in North America. 

Ampelaster carolinianus has sweet honey scented pink lilac flowers that bloom in late fall~October in my garden and November in warmer climates. Each flower is about one inch wide, and like other composite members of the Asteraceae family, each of the flowers has many tiny disk and ray flowers that make nectar and pollen for late visiting pollinators. Pretty flower faced Climbing Aster is a wonderful addition to a pollinator garden with its sweet honey scent, late season nectar and pollen source and most delightful of all, it's a host plant for the American Painted Lady butterfly caterpillar.

Because it's a southeast coastal native of freshwater marshes or other damp places, it can take a saturated soil, but, it's equally happy in good garden soil that is well mulched to keep the roots moist. It does bloom best when the summers are wet (and we've had a good wet summer), but, to be honest, I need to water it weekly most July and August. I am happy it has survived 4 years of crazy Middle South summers and winters.

If you're considering adding this sweetie to your garden please note that it hasn't tendrils to help it climb, so you'll need to provide a support with widely spaced slats for it to weave in and out as it grows. I think of it as a much branched sprawling sub-shrub that clambers up, over and through a trellis or vegetation. Let it climb or let romp through the border either way it looks good.

Bottom Line Info:

• It will grow as far south as Zone 9 and with protection as far north as Zone 6.
• It is by NO stretch of the imagination a xeric plant! It hails from the Southeastern US (Carolinas to Florida).
• Climbing aster "climbs" without the tendrils or other structures that one normally associates with vines. As such, it is not too aggressive, but, it can spread by seed. 
• It can be grown easily from seed collected in the winter, or from cuttings taken spring through summer.  
• It is deciduous, but will stay green well into early winter and remains leafless for only a few weeks in zones 8 or 9. 
• It prefers a mostly sunny location and will not bloom well if given too much shade.
• A vigorous grower when happy, you might want to consider pruning it to maintain shape and size. Prune in late winter to control the growth. It flowers on new growth so chop away! To create an attractive self-supporting sub-shrub for the perennial border,  cut it back for several years to shape and control.
• Like all asteraceae, it attracts many pollinators looking for nectar and pollen and is a caterpillar food plant for the American Painted Lady butterfly.
• It has a sweet honey like fragrance.
• Fall blooming until frost for all the bees and late visiting butterflies.

 I am pretty sure you understand the hows and whys that led me to toy a little with my garden guidelines. You've probably, already figured out that Carolina Aster is not just a pretty face, she's also a host plant for a butterfly that visits my garden and is a nectar and pollen plant for the other pollinators. In other words she's a perfect addition to a wildlife garden like mine.

That's my Wildflower Wednesday story and I am sticking to it. Now let me here yours!
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. 

*The mixture: Symphyotrichum shortii, S cordifolium, Eurybia divaricata, S lateriflorum and S ericoides var. ericoides, S novae-angliae, S praealtum~Miss Bessie, S oblongifolius, S patens and S priceae 

Plants can be obtained locally at GroWild Native Nursery, online at Plant Delight Nursery and Brushwood Nursery.



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.