January 2025: First Wednesday Taking Care of Nature Challenge

Dear Clay and Limestone readers, I've been assessing whether to keep posting the monthly nature challenge. The overarching theme of this blog for a very long time has been about taking care of nature. It's what I do as a gardener, it's what I write about and it's what I encourage all of you to do. January 2025 will be the start of the fourth year of the taking care of nature challenges and it's still relevant in the midst of the many challenges facing wildlife today, so I've decided to keep on keeping on.

As a reader, I want your feedback and input.  I'll be asking questions in each post. I want to know if enjoyed the post? Was it helpful? What did you find most insightful about it? What questions do you still have about this topic? What topics would you like me to cover? Any other input/feedback you have will be appreciated. I hope you comment and share your thoughts, your frustrations, your successes in your garden or within your community.

I hope you know you are important to this blogger. You are after all a big reason why I continue to blog.

May this be the start of a hope filled year for all of us. Happy New Year.

xoxogail

The First Wednesday Nature Challenge:

The first part of this challenge is to do something or even lots of things each month that supports nature. Be it for the critters living or visiting our gardens, volunteering at a nature center or joining an advocacy group. Adding native wildflowers, shrubs and trees that make sense for our ecoregion is a good place to start or continue (as the case may be). 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. In fact, there's an incomplete list in this very post!

The second part of the challenge is to post about it somewhere: Your blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even your neighborhood listserve. Share your activities with everyone. 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/citizens can be for pollinators, birds, insects and mammals, including humans, that live all around us. 

Why now? Our neighborhoods are changing. Every day an older home along with many (if not all) of the mature oak, hickory, maple, Eastern cedar, hackberry and other trees are cut down. Insects, birds, even mammals lose their home site and food supplies when trees are lost. During construction soil is compacted by bulldozers, trucks and piles of debris causing runoff; surface runoff that can carry pollution to streams and rivers. It's extremely important that information about the role trees play in our ecosystem is shared. Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife.

The "bee lawns" in my neighborhood that are composed of Claytonia, Salvia lyrata, Ruellia humilis, fleabane, Western Daisy, Violets, self-heal, clovers, native grasses  and sedges are disappearing. Instead, they're 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 all our neighbors, new and old, 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 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.

GBBD July 2018

Welcome to the July Garden Blogger Bloom Day at Clay and Limestone. It's hot and humid and while many flowers thrive in these conditions, it's a challenge for others. I am hoping the Phloxes will last a bit longer, but, if they fade away we will have the Rudbeckias to celebrate later this month.

Without further chatter, here are some of the blooming natives in the garden.

Liatris spicata the dense blazing star or prairie gay feather, the blossoms begin opening from the top of the spike downward. Bees and butterfly love it. I plan to add even more, especially the fall blooming Liatris that are also native to middle Tennessee.

Echinacea purpurea 'Ruby Star' with a bee friend.  I love purple Coneflowers and wish I could get a huge stand of them...There's not enough sun and winter drainage is a problem, but, I do keep planting them.

Lonicera sempervirens 'Major Wheeler' has been blooming since early April...The hummers stop by everyday, but first they visit the Monarda!

 Bee balm/Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline' ...I wish I had a hummer to show you here, but they visit when I am working in the garden and not when I am photographing it!

Cup plant/Silphium perfoliatum is one tall wildflower! This just opened and there were no bees visiting the morning I took this photo! This is a great plant for naturalizing; for a screen or the back of the border.

Phyla lanceolata/Lanceleaf fogfruit, a cutie pie relative of Verbena was the June Wildflower Wednesday star and is still blooming.

Helenium ‘Marti Gras’ — Yellow flowers aging to orange, rich chocolate brown centers, 3 – 4’ tall. Keep the soil moist and spent flowers deadheaded for long bloom. I love Sneezeweed, unfortunately some of the best cultivars never make it to the Nashville nurseries.

Phlox paniculata 'Jeana'. This cultivar was discovered growing along the Harpeth River near Nashville, Tennessee and named after its discoverer, Jeana Prewitt. It's a butterfly magnet and does not mildew!

Coreopsis rosea, a sweet flower that will bloom most of the summer if deadheaded or cut back. I find it's easier to keep it happy in a container than planted in my too dry clay summer soil. The little bees love it.

Phlox paniculata, let's just call it a seedling of a cultivar! Carpenter bees are notorious nectar robbers. That big body makes it hard to fit into many flowers and they will drill or cut into the corolla of a plant to get at the nectar. Not to worry, there are plenty of other visitors to pollinate them.

Chamaecrista fasciculata/Partridge pea, is an annual and a bumble bee magnet. Readily self-seeds in medium to dry soils, growing to 2’ in height. It's the host plant for Cloudless sulfur butterfly caterpillar. I expect to always have it in my garden. One plant in the Susan's bed is now 10! The leaves close up/fold up at dusk.

 Phlox 'Jeana' again...The Swallowtail butterfly love her. The plant that's budding next to 'Jeana' is Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers'.

Non natives in the garden blooming this month

Hemerocallis 'Autumn Minaret' introduced in 1951 by Stout. It continues to be popular because it blooms late; is extremely tall (up to 66 inches); and, is fragrant. I love all that, but, appreciate the simple flower shape. I hope it reblooms and that the deer don't discover it.

 African Blue Basil is a hybrid of two different basil plants that has inherited a camphor flavor from one of its parents. Although, edible, some say it makes a tasty pesto,  I grow it because it's a bee magnet and flowers all summer.

Happy Bloom Day my dears,  now take the magic carpet ride to May Dreams Gardens where host extraordinaire Carol links to gardens all over this great big beautiful world.

xoxogail

PS If you want to grow beautiful plants that attract pollinators to your garden you must never, ever, ever, ever, ever use pesticides. I really do mean never!

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.

Gloriosa Daisies for National Pollinator Week

I am grooving on the 'Irish Eyes' and 'Indian Summer' Black-eyed Susans I planted last month.

 Seriously, just look at that emerald green central cone on 'Irish Eyes' and you'll know one of the reason I invited it to the garden.

'Irish Eyes' with that green center

I love all the Susans and have a special place in my heart for Rudbeckia hirta and  Gloriosa Daisy varieties specifically.

'Indian Summer' displaying hairy parentage

 Rudbeckia hirta flowers have been described as course, hairy and common...You know, that makes me appreciate them more.

'Cherry Brandy' and 'Prairie Sunset'

The Gloriosas have most of the characteristics of their R hirta parent, except the flowers are three times as large and their colors are mixtures of pure yellow or bicolored, many with dark mahogany red splotches at the base of the petals.

Yes, I do love the many colorful varieties and  the big flowers, but I also love that they're all rough and tumble flowers that can take the heat and humidity of our Middle South summers and continue to bloom until frost (deadhead them).

The cats of the Silvery Checkerspot feed on the leaves and nectar at the flowers

Pretty flower faces are delightful, but, you know me, plants that are invited to Clay and Limestone also have to have good wildlife value and Gloriosa Daisies do. Butterflies, bees of all sizes, wasps, beetles and even little loper caterpillars rely on the many Susans for food, and shelter.

Plant them in your garden and sit back and watch the pollinators. I've already seen small Carpenter Bees, Green Metallic bees, Bumbles and skippers visiting the flowers to feed and/or gather pollen.

Now get your wildflower on and share a favorite or two for National Wildflower Week!
xoxogail 

PS If you want to help pollinators this week and every week of the year, then, never, ever, ever, ever, ever use pesticides. Also, make sure the plants you bring into your garden have never been treated with neonicotinoids.

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: Keeper of Bees

I am a keeper of bees, but, not a beekeeper.

There are no honeybee hives in my garden, although, honeybees regularly visit. Several neighbors have hives and I like to think their honey is Clay and Limestone tasty.

I am the keeper of this habitat called Clay and Limestone. It's become my life's work.

Providing a healthy habitat for native bees and other pollinators has been important to me since the Autumn day I noticed that the garden was filled with buzzing critters. They were nectaring on the ex-asters that lived on the edges of the yard tucked under the shrubs. I had forgotten all about them while I struggled to grow plants that made no sense for this shallow soil.

The plants were alive with activity, there were tiny bees of many kinds, flies that looked like bees and wasps, and bumbles of every size. It was a native plant wake up call and it didn't take me long to fall head over heals for the critters and the wildflowers that brought them to the garden.

You could easily say that wildflowers opened my eyes to all the critters that live in and visit this garden.

I noticed which plants they nectared on, which plants they needed for raising their young, and, which plants had nuts, fruits and berries for the birds and small mammals. I planted as many as I could pry into the shallow soil.

Once you have a garden filled with native plants, you can't help but notice that there's always something happening. Birds are bathing or drinking at the baths; spiders are building webs to collect unsuspecting insects; beetles are mating; and, the bees are everywhere.

I enjoy all the critters (okay, I am not too crazy about the voles, they keep eating my favorite plants) but, the pollinators, especially the bees, have a special place in my heart.

Pollinators are active as soon as there are blooming flowers. Here that means small flies will be buzzing around the late winter blooming witch hazels in January. It gets busier when the spring ephemerals bloom and the mason bees and honeybees arrive. From then on, bumbles, green metallic bees, mason bees, big and tiny carpenter bees, sweat bees, flower flies, beetles, moths, butterflies and skippers are busy visiting anything that offers nectar and/or pollen. But, come fall, the rush to get ready for winter ramps up the activity and the little ex-asters, which are some of the last natives blooming in this garden, are covered with every kind of pollinating creature.

Autumn is a delightfully magic time.

You can be a keeper of native bees and other pollinating critters, it's not difficult at all. 

The Golden Rules for a pollinator friendly garden

*Choose plants that make sense for your garden, then plant lots and lots of them. Plant at least three of each plant, more if you have the space! Many bees practice flower constancy, working one flower type at a time, so give them a swath of these plants to visit. Make sure the plants are nectar and/or pollen rich with good wildlife value. (Central Basin natives make sense in a Middle Tennessee garden)

*Plant host plants~don't stop at nectar and pollen plants.  A healthy garden is diverse, so plan for all the critters that live or visit. The Monarch butterfly is a great example of a pollinator that needs a specific plant, in this case milkweeds, in order to reproduce and live in your garden. Some bees have plant preferences, but most are generalists and are happy visiting any flowers.

*Avoid hybrid strains with 'doubled' flowers, they often lack pollen, fragrance and nectar as a result of the hybridization. A good way to check a flower out before you bring it home is to observe it for any pollinator visitors while shopping at the nursery. I stay away from pretty flowers that have no visitors and stock up on those that are pollinator hotels!

 *Plan for bloom from late spring to early winter.  Since 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-anemone) are perfect plants for a variety of pollinators.

*Bee sure to include water.  Shallow birdbaths, mud puddles or even just a small saucer with sand and rocks helps supply pollinators with the necessary water and minerals they need when ever they are out and about, but, especially in the long, hot, dry summers that many of us are experiencing.

*Provide nesting sites for a variety of visitors.  Leave a three foot square of bare soil for ground nesting bees and ix-nay on the plastic landscape cloth~bees cannot tunnel through it. Leave decaying logs for beetles and tunneling bees. Build or purchase specialized bee houses. Trust me, building your own Pollinator Condo is a fun project!

*Wait until spring to clean up your garden. Get over thinking that fall means garden clean up time~spring cleaning makes sense! I leave dried flower stalks and grasses standing all winter for hibernating insects. Did you know that many beneficial insects overwinter in decaying leaves and in plant stalks? The one exception is summer phlox~I always cut down and dispose the stalks in the trash to keep the phlox bug from over wintering and decimating the plant the next season.

*Practice peaceful coexistence. Bees sometimes choose to nest in inconvenient places. Rather than exterminating them, think of it as an opportunity to watch and learn about them up close.

As a gardenblogger, I  consider educating others about native bees to be an important job. If you want to help, here's a few things you can do.

Share your knowledge through your blog.
Talk to your gardening friends.
Invite native plant experts and ecologists to speak to your garden clubs.
Request pesticide free plants at garden centers and/or refuse to shop at nurseries that can't or won't acknowledge whether or not their plants are treated with pesticides that are known to be harmful to pollinators.
Plant more native plants.

*Of course, you all know that the very best thing you can do for bees and other pollinators is to never, ever, ever, ever use pesticides! 

xoxogail



Welcome to Wildflower Wednesday and thank you for stopping by to see the native ex-asters and their happy pollinator visitors. October is the best time to see clouds of lilac blue flowers in my garden and I have been thrilled to see that they have been blooming and attracting pollinators despite the drought that has been a challenge most of the summer and fall. It seemed only right to share all those lovely flower faces and the pollinator visitors with you for October's WW post. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I have enjoyed writing it and finding the best photos to illustrate my points! You have seen some of the photos from previous seasons, but, the critters and stellar flowers are in the garden today.

Symphyotrichum is a genus of about 90 species of herbaceous annual and perennial plants that were formerly treated within the genus Aster, but, are now known officially at Clay and Limestone as the ex-asters.  

The ex-asters* in my garden, Symphyotrichum shortii, S cordifolium, S laeve var. laeve, S  novae-angliae, S oblongifolium, S patens, S pilosum, S praealtum, S priceae are all endemic to Middle Tennessee and grow and thrive in the  clay soil and semi-shady to almost full sun conditions of my Zone7 garden (formerly Zone6b). Symphyotrichums are found all over North America and there are many that will grow in your garden.

Many kinds of insects, especially long-tongued bees, small-tongued bees, butterflies, skippers, and flies are attracted to the pollen and nectar of ex-asters and several bees are known to specialize on them. I was excited to learn that the cats of the Silvery Checkerspot and Pearl Crescent feed on the foliage. One can conclude from the long list of critters that feed on all parts of ex-Asters that they have good wildlife value! (Illinois Wildflowers) *Not all of the ex-asters named are shown in this post.


Thanks for joining in and if you are new to Wildflower Wednesday, it's 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 doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. 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.

A conversation about bees

I had an interesting conversation with a new landowner the other day. She and her husband were excited to have moved away from a hip, but, too congested Nashville neighborhood to a sweet farm about 30 minutes away. They loved the country quiet, they loved seeing the stars at night and they were eager to start a garden. She spoke enthusiastically about finding a bee keeper to put hives near their garden. Of course I thought she was going to become a honeybee keeper and said as much, but, she said no, that they weren't interested in beekeeping "only in making sure the garden was pollinated". 

The stems of decaying wildflowers provide homes for overwintering critters

Dear readers, you know me, I took this as an invitation to tell her a little about native bees.

Don't worry if you can't find a beekeeper who wants to take care of bees on your land, you don't need honeybees to pollinate your vegetables, fruits and flowers. All you have to do is create a pollinator friendly garden and the native bees will be busy buzzing around your garden. Native carpenter bees, bumblebees, small carpenter bees, mason bees, flies and beetles do a a grand job of pollinating your garden. In fact, they're even better at pollinating blueberries, watermelons, pumpkins, tomatoes, and squashes than honeybees. 

She was very excited, so, I said, "Here's my card, please check my blog for information about native plants and pollinators and call/email anytime for information or to get together to talk about planting for pollinators."

If you're new to this blog, here's what you need to create a pollinator friendly habitat.

• plant large swathes of nectar and pollen producing plants (Central Basin natives make sense in a Middle Tennessee garden)
• plant host plants~so the offspring of butterfly, beetles and other pollinators can feed
• plan for bloom from late spring to early winter
• bee sure to include water
• provide nesting sites near your garden for a variety of visitors: Build a pollinator condo, leave some bare ground for earth nesting bees and pile decaying logs for beetles who like to tunnel.
• practice peaceful coexistence. Bees sometimes choose to nest in inconvenient places. Rather than exterminating them, think of it as an opportunity to watch and learn about them up close.

My new friend had been paying attention to the news reports about bees and like many people assumed that honeybees are the bee all end all for gardens. Of course, it makes sense that many come to that conclusion...Honeybees have gotten most of the attention. Yes, we should do all we can to save honeybees, let's not forget our native bees in the process. Native pollinators are in peril from loss of habitat and pesticide use. We can help them. We must make sure that everyone knows how important native bees are to our natural ecosystems. After all, hundreds of other species depend upon native bees to pollinate wildflowers, native trees and shrubs.

(Five Things You Can Do Right Now To Save Pollinators)

You and I can make sure that native bees get more attention!

We can share our knowledge through our blogs.
We can talk to our gardening friends.
We can invite native plant experts and ecologists to speak to our garden clubs.
We can request pesticide free plants at garden centers.

Of course you all know that the very best thing you can do for pollinators is to never, ever, ever, ever use pesticides!

 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.

Nashville In Bloom: July GBBD

Sunday morning we headed to downtown Nashville to walk. There's a great pedestrian bridge that crosses the Cumberland River and it's a good place to view the city skyline. The bridge always lives up to its promise of marvelous views and photo ops!

But, we weren't there to just see the Nashville Skyline, we were heading to someplace special.

Just below the bridge on the edge of the river is Cumberland Park.

According to Metro parks literature "Cumberland Park is an innovative play space for children and families incorporating unique play structures and water features to create an exciting new attraction along Nashville’s riverfront.  The park is designed to engage children and adults in a variety of creative play settings and contains a series of play zones that offer a range of both active and passive recreational features such as natural play equipment for children, spray-grounds and water jets, bridges, climbing walls, walking paths, picnic areas, a stage with an open lawn, and a river walk."
 

Echinaceas, spent Coreopsis, emerging Rudbeckias, grasses and sedges

That is certainly true, but, the main attraction for me are the plantings along the Explorer Trail.

Echinacea and native trees

The crushed-stone trail weaves through tree, shrub and meadow plantings that are designed to attract butterflies, bees and other wildlife.

Joe-Pye weed

I think the natives are perfect to share with you for July Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Above is a Eupatorium dubium. I've written about the Joes here.

Clethra alnifolia 'Ruby Spice' is mass planted along one curve in the trail and not only looked spectacular, it was covered with pollinators.

Right now, the Echinaceas are the dominant plant in bloom, but, the Black Eyed Susans, Butterflybush and native grasses are beginning to strut their stuff.

move over Lurie, Nashville has a pretty garden with architectural punctuations!

There were really cool sedges and grasses that I couldn't id in this hillside planting, but, next time I'll take my books with me!

Although, there were many bumblebees all over the plants, there were no butterfly to be seen.

Little Bluestem, a delightful native to Tennessee prairies and prairie remnants,  was planted throughout the trails and walkways. I promise to bring you back here this fall when the late blooming wildflowers and grasses are in full bloom.

Thank you for coming along with me as I explored Nashville's very own little pollinator haven along the Cumberland River.  Now popover to Carol's at May Dreams Gardens to see more gardens and blooming plants from all over this great big beautiful world.

xoxogail

PS Lest you think my garden is bare~Here's a peak

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.