Wildflower Wednesday: Clustered Mountain Mint

 Pycnanthemum muticum is quite possibly a pollinator perfect plant.

But you don't have to take my word for this! Just google Mountain Mint and every nursery selling it, State Native Plant Society or blogger who writes about it extols its insect attracting virtues. Trust me and others, this is the best mountain mint species for attracting and supporting pollinating insects! Here's more! The researchers at Penn State's The Pollinator Trial found that Clustered Mountain Mint was the best plant for flowering longevity; for pollinator visitor diversity; for sheer number of insect visitors (78); and, for sheer number of bee and syrphid visitors. Wowzer!

fly visiting for nectar

If that's not enough to garner your attention, check out its showy silver bracts that highlight the dense clusters of small pink spotted flowers. The tiny flowers appear to lay on those silvery modified leaves with their velvety looking texture.

 blooms from summer to early fall

I planted it before I knew it was a pollinator magnet or saw the silvery bracts and the cute flowers. I fell in love with the silvery gray seed head that stood straight and tall and grabbed my attention across the nursery aisle. I had to have it in my garden!

The seedheads add structure to a winter yard and the seeds feed small songbirds.

That was well over a dozen years ago and it's still here.

Originally it was planted in the Garden of Benign Neglect, but, I wanted to be able to observe all the insect visitors, so I transplanted it along the front walk. It's shadier there than what the mint prefers, but, I still get to see insect activity. Visitors who walk to the front porch might accidentally brush against the leaves and release a wonderful minty fragrance. When I am out there I deliberately reach down to release the scent...It's one of my favorite fragrances in the garden.

The flowers are the tiniest little spotted tubular blooms clustered together to make it easy for the pollinators to stop by for a snack

This might be a good time to talk about mints. They have a well deserved reputation for aggressive spreading.  "Unlike true mints (Mentha species), blunt mountain mint is not invasive although it will slowly spread by rhizomes. Unwanted spreading of this species can be controlled by cutting of the underground rhizomes by a spade."  Although, I don't consider it invasive, some of you might. I don't mind a ground covering of this fantastic pollinator plant.

 

Mountain mint with aster and river oats

I also planted it in the sunnier front garden. It has not outcompeted New York Aster, River oats or Goldenrod. Plant them together if you have the space and let them duke it out. You can always edit them later. If you haven't the space try planting it in a large container and set that in the garden. Mountain mint would look beautiful with Joe-pye weed, Red Cardinal Flower, Great Blue Lobelia, Purple Cone Flower, sunflowers (Helianthus) and Black eyed Susan. Plant spring blooming wildflowers with it to insure you have blooming flowers all season long.

Please close your eyes and picture mountain mint blowing in the breeze with bees and butterflies dancing above it. You can smell its minty aroma. It's delightful. Now go find some plants to add to your garden!
 

The Particulars

 Pycnanthemum muticum  

Family: Lamiaceae  

Common name:  Clustered Mountain Mint, blunt mountain mint. Pycnanthemum, means densely flowered  

Hardiness zones 3 to 9 

Range: a native range as far north as Maine, south to Georgia, with a western range into eastern Texas. This species is listed as threatened in Kentucky, Michigan, and New York.

 Height:  1 to 3 foot 

Spread:  1 to 3 foot 

Bloom Time: June to September 

Bloom Description: tiny pink spotted flowers 

Sun: Full sun to part shade; edge of woodland 

Water:  Easy to grow in almost any average to fertile, well-drained soil. Although it prefers moist soil it has tolerated our dry summer months...caveat,  dry not drought. 

Maintenance: Let it go and don't worry, unless it's too dry. If you have a smaller garden plant it in a container.  

Comments: Mountain Mint is a perfect Clay and Limestone rough and tumble take care of itself wildflower. It is a good choice for a wildlife garden, meadow, butterfly and pollinator garden.  It's a fabulous nectar plant. Mass plantings/letting it spread will bring in the most insect visitors.   Wildlife value: Excellent nectar and pollen source for lots of garden visitors including beneficial insects, and bees, beneficial wasps, flies, beetles, skippers and small butterflies (especially hairstreaks) frequent the blossoms. Seeds  are eaten by small songbirds. Stems and seedheads provide cover for insects and other critters during the winter 

Extra: It's an insect repellent! Try rubbing bruised leaves and stems on your clothing to deter chiggers and mosquitoes.

Welcome to Wildflower Wednesday. It's the fourth Wednesday of each month and time to celebrate wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. I am always glad when you stop by and I so appreciate when you make a comment. 

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

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 favorite late blooming Asteracea

I appreciate flowers that bloom later in Autumn and that's exactly what I've come to expect from our star, Symphyotrichum praealtum. 

 Symphyotrichum praealtum is a tall grass prairie native that is harder to find than a tall grass prairie in Tennessee. It's listed as an endangered and threatened species in several states, including Tennessee, and in several Canadian provinces. (Go here to read about rescue efforts in Canada.) 

Luckily for me, a blogging friend generously shared several starts of the plant she calls 'Miss Bessie'. I am happy to say they have bloomed at Clay and Limestone for over a dozen years.

 It's ironic and wonderful that an endangered Middle Tennessee wildflower found its way home via North Carolina.

Having flowers in bloom as close to year round as is possible in my middle Tennessee garden is important. I garden with pollinators in mind. They're active as soon as there are blooming flowers. In my garden, that means small flies and gnats will be buzzing around the late winter blooming witch hazels in January and February. Pollinator action 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, skippers, and Hummingbirds are busy visiting every plant that offers nectar and/or pollen. Come fall, the rush to get ready for winter ramps up the activity and the little ex-asters are covered with every imaginable pollinating critter.

Long-tailed Skipper/Urbanus proteus on Willow-leaf aster

After the ex-asters fade Symphyotrichum praealtum/Willowleaf aster bursts into blooms. 

Suffice it to say that it reigns supreme as my longest blooming rough and tumble wildflower, often continuing to bloom after freezing temperatures. Rough and tumble wildflowers are simple flowers that haven't had their best characteristics hybridized out of them. They bloom their hearts out and require no special care. That's Willow-leaf aster to a T.

 'Miss Bessie' begins blooming in mid to late October just as the Little ex-asters are starting to fade and continues to bloom through much of November.  The inflorescence consists of a series of leafy flower clusters with the lowermost branches generally being the longest. The stalks of the flowering heads are moderately to densely hairy. The hairless, leaf-like bracts (phyllaries) surrounding the flower heads are borne in 4-6 strongly graduated series; each has a small, green, diamond-shaped zone towards the tip. The flower heads have 20-35 outer florets with pale blue-violet rays; the central yellow disc florets number 20-30 and become purple/ brown once pollinated or aged.

The common name for our star is Willowleaf, named for the shape of the leaves, which are said to resemble willow tree leaves. The upright stems are smooth, waxy and usually 50 to 150 cm tall, with alternate, narrow leaves that attach directly to the stem with no stalk or only a short taper from the leaf. Leaves on the lower part of the plant may grow up to 14 cm long and 1 cm wide, while leaves on the upper and middle branches are shorter. (source) It's not unusual for Willowleaf plants to lose the lower leaves as the season progresses. This is especially true in my garden during dry periods.

 

Willowleaf aster is native to much of the eastern and central United States (including Texas), to several northern Mexican states, and to the extreme southern portion of Ontario, Canada. It has been introduced to central Europe. It's found growing in moist, open habitats including wet prairies and meadows, shores, oak savannahs, ditches and roadsides. It is not a Xeric plant!

Symphyotrichum praealtum often forms dense clonal colonies, spreading aggressively by rhizomes. The species does not self-pollinate; cross-pollination with a genetically distinct plant is required for the production of seeds.* The seeds are wind-dispersed. In some areas, this species may be the latest-flowering plant, which may limit the number of insects available to serve as pollinators.  (source)

I appreciate wildflowers that have good wildlife value and Willowleaf aster is an extremely important food source for pollinators still out and about on those beautiful warm fall days. One source suggests that it's a go to food source for migrating Monarch Butterflies. If you're fortunate to live along the Monarch Trail and have space/don't mind editing a clonal spreader then plant this beauty. Plant this beauty even if you don't live along the Trail. I don't and I am so glad that on warmer fall days the bumbles, Metallic green bees and my neighbors visiting honeybees have a food source.

All the pollinators adore this beauty. By all, I mean every Bumble, tiny little fly, small bee or Skipper that's in the garden can be found nectaring on the sweet lilac-blue flowers from the time the sun moves past the canopy trees and warms up the garden, until it sets and everything cools off.

sleeping bumble

 

Willowleaf aster is THE gathering place for all the bumbles at the end of a hard day! Bumbles are the last to leave my garden at night and it's not unusual to find them slumbering on the flowers on a cool Autumn morning. I always thank them and wish them a good day, they are quite the hardest workers in my garden.

Willow-leaf aster stands straight and tall until the top heavy blooms have it leaning toward the sun. It sways in the slightest breeze and looks good with native grasses and other forbs. Mine compete with Solidago, Chasmanthium latifolium, Panicum vergatum, and other Symphyotrichums. Like other asters it will spread vegetatively and by seed. You may have to edit, but, your gardening friends will love when you gift them this aster, but, probably not nearly as much as their pollinators will.

xoxogail

 

The Particulars  

Botanical name: Symphyotrichum praealtum

Common name: Willowleaf aster, Willow aster

Family: Asteracea

Type: Herbacious perennial

Range:

USDA Zone: 4 to 9

Size:  Height: 2.00 to 5.00 feet Spread: 1.50 to 4.00 feet

Bloom time: October to November/December in Middle Tennessee

Bloom description: Blue to purple daisy-like composite flowers about ½–¾" across. Each flower has 20-30 has lavender (less often white) ray florets surrounding numerous yellow disk florets that eventually become reddish purple.

Sun: Full sun, half sun

Maintenance: Water when very dry; divide yearly

Habitat: Wet low ground, moist meadows, prairie swales, stream and pond edges, open thickets, and roadsides; loamy soil. Please note: NOT a xeric plant.

Faunal associations: Many kinds of insects visit the flowers, including long-tongued bees, short-tongued bees, flies, butterflies, and skippers. Among the bees, this includes such visitors as honeybees, bumblebees, Halictine bees, and some Andrenid bees that fly late in the season. Some Syrphid flies and beetles may feed on the pollen, otherwise these insects seek nectar; bees also collect pollen for their larvae. The caterpillars of the butterflies Chlosyne nycteis (Silvery Checkerspot) Phyciodes tharos (Pearl Crescent) feed on the foliage, as well as the caterpillars of several species of moths. (source)

Comments: Deer and rabbits usually leave this one alone. Rhizomatous/Clonal so it needs an unrelated plant to cross pollinate.  

The Willow-leafAster can be distinguished from other asters (Symphyotrichum spp.) by the conspicuous reticulated pattern on the lower surface of its leaves.

Companion plants: Any native grasses, especially tall prairie grasses. Goldenrods, Sunflowers, Rudbeckias, Boltonia, Amsonia.

Uses: Rain gardens, pollinator and butterfly gardens, borders, shorelines. Tolerates temporary flooding. 

 Seeds: Prairie Moon Nursery, Prairie Legacy, Inc

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 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.

Salvia elegans is delightful in a pollinator garden

 I believe that adding pollen and nectar rich non-natives enhances a pollinator habitat...especially the ones that bloom in mid fall. Our middle south growing season is long; bees that are provisioning their nests for the winter and migrating butterflies and hummingbirds need all the help that they can get in blooming plants. Pineapple sage is especially valuable at this time of year. This fabulous native of South America blooms in early fall just when the garden needs a jolt of delicious red and the hummers moving south need nectar to fuel their flight.

Salvia elegans was planted in 2009 and survived a mild winter with only leaves for mulch, but, a normal and wet winter killed it and now it lives in containers from spring until the first killing frosts. I say killing frosts because I protect all my blooming plants, annuals and perennials, with old bed sheets if we are continuing to have warm days and only an occasional fall frost.

Salvia elegans is culinary plant that I don't even think about eating. Even if they are said to be tasty in a salad, I won't be picking the flowers, not after waiting all season for them to bloom.

The Cloudless Sulphur, Phoebis sennae nectaring on Salvia elegans

 Once they bloom the Cloudless Sulphurs are all over them. That's one reason they're in my garden. The other one is that they are attractive to hummingbirds and are blooming when they migrate through middle Tennessee.

I think of Pineapple sage as a hummingbird and butterfly plant and was surprised to see this bee nectaring.

Pineapple sage is fast growing, but slow to bloom. I tuck them into containers and patiently wait for the fall show. The 3 inch plants I planted in spring are 3 foot tall and 2 foot wide with bright green leaves that are a foil for the scarlet red flowers. In a sunnier garden with moist soil they can reach sub-shrub size.  Already this season there have been butterfly, hummers and bees nectaring on the scarlet blooms.

Critters beware! A Crab spider is lurking.

 It goes without saying that its best in fall when it sends up those vivid red flowers. If you want gorgeous summer color plant S elegans ‘Golden Delicious', the fire-engine red blooms and chartreuse leaves are incredible and look smashing with the purple blues of the ex-asters.


 The Particulars in case you wanted more info!

Family: Lamiaceae with typical characteristics of opposite leaves and square stems.
Genus/species: Salvia elegans
Common Name: pineapple sage
Type: Herbaceous/shrubby perennial
Zone zones 8 to 10:
Height: 3.00 to 4.00 feet
Spread: 2.00 to 3.00 feet
Leaves: ovate, soft-hairy, light green (to 3” long).
Flower: Two-lipped bright scarlet red flowers (to 1” long), in loose whorls, bloom on terminal spikes to 8” long from late summer into fall.
Bloom Time: August to October
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium, well draining
Comments: An easy peasy plant for middle south and southern gardens. Folks gardening further north might have to move it inside to appreciate the bloom. They may bloom too late for hummers, but, you can enjoy the beauty and add the flowers to your salads. I have been known to cover them when a frost is forecast and warm weather is expected to return.  
Attracts: Hummingbirds, Butterflies and bees


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.

Wildflower Wednesday: Wild Senna

 Senna marilandica, Senna hebecarpa

Let me be absolutely honest with you from the start. I have no idea if my plants are Senna hebecarpa or Senna marilandica. For many of us they're indistinguishable from one another until their seeds ripen. The pods look the same, but they behave differently, Senna hebecarpa seeds will be expelled from their pods, while the seeds of Senna marilandica will stay tightly enclosed within the seed pod for months. I'll come back and relabel this post as soon as I know which Senna I have.

In the meantime, our Wildflower Wednesday star will be known as Wild Senna, the beautiful.

Wild Senna is a perfect plant for any gardener who loves pollinators, especially lovers of the bumbles. It seems that bumbles are picky eaters and prefer plants with nutrient-rich pollen. Wild Senna is one of their preferred pollen sources.

How do I know this?

 A "2016 study by researchers at Penn State found that bumble bees preferentially visit flowers that produce pollen that has higher protein-to-lipid ratios, and wild senna was the favorite of bumble bees amongst the plants used in the study." In case you're curious,
spiderwort and Culver's root were also among the highest visited plants in the study.

Wild senna is a member of the Fabaceae/pea family and native to eastern North America. Long lived and tall (could be 7 foot) it prefers sun/part sun and uniformly moist soil to thrive. Our star has flowers that are unusual for a member of the Pea family. Rather than curling to form the banner, wings and keel that are common Pea family characteristics,Wild Senna’s petals are open and distinct. It does have other characteristics that make it standout as a Fabaceae family member: pea like pods and compound leaves.

Source

Bumblebees and sweat bees are favorite visitors, although, bumbles are the primary pollinators for Wild Senna. Bumbles visit for the aforementioned nutrient rich pollen. The collected pollen feeds the growing larvae and provides provision for the long winter.

Like Partridge peas, Wild Senna does not produce nectar in their flowers, instead, the 'nectar' is found in little bulbous growths at the base of each stem called an 'extrafloral nectary'. These nectaries attract ants, flies, wasps and beetles. Occasionally, butterfly visit them. So far, I've only seen these large ants and a few smaller ones. I've seen seen Cloudless Sulphur butterfly flitting about the garden, but, I've not seen them on the Wild Senna. Which surprises me, since Wild Senna is a host plant for their cats.

It's a great plant with excellent wildlife value. 

There's only one problem with Wild Senna! It doesn't bloom nearly as long as I want it to! But it does have height, good looking compound leaves and blooms exactly when Bumbles need the pollen the most....Late summer when many are provisioning their nests for winter (especially in gardens further north of me).

aren't the seed pods cool

The flowers give way to pendant, pea-like seed pods which turn black in fall and are either expelled (if S hebecarpa) or persist (S marilandica) on the plants after the plant has died back to the ground in late fall.

I think the plant in seed is a beautiful as in flower.

This is a plant that belongs in every garden, especially pollinator gardens. I've only seen it offered online (most often as seeds). It's frustrating to see the same old same old perennials at nurseries when there are fantastic native plants that make the most sense for our gardens...but, I digress.

source

I've been imagining it as a replacement for the notorious Forsythia  Hedge (slowly removing). I can see it now, Wild Senna with it's beautiful compound leaves and stellar butter yellow flowers with Panicums, Indian Grass, Verbesinas, New York Ironweed, Joe pye weed, Boneset, and the ex-Asters. Note that all those plants prefer moist soil, which I don't have, but, oh doesn't that sound like a beautiful garden bed? 

This fall, I will sow seeds near the ex-asters and the Texas Star Hibiscus (they're located on a soaker hose route). I think they will dance well together. What do you think of planting  Packera aurea at it's feet for spring color?

Which ever Senna this turns out to be, it's so very welcome in my garden.
xoxogail


The Particulars

Family: Fabaceae
Common Name: Wild senna
Botanical Name: Senna hebecarpa or Senna marilandica
Distribution: Senna hebecarpa is native across the Northeastern U.S. from the Great Lakes as far south as Georgia. Senna marilandica has a broader range extending further west and south. It is generally found on disturbed sites, moist meadows, pastures, fields or roadsides in full or partial sun. It often flourishes within the floodplain of rivers. While it prefers moist soils it will also grow on dry sites.
Light Requirements: Full Sun, Half Sun/Half Shade
Soil: tolerating wet and dryer soils (once established) 
Flower: Small butter-­‐yellow flowers that grow in a profusion at the top of the stems.
Height: 3 to 7 foot tall
Bloom Time: July and August in middle Tennessee, I hope into the fall
Fruit: Senna marilandica~pendant, pea-like seed pods (to 4" long) which turn black in fall and persist on the plants well after the plant has in the normal course died back to the ground. Senna hebecarpa The dark brown seedpods are about 10 centimeters long when fully mature in September – October. The seed pods have 10 – 18 segments and split explosively when ripe.
Host Plant: Cloudless Sulphur, Sleepy Orange, and Little Yellow, Ceraunus Blue and Gray Hairstreak  caterpillars. A good nectar source that also attracts many pollinators in addition to butterflies. 
Companion planting:  Switch Grass, Indian Grass, wingstem, New York Ironweed, Joe pye weed, Boneset, Asters. To be sure you have good color in the Spring you can use golden Groundsel which flowers in late May into June. Wild Senna is an excellent plant for a wet meadow planting or garden border. Put it in the middle or rear of the bed. Range: Senna hebecarpa is native across the Northeastern U.S. from the Great Lakes as far south as Georgia. Senna marilandica has a broader range extending further west and south.
Comments: Is not grazed by mammals.

****I declare that our wildflower star star is Senna marilandica!****

 The seed pods are the giveaway to me!
 
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.