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: A few must have fall blooming Asteraceas for the garden

Asteraceas rock Autumn. They bloom spring and summer here, but, come September they take center stage for all the pollinators, birds and mammals that are preparing for winter.

They may even be my favorite flower family....and what a flowering family it is with over 23,000 recognized species world wide. Here in Tennessee we have 320 to choose among, many of which we will only see if we look for them as we walk trails in wilderness areas or nature preserves.

Many of the Asteraceaes that I love can be found in old fields, prairie remnants and along the roadsides;  plants that until recently have been thought of as weeds.

Goldenrod/Solidago flowers

You've probably heard folks refer to these flowering plants as composites. Sunflower family is another name I've seen used. When plants are classified in a family it's because they have a similar genetic makeup and similar characteristics. Most Asteraceas have characteristics that make identifying them easier. For instance, if you look closely at any of the flowers in this post, you will see that what looks like one single flower is actually a composite of many smaller tube shaped florets. They have disk flowers, ray flowers or a combination of disks and rays. They also have bracts rather than sepals and they need wind or animals to disperse their seeds.

Verbesina virginica with numerous disk florets that are surrounded by ray florets

Most of the Asteraceas in my garden are rough and tumble, take care of themselves beauties that fill an important role in a garden ecosystem. Each one of these darlings provides more pollen and nectar return on investment than many other flowers combined.

numerous gold or yellow disk florets, surrounded by 30 or more ray florets

I think of them as 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

I love this time of year with the attention grabbing Frostweeds, golden yellow of goldenrod, the brilliant pink and purple of the ex-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 our senses and necessary for our garden residents and visitors. 

If you asked me what plants I recommend for a pollinator friendly fall garden, I would tell you that you can't go wrong with the four I'm showcasing today.

You don't have to take my word for it~just walk trails in a local park, visit native plant gardens or check out your local nursery and notice which plants are attracting the most pollinator visitors.

Please enjoy a few more photos of my early fall favorites!

Frostweed

Verbesina virginica with its unusual white ray flowers is found on roadsides, woodlands and waste areas. It's a take care of itself plant that has enormous wildlife value for foraging pollinators (carpenter, honeybees, bumbles and small tongued bees and butterflies) during late summer when gardens are winding down.  It’s such an important food source for Monarch Butterflies that it had been selected as a monitoring plant by Monarch Watch. Frostweed grows in full sun, partial shade, or full shade with minimal watering or care.  Like most rough and tumble wildflowers, it can take care of itself.  Keep in mind that it reproduces very well from seed! The earliest I've seen the flowers open is late August in my Middle South garden and the best bloom is mid-September. Once in bloom you can expect them to be visited by an array of pollinators. The foliage is a larval host for the Summer Azure, Bordered Patch, and Silvery Checkerspot butterflies.

It really has a  lot going for it

1. rough and tumble good looks, 
2. it's a pollinator magnet
3. drought tolerant 
4. native species 
5. it magically makes ice flowers on cold and frosty mornings
6. Okay, it's not magic it's capillary action, but, I think that's magical.

It's a pretty spiffy wildflower.

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae/ex-aster

Here's another roadside weed that has hundreds of beautiful cultivars. It's a classic daisy flower that blooms in mid-September in my garden and looks spectacular with the Goldenrods. At one time this planting had a cultivar name, but the seedlings have taken over. Symphyotrichum novae-angliae are the first of the ex-asters to bloom. They're tall and gently sway in the slightest breeze. I didn't edit any out this past spring and they've spread to make a lovely show in pinks and purples.

Bumblebees, small bees, carpenterbees, butterflies, skippers and beneficial insects flock to these flowers.  Full sun and moist soil is preferred. I cut this plant back in June, but it still gets tall. Very easily grown from seed, this beauty has seeded itself all over my garden. But, you know, I love that!

Hardy Blue mist flower: 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 begin wondering why the heck they haven't more of it! I no longer wonder why I haven't more, I've let it spread 4 feet down the side of the Susan's bed and I am thrilled with the river of blue.  

Conoclinium coelestinum is a graceful, low growing, eastern North American native wildflower that begins blooming in late August and continues through early fall. The lilac-blue flowers add a softness to late summer and fall gardens when rough and tumble flowers like 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.

Butterflies 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, 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). 

Goldenrod/Solidago sps.

Goldenrods provide a big flower show each year and every bee, skipper, butterfly, soldier beetle, ambush bug, fly, spider, flower fly, etc... that visits or lives in this garden can be found noshing on it. You can't ask for a better wildlife valuable plant and when you combine them with the ex-asters, you get beauty and happy pollinators.

Goldenrods are the king of the colonizing wildflowers, some more than others! Don't let that stop you from adding them to your sunny garden. 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 Solidago 'Fireworks' in the Susans Bed and Zigzag goldenrod/Solidago flexicaulis in one of the woodland gardens.  Neither are colonizers.  The rest are species and aggressive colonizers that I cull every spring and fall.


Give me this time of year with the intense colors of the wildflowers and the frenetic activity of pollinators, birds and other critters. These early fall blooms are a treat for the senses. But, my friends, it's only the beginning of the full fall show in a Middle South garden and I'll be sharing more Asteraceas and their critter visitors with you in the coming weeks.

Please remember, if you want to provide for fall pollinators you must plant landing pads of deliciousness like Goldenrods, Verbesinas, Hardy Bluemist flower, the ex-asters, and other wildflowers and you must never, ever, ever, ever, use pesticides in your garden. I do mean never!

Happy Wildflower Wednesday.
xoxogail

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 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.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day June 2016

 Welcome to Bloom Day at Clay and Limestone. It's still green time in my garden. That's the time between spring's extravagant display and summer's rough and tumble wildflower show, but there are some blooms to make a gardener and visitor smile.

Coreopsis 'Mercury Rising'

C 'Mercury Rising' and a dwarf Coreopsis grandiflora

Asclepias tuberosa

Arisaema dracontium and Autumn Fern

Echinacea tennesseensis 

Tradescantia virginiana

Gaura lindheimeri 'Siskiyou Pink'

Oenothera speciosa

Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus'

Rudbeckia hirta 'Chim Chiminee'

Elymus hystrix

Phlox x 'Wanda'

Crocosmia x cocosmiflora 'Orange Lucifer'

 Now make this garden blogger smile and pop over to May Dreams Gardens, where our delightful hostess, Carol, has set up the Mr Linky magic carpet ride to take you to more Bloom Day posts than you can imagine.

Happy Bloom Day to you all.
Gailxoxo

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: August Is All About The Susans

Let me clarify that~It used to be all about the Susans!

Not so very long ago this garden was almost all about the Susans.  Rudbeckia fulgida didn't mind the shallow soil that was crowded by limestone bedrock and spread by seed and rhizome everywhere.  What was not to love about them. They were a beautiful mass of golden color from mid summer to fall; they never crowded out the day lilies that lived here first; and, they made me smile when ever I stepped into the garden or pulled into the drive.

I loved the genus Rudbeckia so much that I invited all the species plants (and a few cultivars) that were endemic to Middle Tennessee  to join R fulgida.

The first to join the party was R laciniata...a tall droopy beauty with fabulous presence. 



Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers' was next.

The glorious gloriosa daisies~ R hirta cultivars~'Prairie Sun' and

 R hirta 'Cherry Brandy'  have stayed the course.

Rudbeckia triloba is fast becoming a favorite.  The flowers are smaller, but, the plant is a many branched beauty that's over four foot tall and still growing!

Another choice small flowered rudbeckia that I chanced upon a few years ago (blooming earlier than usual) is R  fulgida var fulgida. This is a keeper plant and I highly recommend it to any of you folks not so crazy about Susan yellow!

You're laughing and wondering what ever do I see that makes this plant different from Miss Goldie!  Trust me, she is stellar, with shiny, deep green foliage and smaller, refined blooms.  Much finer than  Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'.

She's a petite flower on a tall stem.  This rudbeckia, like all the others, provides seeds in the winter for birds and nectar for butterflies from late summer through frost.

But, pollinators and gardeners need more than yellow flowers. To the mix of beautiful Rudbeckias I've added New York Ironweed, 

 the Joes and Purple Coneflowers,

Phloxy phloxes like 'David's Lavender'

species P paniculata 

Coreopsis 'Star Cluster',

and the exotic Lantanas that bloom their best when the heat is really turned on.

The Susans are clearly Clay and Limestone's summer sizzling beauties and if you've heard me say this once, you've probably heard me say it a dozen times:  I cannot imagine gardening without them.  But, now, you'll hear me say, I cannot imagine gardening without the Susans and all their friends!

xxoogail

Inspired by the words of Elizabeth Lawrence, “We can have flowers nearly every month of the year,” Carol of May Dreams Gardens started Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. It's celebrated on the 15th of every month,  when garden bloggers from all over the world share their garden blooms. So head over to Carol's to take the Mr Linky magic carpet ride to more gardens than you can imagine visiting in one day!  This is my August 2012 contribution. I hope you enjoy the Susans and friends.

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.