Wildflower Wednesday: Thankful for wildflowers and you

The flowers are gone from the garden, except a few blooms of the last to bloom ex-asters, one or two tiny fleabanes hidden beneath fallen leaves, a Blanketflower and Verbesina virginica's marvelous and magical frost flowers.

 I never tire of seeing the frost flowers blooming in my garden. All it takes is a warm winter day followed by a cold winter night. During the day, Verbesina virginica's roots draw water up into the stem and later that night freezing temperatures force the sap from the stems where they freeze into sculptural ice candy flower curls. I love finding them on an early morning walk, they remind me that magic is still happening and that the garden is just resting.

Amsonia's curlie cues are magical in the autumn sun

 In the mid-south the garden and gardener rest for a short time. Dreaming and planning don't stop.

 I walk the leaf covered paths and assess what worked and didn't. I notice that the Hypericum frondosum is moving toward its hyper-colored late fall look and that something has been snacking on its leaves. The Illicium parviflorum 'Florida Sunshine' that I've been trialing is doing okay despite a very dry summer. I like it enough that I added two more. They look good massed but, I am using them as specimen plants. This is a very green garden in mid summer and needs color where ever I can add it.

The Oakleaf hydrangeas are still brilliantly colored and their seeds heads are gorgeous.

The seedheads will stay put until late winter.

 I am so glad they're a part of the shrub layer in this garden, they add drama, color and texture.

  I noticed the native annuals and biennials have germinated.

Western Daisy

I've two annual natives that I am crazy about. Astranthium integrifolium/Entireleaf Western Daisy which I found naturally growing in the weedy back lawn almost 30 years ago and Collinsia verna/Blue-eyed Mary, which I added many years ago. They've both made a home for themselves in the shade of the taller rough and tumble wildflowers in the sunny Susans bed and as long as they are always allowed to go to seed they will thrive. One little plant can make a dozen offspring before you know it.

I hope you're fortunate enough to have a biennial like Phacelia bipinnatifida. The second year Phacelia rosettes are everywhere and that means early next spring will be dressed in gorgeous purple flowers covered with Mason bees. When I added Phacelia to the garden I was lucky enough to have first and second year rosettes.  I've had blooms every year since. Biennials are adept self-seeders and can be in your garden forever if you let them be!

The garden is a sea of browning leaves and seedheads. I think  they're beautiful. The promise of spring is in every one of those seeds. It's everywhere if you look carefully. Take a close look at your native shrubs. Dogwoods and Viburnums show their flower buds at the tips of their stems and the buds of late winter blooming witch hazels and spring blooming Spicebush line the stems.

Under my feet and hiding in the leaves are the acorns that keep the squirrels and chipmunks busy. I wonder when the deer will stop by to get their favorite bur oak acorns and I remembered to pick up a few to send to an OKC friend who wants to grow them in his garden. It will be beautiful by his lake!

Panicum virgatum

The panicum and phlox cultivars that I planted this summer were delightful. More will be added...That means plants like Verbena hastata that need wetter soil might need to be moved to a container near a faucet. They're too pretty to not have in the garden, but, they just aren't happy in the shallow soil.

Phlox in fall color

This year after irregular rains that verged on a drought, I am especially thankful for my rough and tumble take care of themselves wildflower beauties~Thank you Rudbeckia, Coreopsis, Pycnanthemum, Phlox, Penstemon, Eutrochium, and grasses, Danthonia spicata, Panicum virgatum and Schizachyrium scoparium~You make it worthwhile to garden with difficult conditions.

Schizachyrium scoparium

I am thankful for wildflowers. They have brought me so much joy. When I stop and think about it I have wildflowers to thank for helping me gain new knowledge, for great adventures and for meeting new people. Without wildflowers I wouldn't have met my first garden mentor, Paul Moore. I wouldn't know Mike Berkley and Terri Barnes of GroWild. Without wildflowers I might not have been drawn to the Tennessee Naturalist Program or volunteered at Owl's Hill.

Wildflowers led me to blogging and searching the internet to learn all I could about native plants. That's when I stumbled upon Pam Penick's blog Digging and read about Garden Bloggers Fling. I've gone to many Flings and met bloggers who have become some of my dearest friends~I cannot mention everyone for fear I will forget some. I count myself fortunate indeed to have made friends with folks from all over this country,  Canada and the UK....Some of them are even as wild about wildflowers as I am.

The mailbox from my late sister's garden makes me so happy

My love for wildflowers opened my eyes to pollinators and their importance to our gardens, to agriculture and to the earth.

Still blooming after a freeze, although, this photo was taken before the freeze~this garden is magic

I came to love wildflowers so much that I wanted others to appreciate them. That's why I started the Wildflower Wednesday monthly meme.

Which brings me to today's Wildflower Wednesday post about thankfulness.

I want to thank the best ever group of bloggers who join me on the fourth Wednesday of each month to celebrate wildflowers from all over this great big beautiful world. Diana, Donna, Rose, Sue, Alison, Janet, Kathy, Lea, Carol, Cindy, Ann, Dee, Frances, Hannah, Greggo, Aaron, Jason, Shirley and Beth, you are all the very best.* I am honored that you join me as often as you can. Thank you for caring about wildflowers, for taking the time to share your gardens and your knowledge with all of us. You rock.

Happy Wildflower Wednesday to all of you who visit Clay and Limestone.
xoxogail

Ps. *I hope I haven't forgotten anyone, please forgive me if I have.


If you are so inclined please join us this month with a wildflower post. Just add your name to Mr Linky so others can read your post.


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: It's Not All About The Susans, But, It's A lot About Them!

It's been a while since I've written about the Susans/Rudbeckia fulgida! They're a mainstay in the garden, but, easily over looked until mid July when Mother Nature turns on the switch and overnight the garden is a field of golden yellow.

They're pushy and would take over if I let them and truth be told some years I haven't had the heart to rip out all the Susans that I should/could have!

When visitors stop by and comment on the abundance of Susans in the sunny and shady garden areas, I secretly feel like the adoring mother of that unruly, but, delightful child, who's been running amok at a party. "He did what? Really! Isn't he adorable!",  I exclaim as I ignore notice that several salvia have been overrun and the verbena has disappeared.

I adore their sunny faces and how they light up even the darkest corners. They are part of the rough and tumble wildflowers that make Clay and Limestone...well, Clay and Limestone!

Although, I rarely see bumbles visiting the Susans, the showy nectar and pollen rich flowerheads attract many other pollinators, including, small bees, like the colorful green bee above,

small butterflies and skippers,

beetles, wasps and various flies.

The Wavy-Lined Emerald moth (Synchlora aerata) lives out its caterpillar phase on the Susans disguised as a fading flower part covered with petal pieces to confuse the birds that might want it for a tasty meal.

This garden is a lot about the Susans, but not all about them! Each spring I edit and weed, letting the Susans remain growing where nothing else does~over the limestone bedrock that hides a few inches below the soil. Plants that need more room for their roots get planted where the soil is deeper and annuals and tender perennials like Cuphea, agastaches and salvias that also have good wildlife value are planted in containers that sit in spots where nothing can grow.

Don't be turned off by their brilliant yellow color or their lack of a sexy pedigree, the Susans rock even as they fade.
xoxogail

The Susan particulars!
Season: Summer into fall
Height: 1-3 ft.
Flower Color: Gold with black center
Hardiness: USDA Hardiness Zone 3-9
Foliage: Lower leaves are toothed; stem is unbranched or slightly branched
Flower: 1 to 2 in. orange petals and a dark central disk Site:
Dry to moist sites
Propagation: Division spring or fall, seed
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Soil: Well-drained
Regions: Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plain
Origin: Eastern USA,
Life Cycle: Perennial
Warning: They spread by root and seed! You will have to divide.


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.