Another rough and tumble wildflower: Verbesina virginica

Verbesina virginica, is a rough and tumble white flower with a petal here and a petal there, but, that matters not to a bee. They're in it for the nectar and pollen payoff and this Asteraceae family member has quite a payoff.

Wasps, bees, beetles, butterflies, skippers, and flies all adore it.

 I do, too.

If you're new to Clay and Limestone, rough and tumble wildflowers are simple wildflowers that bloom their hearts out and require the easiest of care. Many have never been hybridized, which means they haven't had their best characteristic bred out of them. 

Rough and tumble wildflowers, like Verbesina virginica, also commonly known as Frostweed, are doing the job nature intended them to do, which is to make a lot of food (nectar and/or pollen) and bloom exactly when the critters need it-just in time for provisioning a nest for the winter or for migrating birds. Once bloom is past and the seeds ripen, they become feeding stations for over wintering birds which seek out those seeds. It's also the host plant for the caterpillars of Summer Azure, Bordered Patch, and the Silvery Checkerspot butterfly.

Frostweed with Cup plant another robust native

People make the mistake of calling Verbesina virginica invasive. That's a word I only use for plants that are not native. Instead, I would call Frostweed robust. Seedlings do germinate far from the parent plants thanks to wind and birds! That doesn't mean I would ban it from the garden, but, I can be ruthless about removing seedlings of this biennial!

Buckeye butterfly visiting Verbesina

 Do not cut it back after bloom and you'll get to see how it got its common name. 

When the first freezes hit. Frostweed splits its stems and water oozes from the stalk where it freezes creating lovely and unusual ice crystals. 

 All it takes is a warm winter day followed by a cold winter night.  During the warm day, the  Frostweed'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 think it's magical.

White Crownbeard

Whether you see the magic or the science (capillary action) it's wonderful having a plant that can  produce ice sculptures over and over, especially one that really delivers for wildlife during the entire growing season.

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.

Frostweed flowers are nature's winter magic

Verbesina virginica has begun its flowering magic and I never tire of seeing it blooming on a cold morning.

Verbesina virginica/white crownbeard/wingstem is a valuable food sources for late pollinator visitors, so I've let it seed with some abandon in the wilder parts of the garden.

You can see capillary action in the above stem

Although, more common on the first frosty mornings of fall, here in my Middle Tennessee Zone 7 garden we have all the right ingredients for frostweed flowers to make their special appearance even in winter.

All that is needed is a warm winter day followed by a cold winter night. During the warm day, the Verbesina'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. The scientific term is capillary action, but

I think it's magic.

Verbesina's quirky magical winter behavior is just one of the many reasons it's a queen among the rough and tumble flowering natives in my garden. Bumble Bees love it. Green Metallic bees love it. Giant Carpenter Bees love it. Butterflies love it. In fact, it's an essential late summer/early fall nectar food for all visiting pollinators and it's an especially important food for  the Monarch Butterfly. It's has been selected for monitoring by Monarch Watch, an organization devoted to education, conservation and research about/for the Monarch Butterfly. It will always have a place in my garden.

I love its candy curls of ice, but, in the back of my mind are images of summer blooms and visiting pollinators.

xoxogail

I am posting this magical flower for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day! Stop by May Dreams Gardens to see what other gardeners are sharing for Bloom Day.

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.