Let's all give a shout out for Hypericums

They're prettier than burning bush/Euonymus alatus and you won't find them invading our natural areas.

Cedarglade St. John's-wort and Golden St Johnswort are a few of its common names.

Hyper-colored Hypericum frondosum is a vibrant mix of golds, reds, burgundies, oranges and fading greens that pop against the dark bark of neighboring trees. 

Native Habitat: Limestone cliffs; rocky hills; barrens

Golden St Johnswort puts on its fantastic hypercolored show beginning in late October or early November and keeps on glowing through most of December.

From November 2013

Hyper-colored fall foliage is only one of the reasons to plant Hypericum frondosum in your garden, but, if it's the one that motivates folks to plant a wildlife friendly shrub then I say let's promote its fall beauty every chance we get.

Who wouldn't fall for its vibrant oranges, reds, and yellows!

I am equally convinced that home owners will appreciate its other fantastic attributes~pollen rich golden flowers, blue-green summer foliage, maturing seedheads/seed capsules and exfoliating winter bark.

They just need more exposure to native beauties....so,  I invite skeptics to tour my garden.

They're blown away by the Hyper-colored Hypericums and open to hearing about its wildlife value! I love the oohs and ahhs. 

Wildlife bloggers and gardeners we can sell/promote this four season beauty as an alternative to invasive burning bush. 

How many of you have run into gardeners/home owners who assume that all plants sold at garden centers are native? A shocking amount of you have could raise your hands! Whenever a friend waxes poetically about the beauty of burning bush I always ask them if they think it's a native plant. They assume it is, like others, because it's sold in reputable garden centers. I use that opportunity to gently educate. Trust me, gentle is better and shaming people never works. I agree with them that burning bush has very nice fall color, then I wow them with all that Cedarglade/St. Johnswort has to offer.

• The species is a loose limbed beauty with golden flowers.
• Bluish green foliage stands out in the summer garden.
• Stunning hyper-colored fall foliage
• Showy seed capsules last all winter
• Exfoliating bark for year round good looks.
• Wildlife/Pollinator friendly: Bumbles, Syrphid flies and Halictid bees~all seeking pollen.
  
• It's endemic to forests/woodland that are adjacent to cedar glades.
• It tolerates the extremes when established~wet winters and dry summers.
• It blooms the first week in June.
• Zones 5 to 8; a Southeastern native.
• Grows quite nicely from seed.

Go team go! 
Promote team promote! 
Gentle, but, passionate works best!
xoxogail

PS. You may notice some older photos in my posts for the next month. I am healing from cataract surgery and hope to back to taking in focus photos soon! Thanks all.

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.

Hypercolored Hypericum takes Center Stage in the gray and rainy December garden

Even the sleet cannot diminish the brilliant late fall color display.

The hyper-colored Hypericum is a vibrant mix of golds, reds, burgundies, oranges and fading greens that pop against the dark tree bark and ice covered trees.

Cedarglade St. John's-wort and Golden St Johnswort are a few of its common names.

Hypericum frondosum puts on this fantastic hypercolored show beginning in late October or early November and keeps on glowing through most of December.

Late October 2013

When I planted one H frondosum 'Sunburst' twenty years ago, I had no idea that it was a prolific self seeder! Since then, I have planted dozens of its offspring all over the garden and have been rewarded with four seasons of beauty~ blue green foliage, masses of golden flowers that are covered with pollinators, attractive exfoliating bark and this marvelous hyper-colored fall foliage.

Rain or shine it's gorgeous...and it makes my garden glow!

It's a lovely stand alone shrub, but, massing it in a bed and planting other native plants from a cedar glade woodland makes sense for this wildlife friendly garden and creates a stunning fall show!

Native Habitat: Limestone cliffs; rocky hills; barrens

I love Hypericum frondosum and can't imagine why it's not more readily available commercially. It's gorgeous orange/burgundy/red/golden leaves make for a spectacular fall color show and in my opinion, it's far superior to invasive Burning Bush.

But, you don't have to take my word for it, let my garden do the talking, just stop by to check it out!

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.

It's Mid December and You know What That Means!

A Twofer! Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and Foliage Follow-Up!

Alas, there is only one bloom in the garden for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and I have had to resort to sharing my beautiful grocery store tulips with you all.

 Cut flowers are wonderful and necessary on gray and rainy winter days.  The kind of weather we have too frequently in Middle Tennessee.

I love orange tulips, especially, the over the top multi-colored varieties.  I plant a few in the garden every fall and cross my fingers that they survive the rodents to bloom in the spring. I must admit that it has only been in the last few years have I come to appreciate this intense and vibrant color.

Spirea's orange and golden leaves in a cobalt container

  I know it's an over used word, but, orange does pop almost anywhere in my garden.  It cozies up  beautifully in containers and it looks stunning with the purple benches and chairs that are focal points at Clay and Limestone. 

If you don't mind plants arrayed in shades of brown, red, orange and beige, you'll find plenty of beauty in the garden! 

 Like Hypericum frondosum which is still  hyper-colored. 

 Or, the wispy and fluttery River Oats.  Rain makes them stand out.

 I love the wild and natural look of my almost winter garden (I garden for wildlife) Seed heads are left standing for winter interest and food for birds and other critters. I think they're beautiful.

Switch Grass (click for link)

Grasses like Panicum virgatum 'Northwind' add movement and color until late winter.  But, they're more than just a pretty face; they're  a host plant for the caterpillars of many Skippers (here for their story) and provide a cozy place for small critters and birds to hide on snowy days.

I love when trees and plants hold onto their leaves. 

Exotic cabbage and kale no longer seems out of place in the garden. Come spring they'll bolt into yellow blooms and provide  nectar for early visiting pollinators. (Cabbages and Beautiful Things)

I appreciate the cool  architectural statement Yucca makes year round.  I knew they attracted a special moth to pollinate them, but, I didn't know that they provide a cool respite for insects to hide  during the hot weather.

Although, my garden is mostly natives, I flipped for Spiraea thunbergii ‘Ogon'.  Take a look at its wispy leaved, golden late fall color and then add to that, very early blooming, honey scented flowers covered with bees and you'll totally understand how come this exotic made the cut.   I had hoped it would be dressed in its fall colors when the asters were blooming, but, I believe I appreciate this late color even more.

Last year my mettle was tested

The flowers may be gone for the season,  but, a gardener can enjoy cut flowers in the house and textures, foliage, colors and art in a garden year round.


xxoogail


PS Now, please pop over to May Dreams Gardens, where our delightful hostess, Carol,  has set up the Mr Linky magic carpet ride  to more Bloom Day posts than you can imagine.   After that, make sure to stop by Digging to see Foliage Follow-Up. Pam says it’s a way to remind ourselves of the importance of foliage in the garden.

* magic carpet clip art
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."

Hypericum's Hypercolored Hoorah For 2011

Hypericum frondosum is a study in yellows, golds and burgundies starting in November and lasting through December.

It's singing its next to the last song for the season.  Next to last,  because once the hypercolored leaves drop off there will still be  peeling bark and hints of new growth.  It's a year round beauty that makes Clay and Limestone, well, Clay and Limestone!  It just wouldn't be the same with out it!

  When I planted H frondosum 'Sunburst' twenty years ago, I had no idea that it would revert to species and spread its progeny over the garden.  The species is lankier and taller than the cultivar, but, it doesn't matter; the flowers are still beautiful and attract some of my favorite pollinators. 

the reddish-brown fruit capsules really pop during the fall

Cedarglade St. John's-wort, Hypericum frondosum, Golden St Johswort are a few of its common names.  It's as happy in a tamed woodland as it would be in its native oak-hickory-red cedar woodland near a cedar glade.

If you look closely you can see  the new growth that makes this plant semi-evergreen in my garden

Each fall when I see Cedar Glade St Johnswort's  brilliant color I wonder why more American gardeners haven't planted them.  They really are good looking four season native shrubs that give good return on your gardening dollar. 

Do your resident Bumblebees, Hoverflies and other pollen loving pollinators a favor and plant a native Hypericum instead of the invasive Euonymous alata/Burning Bush.


xxoogail



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."

Wildflower Wednesday Part 2: A Thanksgiving Week Long Celebration

River Oats was the first native grass I added to the garden and I have never regretted it.

much earlier in the fall

It's a  clump-forming, upright, ornamental grass with wide bright green leaves and gracefully arching and nodding clusters of oat like flowers (spikelets) that emerge green then turn brown with age. Leaves and flower heads turn a rich tan in autumn and reddish-bronze by winter.  I think it's beautiful all year long, but I like to give it a good haircut by early February when the seed heads have fallen off.  Just cut it back to the basal rosette and new leaves will emerge when it warms up.

 even the softest of breezes will make the seed heads flutter

Good looking plants that also provide for garden critters are a must for my garden and River Oats has decent wildlife value.   Because it's wind pollinated there won't be any pollinators buzzing around the pretty spikelet flowers, but, I am happy to report that it's a host plant for several roadside skippers and a few butterflies.  That makes me happy!

River Oats gives my garden much needed contrast and texture almost all year.  It's a perfect companion for upright  Panicum virgatum 'Northwind',  the blue-grey needles of  Juniperus virginiana 'Grey Owl', native ex-asters and the purple Waiting Bench.

naturalized under oaks and hickory trees  with Hypericum frondosum, Penstemon calycosus and other native plants.

I use it as an accent plant in a raised bed near the front entrance, but, love that it has naturalized in my garden and mimics almost perfectly the oak-hickory woodlands found adjacent to a cedar glade. That was my goal when I planted the center garden a few years ago. It's still a golden brown and the hypericum is just about hyper colored!  It's especially nice to see on  a rainy day when the colors are intensified.

Chasmanthium latifolium will grow anywhere (Eastern USA, Zone 3 to 8); glades, stream banks, dry forests, shade and clay soil.  Please note I said, anywhere! Which brings us back to my "I have never regretted" planting it statement. When happy, it is a rampant self seeder and requires vigilance to catch the seedlings. Think beautiful ground cover with several seasons of interest. Think about this before you decide to plant it in your garden. Think about what you want from it...If you want a plant that will naturalize and create a large swath then this is the grass for you! If you don't mind keeping it in check, pulling out unwanted seedlings, then this is the  grass for you.  If you want a gorgeous grass with  almost year round beauty, then this is the grass for you.

 Personally, I never share this plant without first letting gardeners know that it is a marvelous ground cover and they'll have lots of dried seed heads for flower arranging.

Bright green leaves turn a coppery color after frost and eventually brown by winter

If you've decided you want to invite River Oats into your garden. Then do yourself a favor and let the seed heads and golden bamboo like leaves stand all winter long. You'll love the winter interest and the seed heads will dance in the breeze.

January 2011

  I can't wait to see them standing tall and golden in the snow.

xxoogail

Welcome to Clay and Limestone and  Part 2 of  the Thanksgiving week long celebration of wildflowers. All across America families and friends are making plans to gather for Thanksgiving dinner. It's our annual celebration of the "First Thanksgiving" when colonists celebrated arriving safely in the New World.

In my house, before the feasting begins, we all take turns sharing our feelings of gratitude. This year, I am especially grateful for the health and well being of my family; for loving and supportive friends; for rain that finally fell in Middle Tennessee; and, for wildflowers that bloomed no matter how horrid the weather has been. Please join me any time this week to share and celebrate the wonderful wildflowers that live and thrive in your gardens. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not. Please leave a comment and add your name to Mr Linky so others can pop over to see your Wildflower Wednesday 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."

A Pollinator Friendly Shrub

Hypericum frondosum June 1, 2011

Hypericum frondosum is blooming and the bumbles couldn't be happier. They have been on a feeding frenzy since the first golden flowers opened. I'm pretty thrilled, too. I love these blooms, love the blue-green foliage and the plant's leggy presence in the woodland gardens. They warm up the shady green when the last of the spring flowers quiet.

The one H frondosum "Sunburst' I bought way back when I first stumbled upon native plants has grown into dozens. (It's quite a prolific plant!) All of them sporting golden, fuzzy pollen rich flowers like the cultivar, but, not with its compact, mounded shape. That's okay with me~I almost always prefer the straight species and the flower visitors are not complaining either.

I've moved 'Sunburst's' offspring all over the garden. They make their biggest impact in the Central Basin Woodland Garden. It's a large oblong shaped bed behind the Waiting Bench. It's planted with perennials and shrubs that might be found in the woodlands adjacent to a cedar glade. On the edge are plants that need more sun, like Juniperus virginiana 'Gray Owl', Panicums and the native ex-asters. The interior of the bed is chock full of Golden St Johnswort, Chasmanthium latifolium, shade tolerant native ex-asters, Phlox pilosa, Penstemon calycosus, Christmas Ferns and more.

Gray Owl Juniper, H frondosum, River Oats, penstemon, and S oblongifolius

A Central Basin Woodland is green a good deal of the summer and brown all winter! It took me a long time to be comfortable with that look. I love it now~especially the leggy hypericum dotted with spent seed capsules, browning grasses standing tall and seed heads swaying in the wind all winter long. Right now, it's beginning to glow as the hypericum flowers open a few at a time.

Critter heading toward that giant fuzzy pollen only producer!

Flowers of hypericum only produce pollen. Not one bit of nectar. The stamens are little pollen wands that dance in the breeze. They are perfect attractors for pollen eaters, pollen collectors and pollinators! I love to sit on the bench and watch the Bumbles move from flower to flower to flower...gathering pollen to feed their offspring. A little of the pollen of one flower sticks to them and is carried to the next flower or perhaps to the next shrub, where it cross pollinates the flowers. I think Clay and Limestone is going to have a big crop of seeds this year!

It's a great little shrub for this garden:

• The species is a loose limbed beauty with golden flowers, bluish green foliage, stunning fall color and exfoliating bark for year round good looks.
• It attracts Bumbles, Syrphid flies and Halictid bees~all seeking pollen.
  
• It's endemic to forests/woodland that are adjacent to cedar glades.
• It tolerates the extremes that this garden throws at plants~wet winters and dry summers.
• It never fails to open the first week in June~rain or shine.
• Zones 5 to 8; a Southeastern native.
• Grows quite nicely from seed.

Any ideas what creature this might be?

It's a pretty fine shrub, but, it's not perfect:

• The flowers open a few at a time.
• Some years the buds fail.
• The leggy good looks can be off putting as a foundation planting.
• It seeds madly and if you have a cultivar expect them to revert to species.
• It's short lived.

Bud failure

All in all it's a pretty fantastic shrub that feeds pollen collecting bees, makes a great statement in a garden and brings a smile to my face. I even think the failed bud is good looking!

xxoogail


PS Trust me when I say "If you want pollinators to visit your garden, you must, never, ever, ever, ever, use pesticides and, if possible, buy pesticide free plants for your garden."

This post is also part of a series on native pollinators in the garden~ Earlier posts and their links are listed below for your convenience.

Part I~Now Is The Time To Bee-gin Thinking About Bees ( here)
This Is The Place To Bee ( here)
If You Could Plant Only One Plant In Your Garden~Don't (here)
Must Bee The Season of The Witch (here)
Go Bare In Your Garden (here)
We can't All Be Pretty Pollinators (here)
Eye, Eye Skipper, Big Eyed Pollinators (here)
What's In Your Garden (here)
Carpenter Bees (here)
Got Wildflowers?(here)
It's Spring and A Gardener's Thoughts Are On Pollinators (here)
The Wildflower and The Bee (here)
A Few Good Reasons To Plant Milkweek (here)
Got Shade? You Can Have Pollinators (here)
Royalty In The Garden (here)

Other bee posts you might want to read~
Count Yourself Lucky To Have Hoverflies (here)
Bumblebee Hotel (here)
Still Taking Care Of Bzzness (here)
My Sweet Embraceable You (here)
Bee clip art (here)
This post was written by Gail Eichelberger for my blog Clay and Limestone Copyright 2011.This work protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.