Wildflower Wednesday: Spicebush

Lindera benzoin is one of the earliest blooming trees in my garden. I love how the sulphur yellow flowers  light up the dark corners of the woodland. It's a wonderful small understory tree and you'll find it on my list of perfect native plants that ought to be in more gardens.

What makes it a perfect plant?

It's easy peasy to grow. Spicebush's ideal habitat is a moist woodland with fertile, leaf covered soil in partial shade. You're more likely to see Spicebush growing in wooded bottom lands, low swamps, and also along streams in Eastern North America. But, don't let all the talk of moisture scare you off! Plant it in dappled shade, in good fertile soil that isn't xeric, mulch with leaf mold and it will flourish. Well established trees adjust to periods of drought in my garden just fine.

Spicebush near the Radnor Lake Visitor center

It's a good looking tree. Spicebush in bloom is especially lovely when the rest of your garden or the woodland is still brown. It's bright yellow flowers glow in the shade. Once the bloom is over the tree settles into its role as a host plant (see below). Come fall, Spicebush kicks back into gorgeousness when the leaves turn bright yellow.

You can't beat those bright yellow leaves

It has great wildlife value. The flowers are cross-pollinated by small bees, wasps, beetles and flies.

Early spring bloom draws a host of pollinator visitors

If pollinated the female plants form oval green drupes that ripen to a brilliant red in the fall and are eaten by dozens of different species of birds and small mammals. The drupes are high in the lipids and fats that migrating birds need to fuel their migration.~and not like the nutritionally worthless bush honeysuckles that have taken over our Middle Tennessee parks!

sexing the flowers~don't google that or you'll be in trouble!

Honestly, I had no drupes on my lone tree. Spicebush is "dioecious" which means that there are separate male and female plants, so, I planted two more last spring.

From MOBOT

Let's hope that there is at least one male and female in the trio so those beautiful oval red drupes adorn the tree in September and make the birds and small mammals happy!

To continue shining the light on it's wildlife value, Lindera benzoin is the host plant for Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly. I love when she stops by the garden! I love all the butterflies that visit, but this one is striking. It has a black body dotted with white and shiny blue or green wings, with blue between two rows of orange spots on the underside of the hind wings and the colors on the upper side of the hind wings have one row of white spots.

To summarize, Lindera benzoin ought to be in more gardens. It's easy to care for, good looking and has great wildlife value...Don't go looking for fancy cultivars, as far as I know there are none. Seriously, a tree like this doesn't need to be "improved", it's already perfect!

Happy Wildflower Wednesday.
gailxoxo

The Particulars:
Common Name: spicebush
Deciduous shrub in the Laurel family
Native Range: Eastern United States (including Texas)
Zone: 4 to 9
Size:  6.00 to 12.00 feet tall by  6.00 to 12.00 feet wide (so far much smaller in my garden)
Blooms in March in Middle Tennessee
Flowers are a greenish yellow and the golden yellow fall coloring is outstanding
Will grow in full sun to part shade. I think it's happiest in dappled sun unless the soil is always moist.
Can tolerate deer, drought, heavy shade, clay soil~In other words it's happy at Clay and Limestone!

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 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.

The leaves are stunning in the garden!

In my part of the gardening world we have a smattering of burgundies and reds, but a whole lot of gorgeous gold and, my friends,  I love it!

Here's a peek at what's been happening this fall~I hope you love it, too.

The sunny Susans Border has seed heads and Physocarpus opulifolius ' Little Devil' hiding in the shadow. The still green Amsonia tabernaemontana will be changing colors, soon, but, the Cotinis 'Grace' is a lovely burgundy and Cercis candensis' yellow leaves are almost hiden among the golden yellow of Carya ovata

Amsonia hubrichtii has taken on its beautiful fall golden hues.

Lindera benzoin lights up the shade garden and just for a few hours the morning sun lights it up too. Also shining are a Japanese Maple and a Hamamelis, both nice understory trees.

Hope you fall is colorful and filling your heart with gladness.
xoxogail

PS I am taking the rest of the week off to recuperate from a minor medical procedure, but, will be back posting next week!

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.

What's In Your Garden

For Pollinators?

Lindera benzoin aka Spicebush the host plant for Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly

Back in January, in the midst of more snowfalls then we had seen in years, the garden catalogs starting arriving and my plant lust began anew. I gently stopped myself from ordering all manner of plants with the following questions:

• Will they survive the difficult conditions at Clay and Limestone?
• Is this plant a nectar or pollen source for pollinators?
• Is it a host plant for pollinators?
• Is this plant available locally, therefore, more likely to survive the extremes of the Central Basin?
• Will this plant add to the diversity of my pollinator friendly garden?
• Is there a native plant that makes more sense then that seductive exotic?

That's not to imply that all the plants in my garden meet the above criteria. Some small trees, shrubs and perennials are planted just because I like them. For instance, Bat faced cuphea was planted in containers near the front door. No way, would an iffy, albeit beautiful exotic, take up valuable garden space that's reserved for natives. I was doubly delighted to discover that it was visited the Bumbles, smaller bees and a few hummers.

A bat faced cuphea with a visitor

Now, that it's officially spring at Clay and Limestone and the local nurseries are beginning to stock that seductive plant material, it's time to assess 'real' garden needs! In a garden like mine, with shallow, nearly neutral clay soil over limestone bedrock, plant real estate is valuable!

Tommies drew the eye and honeybees!

My plan is simply to:

Provide plenty of nectar and pollen rich plants

• Primarily from my garden region.
• A range of shapes and sizes to attract hummers, butterfly, a variety of bees, flies,
• long bloom season
• evening blooming and scented flowers for moths and bats

Provide host plants

• Sedges and grasses for skippers
• Fennels, dills, parsley for the swallowtails
• milkweeds for the monarchs
• asters for pollinating beetles

Container plants

• Aromatic herbs~coriander, catnip, mint, parsley, lavender, fennel and dill
• annuals~marigold, phlox, bachelor's button, zinnia, cosmos, salvia
• perennials~bee balm, columbine, iris, coneflower, lobelia, delphinium, summer phloxes, salvia

Yes, that's a pollinator visiting witch hazel 'Diane'

So what is on my list?

• Asclepias verticillata (adaptable and tough native, it's a food and host plant with good fall color)
• Helianthus 'Lemon Queen'~reports she can take a bit more shade
• Lobelia siphilitica~see photo!
• Sedges~
• Native grasses
• Opuntia~for visiting bats
• Herbs~rosemary, dill, fennel and borage
• Annuals when they are available ~sweet alyssum, cleome, Calliopsis, Coreopsis tinctoria, salvias (Scarlet sage, Blue anise sage, Autumn sage and Pineapple sage), lantana, sunflowers and zinnias ( I scatter seeds, but, sometimes planting them is better!
• Native shrubs~Lindera benzoin, ilex, illicium and vaccinium (blueberries)

Lobelia siphilitica with bee

Tell me please~What's in your garden or on your shopping list for pollinators?

xxoogail

PS Of course, you already know what I am going to say. If you want to attract pollinators~Never, never, never, ever, use pesticides in your garden.

This post is 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)

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)

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.