Wildflower Wednesday: Trees and Shrubs in a Native Habitat

It's October and Nashville is in a moderate to severe drought. The blue wood and white frost asters are still blooming and the shrubs and trees are showing color deeper and sooner than usual. I've been watering to insure that the impossible to replace 50, 60 and 70 year old trees have a chance to survive until rain returns. They've been soldiering on and they all deserve to be Wildflower Wednesday stars and so they are!

Hydrangeas, Hamamelis and Hickories above the wildflowers

Back when I was a new gardener, I often thought of shrubs and trees as incidental in a garden. They were mere supporting players to my beloved wildflowers. As my knowledge about how important native plants were to critters grew, my definition of what made a garden plant valuable changed. A pretty flowered face was no longer enough to allow admittance to my garden, plants needed to have wildlife value.

Native wisteria welcomes visitors

Native trees and shrubs are more than mere supporting players. They are in fact the be-alls and end-alls for our garden critters. In the drama of a native habitat there are no bit players. The canopy, the understory, the herbacious layer and the ground cover are all part of a diverse ensemble. All the players are essential; all provide food, nesting and shelter for mammals and birds; they're host plants for a variety of insects that are a primary food source for birds, bats, small mammals, amphibians and even other insects that you want in your garden. They are the ecological basis upon which life depends. That means everything ...including us.

Bur oak/Quercus macrocarpa and Serviceberry/Amelanchier

We moved here 35 or so years ago I didn’t realize how fortunate I was to have so many native trees. I appreciate them now more than ever. I've written about some of them and you can follow their links to learn more. Some trees have links to nature sites.

 

 

a winged Elm/Ulmus alata

 

 Shagbark Hickory/Carya ovata

 

 

 

 Redbud/Cercis canadensis

 

 Hop Hornbeam/Ostrya virginiana

 

 

  Dogwood/Cornus florida

Back when we bought this house there were lovely canopy trees but there wasn’t an understory shrub to be seen and my beloved blue wood asters and other natives were hidden from me on the far edges of the yard.

Euonymus americanus/Hearts a bustin

It took time and a lot of research but, I figured out that my garden is a Central Basin woodland with dryer, heavier and more neutral soil. Natives really made sense. I began to plant the ones that could take my garden conditions. Even some that could happily grow in containers, because, when I say there's shallow soil, I am not kidding.

Rhus aromatica

spicebush/Lindera benzoin

 

After dozens of years of tweaking and experimenting, I think that there is a pretty good balance of canopy trees, understory trees and shrubs that thrive along with the wildflowers in the shallow clay soil that is dry during the summer and wet during the winter. In many cases there are multiples, because more of a beautiful and ecologically helpful shrub made sense. Most of the shrubs have multi-season interest and some have seeds/berries that last long into winter.

 

Hamamelis virginiana

Hydrangea quercifolia

Hypericum frondosum

Hydrangea arborescens and Vernal witchhazel

Rusty Blackhaw/Viburnum rufidulum

Aronia/Photinia arbutifolia

My husband, Michael, aka, Mr No I Don't Garden, likes to ask me how many plants I have planted. I have no idea! I do know that this post doesn't begin to include all of them. Nor does it include all the trees that were here.

Rhus glabra

Planting natives that make sense for your garden conditions will mean that your essential players might be different from mine. Why natives? Because they are absolutely the be-alls and end-alls if you want to garden for wildlife and that's what my garden is all about. It doesn't hurt that they are all darn good looking for most of the year.

Happy Wildflower Wednesday.

xoxogail 

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 your link/url with a comment.

Don't forget our Wildflower Wednesday monthly challenge!  The first part of this challenge is to do something every month during 2022 that supports native wildflowers, pollinators, and the critters that visit and rely on our gardens. The second part of the challenge is to post about it somewhere: Your blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even your neighborhood listserve. 

Why post it?  Because positive publicity is needed to educate our friends, neighbors and communities about how important even the smallest changes we make as gardeners can be for pollinators, birds, insects and mammals that live all around us. 

An incomplete list of things you might consider doing or changing in your garden

Shrink your lawn and make your planting beds larger.

Plant your favorite native perennials and shrubs. Leave them standing after they've gone to seed to continue to provide for wildlife. What you plant in your yard makes a difference to wildlife. I garden for wildlife so every tree, shrub and plant is chosen with wildlife in mind.

Plant more natives and then consider planting even more. "A typical suburban landscape contains only 20-30% native plant species. Try reversing that trend in your own landscape by using 70-80% native species." (source) 

Commit to never, ever, ever, ever using pesticides in the garden.

Stay away from native plant hybrids and cultivars that are double flowered. They are sterile and have no pollen or nectar for insects and no seeds for the birds. If possible plant “true open-pollinated native wildflowers”

If you want to garden for wildlife and pollinators, don't let lack of space stop you! Plant your favorite wildflowers in large containers. You just might have the prairie or woodland garden you've always wanted...in a pot!
 
Create a water feature. Provide water year round that is accessible to birds, bees and other critters.

Show some soil! Our native ground nesting bees nest in bare soil, so don't mulch every square inch of your garden. 

Invite bugs into your garden. Plant annuals that attract beneficial bugs.

Learn to tolerate damaged plants. Imperfection is the new perfect.

Don't be in a rush to clean up the fall garden. Leave plant stalks and seed heads standing all winter. Leave those fallen leaves or as many as you can tolerate! Insects over winter in the fallen and decaying leaves.

Leave a layer of leaves as a soft landing material under trees for moths and butterflies to over winter. Many caterpillars drop to the ground from the trees in the fall.

Make a brush pile. Stack fallen brush, cut tree limbs, broken pots for ground beetles. Ground beetles are excellent at eating "bad bugs'. They're also good bird, toad and small critter food. 

Rethink what you consider a pest. Lots of good bugs eat aphids. Spiders are important predators and bird food!

Add nesting boxes for birds.

Plant shrubs and small trees that provide berries and nuts.

Keep a nature journal: Observe visitors to the water feature, make note of when they visit. Notice which flowers attract the most pollinators and which ones are just pretty faces. 

Volunteer to remove invasives in a local part or natural area.

Join your state native plant society.

Join WildOnes even if there's no local group.

Take an online course on tree, fungi and wildflower id.

Take a walk in your neighborhood and observe nature. To quote Joanna Brichetto in Sidewalk Nature "Look Around. Nature is here, is us, our driveways, our baseboards, parks, and parking lots."

Buy the best wildflower, butterfly and bird id books for your state.

Read nature books to your children and grandchildren. 

Read! There are hundreds of books on gardening for wildlife, the environment, and rewilding our world. There are delightful blogs with wonderful and informative articles.

Turn off your porch lights, eave lights and uplights to help mammals,  birds, critters that live in the dark survive.

If you live in Nashville join the Facebook ReWild Nashville Group and the Middle Tennessee WildOnes

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: Early Summer Pollinator Magnets

It's National Pollinator Week and Wildflower Wednesday. Could there be a better time than now to showcase my favorite wildflower pollinator magnets while discussing pollinator gardening?

Coreopsis attracts small and large bees

As a wildflower loving, native plant fan who gardens for wildlife, the plants in my garden need to be more than just pretty faces, they must be helpful for the critters that visit and live here. The Wildflower Wednesday stars of the month fit that description to a T~they have pretty faces and great wildlife value.

"Cedar Lane' Lonicera sempervivens is a hummingbird magnet

I am often asked to help friends plan their garden. The first thing I do when anyone asks me what they should plant in their garden is to share my gardening philosophy, then I say this: "It's your garden, you can plant what ever you want, but, please remember to plan for all the critters that live and visit your garden."

 Asclepias tuberosa is a magnet for bees and butterflies

I tell them that they will never be sorry! Pollinators will thank them by hanging around pollinating flowers and vegetables/fruits; beneficial insects will raise offspring that will gobble up harmful insects; and songbirds and spiders will keep the insects in check. The more you plan and plant for critters...crawling, flying and even digging ones, the healthier and more diverse your garden will be.

Eastern Bluebirds eat insects

 I tell them that it's important that anything they put as much work and effort into as they put into a garden should bring joy and that gardening for critters adds to that joy.

Hypericum frondosum attracts small and large bee.

We've been convinced by advertising that a garden should be perfect and that insects are harmful and must be eliminated or they will damage our flowering plants and make them ugly. I encourage anyone who asks for my help to reconsider beauty and to begin to appreciate the insect damaged plant as providing food for a critter that may in turn be food for a spider, another insect or a song bird.  See bluebird photo above.

Assassin bug waiting on a coreopsis

I encourage these gardeners to look at their plants very closely to find insects that might be living on them.  A friend told me she use to pull the caterpillars off her fennel before she knew they were Swallowtail butterfly cats. New gardeners need to make sure ugly bugs aren't beneficial insects before you pluck them off or squish them. Some of the "good bugs" include lacewings, lady beetles, minute pirate bug, soldier bugs, assassin bugs, braconid wasps, tachinid flies, flower flies and aphid mites.

 Insect  nibbled petals of Echinacea purpurea don't deter pollinators

I ask them to consider the bigger picture, that their garden might be an oasis of food and shelter in a sea of over fertilized and pesticide treated lawns.

Liatris spicata attracts small and large bees and butterflies

 I garden in a sea of lawns and know how important a wildlife friendly garden is to pollinators and other critters.

Monarda fistulosa is a magnet for bees, hummingbird moths and hummers

 My personal goal is to make a lovely garden that provides nectar and pollen for bees and butterflies from late winter until late fall. Clay and Limestone is a garden for all critters to find food and shelter and to raise their offspring. It's also a stopping off place for water and food (seeds and berries) to migrating birds. When I say all critters, that includes pesky rodents and mammals.

Phlox paniculata and nectar robbing Carpenter Bee

If you're a new gardener and want to create a pollinator friendly garden or want to add more pollinator friendly plants to your garden, I urge you to take time to figure out what plants make sense for your garden conditions. Invest in a good wildflower identification guide for your part of the country, join a native plant society and visit your local botanical garden and arboretum. If you are lucky enough to have garden centers that sell native plants shop there and not big box stores.

Echinacea tennesseensis is endemic to Central Basin cedar glades

It took me years to figure out that gardening would be a lot more fun and successful if I gardened with Middle Tennnessee/ Central Basin natives, after all they evolved with our wet winters and dry summers. Now they are my go to plants.

'Solar Eclipse' and 'Cherry Brandy' are two Rudbeckia hirta cultivars that attract pollinators to an early summer garden

Native annuals/short lived perennials like Rudbeckia hirta cultivars are wonderful additions to a pollinator garden. Lavender, sweet alyssum and herbs are also good additions to a pollinator friendly garden. Beneficial insects love many of them and we want beneficials in our gardens.

Hydrangea arborescens is a pollinator friendly native shrub

When you're creating your beautiful pollinator garden, be sure to include trees and shrubs, you might be surprised to learn that many of the woodies are far more important to insects than flowering plants.

Elymus hystrix is a host for the caterpillars of the Northern Pearly Eye butterfly and several moths

When you think about ornamental grasses, and I know you will, please consider planting one of our fine native grasses. Grasses like early blooming Bottle Brush grass fill the garden with movement and beauty all year long, while providing food and shelter for visiting mammals, birds and insects.

 Stokesia laevis is a major butterfly, Bumblebee, hoverfly and beetle attractor

 Fill your garden with native plants that are pollinator magnets! You'll never be sorry.

Pycnanthemum muticum attracts bees, wasps, flies, small butterflies, and beetles

Here's the nitty gritty for creating a pollinator friendly garden.

• plant a lot of nectar and pollen producing plants, lots and lots; swathes work, so does repetition (Central Basin natives make sense in a Middle Tennessee garden)
• don't forget trees, shrubs and grasses in your garden plan
• plant host plants~so the offspring of butterfly, beetles and other pollinators can feed
• plan for bloom from late spring to early winter
• include water for bees
• provide nesting sites near your garden for a variety of visitors: Build a pollinator condo, leave some bare ground for earth nesting bees and pile decaying logs for beetles who like to tunnel.
• practice peaceful coexistence. Bees sometimes choose to nest in inconvenient places. Rather than exterminating them, think of it as an opportunity to watch and learn about them up close.
• take the pledge to never, ever, ever use pesticides in your garden.  I really do mean never!  

Phlox 'Wanda'

If this post helps you have as much fun as I have gardening for pollinators and other wildlife then I will consider myself successful.

Happy Wildflower Wednesday.
xoxogail

Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. I am so glad you stopped by. 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.

Wildflower Wednesday: Rhus aromatica

I'm showcasing this delightful native ground covering shrub for Wildflower Wednesday.

It's in full fall color. That's reason enough to make it a star, but, I think this fantastic native is under-appreciated and should be in more of our gardens.

Source: MOBOT

 It blooms in spring and the nectar and pollen attract small bees, flies and even some larger carpenter bees. 

Small clusters of hairy, red berries which may persist into winter replace the female flowers. The ripe fruits are a treat for birds and small mammals.

Fall brings gorgeous leaf color changes and inflorescence (male catkins) form in late summer and persist throughout the winter until eventually blooming in spring.

It's adaptability makes it attractive for difficult gardens

The species Fragrant sumac is a woody plant that can grow 6 to 12 feet. That's entirely too large for my garden (and most of yours), so I planted 'Gro-Low'. It was selected by growers for its dwarf habit making it very attractive for my garden. It will grow in poor, dry soil in full sun or deep shade. It requires only good drainage. At two to three feet tall and with a 4 foot spread it's a delightful groundcover under my Rusty Blackhaw. The spreading branches root where they touch the ground and that helps it form a dense weed suppressing mat.

Leaves and twigs are aromatic when bruised giving rise to its name~Fragrant sumac. The smaller leaves do have a slight resemblance to those of its relative poison ivy (Rhus radicans), however this fragrant sumac is a totally non-poisonous plant.

It has lovely orange-yellow fall color in October.

 Hamamelis, Hydrangea arborescens, Chasmanthium latifolium

In the drama of a wildflower garden there are no bit players. The canopy, the understory, the herbacious layer and the ground cover are all part of the diversity ensemble. Understory shrubs like Fragrant sumac provide food, nesting and shelter for mammals and birds, as well as being host plants to butterflies, moths and other insects. They are essential if you want to garden for wildlife and that's what my garden is all about. Rhus aromatica has been specifically chosen with birds, insects and other critters in mind and because it makes sense for this garden.

I love it and am here to tout its charms. 

Thank you for stopping by for Wildflower Wednesday!
gailxoxo

Rhus  aromatica~The particulars

Cultivar 'Gro-Low 
Common Name: fragrant sumac
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Anacardiaceae
Zones: 3 to 9
Native Range: native to Canada and the United States from southeast Ontario to Vermont down into central Florida to west Texas up through Nebraska over to southern Wisconsin back to Ontario.
Height: 1.50 to 2.00 feet
Spread: 4  to 6 feet
Bloom: Yellowish flowers in April/May
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Dry to medium with good drainage, not particular about soil ph.
Suggested Use: Naturalize
Fragrance: The leaves and stems have a citrus fragrance when crushed
Flower: Yellowish and significant
Leaves: Alternate and trifoliate with the middle leaflet being the largest of the three.
Attracts: Birds, Butterflies and many bees
Fruit: Showy
Tolerate: Rabbit, Drought, Erosion, Clay Soil, Dry Soil, Shallow-Rocky SoilComments: A low maintenance, easy to please plant for naturalizing and for erosion control. The species form is considerably taller at 6 to 12 feet, but shares all other characteristics, including its charm.

Welcome to Clay and Limestone and Wildflower Wednesday.  This day is about sharing wildflowers and other native plants no matter where one gardens~the UK, tropical Florida, Europe, Australia, Africa, South America, India or the coldest reaches of Canada. It doesn't matter if we sometimes share the same plants. How they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most.


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.

Consider The Understory In Your Garden

Flowers are fantastic, but, please don't forget to include native shrubs and small trees when designing or improving your garden.

You can't beat them for wildlife value. Not only do they provide food, nesting and shelter for mammals and birds, they are also host plants for a variety of insects. Insects that are a primary food source for birds, bats, small mammals, amphibians and even other insects that you want in your garden. They are essential if you want to garden for wildlife.

Slipper Bark Elm Spring and Fall

 My own garden came with a canopy of Shagbark Hickory, Elms (American and Slippery Bark) and a variety of Oak trees all growing in a weedy lawn with absolutely no understory.

Hydrangea arborecens

Once I figured out that the conditions in my garden~soil, sun, moisture~most resembled the woodlands that are adjacent to cedar glades, one of the first thing I had to do was to plant an appropriate understory of native shrubs and wildflowers to create a healthy and diverse ecosystem.

Spicebush

 Finding those understory shrubs and small trees has been and still is an adventure. Not just any Middle Tennessee native will grow in the shallow, clay soil that is wet all winter and dry all summer...It is still trial and error, there have been many plant deaths! The ones that thrive are real troopers~Honorary members of the Rough and Tumble Wildflower Club. They meet my criteria to a T~They are native, they provide for pollinators and other critters and they are lovely to look at.  You can't ask for more in a plant.

Viburnum rufidulum aka Rusty Blackhaw

Supporting Players in the garden~Each has many wildlife visitors

Lindera benzoin
Hypricum frondosum
Hydrangea arborecens sps and cultivars 'Ryan Gainey' White 'Dome'
Viburnum rufidulum 
Hydrangea quercifolia
Itea virginica
Aronia arbutifolia
Euonymous americana

Hamamelis vernalis
Hamamelis virginica
Rhododendron periclymenoides (Pinxterbloom Azalea)
Juniperus virginica 'Grey Owl'

Cotinus 'Grace' and Cercis canadensis

Cotinus 'Grace'
Cercis canadensis
Cornus florida
Cornus drummondii   

Amelanchier laevis

Amelancer laevis
Ostrya virginica
Neviusia alabamensis
Dirca palustris
Croton alabamensis 
Rhus aromatica
 
      

My little ecosystem is a hybrid crossing of a cedar glade woodland,  with Central Basin natives and the unique characteristics of this place I call Clay and Limestone. There's no way C and L would ever be confused with a naturally occurring ecosystem, it's an artificial construct that I weed (occasionally),  prune, add and subtract plants, and delight and despair over. 

Hypericum frondosum

The critters seem pretty happy and that makes this gardener happy.
xoxogail


PS. Want to learn more about the wildlife value of trees, shrubs and forbs?  Check out Doug Tallamy's research on Lepidopteran Use of Native & Alien Ornamental Plants and do a web search using the phrase "wildlife value of native trees and shrubs".



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.