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.

Such a pretty spring flower

Oh my, it smells like rotting flesh!

The Paw paw is in flower and it's only taken 6 years. Not just one flower, there are two. There's little hope for fruiting, the flowers are on the same plant, but, I remain hopeful that a Zebra swallowtail will show up!

The back story (from earlier post)

Everything I knew about Paw-paws I learned from Captain Kangaroo...seriously. Back in TV land in the mid-fifties the Captain invited us to sing along and mime picking up Paw-paws and putting them in a basket. I hadn't the faintest idea he was talking about a fruit, actually a giant berry, but, I remember loving the game.

That was the last I heard about Asimina triloba or Common Paw paws until I became a native plant gardener and began learning to identify native wildflowers and trees. After a small patch was pointed out to me on a trail at Edwin Warner park my interest grew. Paw paws are not only a charming looking understory tree, but, it has good wildlife value for critters. It's a favorite host plant (larvae feed on the leaves and flowers) of the zebra swallowtail butterfly in the southeastern states and its only host plant for more northern locations. The fruit of the Paw paw is also eaten by forest mammals. But, it wasn't until my friend Terri Barnes of GroWild shared a few with me that I had any idea how wonderful they tasted~ a sweet, custard flavor that's quite hard to describe.

Beautiful in fall

A good looking tree and a good food source for critters~including humans! I had to have them in my garden. My friend Joanna (also a Tennessee Naturalist) told me about a local tree sale that was selling Paw paws and other native trees. Of course I bought one. I planted that seedling one spring day and then I planted a Paw paw patch!

Okay, patch might be too strong a description, but, I planted more Paw paws.

The Paw paw patch
A friend and I dug six small clonal divisions from his large Paw paw patch. Those divisions spent the rest of spring, summer and early fall in a nursery bed. They were watered regularly during the hot, dry summer and were planted about 10 feet from the other seedling in hopes that any flowers produced would be pollinated by flies and other pollinators attracted to their flowers' rotting flesh fragrance!

Paw paws don't self-pollinate, they spread clonally/vegetatively. No matter how big the patch gets, they still need Paw paws that are not part of its clonal group for pollination. Hopefully, my little patch will produce smelly flowers that will attract flies and beetles and Paw paw fruit will be in my future. (for more about flies go to: We can't all be pretty pollinators)


I broke these Paw paw rules and so should you: One, they're divisions and Paw paw divisions usually fail when transplanted; two, I planted in the fall and recommended planting is spring; three, this garden is any thing but a Paw paw's preferred growing site~i.e. well-drained, deep, fertile bottom-land.

Here's what I did:

1. Dug them in April from an established patch.
2. Planted them immediately into the kiddie pool nursery bed in a mixture of leaf mold, soil conditioner, compost and two bags of Complete Landscape Mix (expanded shale for drainage).
3. Watered and nurtured them
4. Planted them in mid-November in a part of the garden with deeper, rich soil, on a well draining slope near a water source. I planted them at the same depth they were growing in the kiddie pool using the soil they were grown in, taking special care with the fibrous roots, then watered them in well and mulched with leaf mold and fallen leaves to mimic their native habitat. 
5. Continued to water and nurture them through middle Tennessee brutal summers.

About Paw-paws, in case you wondered.
The Common Paw paw is the northernmost New World representative of the Annonaceae tropical family. It's called a "tropical fruit for the temperate area". It's a lovely understory tree with big leaves and large greenish-blackish fruit. Inside is a delightful tasting fruit that's pale to dark yellow with a network of dark seeds. The taste has been described as a banana-mango-pineapple~I don't know, I just thought it was good.

fruit

Asimina triloba is native to the eastern US from the great lakes all the way to the Gulf coast and west into Tennessee where I live and garden. It's found naturally growing in the hills around my neighborhood where it gets the excellent drainage it requires. Grown in full sun it will develop a narrowly pyramidal shape with dense, drooping foliage down to the ground level. Although, it's reported to fruit better in full sun it needs shade and protection from winds its first two years. Remember to plant two trees so they can cross pollinate and please don't dig them from the wild.

If you're fortunate and have generous friends you might try a Paw paw experiment like mine. What have you got to lose! I celebrate my two flowers. They encourage me to continue to break the established horticulture rules and I encourage you to keep breaking them, too.

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.

Wildflower Wednesday: A Fine Native Hydrangea

It's hard for me to believe that I've never written about Hydrangea arborescens, it's my favorite hydrangea and the first shrub I planted in this garden 30 years ago. I first saw wild hydrangea while hiking a ridge not too far from my house and thought it was charming and just what was needed in my garden. It was clinging to the side of a slope and towering above it were hardwood trees like the ones at Clay and Limestone.

the sterile flowers stay attached after flowering has finished

Hydrangea arborescens, commonly known as smooth hydrangea or wild hydrangea is a gangly limbed deciduous shrub with large, opposite, toothed leaves and grayish stems. It is native to woodland slopes, hillsides and streambanks in the Eastern US from New York to Florida, west to Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana and as I shared earlier in middle Tennessee woodlands. Some maps show it growing as far west as New Mexico and Arizona, but, I can't corroborate that information. In warmer climates it's happiest in dappled shade with moist soil, but, it is tolerant of damp soil, dry soil and even rocky soil. The fact that it grows so well on slopes indicates to this gardener that drainage is important! So keep that in mind when you plant it. Adequate moisture is an ongoing issue in a middle Tennessee garden all summer long, be prepared to give this plant a big gulp of water every now and then, it can tolerate some dry spells, but don't expect it to flourish if it's dry all the time.
 

planted with Hypericum

Hydrangea arborescens is planted in three different beds. My favorite is the one planted with witch hazels, Hamamelis vernalis and a non native H x intermedia 'Diane'. Also in that section of the bed is a Fothergilla, Oakleaf hydreangea 'Ruby Slippers' and a cultivar H arborescens 'White Dome' they're underplanted with Seersucker sedges, camassias, ex-asters, Trilliums and Green and Gold.

Flat-topped clusters of white flowers (corymbs to 2-6”across) are produced in early summer.

What do I like about this hydrangea and why would I recommend it for your garden?

For lots of little reasons and for two big ones.

Dehiscent seed capsules ripen in October-November

First, I am wild about its "lacecap flowers". They're not as lacy as non native Hydrangea, but there's enough sterile flowers to make me smile. The flat topped clusters of creamy-white fertile and sterile flowers start out pale green and turn to a creamy white and eventually fading to brown in late summer.

The white flowers appear on tips of new growth, so you don't have to worry about winter's harsh blast killing the flower buds. Feel free to cut it back to control growth and encourage stronger stems in early spring.

It took me years to learn to appreciate winter browns, now that I do, I never want to cut back my garden until the very last minute in spring! Just look at what I would miss if I cut the stems of this Hydrangea to nubs in late fall!

nectar and pollen attract pollinators

The second reason I recommend wild hydrangea is for its wildlife value. Planting native plants that have high wildlife value is one of the guiding principles of this garden. Lots of plants are critter friendly, but some are absolutely better than others and those are the ones I plant.

Wild hydrangea has great wildlife value. It's a pollen and nectar source for pollinators and a host plant for two moths, Darapsa versicolor/Hydrangea Sphinx Moth and Olethreutes ferriferana/Hydrangea leaf-tier moth. I keep watching for them, but so far have missed their offspring and the moths.

bees across the flower making it hard to get them and the flower into focus

If you've ever watched a bee race over/work this flower you would guess it has a lot to offer. I love that little carpenter bees (Ceratina spp.), Halictid bees, masked bees (Hylaeus spp.), miscellaneous wasps, mosquitoes, Syrphid flies, thick-headed flies, Muscid flies, dance flies (Empis spp.), tumbling flower beetles, and long-horned beetles (source) also visit the flowers.

Hydrangea arborescens 'White Dome'

Some gardeners think Smooth Hydrangea cultivars are more attractive than the species, they usually like the larger flower heads over the straight species, but, a big flowered cultivar like 'Annabelle' does nothing for me, nor does it look right in my woodland garden. But, if that's one you like go ahead a add it to your garden. If you can't find the straight species, you won't be disappointed with Hydrangea arborescens 'White Dome'. The flower head is also a "lacecap" shape with sterile and fertile flowers and it's equally attractive to pollinators.

 The yellow color of the wild hydrangeas are a perfect complement to the other fall tones

I think of Wild Hydrangea as offering year round appeal, except for very late in winter when I've cut the stems back. But, before long it's greening up and setting buds. The large serrated leaves and tall stems stand up straight and tall in my garden with flowers on every tip. As i shared earlier, they start out green, then they're turn a creamy white and once they're pollinated they fade to a sweet parchment color that lasts all winter.

Wild hydrangea has a nice yellow in the fall, that helps light up a dark corner in a woodland garden and acts as a supporting player to the more dramatic fall gold, reds and oranges. It looks charming with blues, even if it's only a container.

What do you think about its yellow leaves when planted with lilac ex-asters and the red leaves of a Japanese maple and Florida dogwood?

I love it.

source

Do give this native shrub a chance, it's really quite special.

It's a lovely, easy care,  year round pretty shrub.
It tolerates winter's cold blast.
It's a pollinator magnet and host plant.
It makes sense for a woodland garden.
xoxogail

The particulars

Common Name: smooth hydrangea, Wild hydrangea
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Hydrangeaceae
Native Range: Eastern United States from New York, into the mid-western states, south to Texas and Florida
Zone: 3 to 9
Height: 3.00 to 5.00 feet, occasionally to ten feet
Spread: 3.00 to 5.00 feet
Bloom Time: May/June to September
Flower: Flat-topped clusters (4 to 6 inches across) of small white flowers, larger sterile flowers may be present along edges of cluster, appearing in early summer. Flowers on new growth.
Fruit: Dry, light brown capsules appearing in early fall
Sun: Part shade, dappled sunlight, full sun with moist soil 
Water: Medium
Soil: clay soil, wet, dry, shallow and/or rocky soil. Acid to neutral ph.
Maintenance: Low, prune in late spring to control growth, can colonize
Suggested Use: Naturalize, Rain Garden, woodland garden, edge of woods, massing, stabilizing a hillside or slope.
Comments: Showy cultivars that I like 'Ryan Gainey' and 'White Dome', check to make sure you get a cultivar that is not just showy sterile flowers. There are two pink cultivars, but, I am not sure if they are just sterile flower heads. Its roots have been used for hundreds of years in folk and Native American medicine for the treatment of various ailments

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.

Wildflower Wednesday: Celebrating the Supporting Players in a Wildflower Garden

When we moved to this property there was a canopy of secondary growth shagbark hickories, white oaks,a winged Elm (above) and a few hackberries all growing in a weedy front lawn.

Other than a diseased Cercis canadensis/redbud and a lovely Ostry virginiana that was being smothered by a wisteria vine, there was absolutely no understory.

I loved the canopy and the beautiful fall colors, but, I didn't want a lawn with big trees towering above. What I really wanted were more flowers like the ones I saw on the edges of my new yard that first day in mid-October after we closed on the house. They were a beautiful blue and were covered with bumble bees.

It was my first sighting of the ex-asters and I was in love.

Amelanchier fall 2015 with offspring of the ex-asters I fell for 30 years ago.

I had always wanted to garden, so the following spring I planted more flowers. Most of them died. Lavenders, hostas and other exotic plants that I found at a local nursery just didn't belong in this garden.

Cercis canadensis and Cotinus 'Grace'

It took a while and a lot of research, but, once I figured out that the conditions in my garden, (soil, sun and moisture) resembled the woodlands that are adjacent to cedar glades, I began to plant native plants, including an appropriate understory of small trees and shrubs to create a healthy and diverse ecosystem. By then, I was head over heals in love with wildflowers and gardening for wildlife had become my passion.

The Dancing Tree, Ostrya virginiana

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 in the shallow clay soil that is dry during the summer and wet during the winter.

 Hamamelis vernalis and Itea virginica  (2014)

My garden is a Central Basin woodland with dryer, heavier and more neutral soil. Native plants adapted to this kind of environment were essential, the supporting players are small trees (redbuds, hop hornbeams, witchhazels, smokebush and spicebush) and various sized shrubs (Hydrangeas, Iteas, Hypericums and  native azaleas) that are shade tolerant.  My goal has been to provide habitat for critters in a visually attractive space.

Hydrangea quercifolia

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 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.

Hamamelis virginiana

They are essential 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.

Aronia/Photinia arbutifolia

The Supporting Players:
Lindera benzoin
Hypericum frondosum
Hydrangea arborecens sps and cultivars 'Ryan Gainey', 'White 'Dome'
Viburnum rufidulum 
Hydrangea quercifolia
Itea virginica
Aronia/Photinia arbutifolia
Euonymous americana

Intense fall color on Hypericum frondosum 2015

Aesculus parviflora (just one)
Hamamelis vernalis
Hamamelis virginiana
Rhododendron periclymenoides (Pinxterbloom Azalea)
Juniperus virginica 'Grey Owl'

Lindera benzoin  with Hydrangea arborescens and Mr I's maple.

Asimina triloba
Cotinus 'Grace'
Cercis canadensis
Cornus florida
Callicarpa americana
Ilex glabra
Illicium parviflorum 'Florida Sunshine'
Cornus drummondii 
Amelancer laevis (just one)
Magnolia 'Little Gem'
Ostrya virginica
Neviusia alabamensis
Dirca palustris (just one)
Rhus aromatica

Rhus aromatica

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 our first grandchild, Ever Mae; for loving and supportive friends; for fall weather that finally appeared; and, for wildflowers that bloomed no matter how horrid the weather has been.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all,
xoxogail

Welcome to Wildflower Wednesday and thank you for stopping by to help me celebrate the many supporting players in my garden. This has been a challenging year and there isn't anywhere near the foliage color display that one expects in a Middle Tennessee garden in November, thus, many of the photos shared are from previous years. There's rain in the forecast and all of us in Tennessee are keeping our fingers crossed that it happens. Too often this summer and fall rain has skipped past us. We need a good rain to put out the wildfires that are ravaging the forests in the southeastern states.


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.