First Wedneday Taking Care of Wildlife Challenge: Recommendations For Your Reading and Listening Pleasure

 I am taking a July break, but didn't want to leave you without a few good listens and reads. Please feel free to add any of your recommendations in the comments on this post or in social media where this will be posted. xo

 

 I often listen to gardening podcasts while gardening and sometimes on walks. Here are a few I have enjoyed and I hope you will, too. Just follow the highlighted links. 

Mark Fraley Podcast is a good listen and I especially recommend his interview with Dr Kim Sadler, MTSU, Center for Cedar Glade Studies. If you're a middle Tennessee resident plan a visit. I love their stark beauty. Also, he has interviewed Joanna Brichetto several times. 

 In Defense of Plants podcast. His most recent is Fireflies and Plants. Revisit a conversation between Dr. Sara Lewis and Matt Candeias as they discuss some of the intriguing connections between fireflies and plants.

 The Joe Gardener podcast  Episode 421 Doug Tallamy Answers the Question, How Can I Help?

Ted Talks Daily: Why Climate Action is Unstoppable and climate realism is a myth with Al Gore

Growing Greener podcast with Thomas Christopher

The Plantastic Podcast: Sam Hoadley is interviewed about plant trials at Mt Cuba 

Native Plants Healthy Planet podcast: Check out what Tom and Fran have to say and whom they might be interviewing

Backyard Ecology podcast: Shannon Trimboli is the host. Folks she's just north of Tennessee in Kentucky so her programs are apropos for middle Tennessee. Recent podcasts.

Bug Banter Xerces Society podcast   Many great talks.

Margaret Roach  https://awaytogarden.com/podcast/: I especially enjoyed her interview with Kelly Norris. Kelly is an ecological landscaper and author of several books. 

 

Here's a list of a few of my favorite native plant garden blogs and websites.

Sidewalk Nature: Joanna Brichetto's blog/website and her tag line says it all~ Look Around. Nature is us, our yards, sidewalks, parks, and parking lots.

Humane Gardener : Nancy Lawson's tag line is Cultivating compassion for all creatures great and small.

WildOnes:  Wild Ones promotes native landscapes through education, advocacy and collaborative action. The link will take you to the Middle Tennessee chapter

Home Grown National Park : Join the native plant homegrown garden movement. The website has links to keystone plants in your eco-region.

Nuts For Natives:  A self taught gardener (like many of us) who loves native plants.

Have a safe and wonderful July. xoxogail

Want to Take the Taking Care of Wildlife In Our Gardens Challenge?

The first part of this challenge is to do something, even lots of things, each month that support the critters living in our gardens. Gardening with native wildflowers, shrubs and trees that make sense for our ecoregion is a good place to start or continue (as the case may be). Plants and their pollinators are a classic example of mutualism: they have coevolved through evolutionary time in a reciprocal beneficial relationship. This is also true for other critters that visit and live in our gardens. 

Activities that increase our knowledge of the natural world are equally as valuable. Helping others learn about nature is included. Golly gee whiz, there are so many things you can do. 

The second part of the challenge is to post about it somewhere: Your blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even your neighborhood listserve. Wouldn't an article in the local paper be a coup for nature! 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, including humans, that live all around us. 

Why now? My neighborhood is changing. Yours might be, too. Every day an older home along with many (if not all) of the mature oak, hickory, maple, Eastern cedar and hackberry trees are cut down. Insects, birds, even mammals lose their home site and food supplies when we lose trees. During construction soil is compacted by bulldozers, trucks and piles of debris cause runoff; surface runoff that can carry pollution to streams and rivers. It's important that our neighbors and our community have information about how important trees are to our ecosystem. Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife.

In place of the "bee lawns" composed of Claytonia, Salvia lyrata, Ruellia humilis, fleabane, Western Daisy, Violets, self-heal, clovers, native grasses (in my neighborhood it's poverty oat grass) and sedges, they're being sodded with non-native grasses. These monoculture turf lawns contribute nothing environmentally. Here's what we lose when our diverse lawns are replaced with pristine turf grass:

• Gone are the lightening bugs.
• Gone are the ground dwelling/nesting native bees.
• Gone is the habitat for insects, spiders and other critters. 
• Gone is plant diversity. 
• Gone are trees that provided for hundreds of moths, butterflies and other insects.
• Gone are the nesting sites for woodpeckers, hummingbirds, Chickadees and other birds. 
• Gone is a healthy foodweb.
  

 It breaks my heart. 

We can't stop the progmess, but, maybe we can make a lot of educational noise and help our new neighbors see the value in providing for critters and ultimately helping the environment.

A gardener can hope! 

xoxoGail

Here's an incomplete list of things you might consider doing or changing in your garden, and things you can do for and/or in your community. But don't limit yourself to my list, make your own list or check out the internet for ideas.

 

Looking for ways to get involved go here for a list of environmental advocacy groups.

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

Read nature books to your children and grandchildren. Buy them nature books.

Get in the garden with your children and grandchildren.

Give nature books as baby shower gifts (Nature books for infants and toddlers)

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) 

Plant for bloom from late spring to early winter. Bees are most active from February to November (longer in mild climates) late winter blooming Hamamelis vernalis and the earliest spring ephemerals (like the toothworts, hepaticas, spring beauties, and False rue-anemeone) are perfect plants for a variety of pollinators.

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.

Make a rain garden in low spots to collect and mitigate runoff.

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

Get rid of the plastic weed barriers in your garden, it's not good for anything.

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 and need a soft landing site and a place to live over the winter.

Allow a fallen tree to remain in the garden. Limbs on the ground are a perfect shelter for small animals such as rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels and a habitat for beetles, termites and other insects.

Make a brush pile. Stack fallen brush, cut tree limbs, broken pots for ground beetles. Ground beetles are excellent at eating "bad bugs". Bugs are 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 they're great bird food!

Add nesting boxes for birds. 

Turn off your yard up-lighting, eave lights and porch lights after 11pm. This is important for nocturnal critters including mammals, snakes, insects, bats, birds (especially during migration). (Birdcast suggestions)

Plant shrubs and small trees that provide berries and nuts.

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

Join your state native plant society (Tennessee Native Plant Society)

Join WildOnes even if there's no local group you can join the national organization.  (Middle Tennessee WildOnes)

Support your local native plant sellers. (GroWild in middle Tennessee, Overhill Gardens in east Tennessee,  Resource Guide TN Native Plant Society)

Encourage your local garden clubs to offer native plant talks.

If your garden club has a plant sale encourage them to sell more native plants.

Get trained as a naturalist (Tennessee Naturalist Program. Almost every state has their own Master Naturalist training program

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

Take an online course on designing with native plants.

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."

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.

If you are already gardening with wildlife in mind then add a few signs that help educate your neighbors. (Xerces Society, Pollinator Partnership)

Join the Xerces Society.

Set up an information station where neighbors can pick up brochures about your garden and other info. 

Get certified (National Wildlife Federation, check to see what your state offers)

Support trees by joining the effort to make sure developers don't remove more trees than are necessary for their project. Work to make sure there are tree removal permits and that they are actually enforced in your community.

 

 

 

 

 

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener, Tennessee Naturalist and nature writer 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: Ruellia strepens

Ruellia strepens is offering up a bloom here and there in its less than generous fashion!

It's a pretty little flower, but, its here today and gone this evening habit, can make it less attractive to folks who are into more floriferous wildflowers. There was a time when I seriously thought of just ripping them all out, but, I have grown to enjoy the sweet lavender blue petunia like flowers that always surprise me peeking out of the greenery in the shadiest spots of my garden.

Limestone Wild Petunia is a native perennial in the Acanthus family (Acanthaceae). Not surprising that with a name like Limestone Wild Petunia it would be found growing in rich woodland soil underlain by limestone. Of course it's happy here with my 444 million year old Ordovician limestone bedrock.

It is a sparingly hairy clump-forming perennial that grows 1-3’ tall. Its strongest feature are those pale lilac to lavender petunia-like flowers (to 2” long) with five flaring lobes. If you look closely at the sweet flowers you might notice that one petal is slightly larger than the other four. This zygomorphic quality is typical to both R strepens and R humilis (another middle Tennessee native). I think of that extra large petal as a good landing pad for any pollinators that happen by.

Many of you are probably more familiar with R. humilis. I have seen it offered in several online native plant nurseries. It's very similar to our star, except, it's happier in sun and blooms throughout the hottest, driest times of the summer. I also grow it and love the Petunia like flowers.

The flowers bloom in the leaf axils; note the fine veined nectar guides

 It really is a beautiful flower. At the throat of the corolla, there are several fine veins that are purple and somewhat reticulated; they function as nectar guides for visiting insects. I think they're cool. The flowers are funnel shaped and last for one day and are strangely, easily detached if bumped against.

The fruit is a capsule that explodes open to dispel seeds

Much to my sorrow, I have never, ever seen pollinators on a blooming flower, but, I've read that long tongued bees, miner bees, carpenter bees and parasitic bees are its primary pollinators. Apparently, fertilization has been very successful in my garden, because the progeny is all over. Maybe, the pollinators are sneaking visits when I am inside. But, it's more likely as Researchers at a college in Missouri, discovered: flowers of R strepens open during the early morning dark hours, allowing pollination by moth species. That's good to know. According to another source the lavender-blue trumpets attract hummingbirds and butterflies, too. Here's a link to a site with a bee foraging on the flower! Let me tell you, I was thrilled to find it!

But, speaking of pollination. Many species within this family produce two kinds of flowers - those that have open flowers, which can be pollinated by insects, and those that don't open, which must self-pollinate. Ruellia strepens, our star, often relies on self-pollination for reproduction. Its "perfect flowers" never even open to entertain the idea of cross-pollination. Scientists call these flowers "cleistogamous," which translates as "closed marriage." (source)

I am glad it has a mechanism for self propagation, but, I would love to see some insect action!

 

source

The Particulars

Ruellia strepens

Common Names: Limestone wild petunia, wild petunia, smooth wild petunia, woodland petunia

Family: Acanthaceae 

Type: Herbaceous perennial

Native Range: Eastern United States including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska

Zone: 5 to 8

Habitat: Limestone woodlands, floodplains, rich soils

Height: 1.00 to 3.00 feet Spread: 1.00 to 1.50 feet

Bloom Time: May to September

Bloom Description: Lilac to lavender

Sun: Part shade

Water: Medium

Maintenance: Low

Wildlife Value: Pollen and nectar, Leaf cutter bees have been observed cutting pieces of the corolla to use in their brood nests. They layer it in the nest, seal it up and then die. The next generation is on its own! 

Comments: The roots are fibrous and not easy to dig from dry clay soil. Genus name honors 15th–16th century French herbalist, Jean de la Ruelle.

Conservation status:

Pronunciation: Ruellia (rew-EL-ee-uh) strepens (STREH-penz)

Deer resistant

Source

xoxogail

PS. It's National Pollinator Week, what better time to take this pledge. Now, please raise your hand and solemnly swear that you will never, ever, ever, ever, ever use pesticides in your garden. Now don't you feel better for having made that commitment! I know I do.

Welcome to Clay and Limestone and Wildflower Wednesday.  Thank you all for joining me as we celebrate and share our marvelous and beautiful wildflowers. I hope 2020 is the year we all plant more native wildflowers for the many critters that live in and visit our gardens. Let's be sure we celebrate them every day, not just WW. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not, you can still share them. 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. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

A Few Favorite Flowers For Friday

Aquilegia canadensis

Columbine is found in rich rocky woods, north-facing slopes, cliffs, ledges, pastures, and roadside banks. Native to all states east of the Rockies, except Louisiana. A Duskywing skipper feeds on the leaves and hummingbirds seek out its nectar.

Phacelia bipinnatifida 

Purple Phacelia is common biennial wildflower in Middle Tennessee where it's found growing in moist woodlands and rocky slopes. Phacelia is all about the bees and that makes this gardener happy.

 Trillium luteum

Yellow trillium can be found in deciduous forests, open woods and along rocky stream banks in Eastern Tennessee, but, it grows happily in my Middle Tennessee garden.

 Phlox pilosa

The Practically Perfect Pink Phlox has just begun blooming~It has had a late start, which means that it might bloom into June! "Phlox flowers are the classic butterfly plant with their perfect landing pad (flared petals), a narrow tube that is accessible to the long proboscis of butterflies and fragrant flowers that occur in loose, rounded clusters.  The long bloom time means there's plenty of nectar for pollinator visitors from early to mid-spring. I've seen butterfly, skippers, bumblebees, Minor bees, carpenter bees and Flower flies visiting. I've read that Hummers visit as well and since it's blooming late here, they might stop by, too." It's happy in shade, sunshine, dry open woods, along roadsides and prairies. I am sad to report that the bunnies have discovered the PPPP and have taken a toll on the population~Not to worry, I bought new plants!

Hydrophyllum appendiculatum

Appendaged Waterleaf is a northern species of Waterleaf that is frequently found in rich woodlands in  Middle Tennessee. You'll recognize it and its near relatives by the mottled/waterstained leaves. You'll be able to tell this from the others by its maple leaf shaped leaves. Like its distant cousin Phacelia, it's a bee magnet.

Just a few of my favorite blooming wildflowers for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! Yes, I'm late, but, you can still pop over to Carol/May Dreams Gardens blog to check out gardens from all over this great big beautiful world.

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.

Bloom On for May 2013

Practically Perfect Pink Phlox pilosa is blooming on for Bloom Day~It's my favorite spring plant and I am happy to say it's made a marvelous comeback from the last years droughts.

Although, it's an adaptable plant it needed more moisture than we have had the last many summers to set seed and spread around the garden. This year has more than made up for those disappointing years.

Next up is Penstemon. I am having a marvelous love affair with P 'Prairie Twilight' and P 'Prairie Dusk'.  Both plants rescued from a big box sale rack last summer. Experts often tell you not to buy late in the season or off the sale racks because plants are root bound, etc. That has never stopped me, I've gotten my best bargains from the racks and I am careful to choose plants that can take a good root pruning. I rinsed the potting medium away from the roots, trimmed the roots, making sure none were circling the plant and then planted them in good soil (or in this case, a fast draining rocky soil that these penstemons require). (Go here to read more about Penstemons and Bumblebees)

Also blooming are Western Daisy/Astranthium integrifolium~I discovered these cutie pie daisies in my way back 'meadow' many years ago...and they have been moved all over the garden. WD is a winter annual that blooms heavenly in the late spring and on and off all summer. The flower is small by daisy standards, but, it carries a lot of wow factor when allowed to naturalize in your native plant lawn or as a ground cover beneath later blooming perennials.

Golden Alexander has been in my garden several years, but this year it's been outstanding. I think I need to take a page from Fairegarden and plant a pretty purple flower to compliment the golden yellow and help it stand apart. In my garden it's made a lovely two foot mound and smells of  honey. It evokes memories of my childhood when my good friends and I had the freedom to explore neighboring overgrown fields in early summer. If you get a chance, lean into Zizia aurea and catch that delicious fresh summer fragrance.

Camassias continues to bloom on. I adore them and will be planting more this fall, in fact I have already put a reminder in my calender to order more. One thing I won't do is underplant it with the Tommies. The chipmunks have dug around trying to get the tasty Tommie corms and damaged several of the Camassia quamash.  (But true to advertising the squirrels don't touch it, which is perfect if you garden where there are no chippers))

Verbena canadensis is looking more beautiful than you can imagine. The plants survived our non winter and have been blooming their hearts out.

Phlox 'Minnie Pear' is new to the garden. Research reveals that Minnie is a naturally occurring hybrid between Phlox maculata and Phlox glaberrima. I've placed it next to species P glaberrima, it needs the same moist soil and I do want to see any offspring from this union.

Two-flowered Cynthia is still blooming. You can read about this dandelion imposter and pollinator attractor Krigia here.

Oenothera speciosa

Showy Evening Primrose is just working up to a big show~I love its colonizing ways. I'll pull up the spent flowers, but there's no stopping this plant once it's in your garden.

I fell head over heals in love with Monarda bradburiana while at Chicago Fling several years ago. It blooms faithfully each year and doesn't require a moist soil. Take that M didyma cultivars that tempt me in the nursery and fail to bloom after the first year.

The non-native alliums are gorgeous and as always a nectar treat for all the visiting pollinators.

The last Columbine bloom of the spring 

All in all the garden has enjoyed the long spring and extra rainfall and now, summer is coming on strong. There's a lot more in bloom, but I have to hold some flowers back to post about later! I know you understand.

Happy Bloom Day my dears,  now take the magic carpet ride to May Dreams Gardens and host extraordinaire Carol's links to gardens all over this great big beautiful world.

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.

Trillium Time

Little Sweet Betsy is abloom and dancing with the Spring ephemerals.  Middle Tennesseans put on your hiking gear and head to one of our many natural areas. Davidson county residents, we are lucky folks to have the Metro Parks nearby (Warner Parks, Shelby Bottoms, Beaman Natural Are are but a few). Williamson County residents, of course you should pop over to visit Metro Parks, but,  you have a treasure in Owl's Hill, call them to sign up for wildflower hikes on Tuesdays and while you're there you can get acquainted with their resident owls.

Closer to home, Sweet Betsy (Trillium cuneatum) can be seen in remnant woodlands all over my neighborhood. Sixty or so years ago roads were bulldozed  through farmland and woodlands west of Nashville to build one of the city's first planned communities for the growing post war population. Our little bit of the neighborhood with its shallow soil and exposed limestone bedrock had never been farmed, but, had been logged, what you see now is secondary growth with a few untouched areas in the hills and ridges surrounding us. The indigenous wildflowers~ False Soloman's Seal, Spring Beauties, Rue Anemone, Trout-lily, False Garlic, Blue-eyed Grass, Wild Sweet William and Sweet Betsy, never disappeared and each spring delight residents with their arrival. 

some of the flowers of spring

The first spring in our new home I found blooming Toadshade (another common name) in the wayback backyard and transplanted it to my new woodland garden. That was 25 years ago, but, I remember carefully digging around it to get all the rhizome and roots and gently placing it in the garden. They survived and thrived despite my gardening ignorance.

a simple and graceful perennial

Trillium cuneatum typically flowers from early March to mid April. It can be found in rich, mostly upland woods, but, it is especially happy growing on Middle Tennessee's Ordovician limestone soils (neutral to basic soil). The two I transplanted have multiplied to many and as long as it isn't crowded by aggressive perennials it's happy. Trillium Plants can live for 25 years or longer and usually do not flower until they are several years old. It's found growing across Alabama,  Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. I read that it can even be found in Michigan~makes me wonder how it "escaped" to plant itself there!

Despite being known as Little Sweet Betsy it's the largest of the eastern sessile trilliums, sometimes topping out at 15 inches tall.  In case you wondered, sessile means stalkless and what appears as a stem is actually an extension of the horizontal rhizome. The leaves, petals and sepals of all trilliums come in groups of three.

The trillium is a simple, graceful perennial that is one of the most familiar and loved of the spring woodland wildflowers.

Trillium luteum

But, you don't have to take my word for it~Just check out  Trails and Trilliums this weekend in Monteagle. You can attend talks,  hike and buy wildflowers. They may even be selling trilliums!

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. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Not so dear deer...

While I find deer charming when I see them on walks at Radnor Lake, they are a nuisance in my garden.  Most of my rough and tumble native wildflowers are not palatable to them, but, that doesn't mean that my garden is safe from browsing and damage. Deer in particular seem to be creatures of habit, they follow regular trails to their favorite foods and the visitors at Clay and Limestone are no exception! My across the street neighbor says she loves watching them every morning as they browse by. Sigh...She sees them as delightful wildlife and I experience them as destructive. They trample through the garden smashing newly emerging wildflowers and have eaten the remaining daylilies down to stubs.

Although, I am not amused by their visits, humor helps me deal with the wilder aspects of wildlife gardening. Over the years I've had a lot of fun writing to the stinkers and have even posted an eviction notices. I thought you might like this post from several years ago, reading it this morning has helped restore both my sense of humor and perspective.

I hope it makes you smile, too. xoxogail*

Chez Clay and Limestone, Good Eats Here!

The species tulips looked delicious~

Good Eats Quadruped Dining Reviewer here to tell you about a gem of a place I stumbled upon out in the Nashville suburbs!

You can't beat a tulip for a taste sensation

After living in Nashville you get to know the good and bad about restaurants pretty soon. So, if you are in or around the area, and are having a craving for a bit of exotic food~think Tulipa~ then check out Chez Clay and Limestone! A fun and friendly eatery that caters to the early morning breakfast crowd.

At their just west of downtown location, we found the decor warm and colorful.

Just how you'd expect a locavore restaurant to be.
You'll be greeted by nice and friendly staff who will answer your queries without rush.

Their Menu is large and extensive, especially their daily breakfast buffet! They make the best Tulipa I've tasted this side of Cheekwood! They have a large variety of vegetarian options. No wonder they are a favorite place for Nashville's elite to gather!

Their Sunday Brunch menu is another good choice, from appetizers to main course as well as a dessert. You'll get to taste everything; perfect for a family get together. Look for the menu to change each season. 

Spring: Tulipa, lilies and crocus. 
Summer: Guacamole Hosta. 
Fall: Hydrangea, Hamamelis, Burr Oak Acorns.  

You never know what might be offered, so go ahead and try it all!

Guacamole Hosta will be on the menu later in the season.

There are many great places to eat in this town, but this little diamond in the rough has plenty to offer: good food, affordable prices, and a family-friendly environment. There are no lines, no cover charge and no bouncer at the door. Imagine a dawn breakfast or dinner watching the sunset!

 But, you don't have to take my word for it~Here's a few reviews from other diners

The Proof is in the clean plate

This little gem has a nice menu and relaxed atmosphere. It's tasty and easy on the pocketbook. Be sure and try the Costco Pink Tulips! J Deerman

I can't say any more than if you haven't eaten at this restaurant, you haven't properly taken advantage of what this city has to offer. Shame on you. Awesome food, awesome atmosphere, totally unique to this city.
Sue Fawn

Ain't much to look at, but the rumors are true....the Tulipa specials are too die for! Mrs. Faline Bambi

That's all folks.

Good Eating from the The Quadruped Dining Reviewer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PS The post and photos are from 2011~The 2013 garden isn't this far along, spring has been cooler and there aren't any tulips. Deer, rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks are too frequent guests at Chez Clay and Limestone and I stopped planting them.



 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.