Native Plant Firsts....and Lasts

This past month I have celebrated several firsts!  After trying for a number of years I finally brought along several native plants from seed to maturity.

American Lady butterfly may be laying eggs on its host plant?

The American Lady is distinguished from
the similar Painted Lady butterfly by the
colored swath on the outside of its wings 

The first plant is Pearly Everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea.  I have been able to get these to germinate well, but they languished after transplanting into the garden.  I had success last year by planting them into the bark mulch surrounding the raised vegetable beds.  I think the rather sterile conditions there favored this plant that is common to 'old field' conditions.  (I have had similar disappointments with a related plant Sweet Everlasting, Pseudognaphalium obtussifolium).  The double bonus was that, not only did I get blossoms this year, the plant was visited by an American Lady butterfly (Vanessa virginiensis).  Pearly Everlasting is a larval host for that species of butterfly.











The second first, as it were, was having the Woodland Sunflower, Helianthus divaricatus, come into bloom under my Norway Maple.  These plants were not particularly difficult to grow, it just took a long time to find a commercial seed source.  These did take a year in the ground to get established before sending up blooms this summer.

Brown-eyed Susan growing 3-4' tall in a sunny flower bed.

The Brown-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia triloba, was easier to find as seed but they were more difficult to get to germinate.  Moist stratification in soil-less mix for 60 days gave better results than using damp sand for a similar time.  (Since two methods were tried in successive years, cold storage for a year may have helped as well.)  These Rudbeckia did take a year to get established before blooming.  I have them growing in both sun and shade (Norway Maple), and in a pot; they are all doing well.

The easiest plant to bring along was the Partridge Pea, Chamaecrista fasciculata.  This annual germinated well after moist stratification and treatment with a bacterial innoculum that gives this legume its nitrogen fixing capability.  I have these growing in dry sunny to partly sunny locations, and they are all doing well.  This plant may be a solution to a road-side bed that I have been working with.  They tolerate dry road-side conditions and as an annual, they should be resistant to the effects of snow plows!

The yellow Partridge Pea here is holding its own with the
crab grass and inhospitable conditions

While not a first, we were thrilled to see this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail drop by our deck plantings yesterday and I wanted to share this action shot.    This butterfly was the first native insect I've seen to go after the Lantana and totally ignore the Mealy-cup Sage.

The reason that all of these firsts are also 'Lasts' for me is that we are in the process of moving south, down to Maryland.  This is an exciting move for us.  We will be getting quite a bit more land.  There will be room for larger native plant gardens and hopefully the opportunity to do some limited production of underutilized native plants that I can used in my design business.  So as we go through this transition I will be blogging about my new environs, the native plant communities there and the new challenges to establishing new plantings in the woods.

What's Up in April

The mild winter and warm spring have thrown off the normal times for plants to reemerge.  Most of may natives are at least 2 weeks, if not more early this year.  I found that I need to pay attention about how plants are coming along, because if I wait a couple of days I might miss some of the spring ephemerals.  So here are some of the botanical things happening with my native plants during the first two weeks of April.

These Celandine Poppies are heavy spring bloomers

The star of the spring this year are the Celandine Poppies, Stylophorum diphyllum, I planted last year.  The bright yellow blooms were opening at the same time as the foliage was coming out.  In the shady spot I have these in, they continued sporadic blooming all summer.  We'll see if they can keep up that pace this year.

The flowers are as white as
the flowers of Bloodroot.

I nearly missed the blooms on the Twin Leaf, Jeffersonia diphylla.  The incredibly white flowers are only open for a day, fortunately I spotted these at a distance and ran to get my camera.  I would not recommend growing these for the flowers, they don't last long enough, but the foliage is what really makes this a useful garden plant.  The leaves on this plant usually form a mound about 10" tall.  Also this one is growing under the Norway Maple, so it can handle some adversity.

Note the spotted foliage of the Trout Lily

I had to take this photo of the inside of the flower
with its raised petal.

This year I had 3 Trout Lilies, Erythronium americanum, come up, but only one bloomed.  I have these planted in with some tulips, so it is very easy to miss seeing the plant, since the leaves are of similar shape.  The Trout Lily does have subtle spots on the foliage that is the tip off.  Of course the flower is the real give away.  These flowers only last a few of days under normal conditions.





Last year I finally got good germination of Brown-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia triloba.  It takes a year to get established before it blooms, so I am looking forward to seeing it in action this year.  It has smaller, 'softer' blooms than the more common Rudbeckias.  I took these photos to document the difference between the Brown-eyed Susan and Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta.

The arrow points to one of the three-lobed leaves.
As the plant grows taller this leaf form is harder to find.

Black-eyed Susan leaves are not lobed.  Also,
 you can see the stiff hair no the leaves (hirsute).

I have been trying to get some Woodland Sunflower, Helianthus divaricatus, to try under the Norway Maple for a number of years.  Last year I finally got some started.  The plant grew up to about 18", but did not bloom.  So I thought it was just settling in.  Looking in the area this spring I noted a number of seedlings that I am pretty sure are the sunflower.  So it appears that it has started colonizing already, even without blooming.  This can be a very aggressive plant and so far that looks to be the case.  But under this Maple, that is fine with me.

The form of these sprouts is consistent with Woodland Sunflower

Pennsylvania Sedge, in bloom.

I have also be experimenting with some native sedges, particularly Pennsylvania and Appalachian Sedges, Carex pensylvanica and C. appalachica.  These look pretty similar in leaf, but you can distinguish them by their flowers.  Pennsylvania Sedge blooms in early spring, right after it begins to green up.  Appalachian sedge blooms about a month later, after the foliage is well established.

I'll close with the Low Bush Blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium.  Again, these are in a pretty marginal site, under the Maple.  The plants that are growing the best are the ones getting the most sunlight.  This year the blooming is better, so maybe I'll need to keep an eye out for a berry or two. 

Update: Native Seeds for 2011

Following up on the Native Seeds for 2011 post, here’s a status report on what has and has not worked so far…

Did not germinate:

Allegheny vine (Adlumia fungosa) I’ve written a lot about this biennial vine. I just can’t get enough of it. I was surprised that the new seeds I bought this year did not germinate; however, I do have one self sown plant that is doing great and should be blooming soon. I also have overwintered and planted out some from last year. I’ll need to make a point of harvesting my own seeds this year.

Fern-leaf False Foxglove (Aureolaria peduculata) This biennial is parasitic on oaks, but, reportedly, does not need them for germination. None of these have germinated, despite trying several different germination conditions. 


Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) This is the first year I’ve tried these and alas, none had germinated. Fortunately I did get some bare root plants from Prairie Moon Nursery, and these are developing nicely.


Rosey Sedge (Carex rosea) I’ve had a small clump of this perennial grass for nearly 5 years. I was not able to get the seeds I bought this year to germinate. I understand that Carex is generally a difficult plant to grow from seed.


Good germination:

Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) This is a perennial with white, long lasting flowers similar to the annual Sweet Everlasting (Pseudognaphalium obtussifolium) that I’ve tried several times before. These germinated really well, but have grown on very slowly and so far have not transplanted well. I just may not have the right touch, or location, for these plants.

Tall Swamp Marigold or Crowned Beggarticks (Bidens coronata) is an annual, with good-sized yellow flowers. These did not germinate last year when I cold stratified them in moist sand for 60 days, so this year I got a new batch of seed and conditioned them in moist soil for 60 days in the refrigerator. I was thrilled to see that they were sprouting within 5 days of coming to room temperature. I’ve got these blooming in the garden already! So far I would rate these better than the Bidens aristosa, for early bloom and a manageable size; however it’s still early so we’ll see how long the bloom continues and how vigorously they reseed themselves (a little, a lot or none at all?).


Browneyed Susan and American Pennyroyal in a pot.



Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba) is a short-lived perennial, that while taller has a more delicate appearance than the typical Black-eyed Susan (R. hirta). Last year when I conditioned these in damp sand I got no germination. This year moist stratification in the soilless mix resulted in good and rapid germination after just 4 days of coming out of the refrigerator. I’ve moved some of these to pots and some into the garden. I don’t know if these will grow on to bloom this year, or if they need a season to get established.






Some germination:

Flowering Spurge (Euphorbia corollata) Perennial also known as Wild Baby’s Breath. I thought this could be good for general landscape use, with white flowers through mid-summer. I got a low rate of germination and the plants seem slow to develop. Once the temperatures got over 90, the seedlings began to take off. I’m trying this in several locations and have this one in a pot. So I’m hopeful that at least one of these will mature.

Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus) Perennial for dry shade. This plant can be weedy in the garden, but I really want to test it out under the Norway Maple where its vigor may be tempered by this challenging environment. Only 4 of these germinated, but these are developing nicely. I’ve already moved a couple under the 'nasty' Maple and they are continuing to grow.



Repeats, with good results:

Orange Hummingbird Mint (Agastache aurantica ‘Navaho Sunset’) grew quite well last year and I got good germination from the same crop of seeds as last year. Last year’s plants are a dense mass about 18” tall, not ready to bloom yet, but the foliage smells really great, even as tiny plants.

Native to rocky slopes, these transplants
are doing well among some Bearded Iris.

Rock Harlequin (Corydalis sempervirens) Even though the seed was for 2010, still gave a very good rate of germination. Some seedlings that I transplanted into rich humusy soil died immediately, while those interplanted with the Bearded Iris, in unimproved soil, are doing quite well.
















Sulfur Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) these germinated well both indoors under lights and direct sown in the garden. I was concerned that I would confuse the seedlings with those from the Bidens aristosa that has reseeded itself all over the garden beds. There are a couple of features that distinguish the seedlings. The first pair of leaflets from the Cosmos are each nearly an inch long, compared to about ¼” for the Bidens, the Cosmos germinate about 2 weeks later than the Bidens (although the Bidens continue to germinate from late April to the middle of June) and while the leaves of both species are deeply divided, the Cosmos have broader rounder tips than those of the Bidens. I am pulling up and discarding the Bidens seedlings, this will be a test of whether I can eliminate this species from the garden so that I can test other plants.



Note the long cotyledon leaves and rounded leaf tips

 

Compare the first pair of leaves with
those of the Cosmos.

















The annual American Pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides) has been getting established from a planting 2 years ago. I’ve found that these reseed themselves rather well and grow well under lights (after 30 days cold stratification), but did not come up where I seeded them directly in the garden. I guess these do better when they find their own home. I’ve planted out a few of these and am growing some in pots. I plan to snag a few leaves to rub on my arms to test their mosquito repellent properties.


Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata) had germinated within 6 weeks in damp sand, while still in the dark in the refrigerator. I moved the germinated seedlings to starter mix and still ended up with a healthy crop of little plants.


Sweet Everlasting (Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium) has given me trouble on transplanting in the past two years. An this year is no exception – lots of seedlings that do not transplant well. The directly sown seeds did not germinate. I think need to be put into really well drained coarse soil and are not appropriate to my garden conditions.



This seedling is developing faster than ones transplanted from
indoors.  Monarda and Agastache are also cropping up.


Some other seedlings that are showing up on there own in the garden are from the Scarlet Sage (Salvia coccinea), Biennial Gaura (Gaura biennis), Strawberry Blite (Chenopodium capitatum) and of course the Swamp Marigold (Bidens aristosa). I was not certain if the seeds of the Salvia could overwinter here in the Northeast.  Seeing these appear in new locations points out the importance of knowing what the seedlings for these annuals and biennials look like, otherwise I would have weeded them out as I was preparing the beds for other plants.




The reseeded catnip has deeper teeth on the leaf margin than for the Salvia coccinea,
the catnip leaf is also has a fleshier texture.



Native Seeds for 2011

After assessing what did and did not do well last year, I placed my seed orders for native seeds. Here’s a run down on what I’ll be trying this year.

New Plants
Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) A perennial with white, long lasting flowers. I’ve been frustrated growing the related annual Sweet Everlasting (see below), so I thought I would try a perennial version.

Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) This perennial that does well in dryer sunny locations and attracts many pollinators. I’ve seen a few plants commercially available but I wanted to make sure I had some growing this year.

Rosey Sedge (Carex rosea) I was given a small clump of this foot-tall perennial grass for nearly 5 years ago. I thought I should test it out in some different locations. This sedge prefers part to full shade.

Flowering Spurge (Euphorbia corollata) This perennial is also known as Prairie Baby’s Breath. I thought this could be good for general landscape use, with white flowers through mid-summer.

Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus) This perennial sunflower grows well in dry shade. It can be weedy in the garden, but I really want to test it out under the Norway Maple. I’ve seen this brightening up shady oak woodlands in the middle of summer.  This is the first year that I have been able to find seed.


Repeats
Alleghany vine (Adlumia fungosa) I’ve written a lot about this biennial vine. I just can’t get enough. Note that these seeds need 90 days of cold stratification, so don’t wait if you want to try this one!

Orange Hummingbird Mint (Agastache aurantica ‘Navaho Sunset’) grew quite well last year and now I need more to try with clients. I really like the scent of the gray-green foliage and the flowers are pretty nice, too.

Rock Harlequin (Corydalis sempervirens) This another plant that I love.  I just need more rocky places to put it.

Sulfur Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) This native of Mexico (a part of North America) grows as an annual in the Northeast.  I had a crop that returned for 4-5 years until it got crowded out by some Bidens. I thought I would try to start it up again. While the bloom is similar to that of the swamp marigold (B. aristosa), this Cosmos starts blooming earlier and for a longer time.  Also, the foliage is not as dense.

American Pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides) has been getting established from a planting 2 years ago, but I’d like to try more in some different locations. This will do well along a path.

Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata) was pretty successful last year and I need more to try with some clients.

Sweet Everlasting (Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium) has given me trouble on transplanting in the past two years. I’ll try this again, this time seeding directly in the garden in prepared soil (not in compacted turf).

One last try...
These three plants did not germinate for me last year, but I’ll try one more time with a lengthy stratification in moist starter mix.

Fern-leaf False Foxglove (Aureolaria peduculata) This biennial is parasitic on oaks, but, reportedly, does not need them for germination. I also have some of these scattered around a nearby oak. Stay tuned…

Tall Swamp Marigold (Bidens coronata) is an annual, with good-sized yellow flowers. I'm curious to see how if differs from the other Bidens I have around.

Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba) is a short-lived perennial, that while taller, has a more delicate appearance than the typical Black-eyed Susan (R. hirta).  I've posted a number of photos of this species over the past year.

Returning on their own:
I'm sure the Swamp Marigold (Bidens aristosa) will be back, but I will be pulling these up to make room for new plants.  I will have a lot of the biennial American Bellflower (Campanulastrum americanum) in 2011, judging by the large number of rosettes in the 2010 garden.  Also, I will keep an eye out for the return of any of the Texas native annuals: Indian Blanket (Gallardia pulchella), Drummond Phlox (Phlox dummondii) and Scarlet Sage (Salvia coccinea), that bloomed so nicely last year.