Fruit of the Season

Either this year is a very good year for my alternate-leaf dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) in terms of fruit or I just happened to notice it at just the right time. The fruit sometimes fails to develop and I find aborted clusters on the ground. This year the tree is loaded with tiny fruits in a variety of colors and the birds are having a grand time.

The ripening fruits of alternate-leaf dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)

Around the corner, the blueberries are ripening as well and we are harvesting about a bowl per day. I’m sure the critters are getting a few of those too but there are plenty for everyone. Clearly my Southeastern blueberry bees did a great job with pollination this spring.

Cultivated blueberries (perhaps 'TifBlue')

In the less successful pollination department, only a few paw paws are developing on my 3 trees. It appears that it is the later flowers that are bearing the fruit (I was watching!). Are they blooming before the flies emerge? I’ll have to watch carefully in late August if I want to beat the critters to these tasty fruits; they got them last year.

Doll's eye (Actaea pachypoda)

Paw paw (Asimina triloba)

Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides

Nature provides for a succession of fruit during our seasons: the serviceberries (Amelanchier) are long gone; the wild cherries and plums have just finished up; the viburnums are still green; elderberries and blueberries are ripening; and the beautyberries (Callicarpa americana) have just started to flower.

I’ve written about edible and wildlife-friendly fruit before. Visit these previous blogs for more info: edible fruits in Georgia, fall fruits (including for wildlife), and specifically the paw paw.  

I like to appreciate native plants in all stages of growth: flowers, fruit, foliage, winter garb. Now seemed like a good time to celebrate some summer fruits. Enjoy!

From Seed

Oenothera fruticosa

I was surprised by a bloom on this sundrops plant (Oenothera fruticosa) this week. I wasn’t expecting that it would bloom given that it was grown from seed this year. This is planted by my front walk and is in an area that I cleared out and replanted recently and it shares the space with a number of other plants grown from seed. Growing plants from seed is a topic that I think is worthy of some attention.

Growing plants from seeds provide some important benefits, particularly to the plant community at large but also to gardeners. My reworked bed actually has mostly plants that were started from seed even though I didn’t plan it that way (and none of them were started by me either!).  A number of local native plant growers use seeds for their plants and for a variety of reasons:

1. Seed grown plants allow us to keep and promote genetic diversity of plant material. Just like our own human siblings, plants from seed have differences even though they came from the same parents. Plants propagated from cuttings and tissue culture (often the method of propagation for named cultivars) pass along identical genes every time. 


Genetic diversity is what gives us robust genes to keep plants thriving; weak ones will die out and strong ones will survive.


2. Seed grown plants allow us to preserve local heritage. Small growers and gardeners might gather seeds from local populations, maybe even populations that are shrinking due to development, and create plants to carry on those genes.  Think about much you enjoy having some of Grandma’s old black-eyed Susans. In a similar way, we can have a bit of local flora heritage spread among our gardens. 

I am especially proud of the work that the nearby Chattahoochee Nature Center—often in partnership with the GeorgiaPlant Conservation Alliance (GPCA)—is doing to acquire seeds from Georgia populations, grow them, and make plants available to the general public through their sales. Rare plants that they grow go back into conservation sites, so support of CNC plant sales helps conservation in the state.


3. Speaking of Grandma’s plants, growing from seed is a great way to share special things with friends. They are easy to mail! Back to my blooming sundrops, these are particularly special. The seeds were gathered from one friend’s garden, grown by my very talented friend Sheri (that girl has magic in her fingers), and are now growing in my garden. How doubly-special is that? I have several other seed-grown plants from Sheri in that garden plus plants grown from seed at several small nurseries (Night Song and Plant Life Nursery), other friends, as well as some of my own seedlings. The place is packed!

Details of some plants below

So the next time you have a chance to get some seed grown plants, I encourage you to consider yourself lucky. Not everyone takes the time to do it, but the rewards can be great.

American bellflower
Campanulastrum americanum

Swamp milkweed (Asclepias perennis)
Grown from seed by Sheri

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
A seedling from my friend Richard

Scarlet sage (Salvia coccinea)
in adorable red wheelbarrow from Sheri

Small Nursery Feature – Night Song Native Plant Nursery

I like to occasionally profile small nurseries that sell native plants. This week is a relatively new one—it was started in 2014—and it has been steadily increasing its selection of plants. Night Song Native Plant Nursery is located in Canton, GA in a fairly rural area with lots of room to grow.

Katy Ross started the nursery after returning to Georgia from Arizona where she was inspired by their native plant ordinances. She previously worked for other nurseries, and always planned to have her own one day. A love of being outdoors and a childhood of listening to the night songs of cicadas, tree frogs, owls, and other creatures were her inspirations. Reading Doug Tallamy’s book solidified that it would be a native plant nursery. Habitat is more than what we see when we look at plants for beauty alone; without native plants, we might not have the critters that make magical night songs.

Night Song is actually my closest native nursery and I have enjoyed visiting it in Canton since the beginning. It has really grown a lot as they added more types of plants and more growing space. I like that it is both a production and a retail nursery. In browsing what is for sale, you walk past what is sprouting from seed.  Under a large canopy, you might see people potting up plants to the next size.

Two of the sun and shade hoop houses

Pots with natives help display them

I also enjoy stopping by the large pollinator garden next to the growing area. A collection of sun-loving plants bloom there throughout the seasons, showing customers what to expect of these plants and giving ideas on how to combine them. Butterflies, bees, and other pollinators are there in abundance. Katy feels that pollinator plants are their specialty. She enjoys growing plants from seed—some of it as local as her own garden—and using organic practices to stock unique and healthy plants for North Georgia gardens. They carry species plants and some cultivars, helping both gardeners and folks involved in restoration find the plants they seek. This year, one of the things I got was some seed-grown sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) for the front bed that I updated at my house.

One view of the pollinator garden 

Seasonal stars pop up in the pollinator garden

Today the nursery carries a variety of perennials, ferns, shrubs, trees, and vines. They enjoy stocking native edible plants and might be one of the few places you can find mulberry (Morus rubra), black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), and paw paw (Asimina triloba). Last year I teamed up with Katy on a talk about native edibles and the plants she brought to sell flew out the door.

In addition to selling plants, Katy and the nursery staff help to provide educational opportunities. Katy gives local talks, they’ve implemented seasonal programs like Bee Happy Hour (one is coming up next week), nature camp, plus spring and fall festivals to get people closer to nature. One year they had a paw paw festival and served tastings (they have a natural paw paw grove on the property). Get on their mailing list and follow them on Facebook to keep up with what’s going on at the nursery.

For other nursery profiles or to find specific topics on this blog, use the small search box in the upper left corner of the desktop version of the blog page.

The Queen Who Came to Visit

Butterfly population records are full of occasional strays. In the last few years, I’ve had stray Zebra longwings and American painted ladies visit my garden. This year, a Queen butterfly visited a nursery not far from me (about 6 miles as the butterfly flies) and laid a few eggs. I had the opportunity to raise a few of them at my house using milkweed.

Female Queen butterfly

The Queen (Danaus gilippus) is a member of the Danainae subfamily, the more familiar member of which is the Monarch. These are known as the milkweed butterflies and include in the U.S. the Monarch, the Queen, and the Soldier. The Queen looks most similar to the Monarch when its wings are closed. When the wings are open, the chestnut brown coloring and the lack of black lines makes it more distinguishable.

Queen caterpillar

Queen chrysalis, darkening

In the caterpillar stage, they also look similar until you realize it is has 3 sets of what appear to be tentacles; the Monarch has only two. The Queen is not as large as the Monarch and the chrysalis, while very similar, was noticeably smaller. Like the Monarch, the male of the species has unique marks on the hindwings. An earlier blog of mine has detailed Monarch pictures.

The chrysalis bulges just before opening

The newly emerged male

In researching this butterfly, one of the things mentioned was that adults roost communally.  Of the four caterpillars that I raised, one was released on Wednesday, two on Thursday, and the last one on Friday. On both Thursday and Friday, as the new ones were hardening their wings, an adult flew up to visit.

Whether the Queen butterfly continues to expand from south Georgia northward on a regular basis remains to be seen. Slight increases in temperature may contribute. Having people report their sightings would help. I reported this one at BAMONA; the last report near me was June 2017 in Eatonton. As for this time – we enjoyed the visit with her and her family very much.

Male Queen butterfly, showing markings

The returning Queen (female) waited on purple coneflower

Still Hanging Out in the Yard

All of my time is still being spent at my house these days, safely avoiding crowds and hanging out with our grandson. While I’d love to be going on field trips and other plant-related activities, I’m getting some things done here and continuing to enjoy the happenings here. Bloom-wise, this is a fairly modest period with small (but special) plants flowering here and there.

I upgraded my phone a couple months ago so here are a few photos from around the garden and a trip out to drop off some plants at a local small nursery, many of them from the phone. I’m a huge fan of finding and appreciating roadside plants so having a better camera on the phone will help take quick pics.

Asclepias tuberosa with Glandularia canadensis 'Homestead Purple'
at Night Song Native Plant Nursery display bed

Coreopsis tinctoria on roadside (wildflower planting)

Monarda didyma at Night Song

Phlox carolina in a pot on my porch

Yard projects include redoing the perennial area at the front sidewalk and thinning out some of the overgrown shrubs and tree growth. Plants grow and we can’t expect areas to remain the same. In a managed landscape, it is up to the gardener to reevaluate areas and correct as needed. I’ve written about cutting trees to open up more light. I’m not doing that this year but next year will be 5 years since and I might consider again.

Much of my redo effort consists of potting up what I’m removing; these are good plants and they deserve good homes but it makes for a longer project. In particular, I potted up 12 summersweet (Clethra alnifolia) and gave 6 to my neighbor and 6 to another friend. In the newly cleared space, I planted Asclepias perennis, sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa), spotted beebalm (Monarda punctata), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), and Zizia. These plants were grown from seed (my friend Sheri is so talented and the seed for the sundrops came from another friend’s garden, even more special!) or were gifts from friends. I am happy for them to have a new place front and center! Did I overplant? Probably … so I get to do this again in about 4-5 years!!

Amianthium muscaetoxicum in back yard

Ruellia carolinensis volunteers a lot

Second flush on Lonicera sempervirens

Chimaphila maculata is quite small

Other areas are getting a little more attention as well, and I got a batch of tree trimmings from the utility contractor in the area so the paths and some beds are getting a layer of shreds. I know some of my friends are also using the extra time at home to get some garden projects done too. Several of us are making a concentrated effort to reduce the pots of rescued and propagated plants (one neighbor asked me if I was a part-time nursery—I am not!) either by planting them or donating them to friends and good causes.

Asclepias purpurascens

Sisyrinchium angustfolium

The butterfly season is pretty slow this year - perhaps another too wet spring. A friend gave me Monarch eggs and Queen caterpillars so we have been growing those. I finally found some Spicebush caterpillars this week in the yard.

Newly emerged Monarch

Queen chrysalis

Pleasing Penstemon

I love alliteration and—when I was trying to think of another “p” word to describe how I feel about beardtongue perennials in the genus Penstemon—I  could think of no more appropriate word than “pleasing” to describe beardtongues. These dependable, bee-supporting, and relatively deer-resistant flowers are a favorite of mine and many other gardeners (who might not even have realized they are native).

Penstemon tenuis in late April

Largely composed of North American natives, most species are found in the West. We have 10 reported species in Georgia, of which 7 have county records and 3 are given the benefit of the doubt (those 3 are marked by asterisk in this list): Penstemon australis, P. calycosus*, P. canescens, P. digitalis*, P. dissectus, P. laevigatus, P. laxiflorus*, P. multiflorus, P. pallidus, and P. smallii.

Some of you may be as surprised as I was to realize that the very popular foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) has no specific records of indigenous populations. If we could ask the herbariums what records they have, we might know better but the tool that used to be available is no longer online (georgiaherbarium.org).  This is a species that is often sold as well as widely shared among gardeners. The burgundy-tinged cultivar ‘Husker Red’ is particularly popular, and I have it in my garden as well.

Penstemon digitalis

Burgundy-tinged Penstemon digitalis

In Georgia, Penstemon flowers are white, pale lavender, and purple (and all the shades in between). The Xerces Society has a great description of beardtongue that I won’t try to restate: “Beardtongue derives its common name for the hairs that line the protruding lower petal of these tubular plants. These hairs serve an interesting function, forcing bees deeper into the flower.  Some Penstemon species also have small protrusions in the flower interior that act like hooks, giving the bee a bit of a squeeze and making them struggle a tiny bit to escape. As they do so, the anthers of the flower wrap around the body of the bee, adhering pollen where it will be perfectly aligned to meet the stigma of the next flower.

If you look into the tubular flowers you’ll notice several distinct lines leading to the back of the flower known as nectar guides. These lines act like runway lights, advertising to bees that “the good stuff is back here!” Source

Right now I have numerous stems of Penstemon digitalis blooming and the air is humming with the sound of bumble bees. I love to take photos of the bees going into the flowers, just their fuzzy rear hanging out.

Penstemon calycosus

Penstemon calycosus

These photos of Penstemon calycosus are from a small native plant nursery near me. The plants were robust and happy and full of bees. No matter which species you have, you’ll be supporting bees. I like to say that it isn’t really a picture of a beardtongue if you don’t have a bee butt in it.

Earlier my purple beardtongue (Penstemon tenuis) was blooming; just a few stray blooms remain on those plants; that is a species that is also very happy in my yard and I pot up several dozen of them each year to give away (and many friends have it now). They especially love the lawn! I originally bought several of this species from Home Depot; it was grown locally by a nursery that supplies their plants. Also blooming now is the more modest Penstemon canescens. I got this one on a rescue and my friend has propagated it from the seeds of that original plant. The foliage is slightly gray-green on that species.

Penstemon canescens

Penstemon australis

This photo of Penstemon australis is from a field trip with the Georgia Botanical Society. I initially was not sure if my rescued plant was this species; some folks on a Facebook group helped me understand how to tell the difference (using the angle of the stems in the panicle of blooms).

More erect on P. australis (left) vs. P. canescens

This late spring group of plants is really a must have for the wildlife garden and you should consider adding it if you don’t have it. I’ve mentioned it in a number of my blogs before, including these:

Awesome, Easy, Native Perennials for Georgia Gardens

Plants to Share

So You Want to Support Pollinators – Part 2 (the part has the plant lists which include Penstemon)

Those Confusing Leaves of Three

In our continuing story of ‘paying closer attention to what’s going on at home,’ the subject of identifying poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) came up while talking with my neighbor recently. She had gotten into some accidentally and was concerned with properly identifying it so as to at least avoid it if not actually get rid of it.

Virgin's bower (Clematis virginiana) - 3 leaflets but leaves are in pairs

Young blackberry (Rubus sp.) - prickles are a clue

Many plants either have ‘leaves of 3’ or appear to have them.  To help her learn, I created a small exhibit for her: there was a poison ivy seedling in my yard (close to hers) so I marked it and then put two lookalike sprigs in floral picks next to it: Virgin’s bower clematis (Clematis virginiana) which is very common in our yards, and one of the young wild blackberries (Rubus sp.), also very common. In the spirit of distancing, I told her where to find this exhibit on her own so she could look at the plants.

That got me thinking about how confusing being in the woods must be when you aren’t sure what you are seeing. I walked around my property, taking pictures of many of the things that appear to have 3 leaves. First, it’s good to understand basic concepts: 1) simple leaves vs. compound leaves (poison ivy actually has compound leaves); and 2) leaf arrangement (opposite vs. alternate, poison ivy’s compound leaves are alternate). Here’s an old but basic post that I did about that, so check it out.

Trumpet creeper sprout (Campsis radicans),
notice that more mature leaves have more leaflets

Green ash seedling (Fraxinus pennsylvanica); older
leaves will get more leaflets but new ones may have only 3

Here are a few pictures (there were more, believe me!) of what I found just walking around like my neighbor might be doing. Of course what is even more confusing is finding atypical leaves of anything. We’ve all got a story of finding 3-leaved versions of the normally 5-leaved Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). They usually don’t persist over the whole plant, sometimes it is just the most recent growth and if you follow it back then you should find some growth with the ‘true’ leaf forms. Sometimes young plants have few leaflets (see examples above). I found many examples of hickory (Carya sp.) doing the same thing.

Hog peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata)

Yellowroot (Xanthorhiza simplicissima)

Not always obvious is the concept of woody vs. herbaceous. Poison ivy is a woody plant and will eventually have a woody stem (even as a second year seedling). There are herbaceous plants (not woody) that have the 3-leaf look: Jack-in-the pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) and trilliums (Trillium sp.) are two that quickly come to mind. Of course a first year seedling poison ivy won't be woody but it's something to consider when you find 6-inch-plus tall plants like these below and they have soft stems.

Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)

Trillium rugelii

Another concept that I’d like to mention particularly in regards to seedlings - and specifically Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) seedlings compared to poison ivy seedlings. I see tons of seedlings in my yard, and, in the spring, I often see just the cotyledon leaves. What are those? They are the first leaves to appear from a germinating seed. They don’t usually have the shape of the ‘true’ leaves that follow. They can appear in pairs even if the plant doesn’t later have pairs of leaves (the opposite leaf arrangement). For plants with alternate leaf arrangement, the next leaf—the first true leaf—will appear as a single leaf; for plants with opposite leaf arrangement, the next growth will be a pair of leaves (we’ve all seen those seedling maples (opposite) and sweetgums (alternate) grow like this).

Cotyledons - the first seedling leaves - are different for poison ivy and Virginia creeper;
notice the non-standard Virginia creeper in the center but the baby leaves give it away

Virginia creeper has heart-shaped cotyledon leaves, as shown in the center and right pictures above. Grapes, like muscadine, do as well. My woods are full of both of these—hundreds and hundreds of tiny heart-shaped leaves …. These two plants are both in the grape (Vitaceae) family and that resemblance comes through in their cotyledon leaves. Poison ivy is in a different family and has very simple, like a rounded rectangle, set of cotyledon leaves. Notice the incorrect set of 3 leaflets on the Virginia creeper in the center; Virginia creeper can sometimes show only 3 leaflets on a few of its leaves.

Lastly, should you think you encountered poison ivy (or even to be extra careful), I recently came across some good advice. Don't just wash with soap and water to remove the ivy's oil, use a washcloth to add friction to the cleaning. Our hands alone don't provide enough friction to remove all the oil but a washcloth will greatly improve your efforts. Be sure to take that washcloth (and any clothing you wore) straight to the washing machine to avoid re-infecting yourself later.

The real thing: Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)

A healthy, flowering poison ivy vine (flowers kind of hidden by leaves)