2023 in Pictures

I take a lot of pictures throughout the year and not all of them make it into a blog post. At the end of the calendar year, it’s a good time to reflect on the beauty of nature as well as share some of the extra pictures.

I believe that each day is an opportunity to find and appreciate something beautiful in the native plants and creatures of Georgia.

Red-shouldered hawk

We have at least two species of hawks in the area and in January I was able to get a good look at this red-shouldered one in our backyard. This photo also represents the change we've seen here: construction in the neighborhood behind us finally reached our boundary and we now have this big white house in our view. I wish they had at least painted it brown! 

The tiny flowers of American hazelnut (Corylus americana) bloomed in February. I rescued this plant several years ago in Dawson County. This shows the red female flower and the male catkin.

Corylus americana

I was able to capture another special flower in March. Florida maple (Acer floridanum) is found throughout my neighborhood (and my yard) but this one near the front of the neighborhood is the biggest and gets enough sun to flower. Strangely, this is the first year I have managed to catch it in bloom! 

Acer floridanum flowers

I spotted this tiny moth in April on my equally small butterweed (Packera glabella) flowers. This is the Southern longhorn moth, Adela caeruleella. There are so many tiny things to notice in the native garden! 

Southern longhorn moth

Vaccinium arboreum

 

In May, I stopped by Nearly Native Nursery in Fayetteville after speaking to a garden club in the area. This sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum) in their garden was at peak bloom. This shrub needs to be better used; the foliage is gorgeous and the birds feast on the tiny fruit in late fall.

Malaxis unifolia

Ipomoea pes-caprae

I was leading a plant rescue in June when I found this green adder's mouth orchid (Malaxis unifolia); it is not a rare orchid but it seems uncommon (perhaps because it is so small that it gets overlooked). 

In July we went to visit my mom in Florida and I found a new-to-me morning glory with a bunch of common names: Goat-foot Morning Glory (which matches the translation of the Latin name, Ipomoea pes-caprae), Bayhops, and Beach Morning Glory. This species is also found in south Georgia.

Ostrya virginiana

Juglans sp.

A hike in August found a population of Eastern hop-hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) with spectacular displays of fruit. You can see why people thought it looks like hops. On a road that I travel every week, the lush cover of walnut foliage caught my attention in September. This picture doesn't quite capture the magic, but I had to stop and try.

Aster (front) and Turtlehead (back)

Deer in front

It was a good year in the garden for the turtlehead (Chelone glabra) inside my fence. It bloomed for weeks and was still looking good when this aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum) started blooming. Both of them love the damp conditions in this low spot. 

In November, I spotted this buck sitting on my lawn outside my front windows. He had gotten up by the time I got back with my camera.

I was cleaning seeds from calico aster (Symphyotrichum lateriflorum) for our chapter's December seed swap when I was struck by how much the empty seedheads look like flowers themselves. I made an impromptu bouquet of them.

Symphyotrichum lateriflorum seedheads

Wishing you a good year in 2024 and more native plants and critters in your daily life. This year's numeral photo was hand drawn at my request by our grandson Max who is 5 1/2 now.

A Few of My Favorite Things

“What’s your favorite blog post that you did?” is actually a question I get fairly often. At almost 700 entries and 13 years in, it can be hard to remember them all, much less pick a favorite. Yet, I tried this month to pick some of the ones that I feel turned out pretty well or that I particularly enjoyed doing. Browse through them as you wait out the winter (and for this song to get out of your head).

The order in which I list these does not imply that the first is my favorite, but I was pretty happy with the post that included the Landscape pyramid – a visual for considering the magnitude of different plant categories. There are a number of posts that feature an assist from my husband with a graphic design that helps to illustrate my point and this was probably the first one.

Cues of Care – this is a post inspired by an article that I read by a wonderful Georgia conservation champion and I wanted to amplify and preserve the concept.

Cottage Garden – I helped with a friend’s project and created suggestions for others that want this look.

The Pollinator Gardening series is a collection of 3: post one, post two (with downloadable plant charts), and post three). As you can imagine, I put a lot into this 3-part series.

I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Native – this post highlights confusing similar plants that are exotic, featuring another great graphic by James.

Plants for Native Bees (plus this one) features a chart by James that is a counter to a graphic circulating on social media about plants for bees (their chart had mostly non-native plants to support honey bees).

Native Fruits – for those looking to have native fruit-bearing plants (at 45K views, this is my most-viewed post of all time, in case you wondered) plus a follow up post in 2023.

Native Plants in Containers – I like to encourage people with small yards to use native plants in containers.

Easing Into Using Native Plants – I try to include plenty of beginner topics to make the concept less intimidating; this is a post with ideas for getting starting with native plants in the landscape.

And the seasonally appropriate Christmas in Dixie.

I'm sure I forgot some really great ones; I've enjoyed hearing from some of you over the years when a particular post really spoke to you. If I ever do a compilation in book form, it's going to be really hard to choose just a few.

There are definitely some categories of blog entries over the years. I have done many individual plant profiles (like my very first one about mapleleaf viburnum) but there are also some plant groups (like evergreens). I have also done categories like these listed below (these links go to search results, read more about searching this blog here):

Native plants and birds

Native plants and pollinators

Native plants and fall color

Native Shrubs

Georgia State Parks

Book reviews

Posts on identification like winter twigs and leaves and how vines work (just to name a few)

Special Plants, Special Places

Landscape Spotlight

Gift Ideas for Naturalists

Appreciating Native Plants on Roadsides

Failure to Thrive

As we approach winter – a time of cold, short days with dormant plants – this is certainly a gloomy topic. Still it is one that needs to be explored and understood, especially for those just starting to use native plants. Using native plants is not a panacea for the garden: they don’t magically thrive when we plop them into the ground.

I have learned from some of what has happened to me and share that in the hopes that you might have better expectations and ideas of how to get more success out of your efforts. 

In my experience there are 3 main categories of plant failure: critters, suboptimal growing conditions, and lack of follow up. To help mitigate the first two issues, monitoring your new plants can rectify some mistakes.

Critter Defense

Squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, moles, voles, and deer don’t magically leave native plants alone. On the flip side of that statement, they also don’t automatically gravitate towards native plants either. Their behavior is strictly driven by how they live: looking for food, living their life, trying to get the fuzz off their new antlers … don’t take it personally. Your best defense is a good offense!

Strategies for protecting our plants include:

• Physical deterrents to tunneling critters like sharp rocks in the planting holes. I like to use an expanded slate product call Permatill. Place a handful (or more) at the base of each planting hole for perennials and bulbs to protect the roots. Other small rocks like pea gravel may also work. I lost six native lilies over the last two years because of voles.
• When planting perennials that might be disturbed by squirrels, I stick a utility flag through the rootball (careful if this is a bulb!) for a few weeks/months to help anchor the plant against light disturbance. Seeing the flag when I’m outside also helps remind me to check on it.
• Physical deterrents to browsing include fencing (the only reliable defense against antler rubs on small trees) and smelly sprays and granules. I use Liquid Fence, but there are many products out there.
• Fences and electric wire are more expensive options for deer (but do not protect against small critters).

 

You can buy blank flags in many colors to help mark plants

Smart Planting

Gardeners are obligated to do the work of determining where new plants should be placed. Mother Nature drops seeds and beguiles critters and birds into helping to disperse her bounty. If seeds end up in ideal conditions, they grow and thrive; if they land in poor conditions then they die. Gardeners take grown plants and place them into chosen spots. If we pick the wrong spot, our plants will not thrive. You must do your homework for native plants just as we would have done for any exotic plant.

•  Light and Moisture - I explain in detail how to evaluate the light and moisture in your yard in this post. Match the plant to your conditions. Consider moving plants when conditions change (a tree falls down and brings more sun or trees fill out and cause more shade).
• Regionally Appropriate - choose plants that you know are native to your area whether it is the Piedmont region or the Coastal Plain or the Mountain eco-systems. These plants evolved with the insects in your area and, in the case of butterflies in search of larval hosts, will likely support what’s flying around. For example, gardeners in the Piedmont aren’t expecting to have the deep south-based Palamedes swallowtail butterfly visit so would not plan to include red bay (Persea borbonia) as one of their host plants.

Monitoring New Plants

Gardeners are obligated to care for newly installed plants: water them, put them back after the squirrel dug them up looking for an acorn, and evaluate how they are growing. Here are some care tips:

• Follow up – plants grown in nursery conditions with perfect soil, plentiful water, and nutrients need help adapting to their new home whether they are native or not. Sticking them in the ground and thinking that they’ll instantly adapt because they are native may lead to failure. You should monitor any newly installed plants for a full year (more in the beginning, less towards the end); did you get the light and moisture right?
• Water them as needed in the absence of natural rain. If you have sprinklers, make sure they are in the spray zone.
• Address damage from critters or humans (did a delivery truck run over your new perennial bed?).
• Move them if appropriate.
• Replant them if they were dug up.
• Cage or spray them if they are being eaten. Cage them if there is antler damage on woody saplings; take heart, rubbing is not always a fatal injury.

Understand that growing takes time! This article talks about the sleep, creep, and leap phases of plant growth. While the article focuses on perennials, this absolutely applies to woody plants as well.

December 2023 Moment in Nature

The last of the leaves are poignant reminders of what we used to have as we transition into a stark and bare landscape. As I looked out into the woods this week, I noticed that a few of my highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) were still sporting these gorgeous red leaves against a backdrop of bare twigs and an acre of fallen foliage.

This bright vignette is my #momentinnature for this month but one that comes my way every fall if I'll look for it.

Note: These gorgeous native shrubs rival any imported plant for beauty and provide way more support to the local ecosystem because of insect herbivores. According to research, native blueberries support 288 different species of moths and butterflies in their life cycle.  

Gift Ideas for the Naturalists of All Ages

 

It can be hard to think of new gift ideas – gifts that are relevant, don’t collect dust, and have zero calories. For gardeners, that can mean plants, tools, gloves, books, new swag, and even gifts of service (one of my favorite ideas). I have posted ideas before so feel free to check out those posts from 2021 and from 2022. Many of those ideas are still relevant.

I’m going to group this year’s ideas into categories by recipient: young people, those new to native plants, experienced gardeners, and nature enthusiasts who don’t have a garden of their own.

Young people should be encouraged to explore and appreciate the natural world from an early age. Start them out with children’s books that celebrate native plants and what they mean to the insects we’re seeing in the garden. I reviewed Grandma Lisa’s book earlier; that post has links to other ones too. 

You might also buy them early tools like gloves, brooms, rakes, magnifying glasses, and this cool pocket telescope. I’ve included links but some of these things are easily found locally (Target, Lowes, Walmart, even dollar stores).

If they’ve already started gardening, there are dozens of fun yard signs (even customizable) on craft sites like Etsy so they can incorporate cues of care into their design. I almost got lost looking at all the choices but here are one, two, three, and four ideas. You might also share a favorite hardy plant from your yard.

For the older child (10-14), I love the adapted version of Nature’s Best Hope. It is easy to read and feels like you’re having a kid-level chat with Doug Tallamy. It is quite affordable – pair it with some seed packets, or a gift certificate to a native plant nursery.

New to gardening people (or new to native plant gardening) have so much to learn and you can be a great mentor to them. Share some of your favorite plant extras or copies of your favorite books; recommendations are so useful to newbies. Other gift ideas include memberships to useful organizations (like a gift membership to Georgia Native Plant Society) and Georgia State Parks.

A gift certificate to a native plant nursery along with a list of some favorite perennials, shrubs, or trees would be nice; you might even offer to go along with them and help pick out their choices. Other ideas include tools (my favorite shovel), extra gloves, or even your favorite watering nozzle.

Experienced people will always want more plants! Share plants or seeds with them or get a gift certificate to a native plant nursery. Make it more fun by scheduling a day to go together and pair it with coffee or lunch. Older gardeners might appreciate some help planting or weeding. I love the idea of creating coupons for “one free afternoon of weeding” or “general garden help.”

Personalized sign from a friend

Other ideas for the experienced gardener include yard art, pollinator signage (so easy to personalize by searching on Etsy and other craft sites), t-shirts (from GNPS and other places like here and here), favorite tools, gloves, and decorative pots.

People without a garden still appreciate naturalist-themed gifts that help them stay connected to the great outdoors. Ideas include books (and more of my reviews can be found here), memberships to organizations and groups, donations in their name to conservation causes, shirts (see links from previous section), and invitations to go walking/hiking together in a natural area. Botanical artwork and notecards (see favorite Georgia artist Linda Fraser’s work here) make beautiful gifts; get a set of these notecards for yourself.

I hope you find some ideas for your friends here. Note: if you order something custom and it won’t arrive in time, print a picture of it and wrap it up for the gift giving occasion. Don’t let timing get in the way of a great idea.

A Collection of November Posts

 

This blog is seasonal. Every week the topic has something to do with what’s happening: in the yard, in the season, even what’s happening with me. For those of you who haven’t been following since day 1 (Mapleleaf viburnum: October 14, 2010), you can still enjoy the posts by scrolling through the archives on the right side of the blog.

Even I find it entertaining to occasionally go back and see what I posted about in the same season, even in the same month. November can be such a good month for being outdoors, being thankful, and planning (and planting) for the next year. Here are a few of my favorite November posts over the last few years.

In November 2010 I posted about native evergreens because people love to use evergreen plants (often to screen out neighbors). Since plants don’t change much, even an old post like this can still be quite relevant and useful.

Evergreen American holly (Ilex opaca)

An obsession with native trees in parking lots started in 2011 with this post about oaks. Trees in parking lots have to be tough to handle the conditions imposed there. You can find more of my parking lot posts here.

Serviceberry is one of my favorite native trees to recommend so it is my pick for November 2012 (although it was hard to pick just one from that month – I had a lot of good ideas to work through in those early years).

If you’ve read my blog for a while then you know a rant sneaks in occasionally. For November 2013, I worked out my frustration with the term ‘backyard habitat’ by recommending that our front yards be considered habitat as well.

Planting for difficult spots doesn’t get enough attention when it comes to native plants (even though they were made for them!), so in 2014 I pulled together some shrub ideas just in time for our fall planting season.

Oakleaf hydrangea - a good shrub with great fall color

While so many people want evergreens, planning for and enjoying deciduous plants was the subject of this November 2015 post. In November 2016 I added to that with a Fall Color at Home post with specific recommendations. In November 2020, I felt compelled to combat the rise of the leaf blowers with a reminder of how to rake, including a cute photo of my grandson (who helped me rake just recently and we found a cute frog in the leaves).

Green tree frog discovered while raking

Fall is a great time to hike and appreciate the sights of fall. In November 2017, I recommended Big Trees Nature Preserve, in November 2021 it was Vogel State Park, and in November 2022 I reviewed the book Favorite Wildflower Walks in Georgia to give people ideas for spring (make a plan!).

Smartphone identification apps are commonly used now; in November 2018 I compiled some tips that are still relevant today when using apps. One thing I didn’t mention: taking a good, clear photo of the leaves is important to having the software provide good suggestions.

It wouldn’t be November if we weren’t reminded to be thankful, so in 2019 I finally did a post on being thankful for trees. They are our keystone plants, essential for life, and we should use native ones more often. I hope you find some useful posts tucked into this collection, whether they be new to you or a refresher.

A Refuge for Native Plants in Cemeteries

 

Being in a suburban-transitioning-from-rural area, I pass a few cemeteries as I drive around. Their quiet spaces provide a visual respite from the increasing residential developments and shopping centers. Although grass is the primary source of green at most of them, I learned some years ago that some of them are worth exploring for the other plants that grow in these old spaces.

Moss phlox

I was searching one year for mature examples of American holly (Ilex opaca) and a friend suggested that I check cemeteries for good specimens. He was right and I found a nice one not far from me in Roswell. Well-behaved plants in cemeteries have time to grow into beautiful mature plants. And every spring I visit an even closer cemetery to enjoy the old moss phlox (Phlox subulata or Phlox nivalis, there may be both there) that blooms in the grass among the graves. Yuccas are an early summer flower at another nearby cemetery.

Could cemeteries be a place where native plants could thrive and even enrich the beauty of the area? I’ve been wanting to express this idea for several years. While green cemeteries would support this, the far more numerous traditional cemeteries could play an important role in adding to biodiversity. This article in Scientific American provides examples of that already happening in the US and around the world.

In Illinois, cemeteries where early European colonists were buried are sustaining patches of endangered prairie vegetation, which has largely been wiped out by modern agricultural practices. As of December 2020, more than 40 cemeteries are listed in the state’s Natural Areas Inventory for their high-quality prairie and savanna flora.

This year I visited another cemetery in late summer to get a closer look at some beautiful summer phlox (Phlox paniculata) that lights up one plot each year. This cemetery is always noticeably more floriferous than others, not just in the one plot but throughout. I found a number of native flowers besides the phlox: Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida), Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), beebalm (Monarda), Bluemist flower (Conoclinium coelestinum), native sages (Salvia), and more. Butterflies were visiting and bees were abundant. 

I read online that this cemetery has been refreshed since 2018 and most of the plants have been added by a woman who got involved after a nearby church took on management. She marvels at how well they’ve done but I think that is a testament to her selections. Our native perennials can be very durable once established and provide blooms for years. 

Mixed in were some of the hardy non-native perennials like Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ as well as annuals like zinnia. What a colorful and joyful space it is; well into the fall, a happy clump of perennial mums has just finished blooming.  

Another article I found talks about how several rare things (a beetle, a salamander, and a lichen) were found in a cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. Closer to home, this article by Trees Atlanta discusses the potential for supporting wildlife:

“Decatur Cemetery predates Atlanta’s founding by 10 years. The old-growth forest along the periphery—where our Forest Restoration program has been working to clear invasive species and reintroduce native plants—accommodates a thriving population of deer, foxes, coyotes, and more.”

That article includes a link to another article about birding in cemeteries (and birds are more abundant when there are native plants!) and some history about Mount Auburn Cemetery in Massachusetts, one of the first rural US cemeteries designed to be beautiful (they even have a What’s in Bloom feature on their website).  

Arlington Cemetery in Virginia is a well-known military cemetery whose sustainable policies include using native plants.

Let’s get growing in places like cemeteries. There is no reason they should be dull and boring, and using dependable resilient native plants to beautify them would help get more native plants back into our landscapes. A win-win!

Fall Color in the Mountains – Thanks, Native Plants

Scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea)

Fall color is a beautiful time of year in North Georgia and we are fortunate to have it last a number of weeks thanks to each group of plants taking their turn. 

First come the red maples (Acer rubrum), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), and sumacs (Rhus spp.). The maples are abundant and not always appreciated for the role they play in our fall color. I love to photograph lakes this time of year when the red maples that line the shore have their color reflected in the water’s edge. 

Sassafras’s bright orange and reddish hues are too few seen these days as they are not often planted and natural populations fall to development. Sumacs are bright flags of color along dry roadsides, also not appreciated at all for their landscape potential.

The following photo is from my friend Bruce Roberts; this photo was taken several weeks ago in North Carolina; the bright orange/red spots are most likely maples and sassafras.

Doe Knob from Riley Cove (NC); Photo by Bruce Roberts

The next wave of color in my area comes from hickory (Carya spp., except for pecan which has not much fall color), sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), and American beech (Fagus grandifolia), three more underappreciated trees for new landscapes. Why reach for zelkova and pistache – imported trees more often selected – when these beauties can light up your landscape in more beneficial ways?

The fall color show finishes up with an array of black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) and native oaks (Quercus spp.). The abundance of our native oaks is revealed as their tall, broad crowns paint the remaining leafy landscape with deep reds and lustrous browns throughout the natural landscape. The oak photo at the start of this post is from yesterday at Vogel State Park. The oaks are providing much of the color there now.

Vogel State Park Nov 11, 2023

As you travel through the backroads and up to the mountains of North Georgia to appreciate the fall color, know this: these are native plants putting on this magnificent show. They deserve to be in our designed landscapes. Here are some previous blogs to provide inspiration and suggestions.

Dependable Fall Color

The Fall Color Compilation (which has a lot of links)

Don’t have room for more trees? Try my fall shrub recommendations. 

November 2023 Moment in Nature

As we were working in the kitchen in the early evening this past week, a large bird flew past the window, swooping down towards the deck. It landed on the nearby devil's walking stick briefly and then flew up to a dead branch on a large pine overlooking the pool.

It turned out to be a barred owl and I quickly snapped a few photos through the window blinds. We've heard barred owls calling ("Who cooks for you?") in the woods every year that we've been here but have never seen one. This was certainly a very special #momentinnature for us.

After I downloaded the photos from the camera, I realized that it had caught a small bird. I don't currently have any bird seed out, but this is the area where I usually have a bird feeder. I hope that the owls help out with some of the chipmunks and the moles/voles that have been digging so many tunnels lately. It's good to have some local (and natural) pest control in our area.

Asters – Homegrown Fall Beauty

 

Asters at Battersea Power Station (London, UK)

In America, gardeners flock to stores to plunk down their money for imported plants. This time of year, it is Chrysanthemums that flood the stores, carefully pruned to be full of lush flowers. “They must be so much better!” The native pollinators are not as excited.

Unfortunately most of the mums sold are the cushion mums whose double flowers provide little pollinator support (there are old-fashioned mums with centers of flowers that contain pollen and nectar for the bees, but they are rarely sold). None of the mums are native.

These two were labeled as New York aster

in a private garden in Bath (UK)

Instead we could be cultivating and using our native asters, a group of flowers which seem to get more appreciation in a place where it is the imported plant: Europe! I recently spent some time in England and was surprised to see a number of native asters being used in designed plantings and personal gardens. The mild October climate is similar to ours and these plants were bursting with blooms.

Closer view of Battersea aster (I think it is calico aster - S. lateriflorum)

Sidewalk gardens filled with asters at Battersea

I cannot say enough good things about our native asters, including how important they are to our native insects. My small white asters are buzzing with bees right now. If I’ve piqued your interest, here are some of my previous aster posts:

Asters, Asters, Asters

Aster Love

Those Tiny White Asters

What Happened to the Asters?

Wildscape (The Book)

 

This written-from-the-heart book about the wonders of backyard nature was written during the pandemic and published this year. The author’s experiences speak so much to those of us living in our gardens, places that became mini oases during those uncertain times and that continue today to amaze and uplift us as we watch nature work her magic. This is Nancy Lawson’s second book; her first is The Humane Gardener.

The book is divided into five sections, each one corresponding to the 5 senses. Her detailed accounts of areas that affect our senses bring new depth to our understandings of those with whom we share our spaces. Her personal stories and associated research show how the 5 senses of wild creatures help them to live, love, and thrive all around us.

The chapter on the Scentscape offers a number of fascinating accounts of how insects rely on scent for their food, mates, and even a new place to live. The most fascinating was about monarch leaf scratching, a behavior noticed by the author on dried boneset leaves one evening in her garden. The behavior was determined to be a deliberate extraction of pyrrolizidine alkaloids that they use to fortify their own defenses. Read more here about how she collaborated on a paper and a community science project known as Monarch Rx.  

The Soundscape chapter takes the reader through how sound is essential to wildlife, how it also affects plants, and the impact of the reduction in noise pollution during the early months of the pandemic. Most of us are aware of how noisy our neighborhoods have become with an increase in leafblowers and yard crews (my neighbor, for example, has a lawn service twice as often as I mow my lawn). This noise pollution doesn’t just affect us; birds and critters are impacted too, and sometimes they make behavioral changes that impact where they visit and drop seed, indirectly affecting where plants might thrive.

The Tastescape section reminds us how just how much our beloved plants depend on the services of wildlife to taste, enjoy, and spread the seeds of plants so that they continue to thrive and spread, including the efforts of the much-maligned ants and flies.

Solanum carolinense - prickly but beloved

Spines of all kinds affect the Touchscape – from spines that protect caterpillars to those that protect plants. I especially loved learning more about Carolina horse nettle (Solanum carolinense), a prickly native that humans love to hate. “More than thirty insect species feed on horse nettle, including specialists who rely completely on the plant or closely related species.” The author also points out that prickly plants like this help shield nearby seedlings of other – more desirable? – plants during their early growth.

For those of us who didn’t know, the author’s sister was part of the catalyst for a new law in Maryland; it was inspired by her legal battle with an HOA that tried to force her to conform to traditional landscaping. The Sightscape section covers that in some detail. Much of the section does cover how humans see the value in landscaping and how we’ve become “anesthetized to the losses” that affect the insects and birds. We need to “look again, from the eyes of a wren” to discover what is missing. The section also includes sightscape from wildlife’s point of view: how insects use sight to find nectar, how plants might favor red to encourage hummers and discourage nectar-robbing bees (who don’t see red very well), and how critters hide in plain sight to protect themselves. Nuggets of knowledge like these – sure to come up in a future talk of mine – are woven throughout this and every section.

A gray tree frog turns greenish among plants to better hide

Wildscape is a collection of everyday treasures to help us learn how to savor the special lives that live among us. It is also a collection of environmental issues large and small that help us better understand how we can help our non-human neighbors. Our journey starts in our very yards, both back and front. Let this inspiring book be one of the steps on your journey.

Landscape Spotlight: Garden Worthy Goldenrod

Who’s in the mood for goldenrod? How about almost every bee and migrating Monarch butterfly that you know! I love seeing it all over the side of the road (indeed it is almost the only native thing left) but the one on the side of the road (usually it is tall goldenrod, Solidago altissima) is probably not the right one for your garden because it spreads by roots.

I have posted before about garden worthy goldenrods, but I want to spotlight one that I have seen used to beautiful effect a number of times (including at my own mailbox). I'm including several photos from over the years.

This was a traffic circle in Big Canoe, GA.

This goldenrod is called wrinkleleaf goldenrod (Solidago rugosa) and it does have textured foliage. It naturally has a splayed inflorescence when it blooms at the top of the plant. It is harder to find the species than the very popular cultivar known as Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’ which is shorter, more compact, and more floriferous than the species. All these photos are of 'Fireworks.'

According to this link, the cultivar ‘Fireworks’ was a selection of the natural species that “was introduced in 1993 from the North Carolina Botanical Garden, originally having been selected from a coastal plain population of the species. It was the top-rated cultivar in the 5-year goldenrod trials at the Chicago Botanic Garden (completed in 2001) that included 22 species and cultivars. Hardy to zone 4, it doesn’t get mildew or rust, and the slowly expanding clump grows 3-4 feet tall.”

You can read about that Chicago trial here.

A note about cultivars: I don't recommend them for use in restoration areas. For large garden areas, it is ecologically beneficial to incorporate some straight species plants along with the cultivars to provide good genetic diversity.