Make Your Gifts Count

 

The environment is under more stress than ever – both from natural causes and human-inflicted wounds. The choices that each of us make – millions of us! – can make a difference and we can apply that to choosing gifts. I’ve written about holiday gifts before and you can read those posts here for more ideas. But funding for many environmental causes is at risk or diminished. A choice to support them can make an impact.

Clematis at Black's Bluff Preserve (The Nature Conservancy property)

This year I’d like to suggest that putting our money where our mouth is would be a great way to make our gifts count. Of course these recommendations should be considered in light of the recipient, but you’d be surprised how many people are tired of gifts that only satisfy the moment. This is especially true for older folks who often say “Give me something I can consume or use up.”

Gift ideas include donations in honor of someone. “Hey Nana, I donated to The Nature Conservancy in your honor and in celebration of all the hiking we loved to do. They’ll help preserve more wild spaces for future hikers.” Or “I got my love of nature from you and I want to help you support environmental issues so I donated to the Southern Environmental Law Center in your honor.”

Give them a membership in a like-minded organization. “Dad, I know you love native plants so I’ve gifted you a membership in the Georgia Native Plant Society. They are championing native plants and their habitats right here in Georgia plus this way we can attend some rescues together.” “The Georgia Botanical Society is an active organization that supports learning about native plants and has a great annual journal; I got you a membership for 2026 so you can get to know them.”

Give them a plant or gift certificate to a native plant nursery and then plan a time when you can plant it with them. For some people, just the offer of help in the garden is a very meaningful gift. “Let’s go in March and get something for that shady spot you’ve had trouble with. I’ve got some ideas.”

Or inspire a budding naturalist with a subscription to PBS “So you can watch all the nature shows you want!” Or donate to GPB (Georgia Public Broadcasting) to support media without bias (NPR).

We don’t have to stress ourselves to find just the right tchotchkes. Give the gift of nature and hope by sharing your love of the natural world. No tariffs, no plastic, and all the money goes towards good things. By the way, many of these suggestions can be executed even at the last minute by using their websites. Print the confirmation and slip it into a card or send via email.

A Tale of Two Penstemons

 

Long ago, perhaps sometime around 2008, I bought a beardtongue perennial at Home Depot. It was grown by a fairly local nursery and was labeled as Blue Ridge beardtongue (Penstemon smallii). I planted it in my yard, it grew well and made babies which I then shared with others and donated to plant sales. About the same time as I was passing around those babies, my friend Sheri was growing Gulf beardtongue or Brazos penstemon (Penstemon tenuis). As we donated them to the plant sale from our two populations, we joked about how similar they were. You can see where this is going, right?

After we finally figured out that my plant had been mislabeled, I pined wistfully for what I thought I had. It didn’t seem likely that I’d run across this species unless I went north. Enter another friend’s contribution to this story: Richard bought a plant of the real thing (Penstemon smallii) and shared seeds with Sheri and me. Plants from those seeds (all credit to Sheri for growing them) are now finally blooming in my garden!

Penstemon smallii (from seed)

Looking at the key for Penstemon, of the two species, Blue Ridge beardtongue has slightly larger flowers which can be densely bearded, and colors are more purple than pink. The largest leaves can also be about 1/3 larger. That is, generally it is a more robust plant. I can see all those characteristics in the plant I have now.

Plants above: Seed-grown Penstemon smallii on left, purchased Penstemon tenuis on right.

I try to learn from my plant mistakes and I try to help others learn what I learned. I should have done some research much sooner. 

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.

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.

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.

Native Evergreen Rhododendron

 

People ask about evergreen shrubs for their landscaping, but I don’t see our evergreen rhododendrons get used as often as they should. This week I had a chance to see some of them blooming when I visited Nearly Native Nursery in Fayetteville. They were at peak bloom, and seeing them reminded me how beautiful they can be.

Rhododendron catawbiense

The first one I spotted was a dark color form of Rhododendron catawbiense, a northern species found in both NW and NE Georgia. Jim (the owner of the nursery) said that Cloudland Canyon State Park is a great place to see this species in the wild.

Rhododendron carolinianum

The next one I saw was a pale pink rhododendron with smaller leaves; I asked if it was R. minus but he said no, this was Rhododendron carolinianum, which has been considered as a variety of minus in the past. In Georgia, it is only in the very NE corner. The flower is a little bit smaller than R minus.

He had a beautiful specimen of Rhododendron minus blooming as well. I have seen it in the wild several times in Georgia; May is the perfect time to see it. It has a surprisingly large range in Georgia, from the NE to the SW.

Rhododendron minus

One other species is found in Georgia: the great laurel (Rhododendron maximum). And while all of these species are quite deserving of a place in our gardens, they are very hard to find in nurseries. You can find rhododendrons in the nurseries, but they are mostly hybrids and it’s very hard to figure out their parentage because sometimes even the parents are hybrids. Even cultivars with names like 'Catawbiense Album' and 'Catawbiense Boursault' hint at only partial parentage with a native species.

It’s time for someone to get back to propagating native evergreen rhododendrons without hybridizing them with non-native species so that gardeners can get these beauties into their landscapes.

More on Deer Resistance

 

I wrote a general blog post about dealing with deer in 2011; all of it is still true so if you haven’t read it, please do. I talked about understanding what they like, plant placement, and deterrents (both physical and chemical). I didn’t get into a lot of specifics about what plants might be deer resistant. So here I am, 12 years later, ready to give some ideas based on my experiences in the metro Atlanta area.

Let me stress that last sentence: these are ideas based on my experience. Claims of deer resistance vary widely. You’ll find people who say XYZ is resistant while in my yard that is not true (I just got a mail from a nursery saying that coneflower is deer resistant: not in my yard!). As someone once said to me: “They’ll try anything once.” Very few plants will be absolutely resistant but there are some general recommendations. In some respect, you have to find your own way, figure out what works for you and your deer. For that, fall back to the 2011 article. Let’s start from the ground up:

Groundcovers

• Green & gold (Chrysogonum), partridgeberry (Mitchella repens), pussytoes (Antennaria), dwarf cinquefoil (Potentilla canadensis), golden groundsel (Packera aurea), violets (Viola), moss phlox (Phlox subulata), and native pachysandra (Pachysandra procumbens).

Pachysandra procumbens

Perennials/Annuals

• In the sun: Penstemon, red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), anise hyssop (Agastache), things that are minty and smelly like Monarda and Pycnanthemum, camphorweed (Pluchea), blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), golden ragwort (Packera), scarlet sage (Salvia coccinea, Salvia lyrata), starry rosinweed (Silphium asteriscus), Stokes’s aster (Stokesia laevis), wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia), late thoroughwort (Eupatorium serotinum), and American germander (Teucrium canadense).

Penstemon is great for bees too

• In the shade: mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides), wood anemone (Anemone quinquefolia), white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima), blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium), and Georgia savory (Clinopodium georgianum).

Ageratina altissima

• In general, native ferns, native grasses, and sedges (Carex)

• Things I manage with 2-3 sprays during the growing season but some may still get munched: Trillium, foamflower (Tiarella), and toothwort (Cardamine).

• Some things will be nibbled early in the year but may still get a chance to bloom later – that is particularly true for some of the annuals whose drive to bloom is supreme.

Christmas fern

Shrubs and Trees

• General comment on trees: any browsing will be done on the lower branches so once something gets tall enough, it’s usually ok.

• Deer damage includes rubbing in the late summer by male deer (because of antlers) so if you have a young special tree or shrub, consider enclosing it with wire fencing for a while.

• Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), doghobble (Agarista populifolia), spicebush (Lindera benzoin), St. John’s wort (Hypericum), paw paw (Asimina), buckeye (Aesculus), Florida anise (Illicium), blueberry (Vaccinium), dwarf witch alder (Fothergilla), summersweet (Clethra), yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria), and wax myrtle (Morella).

Clethra alnifolia in early summer

• Some browsing on Viburnum and mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia); you might be able to manage this with sprays/deterrent. Forget about Hydrangea and native azaleas!

If you have some deer resistant plants that I didn’t mention, feel free to add a comment so everyone can learn.

An Update to Plant Sales in Stores

 

This post is a follow up to last week’s blog entitled “Native Plants for Sale in Regular Stores.” After I wrote that post, I decided to write an email to Home Depot’s southern division about stocking native plants. They followed up with an email invitation to discuss, and I spoke this week to one of their Live Goods employees for this area. It was a nice conversation, and he told me about how they have tried to incorporate more native plants (including signage), particularly in Florida and Louisiana but the efforts have not been productive.

Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica) is great for home designs

The one new-to-me aspect that he wanted to mention was their online sales, a concept that that was unfamiliar to me for buying plants from stores like that. I know about online plant sales for special things that could be packed into a box; 20 years ago we did this for hard-to-find plants (I ordered some toothwort that way). 

He said that they have many more plants available online (than in-store) and the plants are shipped directly from the grower. I used the search bar to try a variety of searches like “oak tree,” “itea shrub,” and others. There are indeed native plants to be found (although your zip code may vary), but sometimes the search results also include non-native plants unrelated to what I put, so check carefully. For example, I searched for “red buckeye shrub” and got lots of shrubs with ‘red’ in the name but not the plant I wanted.

Vague searches are not very productive. I searched for ‘native shrubs’ and got back one native and all the rest were not (despite knowing from earlier searches that native shrubs are there). I think it would be helpful if they had a ‘native’ indicator for the grower to check (and I submitted that as feedback online).

Growers selected for online sales have to support shipping to the customer; he encouraged us to find more native growers that they could use. Most of the time, the grower is listed, but sometimes you have to look more closely at the details. For the first redbud (Cercis) listed here, I had to go into the “Product Details” tab to get the botanical name. Note: not all plants have the botanical name listed in the Product Details but may have it in “Specifications” tab instead.

So now there is another option for people who can’t get to a native plant nursery. I will repeat what I said last week: Please know that I absolutely recommend that you first shop at dedicated native plant nurseries. Those dedicated native plant nurseries offer a reliable and dedicated selection of native plants year-round, many grown without pesticides, and are run by families who are devoted to the cause of native ecosystems. Besides, I would much rather look at a plant before I buy it.

Native Plants for Sale in Regular Stores

 

You can find native plants for sale in regular stores if you know how to recognize them. All you really need is a scientific name and a smartphone to identify them. I have often said both of those statements. This week I decided to see if they are still valid statements. I visited 4 places in my area to get a sense of what stock is out there: a large nursery that specializes in shrubs and trees (Buck Jones Nursery); a large all-purpose nursery (Pike); Home Depot; and Lowe’s.

The best of the 4 places was Buck Jones. I found a good selection of native shrubs and trees. It is consistently one of the only places that I have found mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) in the spring, plus sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus), Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica), summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), Florida hobblebush (Agarista populifolia), blueberry (Vaccinium), Rhododendron and native azaleas, and even buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis).  They also have a small selection of perennials (lots of Phlox this time of year), but the native ferns selection is poor (one species only but none of the other places had even one). Many of these are cultivars associated with a dwarf form for smaller landscapes. The following photos are from Buck Jones.

Pike Nursery has native plants to be found, like Buck Jones, tucked among the much bigger selection of non-native plants. They have a better selection of native perennials than Buck Jones (plus two native grasses and even one native annual, Salvia coccinea), but they are all cultivars and many are hybrids. I could not find native Juniper virginiana here (or anywhere), but they had weeping forms of white pine (Pinus strobus) and Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). A real surprise was finding something as unusual as Magnolia acuminata 'Yellow Bird' in bloom there.

I was disappointed that when I said I was looking for native plants, the Pike employee showed me a Vitex agnus-castus. I said that is not native, and he replied that “Plants that have been here a while are considered native.” I immediately replied that is absolutely not true! To his credit, he asked what is considered to be the proper definition of nativity after I said that. The following photos are from Pike.

I was especially disappointed with Home Depot and Lowe’s. Their tree and shrub selection has almost exclusively gone to non-native selections, perhaps because they are buying from a list that features few natives. I feel like they have changed for the worse over the last 10 years. At both places, much of their inventory is the ‘Southern Living’ collection, an ill-named suite of plants that has nothing to do with Southern ecosystems. Where they once carried the evergreen Ilex vomitoria ‘Nana’ for foundation plantings, now Home Depot only has Japanese holly (Ilex crenata); Lowe’s did have a few Ilex vomitoria among the sea of I. crenata. The following photos are from Home Depot.

The following photos are from Lowes.

At best, these big box stores offer a seasonal selection of perennials that include a few native species: Phlox, black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), Coreopsis, as well as shrubs like blueberries (Vaccinium), and evergreen Rhododendron and  native trees like red maple (Acer rubrum), flowering dogwood (Benthamidia florida, formerly Cornus florida), and redbud (Cercis canadensis is the native redbud). Vines may include Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) and native wisteria (Wisteria frutescens ‘Amethyst Falls’). Many of their plants are cultivars or hybrids.  

A word about recognizing hybrids (examples below): If the name on the tag has an ‘x’ in the middle then it’s a hybrid (Rhododendron x aromi ‘Tipsey Tangerine’ – note it is wrong to call this a native azalea as its genes include more than just native ones). If the name on the tag lists only the genus name (Paparazzi Jagger Phlox), it is most likely a hybrid. If the name of the tag includes both genus and species (Cephalanthus occidentalis 'Bailoptics') then it is a selection of a species (in this case, for dwarf form).

The downsides of shopping in big box stores include: seasonal inventory (once spring stock is gone at Home Depot and Lowe’s, they move onto summer color); the potential that plants are raised with pesticides (Home Depot is good about labeling for that); poor signage (‘native’ is usually not indicated or the name provided may be insufficient to do research); and employees are there for stocking not plant knowledge.

Please know that I absolutely recommend that you first shop at dedicated native plant nurseries. They offer a reliable and dedicated selection of native plants year-round, many grown without pesticides, and are run by families who are dedicated to the cause of native ecosystems. 

If those nurseries are not available to you, these other stores may be your only option. I would encourage you to get to know the staff, ask them to order specific plants that you want, and get the selection improved by demand for more native choices. Education is key and some people just don’t know; tell them why having native plants in their selection matters. These places do stock invasive plants: English ivy, privet, nandina, mahonia, butterfly bush. Ask them to consider reducing their stock of known problem plants and adding native plants (and signage) instead. Change won’t happen without our input.