What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 13: inkberry holly

Two autumns ago I planted 10 inkberry hollies behind Poplar Folly’s fence, to get a start on some evergreen screening down there that was also native to NC, not popular with deer, and a pollinator plant. 9 survived and while they are slow-growing plants, they have more than doubled in size and the black berries they produce are good for wildlife and also very striking.

The North Carolina Botanical Garden has several mature inkberries and they’re taller than me and quite beautiful. I’m hoping these grow to the upper end of the height range in the next several years.

Here’s one from yesterday’s time down in Arcadia:

Many of the hollies are native and pollinators, and I still have a plant to plant winterberry hollies up front on the outside of our front fencing, as well as the more usual American holly trees along the side fence - where I’d like to limb them up so they provide screening up high but leave the fence area clear. Because the hollies in general are slow growers, I’ve wanted to purchase more mature plants for these two projects - which means more $ and also bigger holes needing to be dug, so it’s gotten pushed to the bottom of my list each fall. Maybe this fall I can tackle this. For now, though, I’m enjoying seeing the little inkberry hollies gain some height each season.

More info:

Wasowski, Sally and Andy 

Ilex glabra

Ilex glabra (L.) A. Gray

Inkberry, Gallberry

Aquifoliaceae (Holly Family)

Synonym(s): 

USDA Symbol: ilgl

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

A mound-shaped, colony-forming shrub, somewhat open with age, 6-12 ft. tall and wide. Lance-shaped, sparingly-toothed, glossy, leathery foliage varies in color from dark- to light-green both in summer and fall. Inconspicuous flowers are followed by black berries which persist well into winter. This species differs from all other evergreen hollies by lacking spines on the leaves, only having teeth toward the tip of the leaves.

Arcadia gearing up for a honey bee spring!

One of our new nucs is arriving today and I ran down to Arcadia to make sure the Artemis hive was clean and ready to go. Here it is!

I’m really happy we managed to get one nuc right as we move into the tulip poplar nectar flow. This is the big flow in our region and all the nectar gives the bees the ability to build comb and numbers to carry on into summer. We have a dearth in July and so this early start is key to a good start to the season.

Our two nucs coming in May will likely miss this flow and we’ll have to feed them to help them make up for what they missed. If this new hive gets a booming start we will be able to feed their excess honey frames to the “younger” nucs instead of sugar water.

My goal this year is to end up with at least three very healthy hives going into next winter. If we’re lucky we will need to split Artemis and end up with four.

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 12: elderberry

In December we purchased 30 live stake elderberry plants and put them in along the areas of the farm where we get a lot of rainwater run-off during storms. This was one of the recommendations made by a consult I got from our local native plant nursery. Elderberry was something I’ve wanted to put in on the farm for years, and this was a great, and inexpensive, way to do it.

The live stakes were bare sticks bundled together. We tapped them in the ground with a mallet. There they stood all winter long, an experiment in faith. The idea being that they quickly grow vast root systems, securing and stabilizing the soil around them in the process.

We weren’t able to get them as deeply into the ground as I wanted, but we did our best.

This is what they look like today:

These bushes will be wonderful for wildlife, pollinators, and us, and they will also thrive in the areas we put them. They love getting lots of water at various times and can easily tolerate drought in between.

Plant Details

Sambucus canadensis

Common Elderberry

Scientific Name:	Sambucus canadensis
Genus:	Sambucus
Species Epithet:	canadensis
Common Name:	Common Elderberry
Plant Type	Shrub
Life Cycle	Perennial
Plant Family	Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle Family)
Native/Alien:	NC Native
Size:	6-12 ft.
Bloom Color(s):	White
Light:	Sun - 6 or more hours of sun per day, Part Shade - 2 to 6 hours of sun per day
Soil Moisture:	Moist
Bloom Time:	April, May, June, July
Growing Area:	Mountains, Piedmont, Sandhills, Coastal Plain
Habitat Description:	Streambanks, thickets, marshes, moist forests, disturbed areas. Common throughout NC.
Leaf Arrangement:	Opposite
Leaf Retention:	Deciduous
Leaf Type:	Leaves veined, not needle-like or scale-like
Leaf Form:	Compound
Life Cycle:	Perennial
Wildlife Value:	Important for Wildlife
Landscape Value:	Suitable for home landscapes
Notes:	Plants can be vigorous growers and may need more management to control. Attract butterflies and birds.
Blooming Plants  They are very attractive shrubs. along the highway and railroad right-of-way, Black Mountain © MB Baumeister

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 11: narrow leaf mountain mint

I give you the most popular pollinator plant in my gardens, narrow leaf mountain mint:

This becomes quite large as it matures and drapes beautifully over the edges of my terraced bed. The tiny white/pinkish flowers are abuzz with activity for months. Every kind of bee there is gravitates to this plant. If you’re aiming to provide bee forage, plant lots of this. I aim to put it down by the bee hives so they can get to it even more easily.

It’s a delicate, subtle plant but when you see how popular it is, it becomes quite dramatic in the garden, a real show stopper.

More info:

Cressler, Alan 

Pycnanthemum tenuifolium

Pycnanthemum tenuifolium Schrad.

Narrowleaf Mountain Mint, Slender Mountain Mint, Common Horsemint

Lamiaceae (Mint Family)

Synonym(s): Koellia flexuosa, Pycnanthemum flexuosum

USDA Symbol: pyte

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

This stiff, erect, compact, clump-forming mint has narrow leaves subtending the flower clusters. The minty-smelling plants are 20-30 in. tall and have terminal flower clusters composed of numerous, small, two-lipped corollas varying from whitish to lavender, with purple spots.

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 10: spotted horsemint

This is my absolute favorite plant in the pollinator beds. I fell in love with it in a pollinator plant class I took with our local extension agent Debbie Roos, and managed to get three plants at the North Carolina Botanical Garden’s annual plant sale that fall. It has spread and done beautifully in my garden. Pollinators of all kinds love it.

Here it is today, coming up in the foreground. The tulips were there when we bought the farm and while they are of course not native, I have let them remain. They bloom early and I can remove the stems before the spotted horsemint comes all the way in.

Below is a nearly mature flower from last year’s horsemint, in the same part of the garden bed. I cannot tell you how much I love these - they take my breath away when in full bloom. A friend who lives on Hatteras says they grow everywhere there, and recommended I manipulate the seed pods in late fall to encourage more growth. I did it the first year and now have many, many more than the three I originally planted. They encompass an entire swath of one pollinator bed now. This may be the year to transplant some of them. For now I’m just enjoying the anticipation.

Here’s more info:

Flaigg, Norman G. 

Monarda punctata

Monarda punctata L.

Spotted Beebalm, Spotted Horsemint, Horsemint

Lamiaceae (Mint Family)

Synonym(s): 

USDA Symbol: MOPU

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

An aromatic, erect perennial ranging from only 6 in. to almost 3 ft. tall. Rosettes of yellowish, purple-spotted, tubular flowers occur in whorls, forming a dense, elongated spike at the end of the stem or from leaf axils. Each whorl is subtended by large, conspicuous, whitish, purple-tinged, leaf-like bracts. 

Linnaeus named the genus Monarda in honor of a 16th century Spanish physician and botanist, Nicolas Bautista Monardes (1493-1588). Monardes never went to the Americas but was able to study medicinal plants in Spain.