What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 22: Atlantic blue-eyed grass

I bought this last fall at the NC Botanical Garden after one of my native plant studies classes. A plus to being in their certificate program is I can always browse the plant sale area before and after class, and I tried to find new and unusual pollinators each time I was there. This was a fun find last fall. One of the best things about planting in the fall, is not only the way the natives thrive when you do it then, but you get to see the new plantings come up in the spring.

I try to figure out good places to put things, but sometimes I make a poor choice and the plant I put in a certain part of the garden doesn’t end up doing well there. I’ve learned not to fight that. If something dies or seems puny after one season, I move it elsewhere and see if I can find a better spot for it.

This Atlantic blue-eyed grass has come up with a bang this spring and is already blooming. I think I made a good choice for it, but we’ll see how it does through the summer.

I have this in front at the border of this bed, and I love how it looks against everything around it.

Today I did a lot of weeding, though still much to do, and I was shocked that in only a couple of days many plants have had growth spurts. The echinacea has budded, and things that weren’t up at all are now peeking out. There are at least 25 plants I haven’t featured here yet, and I was tempted to take lots of photos and feature more than one, but decided to keep weeding instead.

I desperately need to order my mulch and get that done, but I was trying to finish up a few other things before having it delivered, as it will take several solid days for me to get all the mulching done. It would help with the weeds, though!

Anyway, it’s cooler today and although the wind is blowing quite a bit out there, it was perfect weather for gardening. I tend to do everything with my hands, and decided today I’m going to have to get my hoe out and stop trying to pull every single weed individually with my own bare fingers. I’ve always preferred that to using tools, and there will always be areas best done by hand, but at this point I need something to help speed this work a bit.

More info:

Cressler, Alan 

Sisyrinchium atlanticum

Sisyrinchium atlanticum E.P. Bicknell

Eastern Blue-eyed Grass

Iridaceae (Iris Family)

Synonym(s): Sisyrinchium apiculatum, Sisyrinchium mucronatum var. atlanticum

USDA Symbol: siat

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

A grass-like, clumped perennial, to 20 in. high, with pale-green foliage and flattened flowering stems terminating in loose clusters of pale-blue, six-petaled, yellow-centered flowers. 

A member of the iris family (family Iridaceae) which consists of herbs growing from rhizomes, bulbs, or corms, with narrow basal leaves and showy clusters at the tips of long stalks. There are about 60 genera and 1,500 species, distributed in temperate and tropical regions. Among them, Iris, Freesia, Gladiolus, Bugle Lily, and Montbretia are popular ornamentals. Saffron dye is obtained from Crocus, and essence of violets, used in perfumes, is extracted from the rhizomes of Iris.

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 21: tulip poplar

While I’ve planted zero tulip poplars since we already have so many, mature and seedlings, and even the ones Duke Energy cut down are COMING BACK (yay, tulip poplars!!), I couldn’t resist featuring these trees.

They are so important for the bees, both native and the honey bees, and even my equine herd loves them. The flowers fall to the ground sometimes and it’s a mad dash among the herd to get to them and eat them up.

When the flowers open, the main nectar flow in our region begins, and for bees, nectar flow is the source of energy that allows them to build new comb for the queen to lay eggs in, and increase population which has dwindled through the winter. For our area, this is the big one for bees. Nothing else really comes close to it.

So this afternoon I turned horses out and took a walk down the hill in front. So did they, and I noticed them darting forward and chewing. It took me a moment to realize what they were eating. The winds last night and this morning have brought some of these beauties to the ground. I had to run and grab this before the horses and donkeys got to it:

Yay, tulip poplar flowers! Yay, bees! Yay, equine princes and king of November Hill!

I’ll get back to the things I’ve planted tomorrow. 

November Hill farm journal, 96

The dogwoods are now leafing out on November Hill, along with all the big trees, so we’re close to being embraced in our spring/summer privacy screen of lush foliage. I love how the trees muffle the sounds, too, though once the cicadas start up later on, it’s like we’re in a white noise machine.

I’m keeping up with the basic chores these days, and getting a few extra things done a day. We’re on day 3 of 80+ degrees with a cooling period coming tomorrow, so I’ve put off major garden bed weeding for cooler temps.

In the potager, we got the cucumber teepee set up and planted. And the lettuces have been devoured by bunnies! I have some chicken wire, so I have to get out there with it and try to make a cover for that bed, but also wondering if I should just put it on the fence all the way around. Not sure how I would do the gate though. They aren’t messing with anything except the lettuce, and interestingly, not until the third night after planting, when ONE leaf was eaten. The next night though - wham - they ate every lettuce leaf down to the ground.

We love the brown bunnies and I in fact named this garden space Brown Bunny’s Potager. Either a mistake or accurate, depending how you look at it!

I know many readers here have gardens - any tips on bunny control?

Because we are signed up for a weekly large CSA share that starts next week and goes through mid-June, I’m not too worried about how much produce we get from this between now and then. My main goal was to get the beds in place with something in them to see how this space does for vegetables and get a test run going.

I’ll also be planting some herbs and native flowering plants in here (to start, coreopsis, coneflower, aster, and mountain mint), and have an idea to put in a muscadine vine on a proper trellis along the back fence of the space. I already have two hazelnut trees in the two back corners, and a space dedicated to a 2-bay compost bin. We’re also strongly considering putting bee hive #3 in the center of the potager, as Tom Seeley’s recommendations on keeping bees say to space them out rather than together in one spot.

What I really want is for this space to be a little oasis on this side of the farm, and to offer some buffer along the side of the property line shared with neighbors. I love the idea of working in this garden with horses on three sides. We’ll get there this year, I think, if I can figure out how to keep the plants mostly safe from being nibbled down.

As you can see, I already have a garden assistant ready and waiting! Thanks, Redford donkey!!

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 20: fireworks goldenrod

I picked this plant up at the farmers’ market on pollinator plant day two years ago, and it is a delightful addition to the garden bed. In hindsight, I wish I’d only planted this and not the very tall upright goldenrod I have in the lower bed, as moving it is defying me right now. I remembered this morning that I can also cut it back and not let it get so tall, and that’s likely what I’ll have to do with at least some of the plants.

But back to the fireworks goldenrod - it has a beautiful shape that is so pleasing to the eye - reminds me of unpruned forsythia in the way it wisps and curls. It’s very controlled and pollinators love it.

Here it is now:

You can see from the overwintered stalks how it grows. I need to finish clearing them.

You can also see if you look back to the fence, to the right, where I’ve cleared weeds and started transplanting some of the tall goldenrod. They’ll do well against the fence if only I can get them moved. Too many things to do, too few hours in the day!

More info (from one of our local native plant nurseries you can go to HERE ):

Home › Fireworks Goldenrod

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Fireworks Goldenrod

Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks'

Regular price$11.00

Container size:
4.5 in. wide x 5 in. deep / 32 fl. oz.

                                                   Default Title - $11.00 USD                                             

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• Plant Info
 
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Fireworks Goldenrod is a well-behaved goldenrod that’s sure to allure pollinators into your garden when its starry golden flowers explode into bloom in early fall.

• Top-rated pollinator plant
• Easy to grow
• Covers ground and suppresses weeds

Details

• 3 to 4 ft. tall in flower
• Spreads to 3 to 4 ft. wide in 3 to 4 years
• The dark green foliage remains evergreen over the winter months
• Hardy in USDA hardiness zones 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9

Flowering period

It starts blooming in September and continues for three to four weeks.

How to grow

Best grown in full sun, but will still flower and look good with morning shade and afternoon sun. It can grow in just about any well-drained soil.

Care and maintenance

Old flowering stems can be cut to the ground level anytime during the winter. Plants will spread outward over time and can easily be dug up to replant elsewhere or share with friends.

Where to plant

In the middle of flower beds, where it will look attractive throughout the growing season and peak when it flowers in late summer.

When to plant

Spring and the fall are the best times, but Fireworks Goldenrod can be planted in the summer if attention is paid to keeping plants watered until they get established.

Spacing

2 to 3 feet apart when planting in a group.

When will my plant flower?

Plants purchased and planted before June will bloom their first year if planted in a well-prepared site and kept watered.

Native habitat and range

Old fields, at the edge of woodlands. Native throughout most of the eastern United States.

Source and origin

The original plant was rescued near Wilson, North Carolina by staff from NC Botanical Garden in the 1970s. It is now grown and appreciated around the world.

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 19: bloom update

I wanted to show the blooms on a few of the plants I’ve featured so far. They’re really lovely!

 Yellow pitcher plant is stunning!

 A close up of the May apple blossom.

The columbine is like shooting stars.

May apple larger view.

The golden Alexanders are easily doubled in size from their feature post and blooming like mad.

My mulch should be delivered soon and I can clean up the beds, but things are going wild right now. Debbie Roos, our native pollinator garden guru at the county extension office, advised in the classes I’ve taken to try and plant things that will bloom in all three of our main growing seasons here in central NC.

I tried hard to make sure I did this when selecting the plants for these two beds, and while my judgment about size/height of plant and spacing wasn’t always on the mark (hence my need to move many tall goldenrod), I did nail the constant bloom thing.

Once the early spring bloom begins in these beds it is nonstop until at least November, and even on into winter there are many seed pods for birds to forage.

Debbie taught a garden design class last year that I took well after I’d planted these first two beds, and I learned a lot about how to go about designing the aspects of the garden I’d not quite nailed the first time around.

She gave us large sheets of white paper and had about a hundred different colors of post-it notes, and after viewing slides of many, many native NC pollinator plants, we did a quick garden design on our paper. I have mine saved to do the next big native plant bed, which will be across the walkway from the front bed you can see above. It’s a huge space, and Debbie suggested starting in one section and planting out from there. I’ll probably start it this fall, since my experience has been that everything I plant in the fall season does super well with much less attention.

A project to look forward to!