What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 29: blue sage

These are new this year and I’m curious to see how they look when they bloom. I’m finding all kinds of things coming up that aren’t familiar and I think it’s because I kept getting plants last fall and tucking them in without much fanfare at all. Here’s to surprise in the garden!

More info:

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Species Native to Missouri

Common Name: blue sage 

Type: Herbaceous perennial

Family: Lamiaceae

Native Range: Southeastern United States

Zone: 5 to 9

Height: 3.00 to 5.00 feet

Spread: 2.00 to 4.00 feet

Bloom Time: July to October

Bloom Description: Azure blue

Sun: Full sun

Water: Dry to medium

Maintenance: Low

Flower: Showy

Attracts: Butterflies

Tolerate: Deer, Drought, Dry Soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil

Garden locations

Culture

Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates drought. Prefers moist, gravelly or sandy soils with good drainage. Plant stems may be cut back by up to 1/2 in late spring to promote compactness and prevent stem flopping. Plants may repeat bloom from summer to fall, but need regular moisture to encourage this. Remove spent flower spikes to help extend the bloom period. If plant foliage depreciates in hot summer conditions to the point where it looks unsightly, consider trimming back. In any event, cut plants back after flowering has concluded.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Salvia azurea, commonly called blue sage, is a clump-forming perennial that typically grows to 3-5’ tall (shorter if pruned). Whorls of 2-lipped, azure blue flowers bloom in spikes from mid-summer to fall atop stiff stems clad with linear to lanceolate to obovate, grayish-green leaves (to 3-4” long). Salvia azurea var. azurea is native from North Carolina and Tennessee south to Florida and Texas. Salvia azurea var. grandiflora grows further west to New Mexico and further north to Nebraska and Minnesota. Although similar in appearance, var. grandiflora has larger flowers and is often considered to be a better garden plant than var. azurea.

The genus name Salvia comes from the Latin word salveo meaning "to save or heal", in reference to the purported medically curative properties attributed to some plants in the genus.

Specific epithet means sky-blue for the azure blue flowers.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems.

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 28: possum haw

These holly natives are so beautiful and are great pollinators and wildlife friendly trees - I planted these two last fall. I’m surprised they actually made it; the area I planted them is a major dog highway for our three when they go out on farm romps, and these possum haws were uprooted many times between the dogs running through/over and certain very large pollinators uprooting them.

You can barely see them in this shot, but there’s a possum haw in the center of each fence panel.

Here’s a closer look:

I managed to get a shot of the large pollinators who messed with them all winter:

This was before I cut back the iris and daffodil leaves.

I’m looking forward to seeing these possum haws grow and mature. I can imagine how they’ll look with their bright orange berries in the fall/winter against the backdrop of the barn.

More info:

Northington, David K. 

Ilex decidua

Ilex decidua Walter

Possumhaw, Possumhaw Holly, Deciduous Holly, Meadow Holly, Prairie Holly, Swamp Holly, Welk Holly, Deciduous Yaupon, Bearberry, Winterberry

Aquifoliaceae (Holly Family)

Synonym(s): Ilex curtissii, Ilex decidua var. curtissii

USDA Symbol: ilde

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Deciduous holly or possum haw is a small, deciduous tree or shrub,15-30 ft. tall, with pale gray, twiggy, horizontal branches. Glossy, oval, toothed leaves remain dark green through autumn, finally turning yellow. Inconspicuous flowers precede clusters of persistant, red berries on female trees which provide winter color. 

Possum Haw is conspicuous in winter, with its many, small, red berries along leafless, slender, gray twigs. Opossums, raccoons, other mammals, songbirds, and gamebirds eat the fruit of this and related species.

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 27: purple coneflower

This is one of my favorite plants. I’ve had it in my gardens for 20+ years. Turns out it’s both native and a pollinator, so I have a nice patch in my front bed. The bees and butterflies love it, as so the goldfinches!

This is the first flower of the season, should pop in the next week.

I put in three in my terraced bed last fall, but they’re in an area the dogs tend to run through when going from front to back, so they didn’t grow much before winter hit and while they’ve come up this spring, they are much smaller than the mature front bed plants are. 

I hope they can gain some ground this season - once they’re big enough for the dogs to recognize as a garden plant, they’ll start to steer around them, and that empty space will be full!

These plants will multiply - I left room for that to happen in both beds and now the front patch is very thick. Hoping that next year I’ll have more in the terraced bed.

More info:

Cressler, Alan 

Echinacea purpurea

Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench

Eastern Purple Coneflower, Purple Coneflower

Asteraceae (Aster Family)

Synonym(s): Brauneria purpurea, Echinacea purpurea var. arkansana, Rudbeckia purpurea

USDA Symbol: ecpu

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (I)

A popular perennial with smooth, 2-5 ft. stems and long-lasting, lavender flowers. Rough, scattered leaves that become small toward the top of the stem. Flowers occur singly atop the stems and have domed, purplish-brown, spiny centers and drooping, lavender rays. An attractive perennial with purple (rarely white), drooping rays surrounding a spiny, brownish central disk. 

The genus name is from the Greek echinos, meaning hedgehog, an allusion to the spiny, brownish central disk. The flowers of Echinacea species are used to make an extremely popular herbal tea, purported to help strengthen the immune system; an extract is also available in tablet or liquid form in pharmacies and health food stores. Often cultivated, Purple Coneflower is a showy, easily grown garden plant. 

 

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 26: blue wild indigo

So the other day when I featured the baptisia alba, I actually forgot that one of them is blue wild indigo, baptisia australis. The blooms are opening now and I have the white and the blue together, which is very nice.

I also had one in the other bed, but so far not seeing it come up this spring.

Here’s the blue wild indigo:

It’s going to be pretty when they’re both fully in bloom.

Also took a couple of shots of these beds from the garage level. Bob the truck is part of the landscape there after Elf The VW Beetle took a spot in the garage, so not quite as pristine a view as I’d like, but maybe someday Bob will get his own shelter again someplace else on the farm.

You can see that in these two terraced beds I have some room for more plants. I left space because I wasn’t sure how much these would spread - now I know. In the middle photo above you can see the fence where I’ve cleared weeds and still have goldenrod to move up there. Once I’m done with that, I’m going to be thinking what I might put in front of them in the fall.

In the bottom photo front and center, the space seems empty now, but the mountain mint will take that over by midsummer, and since it’s by far the most popular and long-lasting pollinator in the beds, I’ll give it plenty of room.

I’m going to move all the baby rattlesnake masters to the other side of the front walkway. Last spring we created a strip there - put down landscaping cloth to kill the grass, and put in compost and mulch. It’s been sitting for a year now, and I’ve only planted three plants along that strip. I think a grouping of rattlesnake master will do very well there, as it’s full sun much of the day and tends to be dry.

Yesterday I spent an hour finishing off the weeding on the terraced bed side, and removed a few sproutings of poison ivy. It was rampant in these two beds three years ago, and my farm helper got all of it out. We have to keep on top of it to prevent it coming back. I was careful, but came upon one plant underneath the bee balm and my inner forearm brushed the poison ivy leaves. For most of my life I haven’t reacted to it, but three years ago I got a bad case and had to take prednisone, so when I realized I’d touched it yesterday, I came in and washed with special soap. The best thing, Zanfel, recommended to me by the expert, Calm Forward Straight who sometimes comments here, I am out of - so ordering it today to have on hand.

I definitely have a patch of itchy bumps where it touched, but maybe washing it quickly will reduce the severity. We will see.

Today I’ll try to move some more goldenrod. Once I get them moved there will be a new fairly large space in the bottom front bed for something new and more appropriate sited with regards to height. I’m happy to have some space to think about new plantings in the fall. As I get to it, I’ll start featuring the native pollinator shade beds I’ve been working on for the past half year. The shade element is an entirely different beast and the two beds are nowhere near full yet, but where they are will really enhance the look of that side of the driveway and offer some rain run-off help to boot.

Here’s more info on baptisia australis:

Makin, Julie 

Baptisia australis

Baptisia australis (L.) R. Br.

Blue Wild Indigo, Wild Blue Indigo, Blue False Indigo

Fabaceae (Pea Family)

Synonym(s): 

USDA Symbol: BAAU

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (I)

Rising 2-4 ft. high from a woody base, blue wild indigo is a bushy, robust perennial. Flowers are blue-purple and pea-like, congested in dense, upright, terminal spikes, 4-16 in. long. Leaves are divided into three leaflets. In late fall the plant turns silvery-gray, sometimes breaking off at ground level and tumbling about in the wind. 

Like other members of the pea family, this plant requires the presence of microorganisms that inhabit nodules on the plants root system and produce nitrogen compounds necessary for the plants survival.

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 25: great blue lobelia

I missed a couple of days due to prepping for a big storm that came through. Thankfully we had no damage and all my prep was unneeded, but better to do it than not, so I did. Everything here got a good watering and we’ve had a big burst of growth as a result.

Today’s featured native NC pollinator is the great blue lobelia, which didn’t do especially well the first year I planted it, but it has really come out this year in a large cluster and looks great. Its indigo blue flowers are lovely when they arrive, and until then, the green foliage and pleasing shape make a lovely display in the front of my bed. There are two holly trees adjacent which offer a deep green backdrop, though we’ve limbed them up to get a slightly different look to the front - so now their trunks (very beautiful!) are also a nice feature for the eye.

This is a shot of the entire front garden bed - the lobelia is the large cluster on the right in the back from this angle, and to the right of that low cluster you can see the holly. When you’re walking up the stone walkway to our front door, you see the lobelia in front of the holly and it looks quite nice when blooming. (Should have taken the photo from that angle!)

I love seeing this garden bed come up and mature through the spring/summer/fall seasons. Right now it’s so manicured, but as things come out and mature, it becomes a thicket of pure delight. If you make sure to plant things that bloom in each season, you’ll have a garden that keeps you happy all year, and this one definitely does that for me.

Here’s a closer view of the lobelia:

It’s a woodland plant but somehow ended up in full afternoon sun in my garden, which may be why it struggled some the first year. I make sure it doesn’t get too dry if we have weeks without rainfall, but I haven’t pampered it at all.

This is one of the best reasons I can offer for planting natives aside from their benefits for insects and wildlife - they tend to be very hardy and easy to care for.

More info:

Makin, Julie 

Lobelia siphilitica

Lobelia siphilitica L.

Great Blue Lobelia

Campanulaceae (Bellflower Family)

Synonym(s): 

USDA Symbol: losi

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

This showy perennial is usually unbranched but may exhibit some branching. The erect, 2-3 ft., stems produce lavender-blue, tubular flowers crowded together on the upper stem. Showy, bright blue flowers are in the axils of leafy bracts and form an elongated cluster on a leafy stem. Each flower is split into two lips - the upper lip has two segments and the lower lip has three. 

This blue counterpart of the Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is a most desirable plant for woodland gardens especially since it blooms bright blue in late summer. The unfortunate species name, siphilitica, is based on the fact that it was a supposed cure for syphilis.