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.

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 24: rattlesnake master

This is a delightful native plant that I was eager to put in two years ago. I think I put in 3, making a sort of windy “row” with them that my stepping stones wove around. Last year they got HUGE, and this spring I think I have about 10 total. The originals are much larger, but the babies have grown quite a bit already this season. I’m going to have to transplant at least 4 of them, and I moved the stepping stones into a new curve to accommodate the rest.

The flowers are really unusual and the pollinators love love love them. I’m enjoying this plant a lot and so glad I got it in to the garden early on.

More info:

Eryngium yuccifolium

Eryngium yuccifolium Michx.

Rattlesnake Master, Button Eryngo, Button Snakeroot, Beargrass, Bear's Grass

Apiaceae (Carrot Family)

Synonym(s): 

USDA Symbol: ERYU

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Scattered along the stiff, upright stem of this unusual perennial are tough, blue-green, yucca-like, parallel-veined leaves. Smooth, rigid stem bearing thistle-like flower heads made up of small greenish-white florets mingled with pointed bracts. The individual, greenish-white flowers cluster into unique, globular heads. These occur on branch ends atop the 6 ft. plant. 

Their spiny leaves make walking through clumps of these plants difficult, and also make them unpalatable to grazing livestock. They were once credited with a variety of curative powers. Their flower heads develop a bluish cast with maturity.

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 23: baptisia alba (and tales of weeding)

I loved this when I saw it and put it in two years ago. It’s fairly short-lived in the garden - but while it’s there it’s beautiful. When it first comes up it looks like asparagus!

Here’s how it looks today, getting close to blooming.

Today, I got out my tools for heavy duty weeding. I start with the fancy hoe. I can’t remember what it’s called, but someone recommended it and I got it. You push it parallel to the ground just underneath the weed, and when you pull it back the weed is uprooted. It works really well and easily.

After I get the weeds uprooted, I use the pronged tool to rake them into a pile and pull up anything still hanging on to the earth. And with the broken muck rake I “muck” the pile and carry it to my brush pile, which is not too far away from these beds.

BUT, I decided to ask husband to repair an old haybarrow that’s been set aside for many months.Walking back and forth is taking too much time. He instead ordered my dream garden cart for me, which I’m very eager to get and use. I’ll show it off when it arrives.

Meanwhile, here’s my tool set for serious weeding:

I knocked out the entire fence line in less than half an hour, and transplanted goldenrod down about half of it. I’ll do the rest of the transplanting tomorrow.

The weeding was so easy using the tools I could hardly stop myself, and ended up doing about half the bed. I really could have gone on much longer but online family gaming awaited, so I called it a day!

On the other side of the driveway I took a shot of the larger bed. The one I was working in was too bright to get a good shot. I’ll do it another day.

I still need to trim back the remaining daffodils to clear the way for the asters coming in beneath.

More info on baptisia alba:

Baptisia alba

Baptisia alba (L.) Vent.

White Wild Indigo, White Baptisia

Fabaceae (Pea Family)

Synonym(s): 

USDA Symbol: BAAL

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

This 2-4 ft., mound-shaped perennial holds its white, pea-like flowers in erect clusters. Velvety, trifoliate leaves turn from bluish-gray to black in the fall. A bushy perennial with smooth leaves and white or cream-colored pea flowers in stiffly erect clusters; stem covered with whitish bloom. Clusters of large, black seedpods often remain attached to the naked winter stems. 

This showy legume, long known as B. leucantha but now as B. alba, often stands out above surrounding prairie grasses. Many species of this genus contain a blue dye that resembles indigo and becomes noticeable in autumn as the plants dry out and blacken. Large-bracted Wild Indigo (B. bracteata var. leucophaea) has two large stipules at the base of 3-parted leaves, giving the effect of five leaflets rather than three.