Foliage Day, October 2015

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Tina

Joining with Christina for a fanfare of foliage on Garden Bloggers’ Foliage Day in October, I’m also celebrating Texas Native Plant Week and will do so with pretty leaves from native Texas plants.

I grow Frostweed, Verbesina virginica, for its late summer and fall white bloom clusters which feed oh-so-many pollinators, but the leaves are big and bodacious and tropical looking. An under-story and under-used perennial, the leaves are large in order to catch some rays for photosynthesis.

The leaves are rough, much like sunflower leaves and easily broken off from the stems, so I’m careful when working around these plants.

At the opposite end of leaf size range, the foliage of the Fall Aster, Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, are small and numerous. Surrounded by autumn blooms,

…the foliage hangs tough against the relentless Texas summer sun, but remain green and growing in preparation for the sweet fall blooms.

A Mexican Feathergrass, Nasella tenuissima, rests in a pop of red pot,

…accompanied by a single, thin strand of Silver Ponyfoot, Dichondra argentea. The Ponyfoot would be more than one strand if the darned squirrels would cease their digging in my pots!

Next door, an American Century Plant, Agave americana, produces spiky pups that I’ll need to find a home for.

Any takers?

Another mature containerized Agave sits poised and handsome for the camera.

I don’t generally plant agave in the ground. They grow HUGE and are difficult to remove at the end of their life. Also, they’re dangerous (those spikes! OUCH!) and I don’t like being attacked by my garden plants– I’m not a member of the Spiky Plant-lovers Club. The downside of growing them in pots rather than the ground is that I’ll never host that majestic bloom spike in my garden.

Lastly, soft, gray Woolly Stemodia, Stemodia lanata, cascades over the sides of a scarlet ceramic pot.

Yes, the squirrels are digging this one up too. Grrrr.

Pop over to My Own Garden of the Hesperides to see beautiful foliage from all over the world–and thanks to Christina for hosting. And where ever you live, learn about and plant natives in your garden–for beauty and for wildlife.

Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum): A Seasonal Look

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Tina

The first mistflower plant I ever grew was the Blue Mistflower, Conoclinium coelestinum.

Like Gregg’s Mistflower which I profiled in the most recent A Seasonal Look, this stunning native ground cover is a good autumn perennial to showcase for Texas Native Plant Week. I always think of this mistflower as the blue-headed step-child, especially in comparison to the more commonly grown Gregg’s Mistflower. Blue Mistflower is not as well-known or popular–not one of the cool kid plants, or at least that’s true here in the Austin area. I’m amazed at how few gardeners know about this lovely Texas ground cover.

Just as tough and hardy as its more admired cousin, it’s also a real looker. Pollinator gardening notwithstanding, the Blue Mistflower is my personal favorite. The deep purple-blue flowers,

…in all their puffy pulchritude,

…make me swoon!

I don’t think photos capture the depth of its color. You’ll just have to plant this beauty and see for yourself.

Interestingly, Blue Mistflower has a much wider range of distribution than the Gregg’s Mistflower. I follow several Northern garden bloggers who’ve planted this pretty, though I think it’s probably an annual or tender perennial in some of those places that experience true winter. Its native range is Texas to Florida, but also northward into Illinois and New Jersey (plenty of winter there!) and is grown in other parts of the U.S. as well.

I purchased a four-inch pot of Blue Mistflower for about $1.50 (I don’t remember exactly how much I spent, but it was very little) some 20 years ago. Over time, it filled in a back corner of my garden and put on a reliably gorgeous late summer/fall flower show every year. Eventually, that spot became…something. I never quite figured out the problem, but one spring, only about 10 sprigs returned. So I popped them out of that spot and into a another which receives a tiny bit full sun, but primarily dappled light, throughout the year.

The Blue Mistflower patch has thrived. With an almost identical growth and seasonal pattern as the Gregg’s, the zenith of its blooming occurs during September, October and into November. It is at its peak now.

As the autumn days shorten and cool, the blooms fade from deep blue-purple,

…to soft beige.

After the first hard freeze, the seed heads are wheat-colored and fragile. Like the Gregg’s, I’ve never experienced the Blue Mistflower seeding out, but if you’re so inclined, it’s at this point of the year that the seeds can be sowed.

I tend to leave the winter dormant plant alone until I can’t stand it anymore, then cut it back to not-much-of-anything, except for a light covering of Shumard Oak leaves.

You’ll notice the soaker hose which runs through the middle part of the Blue Mistflower plant. That one hose is generally enough for summer watering, although by hot August and especially if there’s been no precipitation, I sometimes hand water the Blue Mistflower because one hose doesn’t deliver enough moisture to cover all the roots of the entire group. I don’t want the Blue Mistflower to sulk, bloom less, and then cause me to miss out on its gorgeous blooms. I’m not the least bit selfish as a gardener, am I?

With the warmth of spring, the plant returns rapidly. If you look closely at the bottom of the photo, you can see the newly emerged spring growth in March.

Once spring has sprung, the form of the ground cover is firmly established.

While not much of a re-seeder in my garden, Blue Mistflower spreads by the roots. I keep it in bounds by weeding up the edges and passing along sprigs to other gardeners. As with the Gregg’s, I plant smaller evergreens like Iris and Purple Coneflower at the perimeter edges and I also have some container plants placed to visually enforce a stopping point and to give some winter interest. If this Blue Mistflower were planted in full sun, I would have more options for evergreen and structural plants, but this gardener plays the plant cards she’s dealt.

In summer, the foliage is thick and lush.

More than the Gregg’s, which has a comparably controlled growth habit, the Blue Mistflower is a straggler, stems growing wonky and wild over the course of its growing season and that’s especially noticeable once its purple, puffy, floral hats appear.

If you’re a neat-freak gardener you might not like this plant, but I find it casually charming.

Adding to its rangy behavior, Blue Mistflower also puts out stems taller than any of the Gregg’s–upwards of two feet or so.

The leaves of the Blue are triangular-shaped and a darker green shade contrasting with the palmate form and light green foliage of the Gregg’s,

Over the course of summer the foliage continues to grow and the perennial maintains itself as an unexciting, but generally handsome green ground cover, tolerant of heat and summer dry, and sporting the occasional bloom here or there.

In August and in tandem with the Gregg’s Mistflower–the fun begins with fuzzy-wuzzy blooming!!

While Tina the Gardener finds the flowers more alluring than those of the Gregg’s Mistflower, the same cannot be said about most pollinators. The Blue is a good pollinator plant, but not an excellent one, like the Gregg’s.

Monarchs like it just fine.

Honeybees tend to agree.

This Southern Oak Hairstreak, Satyrium favonius favonius, isn’t complaining about Blue Mistflower, either.

But I’ve never witnessed quite the variety of pollinator activity on the Blue Mistflower as on the Gregg’s. If you only have room for one, I’d suggest the Gregg’s, because the pollinators need all the help we can give them and the Gregg’s Mistflower is a Boss Pollinator Plant.

There is a fast flying and hardly landing tiny moth or skipper that I see each fall, flitting around the base of the plant, but it’s been a tough one to capture. I finally snagged a decent photo of one who perched (briefly!) for the camera.

I’ve also seen this one on the Gregg’s too, but it seems to prefer the Blue. I’m glad the Blue Mistflower has a committed pollinating pal.

Even though it’s not quite the power-house pollinator plant that some others are, Blue Mistflower still warms my heart and will always be welcome in my Texas garden!

As a whole and as an addition to a native plants/wildlife garden, Blue Mistflower is a terrific choice for anyone gardening in its range, who seeks a water-wise, attractive, hardy native ground cover that thrives–in both bloom and foliage–in sun or part-shade.

In Spring.

Summer.

Fall.

Winter.

Texas Native Plant Week: What’s Next?

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Tina

Congratulations! You’ve decided that you’ve had enough of your boring, sterile, wasteful, water-hogging, hydrocarbon-spewing, chemically dependent lawn. You’re going to remove some or all of it and plant a native plants garden!

Woohoo!!

Now what? Where do you go for information?

The thing about gardening that most folks don’t realize is that it is a region-specific endeavor. The way I garden here in Central Texas, and specifically in my part of Austin, is very different from how someone in Dallas, Texas, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, or Eugene, Oregon gardens. Gardening practices common in the Northeastern part of the U.S.do not work at all in Arizona. From temperature variations to soil considerations, appropriate plant choices and gardening practices are significantly more complicated than most people realize and require some level of knowledge and planning.

Our horticultural industry is partly (okay, largely) to blame for confusion in new gardeners: they want to sell me the same plant that they sell to a gardener in Maine, or northern California, or Florida, and it just doesn’t work. Or, probably it won’t work. Sure, there are some plants that transcend region, but few.

That’s one reason why using native plants is important. Native plants impart a sense of place–born and bred where they grow in nature, they belong to particular areas. Native plants thrive with regional temperature variations and soil complexities without help. Additionally, wildlife like insects, birds, and mammals of all sorts evolved in concert with their native plant hosts and food sources, and flock, buzz, and crawl to native plants for their sustenance and survival. Plants from “other places” cannot provide for wildlife like those that are biologically and evolutionary attuned to the nutritional and life requirements of endemic and migrating wildlife.

Gardens are more complex than a swath of green lawn and a few foundation plantings.

Where do you go to learn? Your locally owned nurseries and growers are often leaders in promoting the use of native plants. Visit and purchase from them in lieu of the big box nurseries which usually don’t sell native-to-region plants.

Most communities host a variety of garden organizations, including native plant societies, wildlife gardening groups, Master Naturalist and Master Gardener groups. Attend some meetings and ask questions; visit their plant sales and neighborhood plant swaps. For example, here in Austin we’re fortunate to enjoy an active Urban Habitat Steward program. One of those dedicated volunteers, Carleen Edgar, is hosting the Hancock Native Plant Swap, this coming Saturday, October 24th, from 8-9:30 am. The swap will be held at Mother’s Cafe & Garden, 4215 Duval Street, 78751. Carleen states:

At this swap, we will give away native (Antelope Horn) and Tropical milkweed seeds to all participants.

Here’s how it works:

Pot up and label some transplants, cuttings, or bring seeds
Set them in the appropriate area: Sun, Shade, Part Sun/Shade, or Water
Look around for plants that you would like or ask one of the experts (they will wear badges)
Take as many home as you brought

Many people just hang out talking about plants, helping others id mystery plants, and generally enjoying their coffee, free doughnut holes, and all things gardening. Master Gardeners and NWF Habitat Stewards will also be there to assist with plant identification.

Our mission is to make all yards in our neighborhoods more beautiful and easier to maintain, while consuming less water…for free!

Isn’t that cool? Free plants and conversation about plants with knowledgeable volunteers AND coffee and doughnut holes!

Goodness, it doesn’t get much better than that!!

Another resource that newby (and experienced!) gardeners should utilize are the local County Extension Service offices and websites. Every county has one, or access to one. Look’em up on your friendly neighborhood computer and call with questions or log onto their websites for plant and gardening information. The agricultural extension offices are reasonable stops for information on appropriate native plants for specific areas.

One of the absolute best places to learn about the native plants of North America is the Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center website at www.wildflower.org. I’m fortunate to live in Austin, where this national treasure is located and I’ve been a member since the mid-1980’s. The LBJWC is a beautiful and inspiring set of gardens and a tremendously valuable resource about North American native plants. The plant database and Ask Mr. Smarty Plants are worthwhile sections on the website to bookmark and peruse as you undertake your native education.

The National Wildlife Federation’s website, www.nwf.org is another superb resource on plant, gardening and wildlife-related information. This organization provides directives for creating wildlife and/or pollinator gardens–most of which focus on using native plants. Like the Austin Urban Habitat Stewards mentioned previously, many communities have enthusiastic volunteers, ready, able and willing to teach those wanting to learn.

Finally, there are many active and experienced garden bloggers available, at the click of your mouse or the touch of your fingertips, just itching to teach you what to do and how to do it.

Ahem.

Whether you’re interested in native plants (hopefully!), or garden design, or want to learn about another’s path of transforming a landscape from lawn to living garden, complete with native plants and accompanying wildlife, there are many good garden bloggers writing on a regular basis in the gardening blogosphere. Obviously, it’s better if you read about gardening from your specific area of the gardening world, but there’s an incredible amount of valuable information available. Great gardening ideas, solutions to gardening problems, reviews of gardening literature–it’s out there, with free and easy access from experienced gardeners and with myriad interesting perspectives.