Class of 2016 -- Asclepias viridis, green antelopehorn

Asclepias viridis, green antelopehorn, photo by mmarchin via Wikimedia Commons

Why I'm growing Asclepias viridis in my garden...

1) It's native to Tennessee and other portions of the Southeast and lower Midwest.

2) Missouri Botanical Garden calls it drought-tolerant and deer-resistant, with flowers that provide nectar for butterflies.

3) The leaves provide food for the larvae of monarch butterflies, which need all the help they can get to survive and migrate.

4) As with partridge pea and redwhisker clammyweed, it just seems like it would be fun to grow and discuss a plant called 'green antelopehorn'. :)

Do you grow green antelopehorn? If so, what has been your experience with this plant?

Ready, Set, Go!

With unusually warm weather through the first half of March (10 to 20 degrees above normal), Spring is bursting out all over!

One of the things that interests me - and one factor for me in plant selection - is the speed with which a perennial, shrub or tree leafs out in the Spring.

Maybe that seems silly, but by the time late February rolls around, I'm desperate for some greenery and signs of life in the garden.

Here are some sights that gladdened my heart:

An expert told me not to count on Agastache rugosa 'Honey Bee Blue' acting as a perennial in Middle Tennessee. But the plant itself begs to differ. All three of the specimens I've planted have been returning reliably for a couple of years.

And this year I even have a few Agastache rugosa seedlings. (Or they could be hybrids, since I'm growing some other Agastache species in the garden. Not sure how easily they hybridize. But this one is growing right next to the other Agastache rugosa plants and its leaves look the same, so I'll call it A. rugosa for now!

Aronia arbutifolia (red chokeberry)

Clematis 'Crystal Fountain'.
I think I've butched the training and pruning of this plant, but it survives and blooms despite me.

'Sugar Tyme' crabapple.
You can see some old, dried apples still hanging on the plant, but the robins and other birds ate quite a bit of the fruit over the winter. That was nice to see.

'Johnny Jump Up' (Viola tricolor) has been self-sowing here and there in the garden ever since I planted it back in 2012.
 

Philadelphus x virginalis 'Natchez' (mock orange)

The rosy buds on the redbud tree (Cercis canadensis) gleam even on a cloudy day.

Physostegia virginia 'Miss Manners' - an obedient plant that really is supposed to be well-behaved.
I planted this little guy last autumn and the basal foliage stayed evergreen through the winter, although it recently seems to have put on some additional new growth.

Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower), appearing amid leftover stems and seedheads from last year's purple coneflowers that I broke off, crushed and left to 'compost in place'. 

Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (narrow-leaf mountain mint) - I have high hopes for this guy. It looks capable of spreading and functioning as a groundcover, plus it's supposed to have flowers that are appealing to pollinators. This will be the second full year in the garden for this plant (and the two other specimens of P. tenuifolium that I planted at the same time). I'd say this clump is at least four times bigger than it was when I planted it last Spring.

Eryngium yuccifolium (rattlesnake master). This is another perennial that I added to the garden in 2015. It's supposed to need or prefer good drainage, so I'm relieved to see that it survived a typically wet winter in heavy clay soil in a part of the garden that drains even more poorly than most. Don't these adorable early toothed leaves remind you of a Venus flytrap or some other carnivorous plant?

Another contender in the groundcover sweepstakes, this is Teucrium chamaedrys (creeping germander). It stayed more-or-less evergreen through the winter and has started putting on some new growth. I like how the stems trapped fallen leaves, which hopefully will help built and improve the soil over time.

Strawberries! Helpfully appearing next to its ID tag, this charming tripartite leaf belongs to Fragaria virginiana, our native wild strawberry! I planted several specimens of F. virginiana in the garden last autumn. This will be their first growing season in the Garden of Aaron!

Get Ready! Annual Nashville Plant Sale Coming Next Month!!

The Perennial Plant Society of Middle Tennessee's annual plant sale makes gardeners smile :)
(Photo courtesy of PPSMT)

Do you love plants?

Of course you do! (That's why you're reading this blog.)

Well, for gardeners in Middle Tennessee, one of the most exciting events of 2016 is just around the corner when the Perennial Plant Society of Middle Tennessee (PPSMT) hosts its annual plant sale starting at 9 a.m. on APRIL 9th at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville!

I attended this plant sale a couple of years ago and was very favorably impressed with the quality and selection. I found lots of exciting plants at reasonable prices that I've never seen at any of our local nurseries. For instance, I bought my Baptisia australis (blue false indigo) at the PPSMT plant sale and it has become one of my favorite perennials. (I've never seen a Baptisia at either the big box stores or any of our local nurseries.)

I also learned the importance of arriving early! I showed up about 10 minutes after the event had started and several species of plants that I was hoping to buy had already sold out!

Just look at these healthy Heuchera that were sold at a PPSMT plant sale!
(Photo courtesy of PPSMT)

Class of 2016 -- Ratibida pinnata, grey-headed coneflower

Ratibida pinnata, grey-headed coneflower, photo by Glen Fell, Chicago Botanic Garden

Why I'm growing Ratibida pinnata in my garden...

1) It's native to Tennessee and elsewhere in the Southeast and Midwest.

2) Michigan State University says the flowers attract bees and other beneficial insects.

3) The USDA says the flowers attract butterflies throughout the summer, while birds feed heavily on the seedheads in autumn.

4) University of Minnesota says that grey-headed coneflower can grow well in heavy clay soil.

Do you grow grey-headed coneflower? If so, what has been your experience with this plant?

Class of 2016 -- Polanisia dodecandra, redwhisker clammyweed

Redwhisker clammyweed, Polanisia dodecandra, photo by Jim Pisarowicz via Wikimedia Commons

Why I'm growing Polanisia dodecandra in my garden...

1) Although it is not really native to Tennessee (though there is a waif population in the state), it is considered native throughout much of the U.S. including neighboring states such as Arkansas, Missouri and Kentucky.

2) Scott Woodbury at Missouri Botanical Garden says this Cleome relative can bloom non-stop from July through September, attracting butterflies, bees and hummingbird clearwing moths.

3) Like partridge pea, Polanisia dodecandra is an annual plant, but Woodbury says it can persist in a garden for many years by reliably self-sowing.

4) Woodbury also calls P. dodecandra drought tolerant and says it can adapt to a wide range of soils and drainage conditions.

5) How could anyone not want to grow a plant called 'redwhisker clammyweed'? :)

Do you grow redwhisker clammyweed? If so, what has been your experience with this plant?

Early Signs of Spring - Tulip, Camellia and Daffodils!

Although I usually like the autumn-blooming Camellia sasanqua better, it's nice to have some early spring / late winter flowers from the Camellia japonica too!

It's our first year growing tulips! This is Pink Impression from Easy to Grow Bulbs.

It's my understanding that tulips are native to places where winters are relatively dry and drainage is good, so I was nervous about trying to grow them on heavy clay soil that gets saturated by winter rains. I planted some on a hillside to improve drainage -- and those ones seem to have emerged first, although I suspect that's because they get a good dose of morning sun. Some of the ones I planted on flat ground are just starting to poke their heads above ground...

Dependable daffodils put on their usual late winter show. What a cheerful sight!

Class of 2016 -- Chamaecrista fasciculata, partridge pea, sensitive plant

Partridge pea, Chamaecrista fasciculata, photo by Fritz Flohr Reynolds via Wikimedia Commons

Why I'm growing Chamaecrista fasciculata in my garden...

1) It is native to Tennessee and throughout most of Eastern and Central North America.

2) The USDA says that partridge pea seeds provide food for quail, prairie-chickens, pheasants, ducks and other grassland birds, while nectar from glands at the base of each leaf provide nutrition for bees.

3) Although I usually favor perennials, I'm willing to take a chance on this annual. Andrea DeLong-Amaya at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center told me that partridge pea is a drought-resistant annual that self sows reliably enough to persist in the garden for years.

4) DeLong-Amaya also mentioned that partridge pea is a larval food plant for several species of sulphur butterflies, including the cloudless orange and sleepy orange.

5) In photos I've seen, the flowers, seedpods and foliage all look gorgeous.

Do you grow partridge pea? If so, what has been your experience with this plant?

Class of 2016 -- Hydrangea arborescens, smooth hydrangea

Hydrangea arborescens, smooth hydrangea, photo by Hedwig Storch via Wikimedia

Why I'm growing Hydrangea arborescens in my garden...

1) It is native to Tennessee and throughout a large swath of the Southeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.

2) Sources at several botanic gardens say that H. arborescens flowers attract myriad pollinators including bees, wasps, hoverflies and skipper butterflies.

3) Since it blooms on new wood, I believe that smooth hydrangea should flower well even after the harshest Tennessee winters.

4) As with Cornus amomum, I've heard that smooth hydrangea is easy to propagate through a live-staking method (i.e., trimming branches in the spring, sticking them in the ground and giving them a bit of supplemental water if necessary as they get established).

5) Smooth hydrangea is supposed to be more drought tolerant than exotic mophead hydrangeas (H. macrophylla). It may even have a bit more drought tolerance than the oakleaf hydrangea (H. quercifolia), which I have found quite drought tolerant in partial shade.

6) H. arborescens may spread by suckers. I've planted it on a hillside where I think I would welcome that tendency to naturalize and protect the soil from erosion. However, I've heard those suckers are not especially difficult to control if I do want to keep it from spreading too far.

Do you grow smooth hydrangea? If so, what has been your experience with this plant?

Class of 2016 -- Cornus amomum, silky dogwood

Cornus amomum, silky dogwood, photo via Mid-Atlantic Regional Seedbank

Why I'm growing Cornus amomum in my garden...

1) It is native to Tennessee and throughout much of the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and New England.

2) It has a reputation of being a tough and adaptable plant, capable of tolerating wet clay soils. Some sources also say it has good drought tolerance.

3) The Pollinator Partnership says that Cornus amomum flowers attract bees and butterflies.

4) A University of Rhode Island fact sheet says that silky dogwood berries are eaten by many migratory songbirds.

5) It has red stems that provide winter interest.

6) I've heard it can be propagated very easily using a live staking method. So if it grows well here, it's good to know I may be able to take cuttings and get some free plants.

PS - When most gardeners think of dogwoods, they probably think of flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, but that plant has a reputation for needing or at least preferring moist, rich, acidic, woodland conditions. If I had a woodland, I'd certainly try planting some flowering dogwoods, but since my garden is mostly sunny and filled with compacted clay soil, I don't think Cornus florida would thrive here. In fact, I tried growing one a couple of years back and it really struggled even in one of the shadiest spots I could provide. Cornus amomum sounds like a much tougher and more forgiving member of the genus. We shall see...

Do you grow silky dogwood? If so, what has been your experience with this plant?

Class of 2016 -- Rosa 'Carefree Beauty', shrub rose

'Carefree Beauty' shrub rose, photo by Malcolm Manners

Why I'm growing 'Carefree Beauty' in my garden...

1) My wife likes roses!

2) I would describe some kinds of popular roses as ecologically inert. The only insects they seem to attract are Japanese beetles! But Sarah Rummery, Horticulture and Grounds Manager at the Reiman Gardens at Iowa State says that 'Carefree Beauty' has flowers that attract bees and other pollinators, while the rose hips that follow provide food for wildlife.

3) I was impressed by Dee Nash's enthusiastic review and beautiful photos at Red Dirt Ramblings.

PS - I hesitated to grow any roses in my garden after reading about the scourge of Rose Rosette Disease, but I figured I'd take a chance with just a couple of roses in the garden.

Do you grow roses? If so, which are your favorites and have you had any problems with Rose Rosette Disease?