Category Archives: Favorite Flora

18May / 2016

Asters, Sages & Milkweeds, Oh, My (I)

Bee on aster

Pollinators and Plants for Pollinator-Friendly Gardens – Part 1

By Debra Knapke
Pollinators and plants: a beautiful symbiotic relationship that is usually mutually beneficial.  A plant gets to propagate itself, while the pollinator gets food. We’ve always known that these relationships exist, but there are threats that are interfering with plant and pollinator interactions. Global Climate Change, habitat reduction, and pesticide use are just a few.
We can be part of the solution. Resist using pesticides in the garden and let the “good” bugs have a chance to eat the “bad” bugs. Buy more plants and create pollinator habitats in your garden.
In order to choose which plants, you need to know who you are inviting in.
Meet the pollinators:
Bees
In the June/July 2016 National Wildlife magazine it was reported that bees contribute $300 billion toward global agricultural systems.  We are fortunate to have a diverse group of native bees in the Midwest. If you are interested in learning more about identification and good landscape practices for supporting our native bees, check out the resources at the Ohio State University Bee Lab website.
The non-native, but very important honeybee will benefit from the same plants and practices that you would use for our native bees.  This is a case where native/non-native is a non-issue. Both native and non-native bees are essential to our well-being.
bumble on Consolida ambigua 6-25-06

Bumblebee on annual larkspur

Flies
Some of the bees you see are actually flies; often called Hover flies or Syrphid flies. A bonus of this pollinator group is that the larval stage is a voracious eater of aphids.

How can you tell bees and flies apart? A quick way is to note the number of wings: bees have two pairs; flies have one pair.

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Fly on witch hazel

Sometimes we do not give flies their due in the insect world. I would like to offer this thought: without a small tropical fly, we would not have chocolate.
Hummingbirds
This flying jewel is particularly fond of deep-throated flowers. They typically live in the Midwest from the beginning of April to the beginning of October. On their quest for nectar, they also transfer pollen between flowers.61006 050
Butterflies, Skippers and Moths
Monarchs have been the poster child for creating habitat for pollinators, but there are so many other butterflies, skippers and moths that benefit from a ready source of nectar and their required larval plants. Some pollinators are night visitors. A moon garden filled with night-blooming white and pale yellow flowered species offers food to night-flying moths.
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Asclepias curassavica with monarch larva 8-9-15

Asclepias curassavica — tropical milkweed — with monarch larvae

 

There are other pollinators, but this is not meant to be an exhaustive treatise. It is an introduction. Hopefully you will be intrigued enough to do some research of your own.
On Friday, look for my follow-up post on pollinators’ favorite plants.

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23Sep / 2015

Hello, Fall!

20140927_092612_AndroidLooking for some fall gardening inspiration?  Well, check out some of the season’s best posts on Heartland Gardening:

 

 

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20Jun / 2015

What is the last flower of spring?

lemon lilyBy Michael Leach

Poets and gardeners lament the last rose of summer. Even the horticulturally oblivious recognize the wistful symbolism of that flower.

But what of the last flower of spring? Who weeps for it?

Probably no one. But this lack of concern has nothing to do with callousness.

When spring finally becomes summer’s kaleidoscope of color, who cares about a single flower? For that matter, who can define the last flower of spring? Each garden has a unique plant population.

Then there’s the matter of defining the end of spring, a season that pays no attention to the grid of dates on the calendar we use to conveniently, if inaccurately, pinpoint its coming and going. People also “date” spring differently. Memorial Day marks spring’s passing for me, but the start of the school system’s summer vacation or an annual fishing trip marks the end of spring for others.

The last flower of spring could be a rose. Heritage roses, those flowers of legend, romance and centuries of garden use, tend to bloom with late spring flowers.

For me, the last flower of spring is a venerable  lemon lily. Perhaps the lemon-colored blooms or the citrus-like fragrance, that evokes spring in Florida’s orange country, inspired the common name.

This small day lily came from some ancestor’s garden ages past, along with peonies and garden phlox. My childhood memories have it blooming about the time of the late peonies, but memory is apparently faulty. The last peony had faded when the lemon lily began to perfume the air.

While I can’t give proper credit to its family source or common name (much less its botanical moniker), I can thank garden writer Diana Lockwood for keeping this charmer going.

 

She received hers as a passalong plant from my garden a few years ago. Eventually the mother plant vanished, as sometimes happens to the demure in my rather too effusive planting  style. When she learned of my loss, a start was provided. This spring it produced several flowers.

 

Lemon lily grows in substantial shade, receiving only four hours or so of direct sun daily. Once my plant grows a bit larger, a division will be placed in a brighter spot.

 

Meanwhile, another year must pass before the air is perfumed with little lemon lily blooms. Fortunately, an abundance of summer and fall flowers lies ahead making this symbolic end of spring easier to bear than that of summer.

 

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22May / 2015

Memorial Day bouquets

patriotic peony

For Memorial Day weekend, we’re reposting this 2013 essay by Michael Leach. We thank those who serve and continue to serve our country.  

I wonder how many people take family heirlooms to the cemetery on Memorial Day? These are blossoms from plants handed down from one generation to the next. Most gardens have such plants. Felder Rushing, a Mississippi gardener and writer, calls them pass-alongs.

Weather permitting, peonies were always among the Memorial Day bouquets for my family. At the family home place where I live, all of them came from my grandparents or great-grandparents. They readily shared these cast-iron standards along with garden phlox and iris, plants growing in my garden today.

Maybe that’s why I never feel lonely as I garden in blessed solitude. Memories return with the fragrance of the masses of sweet violets that grew so thickly around Auntie’s back door they perfumed the air and took away my breath. Dreams of tropical places enchanted me as a child, and so I was attracted to Grandpa’s yucca. I suppose the spiky leaves resembled some type of palm to a 10-year-old boy. I had to grow much taller before I could smell the sweetness of their satin white flowers, a much-anticipated annual event.

Unlike the yuccas, the peonies are slowly declining. Ever-increasing shade, a boon and bane, has nearly eliminated most of the 60 or so plants of perhaps a half-dozen varieties that graced beds and borders. I suppose no one needs that many reminders of long-gone contributors.

Besides these family treasures, my garden grows memories of other gardeners who shared columbines, brunneras, roses, wildflowers and day lilies. Even indoors heirlooms whisper old tales. My great-grandmother’s sprawling Christmas cactus blooms every year, usually starting in January. Such a lapse can be forgiven a grand dame who may be 100 or so.

Unlike funeral flowers, such plants make me smile. Perhaps because I remember the donors in their gardening years, active, yet at peace, working in their little Edens.

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14Apr / 2015

Tips for Daffodil Success

Daffodil favorites

By Michael Leach

Easy-growing daffodils bring smiles of delight each spring. To ensure the best chances of success with these poet-inspiring flowers, we offer suggestions from the Buckeye Yard & Garden onLine produced online by Ohio State University Extension.

* While adaptable to a range of conditions, some places won’t work. If you have heavy shade, try early blooming varieties. If you have wet soil, don’t plan on daffs. Good drainage is essential.

* Apply bulb fertilizer in early spring as foliage begins to emerge. Too late for this year, but do this next if you like.

* Skip the folding, braiding and tormenting of foliage after flowers fade. The more leaf surface exposed to sunlight, the more food the bulb produces to power next year’s show. If fading foliage offends, interplant bulbs with perennials that will begin growing later in the spring and hide the yellowing daff leaves.

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11Apr / 2015

Favorite Edibles: Carrots

Credit: World of Carrots Museum

Photo Credit: World of Carrots Museum

By Debra Knapke

Bugs Bunny did for carrots what Popeye the Sailor did for Spinach.bugs bunny book How many lip-locked, head-swelling children were coerced into eating their carrots by mothers cooing, “…but Bugs Bunny eats HIS carrots.” Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny of Looney tunes fame)

Carrots are one of my favorite snacks, especially ones just harvested from the garden. I am envious of Michael’s success with his carrots – bragging rights, indeed – as the past few years have not been the best carrot-growing years for me. But, this is the year. I have: five varieties I’ve not tried, good compost, a dedicated spot and I will be planting in late May/early June to avoid the carrot maggot. Well, that’s the plan.

I decided to go back to basics and grow all orange varieties this year, except for ‘Atomic Red’. I am intrigued with the health claims for this lycopene-loaded carrot and its reputed deep, deep red color. The others are all faster maturing, smaller varieties. ‘Parisienne’ and ‘Romeo’ are small round carrots while ‘Little Finger’ and ‘Babette’ have slender, cylindrical forms. Another goal this year is to do more pickling; ‘Little Finger’ and ‘Babette’ will be perfect for pint-sized jars.

As I looked for ways to increase my success with carrots, in my books and on the web, I stumbled upon a website in England that is dedicated to the glory of the carrot. John Stolarczyk, founder and curator of the World Carrot Museum has gathered an impressive body of information that is useful and a bit quirky. I’m thinking I need to make a “flutenveg”, a variation of a set of pan pipes. I’m not sure of the tone quality it produces, but who cares? Laughter will cover any off-pitch note.

If you want a more comprehensive list of carrot cultivars by color, Edible Cols springtake a look at my picks in the “What to Plant” section in the latest Edible Columbus.  There is a carrot for everyone’s taste. There is still time to order seeds or visit your favorite garden center to pick up a few varieties. Below are a few quick notes that will help you be a successful carrot grower.

  • Carrot seeds are usually directly sown into the garden; the taproot is easily damaged if transplanted.
  • Sow carrot seeds shallowly; consistent moisture is important for good germination.
  • Longer roots need deeper, friable soil; if you have clay or rocky soils, choose shorter carrots.
  • A potential pest is the rust fly maggot; plant at the very end of May or early July to avoid the first generation of egg-laying flies or use row covers to exclude the fly.

And, if carrots are not your ideal vegetable, here is another point-of-view from the incomparable Mae West:

I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.

 

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12Mar / 2015

Favorite Edibles: Tomatoes

Tomato cherry bites at reneesgarden.com
Kellogg’s Breakfast at tomatogrowers.com
Tomato blueberries at rareseeds.com
Purple Cherokee at tomatogrowers.com
Indigo apple at rareseeds.com

Let Them Eat Tomatoes!

By Debra Knapke

I’ve seen reports that we are losing selections of our heirloom vegetables, but I can’t imagine trying to sort through more tomato options than we have right now. With thoughts of downsizing and focusing on tomatoes we have grown and enjoyed, I choose seven cultivars of tasty tomatoes. I ordered seeds and sat back to wait for them to arrive.

Then I was on Ron Wilson’s Saturday morning radio show, and he just had to introduce me to several tomato cultivars and a new catalog. There are now 12 cultivars of tomatoes – six seeds for each – sitting in the greenhouse taking advantage of this sunny day. If they all germinate there will be 72 plants… who wants tomato plants?

Here is my list with some comments.

Cherry:

  • ‘Blue Berries’ from Wild Boar Farms – Brad Gates is offering this tomato that is packed with anthocyanins; can’t wait to try this purple cherry.
  • ‘Black Vernissage’ – a gift package from Baker Creek Heirlooms; another dark tomato from the Ukraine… we are going to be so healthy.
  • ‘Litt’l Bites’ – a determinate container cherry from Renee’s Garden that will please my granddaughters

 

Yellow:

  • ‘Gold Medal’ – an old standby for us; big and juicy, more sweet than tart.

 

Orange:

  • ‘Kellogg’s Breakfast’ – Ron insisted that this is one of the best tomatoes ever; not sure I will eat it for breakfast.
  • ‘Mandarin Cross’ – this is a hybrid that just said: try me.

 

Red:

  • ‘Moneymaker’ – Botanical Interests (and other seed companies) offers this red slicer tomato that is an old English heirloom. I like heirlooms…
  • ‘Crimson Carmello’ – I jumped across the Channel to try this French hybrid heirloom. Our tomato choices are quite international.
  • ‘Red Brandywine’ – one of our favorites; need I say more?

 

Black:

  • ‘Black Krim’ – another favorite that we plant year after year.
  • ‘Cherokee Purple’ – not planting this just might be grounds for divorce (just kidding; I think)
  • ‘Indigo Apple’ – another Wild Boar Farms introduction that beckoned from the pages of the Baker Creek catalog.

 

Last note: this isn’t our longest list of tomatoes. One year I started 16 kinds of tomatoes including a white cultivar and a green cultivar. Please observe that neither of those colors are represented in the above list.

 

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06Mar / 2015

Favorite Flora: Witchhazel

Diane witchhazel (Hamamelis xintermedia ‘Diane’ a hybrid of Hamamelis japonica and H. mollis)

By Debra Knapke

Depending on the weather, the hybrid witchhazels may be flowering right now.  This plant blooms in winter after a brief warming period which means they can bloom anytime from mid-January to March.  Watch for signs of swelling buds. And, make sure you go out and breathe in the spicy scent, once the flowers have fully opened.  A wonderful way to battle the winter blues!  If you can’t wait for the blooms in the garden, cut several branches and bring them inside to force blooms.

 

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12Nov / 2014

Favorite Flora: Chrysanthemums

An ancient flower wows modern gardeners

See what modern mums have to offer

20141025_115436 “If you would be happy for a lifetime, grow Chrysanthemums.” (A Chinese philosopher)

By Teresa Woodard

This Chinese philosopher certainly would smile if he saw how widespread these “mums” have become as the darling of today’s fall floral displays. In fact, I recently was one of thousands visiting the popular Chrysanthemum Festival at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa. Inside Longwood’s four-acre conservatory, more than 80,000 chrysanthemum blooms are nurtured and trained into inspiring forms, including shields, spirals, cascades, balls, and even a 10-foot tall yellow chandelier. IMG_1442The crown jewel of the display was the Thousand Bloom Mum—featuring more than 1,500 perfectly arranged flowers—the largest of its kind grown outside of Asia.

Gaining more respect for this mass-marketed fall favorite, I recently visited the National Chrysanthemum Society’s website to learn more about this plant’s rich history. Check out these fun facts:

  • First Mum — The chrysanthemum was first cultivated in China as a flowering herb and is described in writings as early as the 15th Century B.C.IMG_3981
  • Imperial Blossom — Around the 8th century A.D., the chrysanthemum appeared in Japan. So taken were the Japanese with this flower that they adopted a single flowered chrysanthemum as the crest and official seal of the Emperor. Japan also celebrate a National Chrysanthemum Day, called the Festival of Happiness.IMG_3987
  • Winning the West — The chrysanthemum was first introduced into the Western world during the 17th Century. In 1753 Karl Linnaeus, founder of modern taxonomy, combined the Greek words chrysos, meaning gold with anthemon, meaning flower. They belong to the Compositae, or daisy family.
  • New Colors, Forms — In more recent times, growers within several countries began to propagate chrysanthemums. Hybridizers in England, France, Japan, and the United States have developed a wide range of floral colors, shapes, and sizes. Today’s colors include pink, purple, red, yellow, bronze, orange, white and bi-color variations.IMG_3982
  • Keeping Track — To help with identification, the National Chrysanthemum Society developed a classification system with 13 classes ranging from the large “football” mums to spider-shaped blooms to the classic potted mums. Some of these chrysanthemum cultivars can be trained into different forms as showcased at annual displays at Longwood Gardens, New York Botanical Garden and Bellingrath Gardens near Mobile, Al.

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23Oct / 2014

Favorite Flora: Species Tulips

Tulipa linifolia
Tulips Growing Wild in Mountains of Central Asia

Wild for Species Tulips

By Teresa Woodard

Imagine an alpine meadow of dainty tulips in Kazakhstan or stout red tulips thriving on the rocky slopes of the Elburz Mountains in Iran.  After seeing this collection of images from Tulips in the Wild, I decided to give these tough little beauties a try.

Last fall, I planted clusters of 8 to 10 Tulipa linifolia and Tulipa clusiana ‘Tubergen’s Gem’  along edges of our meadow.  In April, they made a charming show with natural, wildflower-like blooms – much more fitting for the meadow setting than their larger, more showy hybridized cousins.

If you want to try planting some of these ‘wild’ or species tulip bulbs this fall, here are a few suggestions.  Plan to order a larger quantity than expected, since the bulbs are smaller and look more impressive when planted in mass.  Also, consider a location where these diminutive spring flowers will get noticed like a walkway, a mailbox garden or a border’s edge. The bulbs will grow best in a sunny location with good drainage, ideally a sloped area that is not irrigated. While deer are known to eat tulips just as they open, I was fortunate they didn’t find these blooms. However, be prepared to protect them with barrier plants or a deer repellent.IMG_6162

For bulb sources, check out Colorblends – 888-847-8637; Brett and Becky’s Bulbs — 877-661-2852; Van Engelen — 860-567-8734; and Bluestone Perennials — 800-852-5243.

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