I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown, I'm barely sleeping, I'm losing weight, my family is concerned, I haven't showered in I don't know how long, and I smell... like really really bad, like REALLY bad. All these things together can only add up to one thing... SPRING IS HERE!!! Yes, now that the danger of last frost is only a few weeks away I am confronted with with the full horrific reality of what I have done.
S O O O... M A N Y... S E E D S... Oh god. So many. How did this happen?!! What was I thinking?!! Is there an army of secret garden gnomes that I've enslaved under mind control somewhere and forgot about? Yes that must be it. Secret slave garden gnomes. Now if I can just remember where I left them... under my bed maybe?... hmmmmmm...
While I consider the alternate realities in which secret slave garden gnomes might actually be a thing, I also have to continually remind myself why it is that I do what I do. When it comes down to it some of the most significant and stunning interactions I've witnessed and observations I've made have all happened while gardening. They vary from the weirdly violent to sublimely beautiful. This includes (while I'm ashamed to admit it) accidentally running over a brood of (fairly large) baby snakes with a lawn mower (luckily there were only a few causalities and yes I wanted to cry when it happened), who's remains were quickly dragged away (still wriggling mind you) by a pack of big hungry wolf spiders. This is in very stark contrast to the first time I saw a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth, aka Hemaris thysbe zipping around one of my little stands of Ballon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus) and realized exactly what I was looking at (granted the video below isn't the same species, but it does a great job at illustrating the evolutionary elegance of this group of insects that starkly contrasts to what we think of when we hear the word "moth")
Working outside in the garden is the one thing that makes me feel like I have some sort of (while perhaps superficial and tenuous) connection to the place where I grew up. More importantly it drives home that point that however careful, or seemingly insignificant our impacts, whenever we modify the places we live to suit some need, or idealized aesthetic we affect the interactions that would normally occur. While I feel the default for most contemporary landscapes is to reduce, simplify, and often totally eliminate these relationships, it should be our ultimate goal as gardeners and designers to encourage, create, and diversify these exchanges, embedding richness in and around our lives and the lives of the organisms we (sometimes reluctantly) co-exist with. I can only hope that sum total of my own impacts will be a net positive in the long run.
And in an attempt to move in the "net positive" direction I thought I'd highlight a few underutilized natives that are also great pollinator magnets. Sooo without further adieu I give you the plants:
I've fallen in love with this aster over the past few years. It's easy going nature, clay tolerance, pale blue flowers, and critter resistance make it a winner as far as I'm concerned. Definitely underutilized (assuming I've ID the species correctly).
Symphyotrichum (formerly Aster) prenanthoides - Zigzag or Crooked-Stemmed Aster
Zone: 3-8
Purchase from: American Meadows, Prairie Moon Nursery, Prairie Nursery, Roundstone Native Seed Company, Shooting Star Nursery, Toadshade Wildflower Farm
An unassuming plant on its own, but viewed in mass in the wild it can be rather stunning. Spring ephemeral. The only member of this genus growing in the northeast. Check it out.
Cammassia scilloides - Wild Hyacinth
Zone: 4-8
Purchase from: Enchanter's Garden, Everwilde Farms, Prairie Moon Nursery, Sunshine Farm and Gardens
Another great naturalizer! Spring ephemeral. Take a look.
Delphinium tricorne - Dwarf Larkspur or Spring Larkspur
Zone: 3/4-8, no source out there seems to be consistent on this. Best guess
Purchase from: American Meadows, Enchanter's Garden, Lazy S'S
Farm Nursery, Prairie Moon Nursery, Sunshine Farm and Gardens
RIGHT, LEFT
Helianthus angustifolius 'Mellow Yellow'/Helianthus giganteus 'Sheila's Sunshine'
Anyone who knows me well, knows I'm not a big fan of yellow. Yes, I know its trivial and superficial, but I kind of feel like it's the neon flashing sign of the floral world, the color most plants default to when evolution got lazy and was like "eeeh, good 'nough." But, given that I don't feel a list of great pollinator plants would be complete with out at least a few sunflowers, I've come across these cultivars of 2 of our native species a few years back that have beautiful pastel yellow flowers. Less a "slap you in the face yellow" and more of a "fuzzy baby chick you want to pick up and cuddle yellow".... think I might have to use that the next time I'm in the paint section at the hardware store, just to see what kind of reaction I get from whatever poor soul got stuck working that day.
H. angustifolius 'Mellow Yellow' - Mellow Yellow, Swamp Sunflower or Narrow-Leaved Sunflower
Zone: 6-9
Purchase from: Niche Gardens
*Theres an additional soft yellow cultivar of H. anustifolius called 'Matanzas Creek'
H. giganteus 'Sheila's Sunshine' - Sheila's Sunshine, Giant Sunflower or Tall Sunflower
Zone: (5)6 to 9
Purchase from: Digging Dog Nursery, Niche Gardens, Quackin Grass Nursery
This is one of my few exceptions to my "yellow rule." Grew up with it around the ole homestead and distinctly remember the hoards of bumblebees that always seemed to accompany the flowers every summer. A more than slightly aggressive spreader, roamer, and romper. So consider yourself warned. Most, if not all of the material available is a cultivar called 'Fireworks' or as it was originally known 'Fyrverkeri.'
Oenothera fruticosa - Sundrops
Zone: 4-8
Purchase from: Almost Eden, Digging Dog Nursery, Dutch Gardens, Lazy S'S
Farm Nursery, Midwest Groundcovers, North Creek Nursery, Plant Delights Nursery, Plant World Seeds
RIGHT, LEFT
Pycnanthemum incanum/P. muticum
Variations on the same theme, P. incanum (right) can take more sun and driers soils, while P. muticum (left) can take more shade and slightly wetter soils. All of the species in this genus are great nectar plants.
Pycnanthemum incanum - Hoary Mountain Mint
Zone: 5-8
Purchase from: Plant Delights Nursery, Niche Gardens, Toadshade Wildflower Farm
Pycnanthemum muticum - Short Toothed Mountain Mint
Zone: 4-8
Purchase from: Almost Eden, Avant Gardens, Lazy S'S
Farm Nursery, Niche Gardens, North Creek Nurseries, Shooting Star Nursery, Van Berkum Nursery, Yellow Springs Farm
RIGHT, LEFT
Salvia azurea/S. reptans
2 similar species, with S. reptans being slightly more delicate and airy, having darker blue/violet flowers, and also being less hardy than S. azurea.
Salvia azurea - Pitcher Sage, Blue Sage, Azure Sage
Zone: (4)5-9
Purchase from: Nearly Native Nursery, Accents for Home and Garden, Everwilde Farms, Gardens in the Wood of Grassy Creek, Prairie Nursery, Prairie Moon Nursery, Odyssey Perennials, Shooting Star Nursery, Smart Seeds
*S. azurea 'Nekan' and S. 'Grandiflora' are superior selections of the species.
Salvia reptans aka S. leptophylla - Cobalt Sage or Slenderleaf Sage
Zone: (5)6-9, again sources not consistent with this one
Purchase from: High Country Gardens, Lazy S'S
Farm Nursery, Odyssey Perennials
S. reptans 'West Texas Form' is superior to the species.
Okay, so one more exception to my yellow rule. Lustrous, deep green foliage, very non-typical for a goldenrod. Clumper, but will re-seed. There's a native stand of these guys growing very contentedly in almost pure clay back home.
Solidago speciosa - Showy Goldenrod
Zone: 3-8, again sources not consistent, best guess
Purchase from: Amanda's Garden, Everwilde Farms, Ion Exchange, Morning Sky Greenery, Prairie Nursery, Prairie Moon Nursery, Shooting Star Nursery
This picture does not do this plant justice. Take a look.
Sanguisorba canadensis - American or Canadian Burnet
Zone: 3-7
Purchase from: Enchanter's Garden, Prairie Moon Nursery, Shooting Star Nursery, Van Berkum Nursery
IMAGE SOURCES: creepy garden gnomes, Symphyotrichum (formerly Aster) prenanthoides, Camassia scilloides, Delphinium tricorne, Helianthus angustifolius 'Mellow Yellow', Helianthus giganteus 'Sheila's Sunshine', Oenothera fruticosa, Pycnanthemum incanum, Pycnanthemum muticum, Salvia azurea, Salvia reptans aka S. leptophylla, Sanguisorba canadensis
*Ten million life bonus points if you get the Whitney Houston reference. RIP.
