Monday, April 22, 2013

Happy Earth Day

I don't really celebrate Earth Day by doing anything special. In my mind I think I celebrate the earth every day that I'm able to walk around and enjoy the outdoors. As a compulsive gardener though I can say one again I've splurged or didn't know when to stop and gone ahead and bought $800 worth of plants from almost a dozen nurseries that sell native plants.

Sourwood, Oxydendrum arboreum, is probably going to end up being the prettiest tree I'll have planted. They produce bell shaped flowers that aren't entirely showy but they're arranged like exploding fireworks scattered throughout the tree. In the autumn time these seed pods occur in the same locations and the red foliate makes them pop out even more.

American Linden (aka Basswood), Tilia americana, also has red foliage in the fall time, which is pretty but they lack the seed pods of the Sourwood. Their flowers are slightly noticeable as a pale yellow or blond color. Bees really love them.

Black Tupelo (aka Black Gum), Nyssa sylvatica, is another red leaf tree in the Autumn. The flowers aren't showy in that they're green balls of blooms, but bees absolutely love them and they go on to produce tiny blue berries that birds love.

Clove Currant, turns into a shrub up to 10' tall and around.

Helianthus salicifolius 'First Light' is a more floriferous cultivar to the true species. Online images show them absolutely covered in flowers.

Helianthus microcephalus, is a small headed sunflower. Yesterday when I planted it, it was green and growing up a storm, but it seems a squirrel decided to eat off the stems, Bastards. I do wish to eventually find some plant that would kill the squirrels someday as they do stand in the way of a lot of my gardening exploits. 


Liatris mucronata, which produce a sort of thick and tuffy looking stem with flowers in the late summer and autumn months.

Liatris microcephala, which seem to make really tiny corms or at least send up dozens of stems out of one big one. These grow out very tight and grassy looking until they flower in the late summer and autumn months.