Wildflower Wednesday: Heartleaved Asters and Perennial Ageratum

From In the Garden

This month I will spotlight two native wildflowers that grow in my garden. I am including them both because they grow next to one another and because they are both blooming now! The two are heart leaved aster, aka woodland aster, (Symphyotrichum cordifolium aka Aster cordifolius) and the other is perennial ageratum (Conoclinium (Eupatorium) coelestinum). Both of these plants are in the aster family so it makes sense they bloom at the same time-late summer to fall.

From In the Garden

I grow these two in part shade in a moist area of my greenhouse garden. This garden is transitioning to a woodland/native garden due to the limited sun it receives. So far it has been an easy transition but once I am finished with some major rehabbing we shall see how it all works out.

I planted both of these natives last fall. So far this year they've not received any supplemental watering, though they did wilt quite a bit; especially the ageratum. I have been most happy with the ageratum but not as pleased with the woodland aster. The woodland aster flops much more than I'd like it to but perhaps it is more of a groundcover than an upright perennial or perhaps it is not getting enough sun. I'm not sure but as long as it blooms it is a keeper in my garden. I like these plants so I intend to spread them around a bit more.

There are many more great natives blooming or getting ready to bloom soon but my garden is kind of in between blooming periods. We have the detritus of the summer garden (daylilies, coneflowers, brown eyes, etc) and the lush foliage of blooms yet to come (pineapple sage, anemones, asters, and mums) so I am happy to have these two native wildflowers blooming as a bridge between peak periods here at Tiger Gardens.

See Gail for more Wildflower Wednesday posts....

in the garden....

Skeeter is out of the net for a while and will be back as soon as she is able.


Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

Updates

By Skeeter

I enjoy all the comments from you with each topic I talk about from my Georgia Garden. At times you ask for me to keep you posted on progress with certain topics. I am also curious of how things work out on certain topics in your posts as well. Although I have not been a good reader of Blogs lately because with so much going on in my life these days, I just don't have the time. I promise I will get caught up on blogging some day soon. The heat of summer is setting in and after this current trip to VA, I don't plan on going anywhere for at least a month. Maybe I can get caught up then! So now I would like to update you on some of my past blogs.

Of course the most recent talked about topic was the bluebirds making nests in the gourd we grew! (Click Here to see that topic if you missed it.) That was an awesome experience for me and how surprised I was to peek into the hole before taking the gourd down for cleaning to find the babies still inside the gourd! The Saint and I had thought they had fledged a few days ago as he said he saw a chickadee on the gourd. Well, not so as the babies are still inside on this day of typing which is Wednesday July 1. By the time this goes to posting, I am sure they will be out of the gourd and starting the next chapter in their life.

Last year, I talked about a Rescue we tried on a dogwood tree. The deer decided to make a meal of the tree and we could not let the tree die such a death. So we built a fence around the remaining dogwood. Click Here to see that topic if you missed it.
Update: The little dogwood tree did not make a come back in this spot. Too much sandy soil and not enough rain from the skies above. The fence kept the deer from eating it but the tree was not happy in this spot. So the Saint took it out and put it into a pot for us to baby it for a while. Just look at that sad little tree. Here is the dogwood tree now! Making a slow comeback on the west side of the house under our watchful eye and lots of watering. We will find a spot for it this fall and hopefully the rains will start to fall again by then.
The Saint had something in mind for this spot but once digging a bit, he found rotting roots from a tree we took out a few years ago. This may be the culprit of the dogwood and not just the sand as the roots breaking down were leaving pockets of air for no water to penetrate. So after a bit of digging, he decided to fill the hole back up with dirt and let it go back to grass in time. Look beyond this spot and see what he did plant for me...

A few feet back from that dogwood spot of sandy soil, he found clay dirt! That is how it goes in this yard. One area is sandy and the next area can be clay.But we don't let clay get the best of us. We added bags of dirt to the hole to make a nice new home for my surprise. And the surprise is a Redbud tree! We do not see many Redbuds in our area but enjoyed seeing them with our spring travels in Tennessee and Virginia this year! We enjoyed them so much that the Saint brought one home to me on my birthday! I was not expecting this so it was a wonderful surprise for me. Thank you my wonderful Saint!

Here is the Redbud a few months later with some leaves on her!

I don't know much about Redbuds but I am finding the shape of the leaves really neat!

A nice little heart shape saying "get to know me and love me" which I will do as time continues forward...
I talked about how the Saint and I were Foster Parents to a turtle for a bit. Miss Tuttle has a wonderful new home and we still have the hibiscus plant we bought for her. Click Here to read about that topic if you missed it.

Update: The plant never made it into the ground this spring as planned. It continues to bloom on the front porch but I refuse to bring the plant back inside this winter. A closed door to cats does not make for a happy household. Does anyone want this plant? Come on down to GA and you can have it because I am going to leave it to nature this winter. Remember me talking about the squirrels destroying the Saints Crabapple tree this spring? Click Here to read about that topic if you missed it.

Update: The stovepipe on the tree trunk seems to be working. The tree is growing and the bark is healing. Some of you were concerned about heat building up in the pipe therefore doing more harm. But so far, no damage from the pipe and keeping the squirrels at bay as well. We even have a few crabapples on the tree!
I showed you the suet pole once we completed this project by topping the pole with a "See Rock City" Barn birdhouse. Click Here to see that topic if you missed it.
Update: Even though we put the birdhouse on the pole as decoration, a bluebird built a nest in one of the holes! We had to stop putting suet cakes on the poles as he was fighting with all the birds that came to have a bite of suet. Here he is perched on top of the house keeping guard. The bluebird did not lay eggs in the house and we now have the suet back in place on the pole and all is happy. We plan to take the house off the pole and put screen on the holes to keep birds out of the house. We have birdhouses scattered all over the place and they do not need this one with those available. We like our wildlife to live in harmony and not fight with each other.
I recently showed you how we trimmed the butterfly bushes in the island. Click Here to see that topic if you missed it.

Update: The butterfly bush that we dug out and replanted after filling the hole with soil is now blooming. So it survived being taken out of the ground this spring! I was worried about this bush but no need to worry any more. It is not as tall as the other bushes but blooming and calling in the butterflies. Yippee, I did not loose one of my beloved butterfly bushes!

I asked advice from you all on the Saints Bald Cypress tree. Remember that blog about the twisted branch? Click Here to see that topic if you missed it.
Update: In the first picture of the cypress, I circled the twisted branch. As you can see the Saint decided to let nature take its course so he did not prune the branch. I hope he does not regret this in the future. The tree is doing well and really did enjoy the spring rains. Gee, wish we had some more rain as we are not getting it these days. Sigh, I know that feeling well... No drought this year, no drought this year.... Fingers crossed on this one...

Remember last year how I talked about one of my favorite Crepe Myrtle tree's getting damaged in the bad storm? Click Here to see that topic if you missed it.

Update: We pruned the poor damaged tree down to not much of a tree. We watched a local garden program on PBS that talked of Crepe Myrtles. The suggestion was to prune all but the main trunk's from the ground. So we did. It looked pretty bad don't you think? I was saddened for the once huge tree.

Here she is now almost a year later and looking mighty good! I am waiting for that gully washing rainfall as it never fails to get us once Miss Myrtle is in full bloom! (Do not enlarge this picture or you will see the suckers I have yet to snip. lol)
I showed you my solution for keeping the birds from building nest in the hanging plants this spring. I put the artificial nest and plastic egg in the nest of each hanging plant. Click Here to read that topic if you missed it.
Update: This solution has worked 100% for me! Not one bird has tried to build a nest once I placed the faux nest and egg in the plants! I should market this idea as many people complain about the birds in their hanging plants!
Ah, how could anyone forget the topic of the Saint and I scooping up some Natural Fertilizer? Silver (the white horse) and Georgia (the brown horse) were the providers of the wonderful fertilizer. I had reported that Silver had Crossed over the Rainbow Bridge to be with so many of our pets that once roamed this earth. It was a sad day for Georgia horsey as she really missed her sister horse Silver, as did we...
Update: Georgia's human mommy did not like seeing Georgia depressed about losing Silver. So now Georgia has a new brother. Meet Harley a beautiful horse which will be a new asset to fertilize our gardens this fall! He has such a wonderful personality. He gives kisses too!

I hope I could remember all the UPDATES, In the Garden...

Who will come to get that hibiscus? It awaits your arrival...

Note: I will pop in here when I get a chance. We are visiting Family this weekend!

Making Do

Most gardeners find ways to make do with what they have on hand.
Below are some pictures of this.

This is tucked in the opening of the azalea {caused by death of azalea}

This is the view from the back. There is a mum in the one to the right and a petunia in the front one


This is a close up of another arrangement. Can you see the height that is provided? This is a petunia and an lpomoea batatas "Margarita". {Sweet Potato Vine}
These pots are hanging from "stands" I've had and used for the past 15 years.

Yes, these "stands" {as I call them} are from arrangements for the sad occasion of a funeral.

I just couldn't throw them in the trash. Thinking cap on here. lol

I thought how nice they would help add height in the garden.

The hook that holds the arrangement on the stand makes a perfect hook for a hanging basket.

So I use these {I have several} when I need height.........

In the Garden


Lola

Everyone have a wonderful Memorial Day today!

Hanging plants free from the birds

The Finches and Wrens await for me to put out 4 hanging plants each spring on my Georgia porch. You can see why they like the hanging plants in the picture above. These little baby finches called home to one of my Wandering Jew Plants one spring. I enjoy being surrounded by birds and provide them many nesting spots but they insist on getting into the hanging plants each year.

Each spring as I hang the plants, I get the rubber snakes out of hiding as well as the artificial owl. I position a snake on each chain that holds the plant as if they are crawling down into the plant. Look closely and you can see a snake in the above picture. I move the owl around each day as if he is real. Well, don't waste your money on a $10 owl as the birds find it a perfect spot to perch while scouting out the perfect plant to call home. Yep, a cute little wren was perched right on top of the owls ear while fussing up at the snake then jumped right into this years Spider plant knowing the snake was not real!

I would not mind the birds nesting in the plants but fear I will harm the eggs or babies when watering the plant from below. I would have to drag out the step ladder every time I need to water the plants and that is a pain in the rump during the hot steamy months of summer here in the Deep South.

Always trying to outwit the wildlife around me, I came up with a new plan this year. With the assistance of the dead leaves on the Japanese Maple tree above....

I pulled some of the leaves from the tree and formed them into a ball. These leaves work great as they are soft and you can easily shape them.

I then put a tiny artificial egg into the mock nest.

And then placed one nest in each of the hanging plants on the front porch. So far, this has worked really well but I know my birds are smart and may figure this out. The Saint joked and said now a Cowbird will deposit more eggs in the nest. I said a Crow will probably choke on one of the fake eggs. Gee, the things we must do to keep one step ahead of the wildlife around us.

If this works, it's a cheap and easy solution to keep HANGING PLANT'S FREE FROM THE BIRDS, In the Garden...