Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Native Plants

Walk This Way…

A paved walkway to the front door is one of the most common features of suburban residential landscapes. And it’s important! It is a visitor’s first impression of your home and a major element of “curb appeal.” Landscape design professionals recommend planting your walkway to welcome visitors and visually direct them to the correct entrance while giving them something interesting and beautiful to see along the way.

A well-planted entry walk guides visitors to the front door.
The entry path to the Greenburgh Nature Center in spring.

But a paved walkway presents multiple challenges for landscaping. The process of paving, whether with stone, concrete, brick, or asphalt, often damages the adjacent soil, leaving it compacted, dry, and rocky with bits of concrete and masonry that can significantly alter soil pH and create poor planting conditions.

New construction of paved areas can leave depleted soil.

Paved surfaces are also warmer in summer and colder in winter than the surrounding soil. Pavement reflects summer heat onto adjacent areas and can hold that heat long after sunset. Frozen pavement, on the other hand, can be even colder than surrounding air and soil temperatures, and snow cleared from walkways often includes salt or ice-melting products damaging to plants. With these extremes, it can be challenging to find plants that will look good and survive year-round.

Understandably, many suburban homeowners opt for planting nothing at all along walkways.

The minimalist approach.

Others plant a row of annuals every summer only to watch them wither and die long before fall (New Guinea impatiens anyone?). Most annuals are tropical plants that evolved in the understory of rainforests. The harsh conditions along a paved entry path are a far cry from the rich, wet soil in the shady jungles of equatorial New Guinea!

So, what can you plant along an entry path that will survive tough conditions through summer and winter, and still come back strong in the spring?

Consider plants that evolved in regions with baking hot summers, freezing winters, poor hard packed soil, and weather that can alternate between drought and flood. America’s great prairies and dry meadows are the original habitats of a vast array of hardy native plants. With variations in annual rainfall, soil depth, tree cover, and elevation, an incredible variety of grasses, flowering plants, and hardy shrubs evolved in those challenging landscapes. These native plants are ideal for the conditions so often found on paths from sidewalks and driveways to front doors throughout suburban neighborhoods.

The bonus is that these plants also feed native bees and butterflies and need very little care. Many of them already have been featured in prior posts of this blog. Take a look at these plants as you consider re-designing your entry path, and follow the links below for more information and photos:

Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium) is a
cheerful sight lining a sunny path.
Field Pussy-toes (Antennaria neglecta or A. plantaginifolia) is a grey-green ground cover with
adorable cat-paw flowers.
Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepsis) is a small
ornamental grass with a soft look and a lovely scent.
Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) grows about 2 ½ feet tall,
has flowers that last for months, and smells wonderful.

Yet another prairie plant that looks great along a path is Prairie Smoke (Geum trilflorum). Its nodding pink flowers turn into puffs that give it another common name, Old Man’s Whiskers. The foliage stays fresh all summer and turns a lovely burgundy in the fall. It is not bothered by snow cover in the winter or hot dry summers.

Prairie Smoke in stages of spring bloom.

Another reliable low-growing groundcover that can fill in along a path mixed with shrubs and taller perennials is Barren Strawberry (Waldsteinia fragaroides). Blooming with bright yellow buttercup-type flowers for weeks from spring into summer, and semi-evergreen through the winter, it spreads slowly and is exceptionally hardy.

Barren Strawberry (Waldsteinia fragaroides) in March.

The most attractive pathway gardens include a variety of native perennials, grasses, and shrubs to create four seasons of interest.

A mixed border makes a path interesting.

There are a number of tough native shrubs that mix beautifully with perennials to create a real garden on the way to your front door:

Shrubby St. John’s Wort (Hypericum frondosum, or H. prolificum, or the pictured H. kalmianum)
are similar species, but different sizes, and all bloom with bright yellow pom-poms
adored by bumblebees.

Another great shrub for the entry path is Shrubby Cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa). Its flowers may be bright yellow or nearly white, its foliage a soft gray/green, and it blooms all summer long, much to the delight of native pollinators.

An entry path with Potentilla in full bloom.

So, there are many beautiful options for designing a durable planted path to welcome visitors (and nature!) to your front door. Think about pushing your lawn away from the path and giving a bit more space to a native garden that says: “walk this way!”

THIS BLOG IS WRITTEN BY CATHY LUDDEN, CONSERVATIONIST AND NATIVE PLANT EDUCATOR; AND BOARD MEMBER, GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER. FOLLOW CATHY ON INSTAGRAM FOR MORE PHOTOS AND GARDENING TIPS @CATHYLUDDEN.
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Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Native Plants

Blue Skies, Blue Eyes

Good morning, sunshine!

When the sun rises high enough to warm Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium), its violet-blue flowers open wide to soak up the rays. A passing rain shower or dark clouds, however, will cause this sun-worshipper to fold up tight and hide until the sun reappears. From early May through June, and occasionally even later, the flowers of Blue-eyed Grass welcome the sun like kids on spring break.

Blue-eyed Grass basking in the sunshine.
Flowers curled up tight waiting for the sun after a rain.

Despite its common name, Blue-eyed Grass is not a grass at all. It’s actually in the iris family. The leaves are blade-shaped, like miniaturized versions of the leaves of bearded iris. And the flowers emerge from slits in the sides of the leaves, as they do in other irises.

Flowers unfold from inside the leaves.

The plant is only 6 to 12 inches tall, and the flowers are less than an inch across with cheery yellow centers. The small flowers can create a big effect if they are grouped along a walkway or at the front of a garden. They are a great choice for rock gardens, and for lining the edge of a paved path where the soil tends to be thin, poor, and rocky. Blue-eyed grass actually prefers poor soil and will suffer in rich, organic soil. Regular moisture is ideal as long as the soil is well drained — so a path to the front door is the perfect spot!

Blue-eyed Grass along a front entry walk.

Blue-eyed Grass is native to most of Eastern North America, from Newfoundland to Minnesota and south to Texas and Florida. Its typical habitat is damp meadows or grassy riverside areas where there is moisture, but sandy or rocky soil that prevents water from settling around the growing crown or roots. Most growers advise against mulching around the plant’s crown to prevent rotting. As long as you avoid that, the plant is virtually care free.

Blue-eyed Grass continues looking good even after the bloom season ends. The grassy clumps blend well with other small perennials or ground covers and stay fresh through fall. Hardy in zones 3 to 9, the foliage is semi-evergreen except in the coldest zones, and it is does not seem to mind being buried by snow shoveled off of walkways.

The grass-like texture of Sisyrinchium looks great all year.

Blue-eyed Grass is increasingly popular with suburban gardeners, so it is fairly easy to find at nurseries. A cultivar called ‘Lucerne’ was developed in Switzerland by horticulturists working with the North American native plant. Its flowers are bit bigger and darker blue than the straight species (all of the photos above are of ‘Lucerne’). Blue-eyed Grass is not attractive to deer or other mammals, but it does attract pollinators, so it’s a great addition to pollinator gardens. And the seed pods are favored by cardinals, house finches, and other songbirds late in the season.

Individual plants of Blue-eyed Grass are not long-lived, but they do seed themselves near the mother plant, so colonies can continue indefinitely. If re-seeding is not desired, dead-heading the flowers after blooming will prevent that. In fact, the whole plant can be sheared in mid summer to keep it tidy after blooming. Blue-eyed Grass grows from a small rhizome, but will also spread itself by sending out off-sets from the roots of the parent plant. If older plants seem to bloom less than before, they can be divided by digging up the plant and carefully teasing apart the roots to create new plants as well as refreshing the old one.

Though Blue-eyed Grass can be grown fairly easily from seed, it will take a few years to bloom. Container specimens can be planted in spring or early fall to give the roots time to develop. Gallon-sized or larger container plants will put on a good show their first season.

Sisyrinchium angustifolium straight species in the Meadow at the Greenburgh Nature Center.
Photo: Travis Brady

It’s a bit surprising that we don’t see this wonderful native plant more often in suburban yards. Instead of planting annuals that must be replaced every year, why not choose this native perennial for your front walk or along the edge of your patio?

If you do, blue skies will have Blue-eyed Grass shining for you!

THIS BLOG IS WRITTEN BY CATHY LUDDEN, CONSERVATIONIST AND NATIVE PLANT EDUCATOR; AND BOARD MEMBER, GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER. FOLLOW CATHY ON INSTAGRAM FOR MORE PHOTOS AND GARDENING TIPS @CATHYLUDDEN.
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Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Native Plants

Spring Awakening

Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, insects are buzzing, and all around us nature is waking up to spring.

And miracles are happening: complex and ancient relationships between plants and animals begin again each spring. You can watch them in your own backyard – if you have the right plants!

In the forests of the Eastern US, there is a short window of opportunity when daytime temperatures are above freezing but the trees are still bare, allowing sunlight to warm the forest floor. Plants called “spring ephemerals” take advantage of that special moment, living out their brief visible lives in sunshine before fading back underground in shady summer.

Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) is a spring ephemeral.
Rue Anemone (Anemonella thalictroides) blooms in early April, but will fade away in summer.

Spring ephemerals accomplish their entire active life cycle in a matter of 2 to 3 months. They must break through the soil, produce flowers, be pollinated, and set and disperse seed. Then, before sunlight is blocked by the tree canopy, they must photosynthesize enough nutrients to keep their underground roots or rhizomes alive through the next winter. Once they have done all of that, their leaves fade away in summer, and they rest again under soil and leaf litter until spring. “Ephemeral” means short-lived, but many of these plants actually live for years, spending most of that time underground.

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is a spring ephemeral.
Photo: Sandy Thompson

It’s a challenging life-style: there are late snowfalls and night-time freezes to withstand; pollinators are scarce in early spring; and there aren’t many birds available to disperse seeds. Most butterflies emerge much later, and birds are looking for insects for their babies in spring rather than seeds. So, spring ephemerals have co-evolved with specialized relationships to survive.

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica or caroliniana)
Photo: Sandy Thompson

Consider the life cycle of Claytonia, commonly called “Spring Beauty,” a native wildflower as lovely as the name suggests. It blooms just at the same time that its pollinator begins searching for it. The specialized pollinator is a native bee, appropriately called the Spring Beauty Mining Bee (Andrena erigeniae), that overwinters in individual ground nests, usually under fallen leaves. Male and female bees emerge in very early spring. They mate and the males soon die off while the females begin excavating new nests in the ground (hence, the name “mining bee”). The females hunt for the pink pollen of Spring Beauty, the only pollen they can use, which they form into balls and place in the nest in individual brood chambers. The bee then lays a single egg in each chamber. The larvae hatch, feed on the pollen, develop into adults, and overwinter underground. The next spring, it all begins again.

Andrena erigeniae collects pink pollen from Claytonia.
Photo: Judy Gallagher, Lopez-Uribe Lab

After pollination, Spring Beauty flowers produce seeds, each with an attached fatty mass called an elaiosome. The elaiosomes are particularly attractive to ants, who carry the seeds with the attached elaisomes back to their nests. The ant colony feeds on the elaiosomes and discards the seeds, effectively planting them nearby. This process of seed dispersal by ants is called “myrmecochory” and is common with spring ephemerals and other early-blooming native flowers. (See our earlier blog posts on Wild Ginger and Jeffersonia.)

An ant carrying a Trillium seed with attached elaiosome (greatly enlarged photo!!)
Photo: Mike Dunn from “Roads End Naturalist” blog

So, with the help of its special insect friends, Spring Beauty is pollinated and its seeds are planted for the next year. In summer, its leaves will fade and the plant will disappear underground. But when the snow melts in spring, the plant will wake up again, eventually forming beautiful patches of candy-striped flowers on the forest floor – or, in a suburban shade garden!

Dicentra cucullaria, or “Dutchman’s Breeches”.
Photo: Sandy Thompson

Another spring ephemeral with a special insect friend is called “Dutchman’s Breeches” because its white flowers look like old-style Dutch pantaloons. The flowers hold sweet nectar high up in the pointed flower tops where it can be reached only by long-tongued bees strong enough to force their way in and then escape through the tight opening. Queen bumblebees are perfect for the job. While worker bumblebees die off in the fall, queens over-winter as adults on the ground under leaf litter, and emerge just as Dutchman’s Breeches are flowering. They must find nectar to nourish themselves as they begin laying their eggs. There are not many flowers with nectar in early spring — even most spring ephemerals do not hold nectar — so Dicentra cucullaria is an important resource for queen bumblebees. In exchange for the nectar, the strong fuzzy body of the queen bumblebee carries pollen from flower to flower enabling the plant to produce seed.

Dutchmans’ Breeches flowers require a strong bee to pollinate them.
Photo: Sandy Thompson

Still another spring ephemeral with a specialized relationship is Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum).

A colony of Mayapple in April.

Mayapple flowers turn into fleshy “apple” fruits, about the size of a walnut. The fruit is prized by Eastern box turtles, and provides essential nourishment just as turtles come out of winter hibernation. In exchange, the turtles carry the seeds considerable distances, distributing them in their droppings to form new plant colonies. A recent study showed that Mayapple seeds that have passed through the digestive system of a box turtle have a higher germination rate than seeds distributed by other means! Mayapple can be found in wetland areas, woods, and in meadows where box turtles live, but it also makes a pretty spring show in a shady garden. It spreads somewhat aggressively by rhizomes, so it is a better choice for woodland areas than small gardens.

Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) and Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) are spring ephemerals that make great garden plants.

Trilliums are joyful spring ephemerals.

Native spring ephemerals evolved in Eastern forests, so they all do well in rich, slightly acidic soil enriched by fallen leaves that are allowed to decompose naturally. They are hardy in their native ranges, most of them from Canada south to Georgia and the Carolinas and west to the Mississippi River. They will disappear by late June or July, so plant them with other shade perennials that come up later: blue lobelia, wild ginger, maidenhair ferns, white wood asters, and goatsbeard are good choices, but so are many other native woodland plants. And allowing fall leaves to remain on the ground at least until mid-summer benefits not only the plants, but also their specialized insect and animal partners.

All of these plants offer critical food for early pollinators, but many spring ephemerals are disappearing in the wild as our forests are cleared, over-browsed by deer, and degraded with invasive species. Growing them in residential gardens is an act of ecological restoration — and a gift to our future.

Mayapple, Trout Lily, and Trillium live together in a shady garden.

If you have mature trees, planting an array of spring ephemerals as a native understory is so much better than a mono-culture of non-native groundcovers (like pachysandra, ivy, vinca, liriope) or a layer of dead bark mulch. The specialized relationships these plants have with insects and other animals are fascinating and beautiful to observe. All of the plants discussed here are easy to incorporate into home gardens, and are available commercially and at native plant sales.

So, when spring is awakening in your yard, give these American beauties – and their special friends – a place to thrive.

THIS BLOG IS WRITTEN BY CATHY LUDDEN, CONSERVATIONIST AND NATIVE PLANT EDUCATOR; AND BOARD MEMBER, GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER. FOLLOW CATHY ON INSTAGRAM FOR MORE PHOTOS AND GARDENING TIPS @CATHYLUDDEN.
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Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Native Plants

A Woodland Wonder

Ooh, look! The Jeffersonia is blooming! Spring really is here.

Jeffersonia blooms in early April.

The bright white flowers of Jeffersonia diphylla (also called “Twinleaf”) may only last a few days, but this fascinating native wildflower is a woodland wonder all summer long.

When it emerges in early spring, the tender foliage is purple, protected from ultra-violet light coming through still-bare trees by a natural sunscreen called anthocyanin pigment, which fades as the leaves get stronger and turn green. Next, slender flower stems push through the ground, reaching 6 to 8 inches high, each with a single bud.

A natural chemical coloration protects the young leaves.
Flower buds appear on individual stalks.

As the leaves fully open, they reveal the unique butterfly-wing shape that gives the plant its common name, Twinleaf.

The word diphylla means “two leaves”.

The flowers are about an inch across with 8 petals and stamens loaded with pollen. The protein-rich pollen provides nutrition to early pollinators, mostly native bees, at a time when pollen is otherwise scarce.

The flowers are an important source of pollen in early spring.

If bad weather makes insects scarce, Jeffersonia is able to self-pollinate because the stamens grow tightly around the pistils. When pollination is successful, the flower becomes a small capsule fruit.

Seed capsule in late April.
Capsules maturing in June.

The seed capsules of Jeffersonia are amazing! They look like little tea pots with lids. By mid-summer, when the seed capsules have ripened and turned yellow, the “lids” crack open revealing large, cinnamon-colored seeds inside. If you are feeling playful, you can squeeze a pod just below the lid, and the capsule will open like a little mouth and spit out the seeds. Try it — it never gets old! Left to its own devices, the stem below the pod will begin to bend until the teapot tips over and spills out the seeds.

Ripe seed pod in mid-summer.
Photo: Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences
Ripe seeds ready to disperse.
Photo: Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences

The seeds are carried off by ants attracted to elaiosomes, rich fatty appendages attached to the seeds. The ants feed their colonies on the eliaosomes, but do no harm to the seeds themselves. The activity of the ants helps spread the seeds to the surrounding area. Over time, colonies of Jeffersonia will be established if conditions are right.

An established colony of Jeffersonia in a suburban backyard.

Though many early spring blooming wildflowers are considered “ephemerals,” meaning they disappear in summer, Jeffersonia remains an attractive presence in the woodland garden all season long. The mature leaves are 4 to 5 inches across, and remain fresh well into fall. The plant looks at home and will thrive under shade trees in rich loamy soil with average moisture.

A lovely shade garden plant all summer.

Jeffersonia is a great companion for ferns and shade-loving perennials like wild ginger, Jacob’s ladder, columbine, goatsbeard, and coral bells. Deer will eat the foliage, and though that may not kill the plant, it will prevent the following year’s flowers. So, the ideal spot for Jeffersonia is a fenced area with mature shade trees and a rich understory where fall leaves are allowed to remain and decompose naturally.

Jeffersonia’s native range is broad — from southern Canada to Tennessee and west to the Mississippi River. But much of that native habitat has been destroyed by farming, logging, and development, so it is difficult to find Jeffersonia in the wild today. Planting it in our backyards is a way to reclaim a bit of America’s past and restore nature. You can find Jeffersonia for sale at native plant sales, nurseries that carry native plants, and on-line in bare-root form from native plant vendors.

Jeffersonia (on the lower left) in a shady garden full of native
plants.

And yes, as you may have guessed, Jeffersonia diphylla was named for our founding father (and esteemed naturalist), Thomas Jefferson. Two early American botanists, William Bartram and Benjamin Barton studied the plant and concluded that it had been misclassified previously and rightfully belonged to its own genus. Barton was a member of the American Philosophical Society founded by Benjamin Franklin, and at a meeting of the Society in 1792, he presented his evidence and suggested that the new genus be named for his friend and fellow Society member, Thomas Jefferson. Interestingly, since then, the only other species yet discovered in the same genus is a plant native to Korea, Eastern China, and Siberia: Jeffersonia dubia. So that Asian plant today carries the name of an early American president!

If you have a shady area in your yard, consider including a bit of American natural history by adding this fascinating woodland wonder, Jeffersonia diphylla.

THIS BLOG IS WRITTEN BY CATHY LUDDEN, CONSERVATIONIST AND NATIVE PLANT EDUCATOR; AND BOARD MEMBER, GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER. FOLLOW CATHY ON INSTAGRAM FOR MORE PHOTOS AND GARDENING TIPS @CATHYLUDDEN.
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Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Native Plants

Ready, Set, Shop!

Are you thinking about what to plant in your garden this year? Nurseries are already displaying their new stock, and native plant sales are popping up everywhere. It’s time to make your shopping list for spring planting. And we can help!

Over the past few seasons, “Around the Grounds” has recommended some great native perennials that will bring life to your garden. Here are some of our favorite flowering plants — with links to blog posts containing photos and tons of information about each of them:

For Sunny Gardens

Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) – late bloomer, hot colors

Goldenrod (Solidago spp.) – fall bloomer, essential for pollinators

Milkweed (Asclepius spp.) – long bloom time, critical for Monarchs

Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea or aptera) – blooms early and long

Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis) – long-lived, shrub-like spring bloomer

Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum spp.) – fragrant long bloomer

Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium spp.) – tall butterfly magnet

Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) – long-blooming butterfly favorite

White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra) – late blooming bumblebee favorite

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) – red spikes for hummingbirds

Coral Bells (Heuchera villosa ‘Autumn Bride’) – deer-resistant hosta substitute

Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana) – shrub-like, blooms early

For Shady Gardens

Native Bleeding Heart (Dicentra eximia) – long bloomer, hardy

Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus) – large, showy white flowers

Pink Turtlehead (Chelone lyonii) – shrub-like with pink flowers

Wild ginger (Asarum canadensis) – low ground cover, hidden flowers

Golden groundsel (Packera aurea) – shade/sun flowering groundcover

Creeping Sedge (Carex laxiculmus) – clumping grass that stays blue all winter

Violets (Viola sororia) – early flowering groundcover

All of these plants evolved in our region, are well-adapted to our soil and weather, and support native insect and bird populations. Many are deer-resistant and drought-tolerant. You can learn more about their favorite garden conditions in the linked blog posts.

We’ve also recommended ferns, grasses, shrubs, and trees, so browse older posts by clicking on the “Around the Grounds Collection” button below.

Happy spring shopping! And if you live in the Greenburg, NY area, mark your calendar for our spring plant sale on May 13 where many of these plants will be available.

THIS BLOG IS AUTHORED WEEKLY BY CATHY LUDDEN, CONSERVATIONIST AND NATIVE PLANT EDUCATOR; AND BOARD MEMBER, GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER. FOLLOW CATHY ON INSTAGRAM FOR MORE PHOTOS AND GARDENING TIPS @CATHYLUDDEN.
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