Wildflower Wednesday: Spiderwort

For this month's Wildflower Wednesday post, I am sharing a humble and lovely plant -- Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana). I first came across this flower 15 years ago at a neighborhood yard sale, where they had self-sown all along the driveway. The neighbor was selling plants from her garden for a few bucks each so I asked for a piece of this plant and brought it home to plant along a newly laid-out garden bed in fairly dry, part-shade.


Since this it has reliably returned and self-seeded along the path here-and-there, but is not aggressive and never need any care. I mean literally ZERO care. I never cut it back, water it, fertilize it, weed it nada, nothing. It has no serious insect or disease problems plus a long blooming period. Occasionally, a stem falls over into the pathway. I simple step on it and keep going -- it is that resilient.

If you are looking for a native wildflower to plant that is truly no-maintenance, Spiderwort is a great choice.

Wildflower Wednesday is about sharing wildflowers from all over the world. It was started by Gail Eichelberger on her "Clay and Limestone" blog. It is always on the fourth Wednesday of the month.

Native Spotlight: American Holly

Guest Blog by Rachel Shaw 

American Holly (Ilex opaca) is familiar to many people; with its evergreen leaves and bright red berries it is often depicted on Christmas cards or used as a holiday decoration. Before moving to this area, I had been aware of it only in this festive capacity, and thought of it simply as "Holly." It was not native to the part of the Midwest where I had lived, and I had never seen it growing outdoors. I knew the English folk carol, "The Holly and the Ivy," and on that basis I suppose I had assumed the plant was from England.
 

In fact Ilex species are found in England, the U.S., and in a wide variety of places around the world, some 400-600 species, according to Wikipedia. An article by H.E. Grelen for the US Forest Service describes American Holly as “primarily a plant of the humid Southeast,” although its northernmost range begins in coastal Massachusetts, extends into Appalachia, and can withstand the cold of Zone 5. The article begins with an interesting bit of history: 

When the Pilgrims landed the week before Christmas in 1620 on the coast of what is now Massachusetts, the evergreen, prickly leaves and red berries of American holly (Ilex opaca) reminded them of the English holly (Ilex aquifolium), a symbol of Christmas for centuries in England and Europe. Since then American holly, also called white holly or Christmas holly, has been one of the most valuable and popular trees in the Eastern United States for its foliage and berries, used for Christmas decorations, and for ornamental plantings.

There are two American Hollies in my yard, with somewhat different appearance. One, growing under the shade of another tree, is tall and rather leggy -- if a tree can be described as leggy! After the cold and ice of the last couple of winters some of the leaves were damaged and turned a silvery-brown, but the tree appears to have recovered well. The other tree is in an area with a bit more sun as well as some protection from wind, and did not show the same leaf damage. It is also a smaller and more compact tree, with smaller leaves and a somewhat rounded top.

Since both trees were here when I moved in, I don’t know much about them. There are apparently many cultivars of Ilex opaca, and I don’t know if one or both of mine might be cultivars. I had assumed that both were planted at the same time, but it is possible that the taller one is also older. The University of Kentucky Department of Horticulture website describes the American Holly as becoming “open, irregular, and high branching with age.” So perhaps my taller, more scraggly tree is also older.

I have to be honest and say that I do have quite the strong attachment to my two Ilex opaca that I feel for many of my other native plants. (Perhaps it has something to do with the prickly leaves – you don’t really feel the urge to hug an American Holly!) But the berries are good food for birds, and the trees are a pretty sight as part of a snowy landscape. Now that I’m thinking of it, I may go out and cut a branch or two for decoration. Happy holidays, everyone! 

About the author: 
Rachel Shaw focuses on vegetable gardening and growing native plants in her small yard in Rockville, Maryland. She blogs at http://hummingbirdway.blogspot.com/. 

She will be taking some time from being our monthly native plant guest blogger for the next few months and plans to return to it sometime next spring.

Native Spotlight: Fothergilla

Guest Blog by Rachel Shaw 

I like to advocate for plants that are native to our region, by which I generally mean the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and the closer to home the better. But today I’m going to talk about one that falls outside of the Mid-Atlantic region. This is Fothergilla, a lovely shrub for all seasons. According to the USDA Plants Database, its native range is limited to a handful of states to the south of us, of which North Carolina is the closest.  Not only is this sweet little shrub not native to our immediate area, most (including mine) are probably hybrids. But I would love to see this genus replace the ubiquitous Nandina, favored by the nursery trade and many landscapers, which to my mind it is both unattractive and invasive.

Before reading a very thorough and informative article by Rick Darke on Fothergilla, I knew little about this plant except what I had seen: beautiful fall color, attractive and fragrant spring flowers, and am upright habit. From Darke’s article, I learned that it is in the witch hazel family and that there are two species, both native to the southeastern U.S.: Fothergilla gardenii,or Dwarf Fothergilla, and Fothergilla majoror Large Fothergilla. The dwarf form is a low growing coastal species, the larger form is found in more mountainous areas. In recent years the two have apparently hybridized when grown in proximity in the nursery trade, creating Fothergilla x intermedia, which now has numerous cultivars.

Fothergilla was growing close to my front door when we moved into the house. Its tallest stems are about six feet; it has never gotten much taller or spread, and has been quite well behaved. Its biggest vice is that following heavy rains, some of the exterior stems tend to droop over our walkway and need to be trimmed back. Other than that, it has required no care. The bottlebrush-like flowers are a delight in spring, the leaves are a pleasing shape, and the fall color is reliably attractive. Sometimes what I’d call a near-native, even a likely cultivar, is just too good to be overlooked!

About the author:

Rachel Shaw focuses on vegetable gardening and growing native plants in her small yard in Rockville, MD. She blogs at http://hummingbirdway.blogspot.com/

This guest blog post is part of a monthly Native Plants series posted around the 10th of each month. \