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Tag: Joe Pye Weed

  • Native perennials for late summer create a naturalistic landscape

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    When August melts into September, nights are suddenly noticeably longer, while flowering perennials seem to grow wilder, to compensate. One of the greatest gardening pleasures of this cusp-season is the effusion of a tousled collection of native plants whose flowers are the languid counterpoint to spring’s cheerful bursts of blossoms. If we must have winter, then these sultry blooms are a fitting way to celebrate the dying of the light. Here are 11 native perennials for late summer and fall.

    Photography by Marie Viljoen.

    Agastache, anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)

    Above: Anise hyssop (with foreground of skullcap), blooms for months, into fall.

    Of all the native perennials that bloom late into the year, if  I had to choose just one to provide summer-to-fall flowers, it would be Agastache foeniculum and its various cultivars. Tall in stature, with licorice or mint-scented leaves, and profuse little blue flowers, these sun-loving hyssops provide height and bulk and filler, all at the same time. They are also elegantly lanky, and are a day-long buffet for bees, other pollinators, and even hummingbirds. If you can bear it, grit your teeth and cut the waning flowers back in late summer for a late fall resurgence; and leave those flowers to set seed for seed-eating birds like goldfinches.

    Asters (Symphyotrichum pilosum, S. ericoides, and others)

    Above: Airy white asters sparkle in early fall landscapes.

    No late summer garden seems complete without asters—low-maintenance and long-blooming. Heath aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides, above) likes full sun and is hardy from zones 3 to 10. Hairy aster (S. pilosum) can handle more shade and likes moist soil. It is hardy from zones 4 to 8. For woodland gardens, choose wood aster (Eurybia divaricata).

    Flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata)

    Above: Flowering spurge is a native Euphorbia.

    Clump-forming flowering spurge is one of the native perennials that seems to fly under the horticultural radar. Also known as the baby’s breath of the prairie, it has a loose, breezy habit with wiry stems tipped by flower-like bracts and distinctive, three-celled seed capsules. Flowering spurge pairs well with grasses and golden rods, asters, helianthus, and partridge pea. It flourishes in full sun and is hardy from USDA zones 4 to 9.

    Great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis)

    Above: The wine-colored flower spikes of great burnet against a backdrop of Rudbeckia.

    Great burnet is potentially statuesque, but it never dominates, visually. Instead, its threadlike stems hold burgundy flowerheads effortlessly aloft, adding tousled lightness to late summer and autumn gardens. Grow great burnet in full sun, and enjoy its cucumber-flavored leaves in salad. It is hardy from zones 4 to 8.

    Ironweed (Vernonia fasciculata and other species)

    Above: Ironweed beginning to bloom on Manhattan’s High Line.

    The vivid amethyst tufts of ironweed are welcome relief from the cheery but often dominant yellow palette of the late summer native garden. Smooth ironweed (Vernonia fasciculata) is hardy from zones 4 to 9 and flowers best in full sun. Giant ironweed (V. angustifolia) grows better in partial shade, and is hardy from zones 5 to 8. Both species require ample moisture.

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  • The Best Fall-Blooming Flowers Beyond Chrysanthemums

    The Best Fall-Blooming Flowers Beyond Chrysanthemums

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    We don’t hate chrysanthemums. Let’s just get that out of the way. There is a lot to be said for their instant, impulse-buy autumnal cheer. A pot on the stoop (with a pumpkin or two), as the clock ticks towards Halloween, is welcoming. But muffin-top mums, rounded and mounded in a way that nature did not intend—left to their own devices, naturally-elegant perennial chrysanthemums are leggy and loose—have saturated the market. Their inescapable presence as October unspools makes it very easy to forget how many other flowers relish autumn.

    The list of fall flowers is long, so here is a choice (albeit biased) collection.

    Photography by Marie Viljoen.

    Above: Fall flowers from Willow Wisp Organic Farm, at the Grand Army Plaza greenmarket in Brooklyn.

    Celosia

    Above: Celosia is a warm-weather annual whose flowers peak in fall.

    In terms of commercial success, annual Celosia is beginning to nudge chrysanthemums off that front stoop. I see potfuls at my local deli in Brooklyn, at Whole Foods, at the market. Their rich, cockscomb colors are made for fall. These African annuals have taken off in the US. Aside from their tasseled ornamental appeal, the plants are in fact vegetables. They are eaten as cooked, leafy greens in their homeland and are reminiscent of amaranth greens, in flavor and texture.

    Zinnia

    Above: Zinnia marylandica Double Zahara™ Raspberry Ripple,

    Zinnias are a genus of annuals native to Mexico and Central America. They are one of the most rewarding cut flowers to enjoy as the weather cools. Available in a rainbow of colors (only blues are missing), more zinnia cultivars are being developed to withstand the mildew that sometimes bothers their leaves in humid climates. The blooms attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees.

    Dahlia

    Above: Dahlias at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in October.

    Dahlias might be the queens of autumn bouquets. Ranging from compactly petite pom-poms to ruffled flowers the size of side plates, with colors from candy stripes to rich jewel hues, the long-stalked flowers are cut-and-come-again for weeks from late summer through frost. Dahlias are hardy from USDA zones 8 to 10.

    Tithonia

    Above: Tithonia blooms from late summer till frost and is a boon to bees.

    After it begins to flower in late summer, Mexican and Southwestern native annual Tithonia continues to blaze with color as nights dip into the 50s. The plant grows tall (upwards of five feet) and the blooms are very attractive to bees and other pollinators.

    Marigold

    Above: Annual marigolds (flor de muerto), play a key role in Día de los Muertos rituals in late October and early November.

    The assertive scent of marigolds is a floral signal that the season has changed. Days are losing light, and the year’s end is approaching, staved off by celebrations that honor souls that have passed. Garlands of marigolds are a necessity for the Day of the Dead, and have a place at Halloween tables, too: The flowers are long-lasting in a vase, and marigold petals are edible. The plants have long been valued in companion planting traditions, and science bears this out: They secrete chemicals that deter nematodes and other pathogens.

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  • Hilltop Hanover Farm: Saving Local Native Seeds for a Resilient Future

    Hilltop Hanover Farm: Saving Local Native Seeds for a Resilient Future

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    This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to toxic-free, nature-based gardening.

    “A seed contains the past and the future at the same time,” said the poet and writer Ross Gay, in a recent interview in The Nation. Hilltop Hanover Farm, a Perfect Earth Project partner in New York’s Westchester County, understands this firsthand. Through their native plant seed initiative, they are preserving the past by cultivating the plants that have been growing on this land for millennia, while sowing a resilient and biodiverse future. 

    Native plants have become a buzzy topic in recent years, and not just for their good looks. People are beginning to understand how vital they are to a healthy and robust environment. But to provide the greatest benefit, restore depleted lands, and give insects, birds, and other animals the food and habitat they really need, we must look beyond the plants that are native simply to North America, and be sure to include species local to our specific regions.

    Photography courtesy of Hilltop Hanover Farm, unless noted.

    Showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa) is one of the keystone species Hilltop Hanover grows in production. This fall-blooming beauty can reach six-feet in height and is a favorite of birds, who love to eat their seeds.
    Above: Showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa) is one of the keystone species Hilltop Hanover grows in production. This fall-blooming beauty can reach six-feet in height and is a favorite of birds, who love to eat their seeds.

    Hilltop Hanover is doing just that, led in their work by Adam Choper, the farm’s director, and Emily Rauch, the native plant programs manager. The farm is part of a new group called Eco 59, a seed collective formed to grow and collect valuable local natives of the Northeastern coastal zone (ecoregion 59) for conservation and restoration in Westchester County, and to preserve them for the future through the Northeast Native Seed Network. “We’re working together as a collective to figure out supply chain issues, find out where the gaps are, and find a way to get the seed out into the world,” says Choper.

    The farm crew helps harvests seeds of coastal plain Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium dubium) by hand.
    Above: The farm crew helps harvests seeds of coastal plain Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium dubium) by hand.

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