ridgetownrick – Page 2 – The Native Plant Gardener

Jack in the Pulpit

Posted on November 24, 2024November 24, 2024 by ridgetownrick

As I put this post together in mid-November, most of the plants in my southwestern Ontario gardens have packed it in for the winter and are now just lumps of foliage in various states of demise. As they get ready for a long winter’s nap, I’m starting to think about spring and what excitement lies ahead – especially in the shade gardens where spring ephemerals will make their brief appearances. And to me, one of the more interesting spring ephemerals is Arisaema triphyllum – Jack in the Pulpit.

As usual, the Plant Description and In the Garden sections are courtesy of Shawn Booth from In Our Nature. The content of this article is excerpted from our book The Gardener’s Guide to Native Plants of the Southern Great Lakes Region (Firefly Books), available wherever you buy your books.

Scientific Name: Arisaema triphyllum

Common Name: Jack-in-the-pulpit

Family: Araceae (Arum Family)

Alternate Common Names: Indian Turnip, Small Jack-in-the-pulpit

Plant Description: From Jack-in-the-pulpit’s corm (a bulb-like tuber) emerge one to two leaves and a single flowering stalk. The leaves are divided into three leaflets that each measure up to 18 cm long and 7.5 cm wide. Leaflets are oval-shaped, glossy and have smooth margins. A single flower occurs on a separate stalk. It consists of the spadix (a spike of tiny flowers) that is enclosed by the spathe (a leaf-like sheath), which forms a hood over the top. The spadix and spathe are nicknamed “Jack” and the “pulpit,” respectively. The spathe is usually green with variably colored stripes that can be maroon, dark purple or dark green. Tightly packed clusters of smooth, green berries ripen into red to reddish-orange berries in mid to late summer.

Young shoots in spring – the flower opens before the leaves fully unfurl

In the Garden: Jack-in-the-pulpit is an intriguing spring wildflower with a unique bloom. It is valued by gardeners for its lush appearance and tropical feel. Most plants will disappear by mid to late summer, leaving behind their red berries, which add interest and wildlife value to shade gardens. Due to its ephemeral lifecycle, it is best planted with other shade-tolerant species that can fill in the gap when it goes dormant.

Skill Level: Beginner

Lifespan: Perennial

Exposure: Full shade to part shade

Soil Type: Rich in organic matter, does poorly in heavy clay soils

Moisture: Wet to medium

Height: 75 cm

Spread: 30–45 cm

Bloom Period: Apr, May, Jun

Color: Green, purple

Fragrant (Y/N): N

Showy Fruit (Y/N): Y

Cut Flower (Y/N): N

Pests: No serious insect or disease problems

Natural Habitat: Forests, woodlands, swamps, and marshy areas

Wildlife Value: Upland gamebirds, wood thrushes, and some small mammals eat the berries, which ripen in mid to late summer

Butterfly Larva Host Plant For: None

Moth Larva Host Plant For: None

USDA Hardiness Zones: 3–9

Propagation: Seeds require a double dormancy of cold, warm, cold, warm of 60 to 90 days for each part of the cycle to germinate. May be directly sown outdoors, 20 mm deep, but it may take two or more years to germinate. Plants will take five years to flower when started from seed. May also be propagated by root division and cormlets can be separated from the parent corm in fall.

Each red berry contains one to five seeds

Additional Info: Jack-in-the-pulpit leaves are sometimes confused with Trillium leaves, but are actually easily distinguished in that the leaves of Jacks tend to form a T shape, whereas Trillium leaves are spread equally around the point of origin and resemble the Mercedes-Benz emblem or the peace sign of the 1960s.

You can clearly see the T-formation of the leaves on this very large Jack in the Pulpit leaf.

Jack-in-the-pulpit has both male and female plants, and they can change sex from one year to the next depending, apparently, on the previous year’s reproductive success. Another adaptation for reproductive success is the presence of a small hole at the base of the smaller male flower that allows pollinators to exit more easily, laden with pollen. Female plants do not have this hole so, with only one way out, pollinators are more likely to pollinate the female flower.

Native Range:

Jack in the Pulpit is native throughout our entire southern Great Lakes region.

November Jigsaw Puzzle

Posted on November 18, 2024November 18, 2024 by ridgetownrick

Click Here to Do Puzzle!

The dirt on dirt (aka soil) – Part 1 – Soil Texture

Posted on November 8, 2024November 13, 2024 by ridgetownrick

Let me preface this piece with the caveat that I am not trained as a soil scientist (though I did take a couple of university soils courses many years ago). Nevertheless, as a gardener I am always working with soil, and I’ve been curious enough to do some more research over the years.

In any good book on growing plants, you are likely to come across terms such as clay-loam, soil alkalinity, humus, topsoil, etc. Understanding what some of these terms actually mean, and how they relate to your gardening, will help you to be more successful at growing your native (or other) plants.

First off, some definitions.

Texture: refers to the size of the soil particles (this is not the clumps of soil you may see in your garden, but the elemental particles that make them up). Soil scientists have determined that there are 3 basic soil particle sizes – Sand, Silt and Clay – and these combine to form 12 soil types that you would typically see in gardens (more on these later).

Sand is made up of ground minerals and rocks that are rounded or irregular in shape. These range in size from 2 mm down to 0.05 mm in diameter and feel gritty when rubbed between your fingers.

Silt particles are between 0.05 and 0.002 mm in diameter and feel a bit like flour when dry.

Clay particles are extremely small – less than 0.002 mm in diameter. In fact, they are so small that you can really only see the individual particles through an electron microscope. We often refer to clay soils as “heavy”. (One suggestion for this term is that plowing clay soils takes 2 to 4 times the tractor power to pull the plow through it as in “light” sandy soils.)

The Implications of Texture

If your soil is mostly sand, you cannot form a ball of it when it is wet – it will just crumble and fall apart. This is because the large particle size of sand results in large air gaps between the particles and thus water doesn’t have a strong enough bond to hold the particles together. Although these gaps allow water to enter easily, it also lets the water flow right through. As a result, sandy soils dry out quickly.

Some plants have adapted to sandy soils – Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) and Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum) are just two examples – and thus will typically not do well in wetter areas with heavier soils. By the same token, plants that have evolved in wetter areas, especially in clay-rich soils, are unlikely to survive in sandy soils. This is, in part, because without moisture retaining mechanisms, their roots will simply dry out.

At the other end of the spectrum, clay particles are so small that the air spaces between them are extremely tiny. Often, water will just puddle on top of clay soils and take ages to drain away. (This is why they use clay to line ponds and landfills.) However, water will eventually soak into the pores and because of the physics of water molecules and soil particles, the clay will actually “hold onto” the water for a much longer time.

Anybody who has walked through wet clay can attest to the fact that wet (even damp) clay sticks tightly to boots, shovels, etc. One impact of this characteristic is that clay soils readily compact and compacted soils do not allow roots to penetrate easily.

To test if you have clay soil, wet a small lump of it and press it between your finger and thumb and try to form a ribbon of soil. In pure clay, the small clay particles will stick tightly together and you should be able to press out a ribbon a few centimeters long. This Ribbon Test is used by soil scientists to get a quick idea of the soil texture.

Just as some plants have evolved in sandy soils, so too have some evolved in areas of heavy clay. Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) and Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) are two that come to mind.

Everything in Between

Soil scientists have developed a Soil Texture Triangle which, once you learn how to read it, will allow you to identify which of the 12 soil types you have based on the clay, silt and sand composition of your soil.

Let’s say you get your soil tested and it comes back that you have 45% sand, 20% clay and 35% silt. Where these 3 lines cross on the triangle indicates your named soil type – in this case, loam. (The angle of the numbers indicates which line to follow.)

If you want to determine your own soil texture, one method you can use is what is called a jar test.

Start by getting a shovel full of soil from your garden (you can take samples from different areas, if you want, to get a general feel for your entire yard though it is unlikely that there will be significant differences in an area as small as a town lot). Make sure you take your sample at least six inches (15 cm) down – not just off the surface – as you want to get a complete picture of your soil.

Sift your soil to remove debris, rocks and large organic matter and fill a clear jar about 1/3 full of this “cleaned” soil.

Add water almost to the top of the jar and add a small amount of water softener or liquid dish soap. Put the lid on the jar and shake vigorously for a few minutes until the soil/water mixture is a uniform slurry. Let the mixture stand for 48-72 hours for the soil to settle out (it will separate out into layers with sand at the bottom and clay at the top).

After the mixture has set for a couple of minutes, you can mark the side of the jar with a black marker. This represents the sand component.

After the mixture has set for about two hours, mark the side of the jar. This represents the silt layer.

Finally, after 2-3 days, the clay will finally have settled out and you can mark that level.

Using a ruler, measure the depth that each layer makes up. To calculate the percentage of each element, divide the height of that element by the total height of the soil in the jar.

Removing sticks and stones (and other stuff)

With this information, you can now determine which plants will like the soil you have in your garden. After that, you can determine light and moisture levels to narrow down your selection.

Values from my yard’s soil sample: Total soil = 42 mm

Sand = 21/42 = 50%, Silt = 15/42 = 36%, Clay = 6/42 = 14%

Reading these values of the Triangle, we find that my soil is classified as loam (and very close to being a sandy loam).

Reading the values off the soil triangle we end up with loam.

Jar Test Worksheet

Next Month – Beyond Sand, Silt and Clay – Organic Matter, Loam, Soil pH and other magic

Book Review 13: Attracting Native Pollinators – Protecting North America’s Bees and Butterflies

Posted on October 26, 2024October 26, 2024 by ridgetownrick

By The Xerces Society (E. Mader, M. Shepherd, M. Vaughan, S.H. Black and G. LeBuhn)

Publisher: Storey Publishing, 2011
Paperback‏:‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10: 1603426957
Dimensions: 7” X 10”
Price: $30.37 (Amazon.ca – currently a 20% discount); $16.49 (Amazon.com – currently a 45% discount)

Consider me suitably impressed. I received this book as a Christmas present last year, glanced through it and thought it looked interesting, but then shelved it till I had time to read it. Ten months later I pulled it off the shelf – not because I was that keen to read it, but because I wanted to do this book review and this seemed as good a book as any to review. Well, was I surprised. This is not only a good read, but it is chock full of fantastic information and loads of great photographs.

The book is divided into four sections: Pollinators and Pollination; Taking Action; Bees of North America; and Creating Pollinator Friendly Landscapes. I will hit what I think are the highlights (and a couple of drawbacks) of the book.

Part 1 – Pollinators and Pollination

This 85 page section covers the science of how pollination works, and covers a host of pollinators – from bees to flies to moths and butterflies to beetles. It discusses how each group goes about their business and provides lots of examples (with great photos) of the various insects. It wraps up the section discussing the various threats to these pollinators – from habitat destruction to climate change – and the implications of this.

Part 2 – Taking Action

This is a long (128 page) section that covers A LOT of territory. It starts off discussing strategies we can use to help pollinators (hint – a high diversity of pollen producing plants!) and then goes into managing your pollinator habitat. On page 95, there’s an inset that lists key things to consider when providing foraging habitat: start small; provide a succession of blooms; grow a variety of pollen and nectar rich species; native plants are better; and, if possible, don’t use pesticides.

Following this is a section discussing habitat design, including nesting and egg laying sites and how to build a nest block for native bees.

There is also a section on community (and school) gardens including regional (US and southern Canada) native plant lists. (They also include a list of some non-natives that they recommend.)

Part 2 wraps up with a very lengthy discussion on bee-friendly farm management, golf courses and urban green spaces, natural areas and even a bit about green roofs.

Part 3 – Bees of North America

Part 3 has an introduction to the science and study of bees, including bee anatomy, bees vs flower flies, etc. then goes into detail on 32 genera of native bees plus the honeybee. Each bee gets a full page description that covers identification, similar insects, foraging, nests and conservation concerns. There is a photo of the bee plus a silhouette of the bee showing its actual size and a paragraph entitled “Did You Know?” that covers something interesting about the species.

Sample page of the Bees of North America section

Yet despite all this great info, this is the one part of the book that I have the biggest complaint about. With 4,000 species of bees in North America, this is just a very small sampling at the genus level (not the species level) so beyond being interesting reading, it’s not very helpful in the garden when I’m trying to figure out which bee I’m looking at. A much better book for this, in my opinion, is Common Bees of Eastern North America by O.M Carril and J.S. Wilson (Princeton University Press, 2021) – there’s also a version for Western North America.

An excellent book that includes range maps for the bees

Part 4 – Creating a Pollinator-Friendly Landscape

This section starts with a few pages of generic garden design samples but then provides yet a third group of “regional plant lists” with a different selection of species than the last two. It’s as if the different sections were written by individual authors, then brought together with little thought about combining these tables into a master table in the appendix (probably could have saved a few pages in the printing). This set of lists, again, ALSO includes a list of non-natives deemed suitable.

The book then has a section listing details (including a photo) for a number of the plants highlighting light, moisture, bloom time, flower colour, height, region(s) and then a very short paragraph about the plant. These are listed in alphabetic order by common name (problematic if your part of the country calls a plant by a different common name than mine!).

Of the 38 plants listed, only 26 are native to the Great Lakes region where I live. There are also 27 species of trees and shrubs, of which only 12 are native here. And there are a number of non-natives listed, too.

Not all the pollinator plants listed are native to our region (Vinegarweed is one of those).

The final section of Part 4 lists the host plants for a number of butterflies with a sampling of photos for some of the butterfly species.

Summary

All in all, I think this book would be a great addition to any native-plant-gardener’s library. I now wish I had started reading it last winter when I first got it as it is chock full of really interesting information.

Happy native plant growing.

Haliburton Micromeadows

Posted on October 19, 2024October 19, 2024 by ridgetownrick

Owner/Proprietor: Baz Conlin

Basil (Baz) Conlin – owner/operator of Haliburton Micromeadows

Address: 1274 Lochlin Rd, Lochlin ON

Facebook Page: @haliburton_micromeadows

Instagram: @haliburton_micromeadows

Email: Haliburtonmm@gmaillcom

I have been following Baz Conlin on Facebook for quite a while. I was super impressed with the native gardens he created around his parents’ house in Peterborough, ON. He packed a ton of plants into a postage stamp sized yard on a busy street corner. It was pretty apparent that Baz knew what he was doing with native plants.

So I was really pleased when I saw that he opened his own native plant nursery, called Haliburton Micromeadows, this spring in Lochlin, ON. (I had to look up where Lochlin was – for those familiar with the Haliburton region, it’s just east of Minden, and about halfway between Bracebridge and Bancroft.)

Baz says “The name ‘Micromeadows’ refers to the size of most meadows in Haliburton, which are usually small openings in the forest that provide habitat for pollinators and create diversity in an otherwise homogeneous see of dark forest. These small, diverse meadows can easily be installed in the home landscape to create islands of diversity. We are also a small nursery and our space is limiited!”

As a brand-new operation, Haliburton Micromeadows started with about 50 species of native plants this spring and he is now up to about 80 species of perennials, grasses, and sedges and 12 species of trees and shrubs. He also has a few species of ferns available. Baz was quick to point out that he carries a large variety of grasses and sedges.

Plants are locally sourced from seeds or from nearby native plant nurseries

Haliburton Micromeadows only sells straight species, sourced from local populations, either from seeds Baz has collected locally, or from local seed and plant suppliers. The only exceptions are Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), Meadow Blazing Star (Liatris ligulistylis) and Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), although he is also considering selling some cultivars of Switchgrass in the future to try and provide a suitable alternative to Miscanthus.

Haliburton Micromeadows is open mainly by appointment/ pre order. They try to have open nursery hours on Sundays during spring and fall from 10-4 PM. On non-nursery days, people can pre order or set up an appointment through email (haliburtonmm@gmail.com). Plant availability is shown on their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557178436052).

At the nursery, Baz uses full colour labels that show the flower and ideally the form of the plant, cultural info, watering and soil needs, pH, and whether the plant was sourced/ occurs within 100km of Lochlin or is a southern species or if it is a near-native.

Photos are included with the description of the plants at the nursery.

Baz is mostly self-taught when it comes to native plants, but he did study Conservation Biology at Trent University, and he worked at Grow Wild! Native Plant Nursery in Omemee for two summers. He also volunteered with the Nature Conservancy of Canada in the Rice Lake Plains for two years.

Haliburton Micromeadows has supplied plants for the Minden junior horticultural garden.

Baz informs me that, as a new nursery, he is looking to bring beautiful and sustainable plant choices to the Haliburton Highlands and surrounding area. He tries to source all of his plants from local sources within 100km of the nursery in Lochlin. His first season, he says, went great, and he’s hoping to continue to grow and provide more varieties, in particular spring ephemerals, ground covers, shade plants, and quick growing shrubs. Eventually he’s hoping to provide bulk flats of grasses and sedges for matrix gardening as well as emergent pond plants for backyard ponds and wetland restorations. I, for one, will be in the market for those pond plants when he’s got them.

With a background in conservation biology and ecological restoration, as well as entomology (amateur lepidopterist), much of Baz’s work goes towards providing insect habitat and stewarding the land.

Smooth Blue Aster (*Symphyotrichum laeve*) in a restoration planting

If you’re going to be in the Haliburton area, do yourself a favour and check out Haliburton Micromeadows. I’m already planning my road trip for next spring.

Blue-stemmed Goldenrod

Posted on October 12, 2024October 20, 2024 by ridgetownrick

In my mind, fall is the season of Asters and Goldenrods.

Smooth Aster, New England Aster, Sky Blue Aster, Gray Goldenrod and Blue-stemmed Goldenrod are in full bloom in my garden as I write this.

As I looked through my previous Plant of the Month posts, I realized I’ve covered a couple of Asters (Smooth and New England) but I have not yet talked about any Goldenrods.
Of the 140 species of Goldenrods worldwide, 115 are native to Canada and the US. Where I live in southern Ontario, we have at least 25 species that are indigenous to the region and I have at least 16 of them planted in my garden.
There’s a goldenrod for every garden. Some, like Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) or Grass-leaved Goldenrod (Euthamia graminifolia) are probably too aggressive for most garden spaces, but we have many well-behaved goldenrods to choose from. And there is a goldenrod for shade, sun, dry, moist and everything in between so you can add some to your garden, too.
This month I’ve picked one of my long-time favourite goldenrods – Solidago caesia, or Blue-stemmed Goldenrod. It is easy to grow, loves part shade, and produces beautiful sprays of yellow all fall.

Solidago caesia produces beautiful sprays of yellow

As usual, the Plant Description and In the Garden sections are courtesy of Shawn Booth from In Our Nature. The content of this article is excerpted from our book The Gardener’s Guide to Native Plants of the Southern Great Lakes Region (Fireﬂy Books), available wherever you buy your books.

Scientiﬁc Name: Solidago caesia

Family: Asteraceae (Aster Family)

Alternate Common Names: Woodland Goldenrod, Wreath Goldenrod

Plant description: Bue-stemmed Goldenrod has sparingly branched, arching stems that are green when young but turn blueish purple with age. Leaves are alternate, elliptic-oblong (long and rounded) in shape and measure about 12cm long, 2cm wide and become smaller as they ascend the stem. They are stalkless, hairless and have serrated edges. Small clusters of 1-12 yellow flowers develop from upper leaf axils (where the leaf meets the stem) and at the very tip of the stem. Each flower is 3mm wide and has 4-5 ray flowers (petals) surrounding 4-5 disk flowers. At the base of each flower, you will notice small bracts that are overlapping, smooth and oblong. Flowers mature into small, finely hairy seeds that have small tufts of hairs attached to them.

Solidago caesia ﬂowers

In the Garden: Blue-stemmed Goldenrod is a shade-loving goldenrod with a well-behaved clumping habit. As if its graceful, arching stems and dark green leaves aren’t reason enough to love this plant, it is adorned with bright yellow ﬂowers late in the season that make it a real crowd-pleaser.

In the Garden: Bue-stemmed Goldenrod is a shade-loving goldenrod with a well-behaved clumping habit. As if its graceful, arching stems and dark green leaves aren’t reason enough to love this plant, it is adorned with bright yellow flowers late in the season that make it a real crowd-pleaser.

Skill level: beginner

Lifespan: perennial

Exposure: medium shade to full sun

Soil Type: most well drained soils; tolerates poor soil

Moisture: medium to dry

Height: 45-90 cm

Spread: 30-60 cm

Spacing: 45 cm

Bloom Period: late-Aug, Sep

Colour: yellow

Fragrant (Y/N): N

Showy Fruit (Y/N): N

Cut Flower (Y/N): Y

Pests: no serious insect or disease problems though rust may be an occasional problem

Natural Habitat: rich, deciduous or open woods, the edges of woods and in clearings

Butterfly Larva Host Plant For: none

Wildlife value: attracts native and honeybees, wasps, flies and butterflies and the seeds are occasionally eaten by the several small songbirds

USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-8

Propagation: Small seeds need light to germinate and benefit from 90 days cold, moist stratification. Mature plants may be divided and new plants may be started from stem cuttings.

Solidago caesia seeds are dispersed by wind.

Additional Info: This species is primarily clump-forming and does not spread aggressively as do some of the other goldenrod species and hybrids.

Native Range:

Shaded area is considered the native range of Solidago caesia.

October Jigsaw Puzzle

Posted on October 5, 2024October 5, 2024 by ridgetownrick

Click to Play!

Keeping an Edge

Posted on September 30, 2024September 30, 2024 by ridgetownrick

Last month I wrote about preparing your lawn for a new garden. In that article I discussed some of the strategies I’ve tried (and a few I haven’t) for removing the sod. This month I’m going to look at a few techniques for making your garden edges look more formal so that your lawn doesn’t look like it’s simply being neglected. This is partly because on social media there have been a number of postings recently about “tidy” gardens (and the issues that arise when neighbours think your garden isn’t tidy enough). I have used most of these techniques or have friends who have used them. Hopefully this month’s article will give you some useful ideas to try.

Three distinct edgings are seen in this photo – red = v-trench, yellow = plastic edging, white = pea stone

In the Beginning

In my early gardening days with native plants, I had a couple of relatively small flower beds. Using plastic garden edging was both affordable and easy. The nice thing about the plastic edging is that it provides a nice, clean edge with virtually no maintenance after it’s installed.

Plastic edging makes a clean, relatively maintenance free border for flower beds.

But all plastic edging is not created equal. The small (usually 3-4”) lightweight stuff is, in my opinion, a waste of money as it will work out of the soil with frost heave in only a couple of years. Go for the heavy duty stuff – 5” or more – and you should be good for years to come.

But even the heavy stuff has issues. I find that on sharp curves the plastic will work up out of the soil. And it doesn’t take much to catch it with the lawnmower and then you have a shredded piece of edging. It also doesn’t work that well if you have any kind of topographic variation to your lawn. It may snake around curves nicely, but it definitely doesn’t handle the up and down curves of the ground.

Sharp curves tend to lift out of the soil

Dig a Trench

Almost all my flowerbeds over the last 10 years have had no hard edging at all. Instead, I dig a V-shaped trench (about 3-4” deep) around the perimeter of the garden. In my sandy loam soil, this is a pretty easy trench to dig.

One of the big advantages of this is that as your garden expands (as mine invariably do), I simply dig the perimeter trench a little further out. Another advantage is that topography makes little difference – your trench simply follows the lay of the land.

Unlike plastic edging, however, the v-trench requires annual maintenance (at best). Grass grows in, seeds fall into the trench and sprout, soil gets trampled, and before you know it there is little evidence of a clean edge. To me, though, the little time it takes to re-dig the trench is worth it for the flexibility it offers.

Another drawback to the v-trench edge is that you can’t really get the lawnmower close enough to trim the grass – unless there is room in the bed itself to run the lawnmower wheels (usually ok for the first year or two, but eventually my flowers push right to the edge of the garden). As a consequence, I have to take the grass trimmer to all my beds that are trenched. This is just one more chore to add to the gardening tasks.

Fill in the Trench

A technique I was introduced to this year definitely warrants some further investigation by me as it seems to provide the best of both methods.

A good friend digs a U shaped trench about 4-6” wide and just as deep along the edge of her gardens then proceeds to fill the trench with limestone screenings. She then packs the screenings in with a tamper.

U-shaped trench to be filled with limestone screenings

Not only does this make a clean edge to the flower bed, but it also provides a smooth surface to run the lawnmower wheel along. Weeds like Creeping Charlie will grow over it, but very few roots will actually penetrate the stone screenings – which is great for things like twitch (quack) grass. If you want to keep plants IN the bed, too, you can always dig the trench a little deeper and even your goldenrods won’t escape.

Another advantage is that, like the v-trench, topography of your lawn won’t matter.

The only drawbacks that I’ve noticed so far is that some weed seeds will grow (mostly lawn grasses) in the stone dust, but these do pull out easily if tackled early. Another challenge is that the edge is semi-permanent – it will be a bit of a job if you need to move the border, though a sharp shovel after a good rain would do the job easily enough.

Make it Permanent

A couple of other options would be to make the edging out of poured cement instead of stone screenings. NOTHING will grow through it and there will be no maintenance for many years. Of course, don’t expect to move the border any time soon.

Concrete instead of limestone screenings in much more durable and impenetrable to roots

Rather than pouring concrete, you could also dig your trench and lay in concrete blocks or bricks. These can make a clean edge while being a lot easier to move if needed.

Bricks can make a nice clean edge, though they don’t go very deep into the soil

The friend who uses the limestone screenings plans to try using “universal curb” blocks for the straight-line edge of a couple of her beds this fall. These concrete blocks are 3” wide X 8” deep X 39” long and apparently weigh just over 85 lbs each. And they aren’t cheap. We’ll see if they work as expected.

Concrete curbs come in 6″ and 8″ depths and are great for long, straight stretches of garden edge, though they’re both expensive and heavy to work with.

Make it for Show

Of course, your garden edging can be mostly for show. In other words, you can install some low cost, low profile fencing along the edge to make your garden “deliberate”, even if the bed is a tad messy. I’m a huge proponent of the lazy gardening method and prefer not to clean up stalks and leaves till late spring when most of the insects are out of their winter homes. For that reason, anything that helps to give the appearance that the garden mess is purposeful (and not just neglect) is worth a try.

Edging can be any number fences or barriers to define where lawn meets garden, from cheap plastic fence from a dollar store to constructed rail fences or simply just strategically placed logs or tree branches

Fences come in all sizes, colours and configurations and there’s probably one for every budget. But if this is for a front yard, make sure that your fence doesn’t obstruct sightlines or violate any municipal bylaws.

Happy native plant gardening.

Large Leaf Aster

Posted on September 20, 2024September 20, 2024 by ridgetownrick

Fall is the time for asters and goldenrods. One of the first asters to bloom in my garden each autumn is Eurybia macrophylla – the Large Leaf Aster. It flowers range from pale blue to pink to white, depending (it seems) on its growing conditions. In my garden, they’re mostly pale pink to white.

This flower is quite the trooper – loving it in full to part shade and dry to fairly moist sandy soils. (A friend grows it in heavy clay soil where it does OK – it just doesn’t flourish as well as it does in my sandy loam soil.)

Blooms start in August and often keep going till the first good frost.

Scientific Name: Eurybia macrophylla

Common Name: Large Leaf Aster

Family: Asteraceae (Aster Family)

Alternate Common Names: Bigleaf Aster, Large-leaf Wood Aster

Plant Description: Large Leaf Aster features large, heart-shaped basal leaves that measure about 20 cm long, 15 cm wide and are coarsely toothed, sparsely hairy, and borne on long leaf stalks. As the leaves ascend the stem they decrease in size and become shorter stalked to the point where the uppermost leaves are reduced to stalkless bracts. Leaf stalks are narrowly winged but become broadly winged as they ascend the stem. Stems are upright, rigid, sparsely hairy, and unbranching except for at the top where they branch out to support open, flat-topped flower clusters. Each cluster can have eight to 90 stalked flowers that measure up to 4 cm across. Individual flowers are characterized by nine to 20 unevenly spaced, thin ray florets (petals) that surround a yellow centre disk that turn a brownish red with age. Tightly packed, stout, hairy bracts surround the base of each flower and are found in four to six layers. They are green with a purple tinge and have whitish edges. Flowers give way to dry, brown, narrow seeds with tufts of white hairs that allow them to be carried by the wind.

One of the first asters to start blooming in my southwestern Ontario garden

In the Garden: Large Leaf Aster is valued by gardeners looking for a lush, reliable woodland groundcover with a bold texture. It spreads non-aggressively by rhizomes to form dense colonies over time. It is tolerant of dry shade and will grow in the dense shade under pine or spruce trees but with reduced flowering and vigour.

Skill Level: Beginner

Lifespan: Perennial

Exposure: Full shade to part shade

Soil Type: Sandy loam to rich loam

Moisture: Moist to dry

Height: 15–110 cm

Spread: 60 cm

Bloom Period: Aug, Sep, Oct

Colour: White, blue

Fragrant (Y/N): N

Showy Fruit (Y/N): N

Cut Flower (Y/N): N

Pests: No serious insect or disease problems

Natural Habitat: Open woods, thickets, and clearings

Wildlife Value: Nectar and pollen of the flowers attract a large number of native bees and other insects, and Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) and Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) eat the seeds and foliage

Butterfly Larva Host Plant For: Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis), Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos)

Asters are among the host plants for the caterpillars of Pearl Crescent butterflies

Moth Larva Host Plant For: Aster Borer Moth (Carmenta corni),  Asteroid Moth (Cucullia steroids), Arcigera Flower Moth (Schinia arcigera), others

USDA Hardiness Zones: 3–7

Propagation: Sow seeds outside in fall or, if starting indoors, provide 60 days cold, moist stratification for any seeds that haven’t germinated in three to four weeks. Do not cover the seeds as they require light to germinate. Also can be propagated by stem cuttings taken in late spring or by dividing mature clumps.

Wind-blown seeds of *Eurybia macrophylla* – Large Leaf Aster

Additional Info: Individual plants don’t flower every year, which means that in a patch of Large Leaf Aster only a few plants will bloom each year, and therefore it is best used as a groundcover for its heart-shaped leaves.

Native Range:

Native Plant Nursery Name: Heavenly Earth

Posted on September 13, 2024September 13, 2024 by ridgetownrick

Owner/Proprietor: Elizabeth Marshall

Address: 29816 Zone Road 4, RR3, Bothwell, ON N0P 1C0

Web Site: https://heavenlyearth.ca/

Phone Number: (519) 692-4714

Email: heavenlyearthca@gmail.com

Liz Marshall opened Heavenly Earth 25 years ago (1999) and I started buying plants from her just a few years later. Most of my trees and shrubs (at least in the beginning) came from Heavenly Earth. She originally started with primarily Carolinian species of trees and shrubs, but has expanded to add perennials and, recently, more ferns.

Liz does carry a few non-native trees and shrubs, but she is quick to point out which ones are native and which are not. She also will let you know which plants are Carolinian species.

Lots of trees to choose from, in a wide range of sizes

Heavenly Earth is nestled in a clearing in a small forest and if you’re lucky enough to get there when she has a bit of spare time, you might get a tour of the woodland around her house. There are many magnificent and unusual trees and shrubs that have been growing long enough to be quite impressive.

Because Liz operates from her home, with only her husband Dale to help out, she asks that you call (or text) or send her an email to set up an appointment. When you do, you’re given a one hour slot to give you time to explore the more than 80 species of trees, shrubs and perennials (these perennials are mostly woodland flowers and ferns, but she also carries some plants for sunny gardens, too). You can find her list of plants on her website.

Before opening her nursery, Liz worked from Sloan Tree Farm for 19 years. She started out working in the fields with planting, hoeing, trimming, etc. and graduated over time to become their wholesale/ retail manager. Liz also has a horticulture diploma from Ridgetown College (now the University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus). And she has used all this experience to create a tiny piece of heavenly earth in Chatham-Kent, Ontario.

If you’re within an hour’s drive of Bothwell, do yourself a favour and give Liz a call. Not only are her prices reasonable, but I always find that her plants are in excellent health.

Happy Native Plant Gardening.