Plant of the Month: Apache Plume

I'm just returning from an extended road trip to the Four Corners region of the Southwest U.S.--where New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado meet. Of course, this "plant nerd" had to photograph a few growing things along the way.

One, in particular, that caught my eye was a unique shrub with fluffy seedheads: Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa). It's the only species in its genus.



We saw it in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where its rosy glow nicely framed the local pueblo-style architecture.



And at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, where the shrubs were plentiful along the paths, blending naturally with their surroundings.

Apache Plume is native to only eight U.S. states--California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, as well as Northern Mexico. If I lived in one of those locations, I would plant one or more. Thing is, it has a very specific preference for dry, rocky locations. In good garden soil with organic matter, it can look rangy and produces fewer flowers, according to Texas A&M University.

I'm thinking this is not a plant for most temperate gardens, but best enjoyed in its native setting.



From a distance, Apache Plume resembles a Smokebush (Cotinus) cultivar, but its seedheads/fruits are very similar to those of its cousin in the Rose family, Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum).



The small white flowers resemble related blooms in the Rose family. When the petals drop, the feathery achene fruits/seeds puff out, giving it a soft, fluffy appearance. It's the kind of seedhead you want to touch, and it's very soft.



The foliage is semi-evergreen; small, deeply lobed leaves along slender, twiggy branches. Among the many Apache Plume shrubs we saw during the trip, the seedhead colors ranged from a creamy white to a lovely rose-pink.



The plumes are very attractive with bright light shining through their filaments.



Go ahead: Try to resist touching those soft, powder-puff plumes!



Apache Plume is hardy to zone 5, but, again, best-suited to its native habitat in the Southwest U.S. It grows to 6 ft. tall and wide, according to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. It grows in part shade to full sun, and is a good choice for a xeriscape garden.

Historically, its branches were used for sweeping and its steeped leaves for tea and hair-washing. In its dry, rocky native habitat, it's an important forage and cover plant for wild animals and a nectar source for pollinators.



At its peak display, it looks soft enough for a pillow ...

(Linking this post to Dozens for Diana.)

Plant of the Month: Smooth Solomon's Seal

Polygonatum biflorum

After roughly 66 months of writing "plant of the month" posts (I skipped a few since October 2010), I was surprised to discover I hadn't featured Smooth Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum biflorum). This is one of the most reliable, shade-loving, native wildflower plants in my garden. I didn't plant any of them, but they cheerfully nod throughout the garden and woodland every growing season.

Maianthemum racemosum

My post today is about Smooth Solomon's Seal, not its closely related "cousin" False Solomon Seal (Maianthemum racemosum), also called Solomon's Plume, which also grows in my woodland. (Also an excellent plant!) The two plants look very similar, but have slightly different growth patterns and very distinct blooms.



When Smooth Solomon's Seal emerges (as it is now in my garden), it begins as a straight shoot with a green tip, and slowly bends as its leaves unfurl.



The individual flowers hang like miniature bells under the stems and foliage.



As the blooms mature, their stripes and yellow-green hues gently blend with the plant's foliage.



Even after blooming, the stems and foliage add great structure to cut arrangements.



Smooth Solomon's Seal plays well with ferns ...



And daylilies ...



And Hosta species and Bleeding Heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis).

Smooth Solomon's Seal, notes the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center:

• Prefers shade or partial shade;
• Will tolerate sand to clay and dry to moist, acidic soils;
• Attracts birds and butterflies;
• Is native throughout much of North America (USDA zones 3 to 9); and
• Provides food for mammals (roots) and birds (berries).

This plant regularly self-seeds and gently spreads throughout my garden, but I'm usually very pleased with where it lands, since it blends so well with other plants.



Plus, in late summer and early autumn its dark blue berries are striking (if the birds don't get them first)!

I'm linking this post to Gail's Wildflower Wednesday at Clay and Limestone and Diana's Dozens for Diana at Elephant's Eye on False Bay. Visit their blogs to read about excellent plants growing around the world.

Plant of the Month: Purple Pitcher Plant

It's Wildflower Wednesday--a meme hosted by Gail at Clay and Limestone on the fourth Wednesday of every month.

This month, I decided to highlight a carnivorous plant--The Purple Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea). When in bloom, its nodding, burgundy-colored flowers are pretty easy to spot in the wild, although its growing conditions are highly specialized.

This species is widespread throughout Canada, the Northeastern U.S., and in a few spots in the Appalachians and the Coastal Southeast. However, it's most likely to be found in bog habitats--highly acidic, waterlogged peatlands, in old lake basins or depressions. In bogs, there are few or no surface inflows, so they have low rates of decomposition.



Sphagnum Moss, the dominant living matter, and accumulated peat lying just below the surface, release acids. Often the pH in bogs is as low as 3.0 to 4.0.

In areas where trails lead across bogs, the soil feels bouncy because of the accumulated organic matter and peat.



One very special place to experience healthy bog habitats is The Ridges Sanctuary in Door County, Wis., where these photos were taken. At The Ridges, wetland habitats, including marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens (and other habitats) exist in close proximity.

The Ridges, which consists of about 30 narrow, crescent-shaped ridges along the Lake Michigan shoreline, is home to one of the greatest concentrations of rare plants in the Midwest. I posted about one of our trips to The Ridges in 2014.



If you catch sight of the burgundy flowers of the Purple Pitcher Plant, you're probably on or near a bog. The flowers are attractive, but you'll also want to look down.



At the base of the stems are the carnivorous leaves of the plant--forming an open, spreading rosette. Sometimes the foliage is tinged with burgundy or purple.



The Purple Pitcher Plant, found in USDA zones 4 to 8, is one of the few carnivorous plants in North America. Its hollow pitchers fill with water, and when flying and crawling insects land on the foliage they can crawl in but may have trouble getting out through the stiff, downward-pointing hairs. Trapped insects that fall into the water are then digested and absorbed by the plant. This provides nutrients to the plant, especially nitrogen, which is in short supply in the highly acidic bog soil.

Because of its specialized needs, Purple Pitcher Plant is best purchased from a reputable nursery, not extracted from the wild. It can be grown as a houseplant in a particular mix of peat moss and perlite. Regular garden or potting soil will kill the plant.

For more information on this unique wildflower plant and its specialized habitat, visit the source links for this post:

• Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine
• USDA Forest Service
• USDA Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry
• The Ridges Sanctuary

Be sure to visit Gail at Clay and Limestone for posts about other wildflowers from around the world. I'm also linking this post to Dozens for Diana, at Elephant's Eye on False Bay.

Plant of the Month: Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Embarrassingly, I only learned recently that Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) is an herb (it lacks woody tissue when mature). I also learned that all parts are extremely toxic to most animals, including humans, but that when cooked or dried, its corm (fleshy root) is edible. In fact, historically it apparently was a staple of some Native American cuisines, according to many sources, including the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

I'll leave the research on how to dry and cook it to you, since I won't be trying this one any time soon. It sounds too dangerous.



What I do know is that this beautiful, unique North American plant is extremely common in my woodland garden. In fact, volunteers pop up all over the place--probably by seed carried by birds who eat the berries.

The plant is common in most of eastern North America in woodlands, swamps, and marshes--but particularly common in deciduous forests, which explains why it will grow in part sun or in shade. It prefers humus-rich, moist soils. But when we had a summer-long drought in 2012, the plants came back in full force the following year.



Jack-in-the-Pulpit seems to prefer the same growing conditions as Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) and various Trilliums. In fact, Jacks and Trilliums tend to bloom about the same time in my garden, and it can be hard to differentiate Jacks from Great White Trilliums (T. grandiflorum), unless blooms are present.



Often, I'll find colonies of these plants together in mid-spring.



Some Jacks are mostly green, with white stripes.



Others have fascinating patterns of brown to burgundy markings.



I enjoy watching the foliage unfurl on stems parallel to the flower stems.



They all seem to have different shapes and sizes.

Each individual plant has a gender. You can tell by looking under the hood! Also, each plant can change its gender from season to season. This excellent resource from Michigan State University explains the gender characteristics in great detail.

Oh, and another nifty thing is that pollinators are more likely to escape from a male flower than a female flower, because the males have an escape hatch!

After the flowers fade, the pollinated plants produce clusters of berries.



They begin bright green,



Change to multicolored,



And end a bright red that brightens the late summer and autumn landscape, if the birds don't get them first.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit grows 1 ft. to 3 ft. in height, and blooms from March to June, depending on your zone and the specific growing season. It's hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9. It seems readily available from most garden centers in my area and from online North American native plant sellers.

I consider this plant a familiar old friend, as it grows wild and is wonderfully plentiful in my woodland garden.



I'm linking this post to Dozens for Diana over at Elephant's Eye on False Bay, a meme that celebrates a "plant a month" on blogs from around the world.

Plant of the Month: Cushion Spurge

I've been meaning to feature this one as "plant of the month" for a while, but the time never seemed right.

With this week's return of the polar vortex, I'm yearning for bright, warm colors, so here they are.







Euphorbia polychroma (synonym, E. epithymoides), commonly called Cushion Spurge, adds a bit of reliable, bright spring color to my garden. Depending on the weather, it commonly begins blooming here in April or May, and the blooms last for a few weeks. Like its relative, Poinsettia (E. pulcherrima), Cushion Spurge forms bracts that are actually showier than its inconspicuous flowers.



The perennial forms a mound, with a height and spread of about 12-24 inches.

This plant has been a stalwart in my garden since we moved here more than 14 years ago. I take it for granted, but I was surprised to learn from the Missouri Botanical Garden and other sources that it prefers full sun and dry soil!

Well ... my garden is shady and the soil is moist (except during drought), and this Euphorbia is very happy here.



As you can see, its chartreuse color is a good companion to burgundy and magenta garden accents. A showy plant, it also:

• Thrives in zones 4 to 8;
• Repels rabbits and deer;
• Tolerates poor soils and drought; and
• Requires low maintenance.

One notable characteristic is that its stems exude a toxic, milky sap when cut. I've never cut my plant, it hasn't spread beyond its original location, and it's perfect where it was planted by the previous owners.

For me, today, the memory and image of Cushion Spurge add a little sunshine to another brutally cold winter day.

Plant of the Month: Ornamental Sage

Is there a plant in your garden that you're worried won't survive this brutal winter? For gardeners outside the U.S. and Canada, are you concerned about specific plants in your garden for other reasons?

Lately, my Ornamental Sage plants have been on my mind. I'm not sure why, because they're tough perennials! I don't have the original tags, but I believe mine are either Salvia nemorosa or the hybrid Salvia x superba. They've graced the outer corners of my potager garden for about a decade now, and they've always bounced back every spring like clockwork.

Ornamental Sage in June 2013.

As soon as they start blooming, the pollinators cover them! I didn't realize until I started cropping the photos for this post that all but two show bumblebees diving in for the Salvias' plentiful nectar! (Can you see them? You can click on the photos to enlarge them.) In fact, it's hard to get a shot of these spikey lavendar/blue beauties without bumbles--not that I've really tried either way.
Ornamental Sages prefer sun, and rich but well-drained soil. They grow to about two feet tall, and form a shrub-like shape. They have a unique scent, similar to other plants in the Mint family, Lamiaceae. And rabbits and deer tend to avoid them.

Ornamental Sage in July 2012, at the height of that year's drought. Note the brown, dried lawn in the background. Granted, the plants were watered regularly, but they showed very little sign of stress.

Why am I worried about these plants? I guess I shouldn't worry because they've survived extreme temperatures and droughts for years. S. nemorosa and its hybrid superba are hardy to zone 5, and some sources say to zone 4. My two clumps are tucked in for the winter with a warm layer of Marsh Hay mulch and soft snow, and they're planted near the house foundation--on the sunny west side of the house.

Still I worry...

Ornamental Sage in August 2013. After several rounds of deadheading, still plenty of nectar and pollen to go around.

I can't imagine my garden without them. They've become fixtures--reliable stallwarts that I count on every year.

This "Dummy's Guide" to planting flowers for bees notes that when in bloom, Salvias are "covered with bees all day long." I concur.

In my garden, that means continuous blooms and continuous pollinators from May through August.

But you're more likely to have repeat blooms if you deadhead them. Several times during the season, I spend a little time every few weeks pinching off the spent blooms. I'm not picky, I just grab the garden pruners and start cutting back--usually to the base of each individual stem. Within days, I have blooms again.

I've heard other gardeners say the Ornamental Sages can be floppy. That might be true, but mine are planted with fencing as supports on two sides, and other potager plants on the other sides. And with the regular deadheading, they really don't get floppy at all.

I sure hope they'll be back this spring and summer!