There Were No Fences

Bloodroot ( Sanguinaria canadensis ) Indian pink ( Spigelia marilandica ) Royal catchfly ( Silene regia ) Over the years, I have found that I can add greatly to the wildflower diversity in my landscape by growing otherwise-difficult native plants in large pots and placing them in areas of my yard that get the right kind of sunlight. Many of my favorite wildflowers are native to north Florida and I have tried them unsuccessfully before planting them directly into the soil. While I could have simply given up on them, I've not been willing to do so. These wildflowers, blooming in my yard and not several hundreds of miles away, bring me a lot of joy and it allows me to add even more diversity to my landscape than would be possible otherwise. Some of my native plant friends treat me as a sort of heretic for promoting native plants outside their natural range, but I've learned to tune them out. Right or wrong, diversity is the key to a living landscape and joy is far too...

Silver aster - Symphyotrichum concolor Walter"s aster - S. walteri Fall is rapidly passing by right now and a great many of my wildflowers are going to seed. On one hand, this is what I've been waiting for all year as I'm collecting the seed I need for next year at Hawthorn Hill, but as the procession of nectar plants go to seed, my garden becomes ever more reliant on the few that bloom late in the year. Most of these are in the aster family - and most of my asters are what I call "true asters" - genus Symphyotrichum . Plants that bloom late take a big chance with pollinators. If the weather turns cold early, many of the bees, butterflies and the like will have gone dormant for the winter. By blooming after nearly everything else, though, they have the still-active pollinators all to themselves. There simply is no other game in town. My wildflower garden is back to normal these past few weeks. It is abuzz with bees and butterflies for the most part a...