Hi. I'm new to Daves Garden, I live in N.J. and have a small suburban garden, intensely planted from back to front. I use both native and non-native plants but prefer the natives. I'm trying for a small haven for birds, snakes, insects, butterflys, in a sea of green lawns.
I have a few small shade gardens, under 2 90' limbed up Norway Spruce. I'd like to add something evergreen and native throughout as a replacement for hellebores and for winter, very early spring interest. I have christmas fern, patridgeberry, leucothoe, heucheras [especially villosa], wood and creeping phlox, native pachysandra, tiarella, and oregon grape holly , hardy cyclamen, and arum italicum for winter interest. The beds get rather dry since the tree roots run for miles under everything. Any suggestions?
Pixie
evergreen natives?
a couple of creepers that come to mind are wintergreen and partidge berry (sorry, don't have the latin on me right now).
I think Wintergreen is a catchall name for a bunch of plants that produce a chemical called methyl salicylate or rather oil of wintergreen. Some are native and some are not. Some are rather weedy and at least one I can think of is invasive. Gaultheria procumbens might be one you might want to check into and G. hispidula would be another. Both are native to your region and neither one of them is invasive.
Partridge Berry is the common name of at least two plants I can think of but there may be more. Vaccinium vitis-idaea and Mitchella repens. Neither of which are evergreen out my way. Both are indigenous to North America but only one is native to your region and that would be M. repens which is a great plant for wildlife. Vaccinium vitis-idaea is also indigenous to some areas of Europe.
As far as Evergreens, you mentioned you preferred natives but I've just fallen in love with an evergreen Viburnum. You might want to look up V. x pragense. Very attractive. No records of it being invasive. But, it is not indigenous to NA. It will fruit for wildlife.
Here are a few others for you to consider that are evergreen and indigenous to NA-
Kalmia latifolia
Vaccinium macrocarpon
Leiophyllum buxifolium
Rhododendron maximum
Ilex glabra
If you would like suggestions on native Evergreen Trees, you might want to post a question here in the Tree forum-
http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/tas/all/
Here's a very interesting article for you and there is a link for contact and I bet they can provide you with lists of species to create habitat for your area-
http://www.newfarm.org/news/2004/1004/1026/nj_ban.shtml
Here's a nice link for you-
http://www.npsnj.org/photo_gallery.htm
I know a man who has restored a major portion of the Pine Barrens, if you are interested I could give you his phone number so you could pick his brain. Other than that, here's another link with other contact information for species that would be of benefit to wildlife-
http://www.nativehabitats.org/njnat.htm
Kathleen, thanks for the creeper suggestions. I love the partridgeberry I have, Mitchella repens, it is spreading over the areas planted with spring ephemerals to mark their spot. It's evergreen here but a slow spreader and fall leaves can sufficate it if not removed. The wintergreen I've tried, Gaultheria procombens, always dies. I suspect that watering makes the site more alkaline then it can tolerate?
Equilibrium, thanks for all the reference sites and information. I forgot about the N.J. Native plant site. I have a lot of research to do!
I'm much further north then the Pine Barrens and 1 zone colder. My dirt is heavy clay compared to their sandier soil. A few of the local native plant nurseries are in that area and I find it harder to establish plants grown there.
I did see a few references to Cliff-Green,Paxistima canyi, as a little used native evergreen. Has anyone tried this?
Pixie
If you really like Gaultheria procombens, try locating some right in your County. A local genotype will have a better chance of adapting.
I have not tried Paxistima canyi. If you go for that plant, please let me know how it works for you.
Equilibrium
I plan to mailorder the Paxistima canybi and will let you know how it does.
Pixie
What else are you ordering?
Equilibrium,
I found a chocolate heuchera villosa I want- the current fall blooming heuchera I have "Autumn Bride " is one of my favorite plants. It is the best native substitute I've found for hostas, in a protected spot it stays evergreen.
I ordered more tiarella wherryi
verbascum- although not native I read that hummingbirds use the
leaves for their nests
ceanothus americanus(nj tea)- also for the hummers, little flys that pollinate the flowers are food
I only have 1 hummer that comes late in the season and am trying to attract more.
Iris Cristata
Pachysandra procumbens
Vaccinium angustifoluim (low bush blueberry)
Ilex glabra
How about you? What's on your wish list?
Pixie
My list??? Oh that's scary. Most of what I ordered was for shade but there are a few prairie plants on my lists. High up on my list was Skunk Cabbage and I was gifted a few juvenile plants so I am very happy.
Yesterday I just received an order from Munchkin's Nursery for Squirrel Corn (Dicentra canadensis) and Fawn Lily (Erythronium albidum).
I've got a sizable order coming in from Bluestem Prairie for:
Blue Star (Amsonia tabernaemontana)
Goat's Beard (Aruncus dioicus)
Ebony Spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron)
Buffalo Grass (Buchloe dactyloides)
Illinois Bundleflower (Desmanthus illinoensis)
Buttonbush shrub (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
American Columbo (Frasera caroliniensis)
Indian physic (Gillenia stipulatus)
Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis)
Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)
Blue Sage (Salvia azurea)
Skullcap (Scutellaria incana)
Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepsis)
Hoary Vervain (Verbena Stricta)
Prairie Violet (Viola pedatifida)
Blue Star (Amsonia tabernaemontana
Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia)
Violet Bush Clover (Lespedeza violacea)
Indian Tobacco (Lobelia inflate)
Glade Mallow (Napea dioica)
Ditch Stonecrop (Penthorum sedoides)
Perideridia (Perideridia Americana)
I have American Ginseng roots, Black Cohosh, Blue Cohosh, Christmas Fern, Solomon's Seal, and Twinleaf from shadeflowers.com.
I have Bearberry, Whorled Milkweed, Bunch Berry , Flowering Spurge, Wine-Leaf Potentilla, Pasque Flower, Hairy Wood Chess, Sand-bracted Sedge, Pennsylvania Sedge, Bottlebrush Grass, Sweet Grass (Vanilla Grass), Snowberry, Shooting Star, Prairie Red Root, White Bottle Gentian, American Bugleweed, Partridgeberry, Salvia Azurea, Allium stellatum, and Bromus kalmi coming from Dragonfly Gardens.
I have no idea what I ordered from Prairie Nursery because they never include what I ordered in their e-mail confirmation but I generally order quite a bit from them. I guess it will be a surprise! I also ordered from the Botany Shop and a few other places but I can't get my hands on the lists of what I ordered from them to cut and paste here.
I know I will pick up more heuchera and tiarella. I've seen photos of 'Autumn Bride' but I don't have one. Extremely attractive plant. I really love both heuchera and tiarella plants. Also on my list is a road trip to a nursery out west to pick up some native conifer saplings. I need to create a windbreak and I additionally need more evergreens here for the birds. I'm a plantaholic and I'll probably buy more. I'm going to be very busy this year if even half of what I winter sowed derminates with all the plants I ordered that will need to get in the ground. Eek, forgot to mention I ordered about 20 Viburnum that will need to go in the ground and a couple hundred carnivorous plants (all indigenous to North America) and all of those will need to get potted up. Yikes, my rear is going to be dragging.
Last year I saw a hummer buzz through here. They're around, somewhere. After the leaves drop in fall I can see their ever so tiny nests in trees so there have got to be hundreds of them around here. Their nests are so easy to spot. I love hummers.
Equilibrum,
Oh, lucky you to see so many hummer nests.
That is indeed a long order list. I hope you have some help putting all the plants in place. I"ve read that the blue cohosh has beautiful leaves, have you seen it in person? How about the ebony spleenwort?
My garage is under construction to convert it to a art studio so the whole driveway is ripped up and mountains of dirt have fallen into the back beds. I can't look. I certainly should not be ordering more plants at this time, can't help myself. I don't think it will be finished until June.
Pixie
Hey Pixie, I had never been looking for hummer nests until I began getting frustrated that I didn't have any hummingbirds visiting me after I diligently put out fresh sugar water every other day for a few months. Then one day, I saw one lone hummingbird out front zipping around from plant to plant and I was really excited. I figured there weren't a lot around which was why I wasn't getting any visitors. Nope, I saw too many of those tiny nests once the leaves dropped from the trees so that theory was blown out the door. The problem here is the feral and stray cats. I need to relocate my hummingbird feeder to a safer location. I had it outside my kitchen window in hopes of getting close up peeks at them feeding but that happens to be all too close to a ledge as well as to a barrel I use for rain water and there was an unwelcome visitor hanging around that was evidently frightening the hummers. Maybe this year I will get hummers. Animal control came and trapped the feral cat so it's gone now.
I have two Blue Cohosh here already. Their leaves are rather interesting in that they remind me of penguin feet. Don't ask me why, they just do. The stems are bluish and often times the plant looks as if somebody stuck a sling shot in the ground. They're really neat plants. I also have Black Cohosh here. This may sound funny to you but I generally try to purchase my plants in threes so that I can try them in different areas of the property. Once I figure out where to plant them to best meet their cultural requirements, then I go back to purchase more. I don't have any Asplenium platyneuron here right now. I'll be trying that for the first time. The leaves on that were what attracted me to the plant. Here's a Yahoo search of some really neat images for the plant so take a look yourself and see what you think-
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=Asplenium+platyneuron&sm=Yahoo%21+Search&fr=FP-tab-img-t&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=Ebony+Spleenwort&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-img-t&x=wrt
I love the way the spores align on the fronds. Very attractive.
An art studio! Good for you! What kind of medium do you use? I'm not an artistic person, I envy you. Next construction that goes on here will be refinishing off a part of the basement for a pool table and then money allowing... a greenhouse for me. Some day.
I'd be willing to bet that feral cats have little to do with your lack of hummingbirds, Equil. Feral cats go after easier stuff, generally. Bullfrogs really like hummingbirds, though. From what I have been told, hummingbirds like really specific feeding areas that are clear of shrubbery or trees, and tall grass. They also are attracted to red or orange blossoms, but I see them on my monarda, and also my columbine blossoms every Spring. I only see them a couple/three times a year. Last fall was an exception, I saw 5 or 10 of them at work over the course of a couple of days...they were migrating and there had been a windstorm the day before.
Not feral cats (plural) any longer but one feral cat. That long haired feral main coon looking cat was staked out on the over turned garbage can that I had the RO/DI unit set up on. It hung out at Ray's house up the road in the morning and moved on over house by house until it ended up by my house in the afternoon. It had a routine. And that black and white short haired cat (not feral but owned by a neighbor who refuses to keep it inside) was staking out my birdfeeders from the area by the birdbath a few times a day. I had the little humming bird feeder right out the window where I have the first 4 cuttings set up to root. I know I told you when that lone hummer zipped through because I was really excited. With all the little tiny humming bird nests we can see around here, and with all the plants I have that they like, where are they all? I think I am going to move the feeder over by the atrium doors where there's no place for predators to get at it. I could still look out and see visitors by sitting at the kitchen table. My humming bird feeder has bright red flowers that they can sip out of. I don't have any red flowers here though. I do have some pink bloomers.
Dodecatheon,
The information on hummers, tall grass and open space, is a great help to me, thanks .
Bullfrogs, really?
Equilibrium,
Good luck with the hummingbirds this year. I have three native honeysuckle vines, lonicera sempervirens, 2 yellow and 1 red, that flower all season . They are what attract my lone hummer.- great plant. Thanks for the ebony spleenwort site. Nice plant and dry shade and evergreen -I can use it. I use a similar method buying 2 plants instead of 3.
I paint in acrylics on canvas and multi-media constructions mostly with paper based loosely on origami.
Hope the pool table and greenhouse happen soon.
I noticed that most of the posts on this forum, except for Kathleen, are from IL. You guys all know each other?
Pixie
This message was edited Mar 20, 2006 9:54 AM
Coincidence for the most part. Illinois is a big state and the population of Chicago is so large that it could probably be a State all by itself. Oddly enough, I am so far north in Illinois that I am closer distance wise to more people in WI than in IL but I don't know any of them either. Dodecatheon and I are personal friends but I'd like to meet others so I'm going to attend the Upper Midwest RU in Wisconsin this coming summer.
Do you have a digital camera? Are you able to share any photos of your artwork?
The pool table won't be happening too soon and the greenhouse will be long after that so I've got a wait ahead of me but that's ok.
Lonicer sempervirens are critter magnets.
Equilibrium,
I sent you a Dmail.
Pixie
Very nice! Very nice indeed. I don't know if you are aware of this but it is ok to share your work. There are garden art forums and you can post photos right in threads if you want.
Equilibrium,
Thanks for the suggestion, I did poke around the Garden Art forum and it looks like they have fun. I do have some garden art I could post if I figure out how to post a photo. My digital camera is not good for close ups.
Pixie
Has anyone walked you through posting a photo yet?
Equilibrium,
No. Where do I find out how to post photos?
Pixie
If you go to browse at the of a message you are writting you will be directed to post your photo. You go into your photo files and click on the one you want. It is an easy process.
I had been having a problem with them not being the right size when they were enlarged they were all pixilated. If you go the the link I posted you will see the directions that Karen wrote to walk me through the process of resizing the photos. The post with the directions is from March 1
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/579216/
Pauline
If you have trouble following Karen's directions, D-Mail me and I will just have you call me or I can call you and we'll figure it out to get you posting photos.
Lauren
Ok I"m going to try a photo of the front of the house from last year
Pixie
Bravo!
Great front yard! Plantings right to the curb! You gotta love it!
I'll try it again without help at this end. Same view, another season.
Pixie
Thanks Pauline and Equilibrium,that was painless.
Pixie
Now that I have the winter view of the front boulevard strip posted I'd like to ask what native evergreen shrubs I can add between the grasses. This would be to satisfy the lawn police who complain about the late winter look of the front. I've tried ilex glabra 2x. the first I lost, the second one was run over. I noticed a hardy cultivar Densa is being offered. Should I try again or does anyone have a better suggestion. The strip is heavily planted, especially for the fall, Grasses,asters, black-susan,sedum Autumn joy, penstemon Husker Red, and salvia.
Pixie
Your photograph is too dark for me. Would you take another photo in the afternoon so I can please get a better peek. Off the top of my head I would still tell you to consider Kalmia latifolia and Viburnum x pragense.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=Kalmia%20latifolia&fr=FP-tab-web-t&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=Viburnum+pragense&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t&x=wrt
Here's another blurb on Kalmia latifolia-
http://waddell.ci.manchester.ct.us/id_kalmia.html
Pixie-glad you got the photo process down, it is fun isn't it?
I can't see the winter one very well either, but I am not up on evergreens as a matter of fact I am going to watch to see what answers you get.
Pauline
OK I took a few more photos today. The only problem is I cut back the grasses and artifically created a temporary 5 bundle dried grass garden to hold the space and prevent people from walking through. There were 3 grasses growing there- 2 on the right 1 onthe left of the entry path. I thought I'd a do a design of grass, evergreen, grass, evergreen, grass.
Pauline,
Yeh, it is fun.
Pixie
Here's a section ,closer.
Pixie
That was a much better photo. I'm going to stick with the Kalmia for a little bit of height up in closer to the home and I still like that Viburnum x pragense for tht area by the grasses.
Equilibrium,
I'd love to replace the foundation Yew with the Kalmia, but what a job to get those out. I really cut them back last year and was thinking of training them into a interesting topiary. I see you are determined I get the Viburnum. LOL. I don't know if it's not too big for the street. I need to be able to keep them at 3'. It looks like it's much bigger. Quite pretty though. I'll try to see one in person at a nursery.
Thanks Pixie
Ya know, I have no idea how tall that x pragense gets or if you can prune them or anything. I received mine as a gift from Viburnum Valley and it's just a baby right now. I have it tucked in my garage because the ground is frozen here and I can't plant it so every day I look at it and the leaves are so incredibly interesting that I just want everyone to have one. The texture of them and just everything about them is wonderful. This is just a thought but, why don't you go over to the Trees and Shrubs forum and post this question over there. There are some people who collect Evergreens and I'm thinking that conifers50, conifers, and Resin are going to be able to answer your question and then there are about 6 people over there who are horticulturists and landscape designers who can probably help too. Come to think of it, Leftwood does some pretty incredible things with rock gardens. Just tell them you would really prefer a native plant and they'll fix you up. And, don't let the testosterone over there scare you away... they're just being silly.
Exaggeration:
Hey, it's not like us testosterone-laden types don't get out much, and can't see that we're being besmirched on other forums. Silly, eh? Just you wait, Enry Iggins, just you wait!
WP:
I've been known to show up here in the estrogen-saturated forum, but I don't last long before I have to run for the tall warm season native grasses, with the likes of Soferdig, Guy, and Decumbent (and the rest of the upper midwest crowd). We're not ALL from IL, but they have lots more to say than us meek folk from KY.
The Viburnum x pragense is a great plant, but way too big for the 3' slot between sidewalk and curb with your grasses. You are right; it'll want to reach 10'+ tall and ¾'s as wide. There is probably no native evergreen that is narrow enough for that spot that will also discourage traffic and do well in heavier clay. That said, you might consider a non-native but non-invasive evergreen instead that will fit your conditions, or a non-evergreen native shrub that fits the spot and gives winter interest for your nosy lawn gendarmes.
If you don't want to try one of the diminutive Ilex glabra again, then other broadleaf evergreens which would fit include something like a Buxus, Ilex crenata, or Viburnum x 'Conoy'.
Leaving the evergreens, maybe a persistent fruited deciduous shrub might work. Say... a little winterberry like Ilex verticillata 'Red Sprite' or a coralberry clone ( Symphoricarpos orbiculatus)?
The range of narrow and/or dwarf conifers is quite large. I would defer to the rabid crowd over at Trees/Shrubs to rain recommendations in this genre.
What grass is it that you have there already? I want to say one of the Panicum types, but I also want to hear Exhortation scream.
Thanks Viburnum Valley, I'll look at the 3 evergreens and the 2 fruited deciduous shrubs you suggested. I'll also take a chance on the trees/shrub site if I determine I need more help with an evergreen. The grass I have in front is a combination of Panicum virgatum(Heavy Metal) and a bit of Sorghastrum nutans. Why will Exhortation scream? Switch grass is native to N.J.
Your post in the other garden site helped me decide to join Daves Garden.
Pixie
Guilty as charged, I guess. Glad you have come here. Wonder what the winsome words were?
I could see mostly switchgrass in the pics, but there was an odd long stem and seedhead that looked a little Miscanthus-ish. That must've been the Sorghastrum nutans; sorry to have cast doubting eyes your way.
One can just mention words like Albizia, Pyrus, Euonymus and her radar replete with heat-seeking missiles goes off.
Here I was digging a few holes and out watching my Y chromosomes destroying a remote controlled helicopter and I come back and someone is accusing poor old woodlandpixie of planting Miscanthus? Gosh! What's this world coming to! A couple comments, I love Coralberry but that is capable of creating thickets isn't it? I realize it can't go far with the barriers of the sidewalk and the road to contain it but I can't help wonder if it might not try to crowd out her other plantings. Nice height though at around 3'-4' max. In that vein, what about Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) or is that suckering too? Might be, same family. Why is Fothergilla screaming out to me right now?
So, the x pragense gets 10' tall! Yay!
Equilibrium,
I love fothergilla, even it's elegant winter silhouette. Rechecked it's requirements and found it's the large major, not the smaller gardenii that can take drier sites. Darn!
It seems so silly to agonize over what's planted on the sidewalk strip but I have an OCD neighbor who turns me in all the time. I laughingly say to other gardeners you might have deer , but I have BOB. Of course at one time I built a bamboo arbor on that strip covered it with vines and had cardinals nesting there. Now that truly drove him crazy. I ended up in court but with the backing of the local garden club and neighbors won.
Extreme gardening- no known cure. Actually that whole front garden was planted, in part, to divert BOB from removing plants, mulch edging, fencing, he didn't like from my yard. I thought I'd let him play in the street. Of course then I became attached to those plants. Now we're at a stand off, the police told him not to touch anything on my property and he just rakes the gutter in the street in front of my house until something "falls" in the street . He is retired now and spends most of his time raking the whole neighborhood. Isn't life strange.
Pixie
I've got some indigenous ideas for short thorny plants, or plants with irritating components to their foliage. These often work well to discourage incorrect behaviors.
Maybe you've got the Big Old Buffoon in line enough already, that you don't need to ratchet up.
Aralia, Zanthoxylum, Gleditsia, Rubus, Toxicodendron all come to mind...