New Jersey Tea - Ceanothus americanus

New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus) is another rather common inhabitant of Florida's sandhill and open well-drained woodland habitats and occurs throughout much of the state except the extreme southern counties. It is also found throughout much of eastern North America including all of Canada east of the Rockies.

Named for the fact that both the native peoples and the early settlers made a tea from its roots (drank to relieve toothache, digestive problems, asthma, bronchitis, whooping cough, spleen pain and as a sedative ), the root is astringent due to its tannin content and contains an alkaloid that lowers blood pressure. As one might imagine with this many reported uses, there is some well-developed folklore surrounding this plant.

New Jersey tea also is renowned for use in the butterfly garden. Nearly every book or article written on the topic for the Northeast, Midwest, or Mid-south includes this plant as an ideal nectar source.

Despite this notoriety, New Jersey tea is not available currently from Florida native nursery growers. We are hoping to correct this omission here at Hawthorn Hill, but we are still in the experimental stage with our propagation program.

New Jersey tea is a deciduous shrub that rarely stands taller than 3 feet. It is nearly as round as it is tall. The leaves are a rich green in color, decidely arrow-shaped, with teeth along the leaf margins. What makes it truly attractive, however, are the snow-white blooms that cover the top of the plant for about a month each spring. Though the individual bloom is tiny, they occur in heads nearly 1 inch across and hundreds of these flower heads may bloom simultaneously.

New Jersey tea is an attractive nectar source for a host of small butterflies. It is also the host plant for the gray scrub-hairstreak as well as the mottled duskywing skipper.
In a landscape, New Jersey tea is rather easy to grow and forgiving of most settings except poor drainage. Plant it in the front half of the planting bed and give it plenty of sun.

Downy Phlox - Phlox pilosa

Downy phlox (Phlox pilosa) is a rather common inhabitant of sandhill and other well-drained habitats throughout the northern half of Florida. Although it is reported as far south as Pinellas County, I have never seen it here naturally and it is likely extirpated. Perhaps we can find someone interested in reintroducing it once more from the stock we have at Hawthorn Hill...

Phlox has always been a popular wildflower for the garden and several species are extensively used in gardens to our north. The beautiful woodland phlox (P. divaricata) has received some attention from Florida gardeners, but it is only hardy when given somewhat moderate growing conditions - including partial sun.

Downy phlox, however, thrives with neglect and growing conditions that would kill woodland phlox in a heartbeat. Because of this, we are extremely excited to have this species available to wildflower gardeners. There is much to admire about this species. For one, it blooms from spring through fall. For another, it is tough and perennial.
Downy phlox makes its appearance in early spring and begins to bloom shortly afterwards. This is a rather diminutive species. Although well-grown specimens will have multiple stems, all of them tend to be no taller than 12" in height; rarely to 18". Individual plants may become 12 inches in diameter. The stems are thin and the leaves also are thin and slightly "hairy"; hence the common name.

Downy phlox comes in a variety of colors; from white and light lavendar to deep pink. The flowers are about half an inch in diameter and normally multiple flowers per flower head are open on any one day. Phlox flowers are attractive to butterflies, especially. Pollinated flowers soon ripen into seed capsules and ripe seed capsules "explode" and send their seeds feet away from the parent plants. If you wish to collect the seed of your plants, do so early in the morning when the capsules turn golden and put them in a paper bag to fully ripen. But, close the top to keep the seeds inside after the capsules dehisce.

Grow downy phlox in full sun to half-day sun and in sandy well-drained soil. Because individual plants are small in stature, plant them in clusters near the front of the planting area. Otherwise, they will be more difficult to admire.

Hawthorn Hill has had great success with this species and we finally have plants for sale. Contact us if you are interested.

Appalachian blazing star - Liatris squarrulosa

Appalachian or southern blazing star (Liatris squarrulosa) is quite rare in Florida - occurring in only Gadsden and Okaloosa Counties in the panhandle. It is rather common, however, to much of the Southeast and Midwest in well-drained soils and open, sunny habitats. Throughout its range it is a rather variable species.

This is another fall-blooming blazing star and in our gardens at Hawthorn Hill it begins in late Auguest and continues into September. The buds are large and contain a great many light lavender flowers. They are enclosed in scaly bracts.

Appalachian blazing star is also rather tall. By blooming season, the wand-like flower stalk is 3-4 feet tall. The coarse and twisted leaves go all the way to the top of the stalk and partially hide the developing buds.

Like others in this genus, it is deciduous. The basal leaves develop in early spring, but it begins to elongate shortly thereafter. The leaves and stems are not "hairy", but they are a bit "scurfy".

We are currently experimenting with this species at Hawthorn Hill and trying to learn more about what it needs to prosper here in Florida landscapes. This is a species that has never been offered before in Florida and we would like to change that someday. We are expecting a good seed crop this year and seedlings in 2010. If you are interested in this beautiful blazing star, check back with us next spring to see how we did.

Fringed campion - Silene catesbaei (syn. S. polypetala)

Fringed campion (Silene catesbaei) is another rare member of the Silene genus in Florida, but unlike the royal catchfly, fringed campion is listed as an endangered species by both the state and federal government. This is because it is a truly rare species everywhere; occurring in only 4 counties naturally in Georgia and 2 in Florida. And, nowhere is it common or well protected.

Fringed campion is a wildflower of the understories of rich, slightly alkaline, deciduous forest soils. Here, it is a classic spring-blooming wildflower - unfurling its pale pink blossoms before the canopy closes over. Flowering lasts for several weeks and then the plants retire to basic obscurity in the forest floor for the rest of the year.

It is the spring blooms that make this wildflower something to behold. Each flower is more than 1 inch across and pale pink. The ends of each petal are fringed; giving it its common name. During the season, each plant will have numerous flowers open at any one time. The flowers are held close to the ground. We are still trying to learn what its major pollinators are.

Fringed campion is a low-growing ground cover. Each plant is anchored by a tap root and creeps outwards about a foot in each direction. The foliage is not easy to detect when the plants are not in bloom, but makes a wonderful ground cover in a deciduous woodland wildflower garden.

We have been experimenting with this wonderful wildflower in our gardens at Hawthorn Hill for about a year. We have a lot left to learn before we can start to propagate it and offer it to more homeowners. If you want to give it a try yourself until then, it is sometimes available from other Florida nurseries.

Royal Catchfly - Silene regia

Royal catchfly or royal firepink (Silene regia) is extremely rare in Florida and found only in Jackson County near the Georgia border. Despite its rarity here, it is not currently listed in Florida; perhaps because it is more abundant in states just to the north of us and throughout the Mideast and Mid-south.

Royal catchfly is a breath-taking site in full bloom. The rich crimson-red flowers are held on 2-3 foot flower stalks and command attention to themselves. Flowering occurs in late summer to early fall and lasts for several weeks.

Royal catchfly is a hummingbird-pollinated wildflower. Although butterflies and bees sometimes attempt to nectar from it, it is a classic for hummingbirds. The blooms are held at right angles from the main stem, high enough to be easily accessed and uncluttered by the foliage.

For most of the year, this species occurs unobtrusively as a basal rosette of elliptical leaves. It is not especially noticeable at this stage and goes largely unnoticed in a wildflower garden setting at this time. The flower stalks start to appear about 2-3 weeks before blooming.

This is a tough plant to grow in much of Florida. To be successful for more than a single season, it needs to be planted in rather rich forest soil in partly sunny conditions and where it is unlikely to get too dry. If you have such a location, or wish to try it long-term in a large landscape pot, this is a species well worth adding.

Currently, we are still experimenting with this species here at Hawthorn Hill. We have killed a few specimens over the past few years, but are learning from our mistakes. Eventually, we hope to add this to our regular offerings. Until then, you can find royal catchfly offered by a very few Florida nurseries and a number of out-of-state sources. Good luck.

Cutleaf Coneflower - Rudbeckia laciniata

Cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) is one of the most unique of Florida's black-eyed susans. While it is found naturally in only 6 Florida counties (all in north Florida), it is found in nearly every state in the lower 48 and in nearly every province of Canada, except the extreme north. Despite its greatly restricted range in Florida, we have had good success growing it in our Pinellas County landscape here at Hawthorn Hill and it seems to be much more adaptable than might be otherwise indicated.

Cutleaf coneflower is native to moist sites and is not especially adaptable to drier conditions in Florida. If given sufficient soil moisture, it can be grown in full sun to partly sunny areas with good results. This species is rather robust. Individual plants may grow as much as 4 feet wide and their flower stalks may reach 4-5 feet in height.

Flowering occurs in summer to very early fall; generally from mid-August to September. The flowers are unique among Florida black-eyed susans as the centers are green instead of dark brown. The large blooms with their long, bright-yellow ray petals and the green disc flowers put on a spectacular show that lends real interest to any wildflower planting.

Cutleaf coneflower is a perennial. It spends its winter as a basal rosette of large rich-green leaves (in areas where severe freezes are uncommon) that look something like an extremely large version of Italian parsley. As new growth is added in the spring, these basal leaves are extremely attractive. We grow this species almost as much for its foliage and the interest this adds to our plantings as we do for the wonderful summer flowers.

Use this plant in mass for full effect. Because it is large, plant individuals at least 3 feet apart and somewhere in the center of your overall planting area. Let it go to seed and then prune the old flower heads so that the basal leaves once again become a focal point.

Well-established specimens in moist soil are reputed to sucker in other parts of its range. We have not seen that yet in our plantings and it may be that our conditions, outside of its natural range, limit this trait. We have grown cutleaf coneflower at Hawthorn Hill for several years and find it extremely easy to propagate from untreated seed. this is one species we nearly always have available and we encourage you to give it a try - if you have a site with ample moisture.

Garber's Blazing Star - Liatris garberi

Garber's blazing star (Liatris garberi) is restricted nationally to the southern half of the Florida peninsula, though it also occurs in the Bahamas. This is a species of moist open habitats and it is most common in the understory of wet flatwoods.

Garber's blazing star shares many of the characteristics of the genus. It overwinters underground and re-emerges in the spring as a basal rosette of grasslike leaves. In the early summer, it begins to send its flower stalk upward. Blooming occurs in late August and early September on flower stalks that rarely stand taller than 2 feet. The stems are slightly "hairy" and the flower buds are held away from the main stem by short stalks. Each bud contains less than 10 rich lavender flowers.

What distinguishes Garber's blazing star from others is its early blooming time, its adaptation to moist soils, and its finger-like corm. While other blazing stars have rounded corms that look like a typical bulb, Garber's is decidedly finger-like with at least three "fingers"; sometimes more.

Garber's blazing star is well-behaved in the garden. Because of its shorter stature, it is not prone to falling over like many of the taller species. Its small size allows it to fit nearly anywhere, but it is best used near the front of the planting bed or near walking trails so it can be easily admired.

Hawthorn Hill has recently added this species to its collection of Florida blazing stars and is propagating it for the homeowner market. Let us know if you are interested.