Celestial Lily - Nemastylis floridana

The celestial lily (Nemastylis floridana) is visually very similar to its close cousin, Bartram's ixia (Calydorea caelestina). In fact, another common name for this plant is fall-flowering ixia. They are both very rare endemics, members of the iris family, and produce stunning large deep-blue flowers.

The celestial lily is more widespread and occurs over much of the eastern peninsula to south Florida. A few populations also have been recorded in central Florida and in the central west coast. Despite this, it is listed as a state Endangered species.

Celestial lilies occur in open sunny wetlands; particularly wet pinelands and marshes. Although they have some drought tolerance, they prefer wet conditions during the summer and early fall and will only prosper and bloom when given them.

Celestial lilies bloom in the fall and, like Bartram's ixia, the flowers open for only a few hours. But, in opposition to the ixia, the blooms open in late afternoon. Celestial lilies produce one flower at a time, but each one opens about 3pm and lasts only until about 5pm. If you snooze, you lose and you must then wait until the next bud is formed. A well-grown specimen may produce multiple flower stalks and bloom over several weeks in late summer or early fall.

These too are connoiseur plants. Hawthorn Hill has grown them now for two years with some success. Provide them plenty of sun, a good fertile soil, and plenty of summer moisture. Given this, you will love this plant.

Our plants were purchased from Woodlanders; a wonderful source of quality native plants for the south. We do not at this time expect to proppagate this species at Hawthorn Hill.

Bartram's Ixia - Calydorea caelestina

Bartram's ixia is a very rare and beautiful member of the iris family; found only in 7 counties in northeast Florida and nowhere else. In these counties, it occurs in seasonally wet open flatwoods and prairies. Likely always a rare plant (and listed as a state Endangered species), surveying for Bartram's ixia is exacerbated by the fact that it is very difficult to notice when not in bloom and individual flowers only open in the early morning for 2-3 hours before closing. If you are not there to witness these spectacular blooms during this time, the plant fades back into obscurity.

Named for William Bartram who first described this plant in his famous book Travels in the late 1700's, ixias have long fascinated botanists and the few native plant gardeners fortunate enough to have grown them successfully. Though quite rare in nature, it has been grown and offered by native plant nurseries in limited numbers for years.

Bartram's ixia requires good sun and sufficient moisture to prosper. In nature, it responds to frequent fire because this opens the forest floor and canopy to more sunlight and the ash acts as a fertilizer. In the landscape, provide your ixias with good soil and an occasional dose of diluted fertilizer.

Bartram's ixia is deciduous. New leaves emerge in February and are fully formed by March. These leaves are stiff, narrow, and stand about 6-8 inches tall. By April, the shoots that will produce the first flowers become obvious. These come off the side of the main stem. Flower buds do not become obvious until late afternoon the day before blooming and only one flower is produced from any single shoot per day.

Flowers open at sunrise. If you get up early enough, you can catch the swollen buds before they open, but be prepared to need a flashlight to see them. As the sun catches the horizon, the flower buds open and the spectacular deep blue flowers open. These are 6-petaled and nearly 3 inches across. Well-grown specimens may have multiple flower shoots, but most commonly the plants have only one flower at any one time. The flowers remain in good condition for about two hours and then noticeably start to fade. Within three hours or so (depending on cloudiness), the flowers will have folded completely and the seed capsules will begin to form. Bartram's ixia may produce more then 3 flower shoots during the blooming season, however, and repeat this process with each. Our plants bloom into early July.

Bartram's ixia is definitely a connoisseur plant. If you work in the morning, you may never see it flower. But, if are able to catch its wonderful flowers while they are open, this is a wildflower with few rivals.

Hawthorn Hill has been growing Bartram's ixia for 2 years now and hopes to propagate plants from the seed we have collected from them. Check with us from time to time if you are interested: (727) 470-9130.

Ghloson's blazing star - Liatris gholsoni

Named for one of Florida's most respected modern botanists, Angus Gholson, Liatris gholsoni is only recently described as a new species of blazing star and is quite rare. At first glance, it appears identical to the common graceful blazing star (L. gracilis), but there are stark differences in the way the leaves come off the main stem, the length of the flower stalk, and the "hairs" on the stem and leaves.

Gholson's blazing star only occurs in the deep sandy ridges around Torreya State Park in extreme north Florida, just west of Tallahassee. As such, it joins a number of other very rare plants found only in this region of the state. It is listed as a state Endangered species not because it is uncommon in its natural range, but because its natural distribution is so restricted.

Like nearly all blazing stars, Gholson's is deciduous. It makes its appearance in early spring as a basal rosette of thin leaves, but starts its upward growth almost immediately. Mature specimens eventually reach 3 feet tall or more before flowering in early fall.

Gholson's blazing star produces a great many flower buds along its main stalk, but the flowers are small and each bud produces only a few flowers. These buds are noticeably held away from the main stem by stalks - quite similar to that of the graceful blazing star. Like most species in this genus, Gholson's blooms in early fall and the flowers attract butterflies, small bees, and a number of other pollinators.

Although restricted in its natural range, we have grown this species in our Pinellas County landscape for several years with great success. Our plants are propagated from seed each year from these plants, and we have a limited number each year to share with other blazing star enthusiasts.

Give this species good drainage and plenty of sun. It will do well with other blazing stars and in a mixed wildflower planting of other sandhill or scrub species.

Pink Prairie Clover - Dalea carnea

Also known as "whitetassels", pink prairie clover occurs in one of three distinct varieties across much of Florida and parts of the lower southeastern United States. Two of the varieties, D. carnea var. gracilis and var. alba, have white flowers and give rise to the other common name. The more widespread variety, D. carnea var. carnea, however, is decidely pink and is the reason for its Latin name.

Pink prairie clover is a component of open pineland flatwoods and other mesic habitats. Unlike other Florida prairie clovers, it does not require deep sandy soils and excellent drainage to survive. It tolerates occcasional wet soils just fine, but is also very drought tolerant once established. Just give it sunshine for at least half the day.

Pink prairie clover is not erect like its Florida cousins either. It develops long branches of the central stem that tend to sprawl just above the ground in all directions. As such, it rarely stands more than 8 inches tall, but may spread out several feet in all directions. Because of this growth form, it makes a great ground cover. Just don't plant individual specimens closer than 3 feet apart.

New growth off the main stem begins in early spring and the new flower buds become obvious by late June or early July. Flowering occurs about a month later and lasts for nearly a month more. In full bloom, pink prairie clover is awash in lavender-pink flower heads and makes a spectacular sight. Each of the cylindrical heads is composed of 20 flowers or more, and these attract mostly bees and some butterflies. Prairie clovers also are one of several food plants of the southern dogface butterly, but it is not recorded as using this species.

Use pink prairie clover in a mixed wildflower setting. Many taller species will grow up through its thin sprawling branches so it can be planted with compatible willdflowers such as blazing stars and black-eyed susans.

Hawthorn Hill has been growing this prairie clover for several years from plants we initially grew from seed and we are very pleased to be able to offer a few specimens each year to the public. This is not a plant we produce in quantity so let us know early if you are interested.

Summer Farewell - Dalea pinnata

Summer farewell (Dalea pinnata) is a member of the prairie clover genus and a wonderful addition to a wildflower garden. Native to much of the northern two-thirds of Florida, summer farewell also occurs in Georgia and the two Carolinas. Throughout this range, it is native to sandy upland habitats and open sunny conditions.

The Latin name is derived from its finely pinnate leaves. These are a rich green in color and help make this plant attractive even when it is not in bloom. Summer farewell makes its appearance in early spring. The stems are reddish and these eventually reach 2-3 feet in height before the plant blooms in late fall. Many dozens of bright red flower buds are formed on the tips of the stems and these eventually burst open to create a display of pure white flowers. Each rounded bud may contain over 30 flowers and they remain in bloom for several weeks. Eventually the flowers fade, but the ripened seeds produce a feathery appendage that is silvery grey and attractive in its own right.

Summer farewell needs a good sunny location and excellent drainage to prosper in the wildflower garden. If you can provide this, plant it in clusters of at least 5. This is a plant that might get lost in a mixed planting if not planted in groups. Because of its height, place it in the middle of the planting - not in the very front, but not in the back where its subtle form and color cannot be easily observed.

Hawthorn Hill is excited to have this beautiful wildflower available to wildflower enthusiasts. After several years of searching, we found a good local seed source that provided us the plants we now grown in our garden and collect from. Plants take 2 years to bloom from seed so our seedlings will not bloom until fall 2010.

Prairie Clovers - Dalea spp.

When I lived in the Midwest (a great many years ago, now), I was always intrigued by the prairie clovers, genus Petalostemon, that dotted the tall grass prairies with their color and fine-textured foliage. Today, those wonderful species have been combined with the 3 native Florida species and all of them are included in the genus Dalea.

Prairie clovers are members of the legume family. They thrive here in poor soils and serve to improve them by fixing atmospheric nitrogen through a complex process that ultimately returns it to the soil. Because of this, they are valuable members of a landscape planting without consideration of their other attributes.

But it is precisely these other attributes that make them something everyone takes notice of in the landscape. Our 3 prairie clovers are quite different from each other in growth form and habitat needs. The common pink prairie clover (Dalea carnea) is rather prostrate and spreads outward from its central stem. Although it rarely stands taller than 1 foot, a mature specimen may cover an area 3-5 feet wide in diameter. Scrub prairie clover (D. feayi) and summer farewell (D. pinnata) are stiffly erect in growth form, standing several feet tall and rarely more than one foot in circumference.

The flowers occur in globose heads, each with several dozen or more individual flowers. Because all of the flowers in a head tend to open at the same time, they are especially showy. Many heads tend to bloom simultaneously and the overall flowering season lasts for several weeks. These blooms attract butterflies and are specially attractive to bees and other similar pollinators.

The foliage of all three species is also fairly similar. The tiny leaves are finely dissected and almost fern-like. In Florida, prairie clovers are tardily deciduous. They re-emerge quickly in the spring and make handsome foliage plants by early summer. Florida's prairie clovers require full sun to reach their best potential.

Florida's prairie clovers have not generally been propagated by nurseries associated with the Association of Florida Native Nurseries (AFNN), but Hawthorn Hill is making all of them available. We grow limited numbers of each species in our Pinellas County landscape and we hope that others will recognize their value to the mixed wildflower garden.

Dalea carnea - Pink prairie clover is a native of flatwoods and prairie habitats where it must contend with seasonal drought and flooding. It is a rather sprawling species that blooms in early summer. As the Latin name suggests, its flowers are a soft pink in color.

Dalea feayi - Scrub prairie clover occurs in the deep, well-drained sands of the Florida scrub. Here, it is an erect species that rarely stands more than 2 feet tall. In the early fall, these plants are covered by bright pink flowers.

Dalea pinnata - Summer farewell is also a plant of well-drained sandy soils, but is found in a wider variety of habitat types. As the name implies, summer farewell blooms in late fall and is one of the last wildflowers to do so. Although the flowers themselves are white, the buds are bright red and the ripened seeds are silvery grey before they disperse.

Softhair Coneflower

The softhair coneflower (Rudbeckia mollis) is an easy to grow member of the black-eyed susan genus. Native to a rather broad range of north and central Florida, this species has done well for us in Pinellas County over the past several years.

Softhair coneflower is relatively drought tolerant and will thrive in most sunny settings in the typical Florida landscape. Given too much shade, it will become leggy and susceptible to fungal and insect pests. It has fared best in our yard in locations where it gets some protection from the mid-day sun, but plenty of morning and late afternoon rays. One established, it has required no more water than any of the other dry flatwoods and sandhill species it is planted with.

Use softhair coneflower in small groupings near the back of the planting area. In such a setting, it puts on a spectacular display during the late spring and early summer months. A well-grown specimen will reach 4-5 feet tall, and at this height it may have more than 20 flowers at any one time.

The flowers are rather typical black-eyed susan blooms, but the ray petals are flatter and broader than its common cousin and the individual flowers are several inches across. After blooming, most individuals persish. They compensate by producing very large numbers of seed. Plants that we have left alone have spawned many seedlings nearby. You can also collect the seed from the dry heads and propagate it yourself in shallow trays with a good potting soil.

Hawthorn Hill has been propagating this species in this way now for two years with great success.