Latin for Gardeners: December 2019

Hello Master Gardeners and Watershed Stewards!

It has been another fun year spent learning, reading, studying, photographing and planting Maryland’s native plants.  I’ve learned a lot and I hope you have too.

It’s now time to test your knowledge of the scientific name of the native plants we’ve discussed over the past year.  It’s always best to use the Latin names of plants when you recommend them to friends and the public – there’s only one Latin name for a plant so it avoids confusion and ensures people select the right plant when shopping at nurseries.

The first group of photos show the plants in their winter dress (except one). Can you still recognize them?  Can you guess which photo was taken in May? I’ve given you a few hints but don’t feel bad if you can’t place them all – Latin is not an easy language.  Good luck, or as they say in Latin, “Fortuna!”

Match the number of each plant in winter to the letter of each Latin binomial labeled in the photos of bloom time below.

~ Alison Milligan – Mstr. Gardener/Mstr. Naturalist/Mstr. Watershed Steward

Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)

aligmilligan@gmail.com

Latin for Gardeners: November 2019

November’s Native Maryland Plant 
Helianthus augustifolius L.
(hee-lee-AN-thus an-guss-tih-FOE-lee-uss)
Common Name: Swamp Sunflower / Narrowleaf Sunflower

Helianthus augustifolius is one of the last flowers of the year to bloom in my garden.  It began blooming in early-September and shows no signs of stopping. Planted in a spacious sunny area, protected from the wind, I’ve been watching its sturdy, narrow pubescent stems quickly grow as first the Sweet Pepperbush(Clethra alnifolia), then the Spotted Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum) and finally the Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), lost their blooms. H. augustifolius didn’t show any sign of flowering (no buds) until well into August – I began wondering, did I make a mistake on my planting chart, is this the right plant?  Well, I worried for no reason.  And, once it began blooming it created dense clouds of yellow that could be seen from across the yard!  The pollinators eventually migrated from the waning summer phlox and have been enjoying the nectar-rich flowers of H. augustifolius for weeks.

When people visit my garden, I often ask them to ‘look closer’ at a flower to appreciate its complex structure or to ‘lean in’ to smell its subtle scent.  When it comes to Helianthus augustifolius I recommend they touch its conspicuously narrow leaves, they are unusually thick and leathery and not prone to insect damage.  When growing for pollinators its best to have plants that provide food well into fall; planting Narrowleaf Sunflower will do this, and its incredibly bright yellow flowers will extend the sunny days in your garden, even as the skies turn gray. That’s reason enough to give it a try!  Plant in a moist sunny area protected from wind to avoid staking.

~ Alison Milligan – Mstr. Gardener/Mstr. Naturalist/Mstr. Watershed Steward

Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)

aligmilligan@gmail.com

Latin for Gardeners: September 2019

September’s Native Maryland Plant 
Campanulastrum americanum
L. (kum-PAN-you-luh-strum uh-mair-ih-KAY-num)
Common Name: American or tall bellflower

My birthday is this month, and the birthstone in September is sapphire which can be many colors but is usually associated with blue, very close to the color of Campanulastrum americanum – my new favorite plant.  When it’s your birthday you often do a bit of reflection on where you’ve been and how things are going:  Health okay? Keeping your mind busy? Spending quality time with family and friends? 

In mid-April, I visited my good friend Judy Fulton at her home.  Judy was kind enough to give me some Lindera benzoin (spicebush) saplings for my community.  As I was leaving her house and walking to my truck she said, “Wait a minute Alison”, she nonchalantly reached down and gently pulled a 4” plant from the ground and handed it to me.  “This is one of my favorite’s”, she said, “I think you’ll like it too.” I thought to myself “that’s nice Judy”, but for those of you who know Judy Fulton you know she loves native plants - seemingly all native plants - so she could have just handed me a Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan).   I went home and busied myself planting the saplings, I almost forgot about this mystery plant; it wasn’t until early May that I made a home for it in my garden.

Getting back to sapphire:  sapphire is formed from the mineral corundum, normally drab and grey - also the second hardest mineral after diamond.  This little 4” plant Judy handed me, seemed kind of like corundum to me (even a conundrum) – not much to look at, at least not in April. Like corundum, however, this plant turns out to be a sapphire in the garden – a real stunner - when it’s in its gem form; (in June-August, maybe even September if I’m lucky). The light blue, star-shaped flowers appear in clusters or solitary in the axils of the upper lance-shaped leaves.  And oh, just look at that style with its three-lobed stigma!

Campanulastrum americanum is a biennial (blooms in its second year then dies), but will easily remain in a garden by self-seeding.  I’ve already weeded around my specimen hoping it reseeds aplenty so I can enjoy its beauty for many years to come.

As my birthday nears, I know I have a multitude of people and things to be grateful for; Campanulastrum americanum and Judy Fulton are both high on that list.

Genus campana comes from Latin and means “bell” in reference to the bell-shaped flowers.  Species means from America, North or South. NOTE: This plant was previously known as Campanula americana L. but was reassigned to its own genus because of the unique structure of the flowers.

~ Alison Milligan – Mstr. Gardener/Mstr. Naturalist/Mstr. Watershed Steward

Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)

aligmilligan@gmail.com