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| Horticultural FAQ |
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Here are some of the common questions asked of the Horticulturist
at Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve. If you don't find the
answer to your question here, please check the Native Plant
Info Sheets,Invasive Plant Info Sheets and other relevant
areas of our
website. If you still have a question, click here to submit
a question to the Horticulturist. (For general questions
about the Preserve, click
here to go to Frequently Asked Questions.)
Q. I'm interested
in planting a native groundcover in
the shade that looks great all summer. We want to plant
some of it in the front yard, so it needs to be relatively
low and have a neat growing habit. Do you have any suggestions?
Do you sell them?
A. There are several
excellent choices. One is the native pachysandra, also known
as Allegheny spurge. (Pachysandra procumbens). This
plant is evergreen and looks somewhat similar to the non-native
Japanese species that is commonly planted in home landscapes.
The native pachysandra is more difficult to find at retail
nurseries, unless they specialize in natives, but once you
have some, it's not difficult to propagate if you want more.
Another choice would be creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera).
This groundcover also is evergreen, and blooms in the spring
with blue, pink or white flower. Consider a native sedge,
(Carex penylvanica), which has very fine-textured semi-evergreen
leaves. If you don't care about the groundcover "disappearing"
(going dormant) for the winter, try wild ginger (Asarum
canadense), hay-scented fern (Dennstaedia punctiloba)
or dwarf crested iris (Iris cristata). We
sell all of the above native species at our Spring Plant Sale,
and selected ones at our Fall Plant Sale.
Q. I want to attract
more birds and butterflies to my garden. Are there
certain native plants that are better than others for doing
so?
A. Yes, there are
many native plants that provide food, shelter and nesting
places for birds and nectar, food and habitat for butterflies.
For suggestions to get you started refer to our Native Plant
Info Sheets, "Native
Plants for Birds"
and "Native
Plants
for
Butterflies".
Q. I need some recommendations
for what I can plant that deer won't
eat. My property, formerly farmland, now is partially
wooded, mostly black locust, black walnut and a few poplars.
Deer have devastated most of the groundcover and understory
shrubs. I'd like to reintroduce native species into the wooded
area.
A. You are not alone.
In fact, questions about deer seem to be as abundant as the
deer themselves! Unfortunately, there is not much that a deer
won't eat, if they are hungry enough. For the shrub layer,
you might try spicebush (Lindera benzoin). For some
color, add hardy ageratum (Eupatorium coelestinum),
which is available with blue or white flowers. For the ground
layer, try native ferns. For more suggestions about what to
plant, check our Native Plant Info Sheets, "Deer
Tolerant/Resistant Native Plants". Refer to "Plants
That Are Deer Favorites", for ones to avoid. (back to top)
Q. I am looking
for information about how to care for a native wild rose (Rosa
virginiana) that I bought at your Spring Plant Sale. I'm
new to gardening and I wonder if I should prune it. The rose
didn't flower its first season here right after planting,
but now it's August, and the plant has grown quite a bit.
In summer, the rose is in the light shade of a nearby large
tree for part of the day.
A. First, it sounds
like you have your wild rose (also known as pasture rose)
in a good location, as it will tolerate light shade. Like
many plants, it may need more time to establish itself before
it flowers. I expect you'll get flowers the first year after
planting; if not, most definitely the following year.
As for pruning, I wouldn't suggest pruning it this year. Wait
four or five years after planting and prune out the oldest
wood during the dormant season. This should maintain a good
framework for the shrub and keep it rejuvenated.
Q. This is the first
time I've tried propagating wildflowers
from seed that require cold stratification. [Note:
For cold stratification, sow seeds outdoors early enough to
provide 8 to 12 weeks of moist, cold temperatures below 50
degrees F. Or mix seed with sand, peat moss or milled sphagnum
peat in a plastic bag and store in a refrigerator for 8 to
12 weeks before sowing.] In December, I sowed them in a flat
in a sterile seedling soil mix, then covered them with a clear
cover and set them outside in part shade. Some of the summer
phlox (Phlox paniculata), bleeding heart (Dicentra
eximia) and bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) have
germinated (January 30). Is that good? Is it too early?
A. It's actually
not so good that they germinated now. We still have at least
another month in which the temperatures can dip down into
the single digits, and your seedlings could freeze and die.
You probably created a mini-greenhouse effect with the clear
top.
Don't give up, though, your seedlings might survive if you
can moderate the temperatures enough. Keep them above freezing,
not too cold or too warm. Maybe you could cover the flats
with leaves, mulch or straw to buffer temperature changes.
In the future, if you want to use a clear covering, you would
be better off putting the covered flats in a very shady
spot until spring. At that time, you could move them into
more sun. But even under the best of circumstances, it's tricky
using clear tops outside-or in a south-facing window indoors-because
you really have to watch out that the interior doesn't overheat.
For cold stratification, I put flats in coldframes that face
north/northeast and are covered with white plastic. This keeps
the heat buildup to a minimum. Even so, my seeds do germinate
a couple of weeks earlier than they normally would.
I recommend opening the coldframe lids during the day and
closing them at night. I do this in the early spring when
seeds have germinated, but there is still a risk of frost.
Make sure that the soil doesn't dry out too much from wind
and sun. To prevent this, you can just open the lids a little
to vent the interior of the frame.
Q. Do you have suggestions
for native plants I can put in on a
sunny slope? I'm trying to plant only mid-Atlantic
natives, and I want something affordable. A landscaper I consulted
with suggested daylilies (I think in part because of their
potential affordability), but I am trying only to put in mid-Atlantic
natives. Behind the slope, I'll be seeding the yard with a
native wildflower mix.
A. Here are a few of the many
possibilities.
- Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica
'Little Henry') - 2½-ft.-tall shrub with white flowers May-June
and red fall color; spreads by stolons
- St. Andrew's Cross (Hypericum stragulum [hypericoides]) - 2-ft.-tall shrub with yellow flowers, July-August
- Dwarf crested iris (Iris cristata) - deciduous groundcover reaching 8-in. tall with blue or white flowers in May
- Canby's mountain lover (Paxistima canbyi) - small 1-ft. evergreen shrub; drought tolerant; inconspicuous flowers.
- Three-toothed cinquefoil (Potentilla tridentata) - short evergreen groundcover with white flowers in June; very drought tolerant.
- Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa) - evergreen groundcover with large yellow flowers in July followed by red fleshy edible fruits; easy to propagate and prickly to touch.
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