Look to Ginkgo Trees for Autumn Color

Gymnosperm: FAMILY | GINKGOACEAE

Lemon Yellow Ginkgo Leaves and a Vermilion Sweet Gum Leaf

If you haven't had a chance to enjoy the changing colors of the season look for this tree as you venture out and about. I am updating this posting from last year in case someone missed my enthusiastic passion. My favorite tree, ginkgo, is a tree frequently unnoticed until it drops its leaves. What an unusual shape for a leaf and it is such a beautiful and brilliant yellow shade in the autumn!  It's leaf is fan-shaped or "duck-feet" shaped. The fruit is produced only by the female tree. 

GINKGO BILOBA

FEMALE TREE WITH FRUIT
FAN-SHAPED LEAVES
Zone 7

Rarely, a ginkgo tree with fruit is found. I was happy to capture these photographs of a female tree with ripe fruit at the Dallas Arboretum. The Arboretum is a great place to see a broad spectrum and diversity of trees.

             GINKGO BILOBA TREE Topiary           

Entrance to The Japanese Gardens
Fort Worth Botanical Gardens
Zone 7

Ginkgo Biloba

ADDISONIA, VOL. 11: T. 362 NYBG 1926

MARY EMILY EATON (1873-1961
SOURCE:PLANT ILLUSTRATION

MAIDENHAIR TREE

GINKGO BILOBA

Arborists prefer to plant male trees due to the cheesy scent of the fruit produced on the female tree.  The tree above was planted over forty years ago. It is slow growing in hardiness zone 5 where this tree is placed. The soil was like cement when I planted it but it has survived, amazingly.

Two traits appreciated by ginkgo lovers are the golden fall color and in just 1-2 days the leaves fall to the ground making cleanup quick and easy.

Ginkgo is believed to originate in China. A 1,400 year old ginkgo can be found in the Zhongnan Mountains in China. Ginkgo trees evolved before the dinosaurs, survived three mass extinctions, and one species is still living today. The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History is researching how the cells of leaves on ginkgos have changed over time, and whether they can use them to learn about the ancient atmosphere of the Earth. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-of-natural-history/2017/06/08/can-you-help-us-clear-fossil-air/ Update 2019:

2021 Hyden Photography

for

Grassroots Horticulture

___________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Red Spider Lily | Lycoris radiata

__________________________________________________

Fall Flowering Amaryllis

Lycoris radiata is one of the most rewarding, reliable, and incredibly beautiful bulbs one can grow here in north Texas.  The bulb will spring forth with a stem and then flower in the fall season, sometimes in great profusion I believe the success of flowering depends on the rainfall from the previous summer. The foliage appears after the flower and almost never suffers frost damage. There are limited pests or diseases. They become dormant  in the summer as the foliage dies back.  The tall bloom stalks pop up almost overnight after the first good early autumn rains or hurricane season. They produce a dazzling display of feathery red blossoms up to 6 inches across and are a wonderful speciman for the landscape garden when little else is blooming in the autumn.

Red Spider Lily, Surprise  Lily. Hurricane Lilyy

The lycoris bulb grows to a height of 12-18 in. (30-45 cm) and should survive  in USDA Zone 7a: to -17.7 °C (0 °F) to USDA Zone 9b: to -3.8 °C (25 °F). It prefers a sunny to partial shade exposure and regular watering planted in a loose well drained soil.  It can be used as a border in front of perennial shrubs and it attracts butterflies.

The earliest reference I have found for the red spider lily growing outside it's native environment, so far, is Camden Park, Australia. Now, whether it was growing in Australia before the landing of the HMS Endeavour at Botany Bay on April 29 1770 is the question. 

It is believed to have been grown in Japan prior to the 19^th Century.  It has been suggested that they were introduced into Japan from China along with rice cultivation.

__________________________________________________________________________

The red spider lily appears after a good rain in the fall. I have placed hundreds of  these bulbs in four large pots placed along a crescent shaped bed that rounds out a corner of our lot. I also included two

The bulbs are frost tender (7b-8a) so I am happy they have survived two years in the pots. 

In the United States Lavinia Cole Roberts is credited with sharing this beautiful bulb with other gardeners throughout the warm southern states. Lavina was the niece of Captain William Roberts. He gave her three bulbs offered to him on an expedition in 1854. Lavina's home and garden is located in New Bern, North Carolina. Details here.

Below is one of the first botanical prints I could find. It is from the publication, The Botanist Repository, published by Henry Cranke Andrews (1770 – 1830) in 1801. Andrews, through his marriage to  Anne Kennedy, was affiliated with the firm, The Lee and Kennedy Vineyard Nursery, located in Hammersmith, London. 

The Botanist Repository, published by Henry Cranke Andrews (1770 – 1830) in 1801

The second botanical print I have found, in chronological order, is the 1811 print from the Stuttgart Palace Garden by artist and publisher, Johann Simon von Kerner (1755-1830).

Kerner, J.S.,
Hortus sempervirens, vol. 29: t. 344
 (1811)
Source: Plant Illustration

The 1822 botanical art below is a print published in the Botanical Register. This time the artist is M. Hart. I have not been able to locate additional information on M. Hart but there were two botanical "Hart" artists in this area, the other artist was I.J. Hart, James McDougal Hart (1828 – 1901)). The Botanical Register, subsequently known as Edwards' Botanical Register, was an illustrated horticultural magazine that ran from 1815 to 1847. The Botanical Register was started by the illustrator Sydenham Edwards. After Edwards death, James Ridgway became publisher. Ridgway issued nine volumes between 1820 and 1828.

M. Hart
Edwards' Botanical Register
 (1822)
Source: Plant Illustration

The last botanical print is by artist, Louis Severeyns (1860).

Lycoris radiate (L’Herit.)

La Belgigue horticole, journaldes jardins et des vergers, vol. 10 (1860)

 Van Houtte, Louis (Severeyns, Stroobant and De Pannemaker)

Louis Severeyns, published in Belgium

Source: Plant Illustrations

References.                                                                  

1. Introducing Lycoris to. U.s. Flower Lovers." Agricultural Research Washington. 53.12 (2005): 12-13. Print.
2. Koyama, Tetsuo. The Japanese Species of Lycoris. Place of publication not identified, 1959. Print.
3.  Hori, TA; Hayashi, A; Sasanuma, T & Kurita, S (2006), "Genetic variations in the chloroplast genome and phylogenetic clustering of Lycoris species", Genes Genet. Syst., 81 (4): 243–253, doi:10.1266/ggs.81.243, PMID 1703879 
4. Evans, Erv & De Hertough, A.A., Lycoris radiata; Spider lily, Naked lily, Red spider lily, NC State University, archived from the original on 2011-09-13, retrieved 2011-09-13.   
5. Klingaman, Gerald (2000), Plant of the Week : Red Spiderlily, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Services         
6. The Plant List.   
7. Stevens, P.F., Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Amaryllidoideae
8. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families.   
9. Knox, Gary W. (2011), Hurricane Lilies, Lycoris Species, in Florida, Environmental Horticulture Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, retrieved 2012-04-12. 
10. Mathew, Brian (1978), The Larger Bulbs, London: B.T. Batsford (in association with the Royal Horticultural Society), ISBN 978-0-7134-1246-8.    
11. William Herbert. 1819. Botanical Magazine 47: pl. 2113

Salvia

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

Gardening with Sages

CREATING Autumn accents | Two Favorites

Vivid Scarlet Vermilion 

Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans)

I consider pineapple sage an annual in my eco-region. It is a perennial in zones 8 and greater. Pineapple sage can usually be found in the herb section of your local nursery in the spring. Many people grow it for the lovely pineapple scented leaves and use the leaves for tea. The best luck I have had with both salvias is planting them along the edge of a retaining wall. The raised nature of a retaining wall allows for good drainage.




Lovely Lavender

Perennial Mexican bush sage  (Salvia leucantha) 

                                                                                                                                                  

I have the 3-5' Mexican salvia and the more diminutive Salvia leucantha 'Santa Barbara'.  If you have ever grown Russian sage you will find this sub-shrub comparable excepting the shorter height of the plant makes it less likely to topple in winds and requires no support.  We usually get temperatures below 25 degrees so I considered it a perennial in zone 7b-8a.                                                         

       ˃˃

All material © 2007-2017 by Jeanette Hyden for Grassroots Horticulture

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NOVEMBER

 ___________________________

_______________________

©2021 Hyden Photography for 

Grassroots Horticulture __________________________________________________

Milkweed for Monarch Larvae

___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

Gardening for Butterfly Larvae

CREATING a haven for butterflies

Monarch Specific Food

FWBG, BRIT, Fort Worth, Texas                                                                       Photograph: Jeanette Hyden

Green Milkweed, Antelope horn milkweed  (Asclepias viridis)

Milkweed is a host plant to the Monarch butterfly larvae. The butterfly larvae feeds on the leaves. 

Green milkweed or antelope horn milkweed, above, after it has flowered and created pods. The pods are usually erect, 2 ½ -5 in (6-13 cm) long and ½ – ¾ in (1-2 cm) wide. 

FWBG, BRIT, Fort Worth, Texas                                                                                     Photograph: Jeanette Hyden
Green Milkweed, Antelope horn milkweed  (Asclepias viridis)

A silky, hair-like structure assists in dispersing the seeds when the pods break open.

I have milkweed growing in my backyard for the monarch butterfly larvae. You can plant it in the spring from seed or buy it in the spring because many nurseries are now carrying several varieties. It is very important to select the correct variety of milkweed for your state.

Local County Extension offices or State Agricultural Schools can offer specific instructions for selecting varieties for your hardiness zone.  Links: Examples by State Texas | Use: Green Milkweed, Antelope horn milkweed  (Asclepias viridis), California Xerces Society, Michigan.

Description___________________________________

Milkweed is found in the Apocynaceae family, (the family etymology is derived from the Greek, Apocynum, meaning, "dog-away"), dogbane family.

The Milkweed flower is called an umbellate cymes

Milkweed seedpod

             

 

The most common methods of seed dispersal for plants are wind, water, animals, explosion and fire. When the milkweed follicle breaks open the seeds are transported by the wind as the breeze blows the hairlike comas to more distant locations.

                                    

Milkweed seedpod, a follicle

The seeds, each with long, white flossy hairs (coma), occur in the follicle seedpod and are dispersed after the pod breaks open and the wind carries the seed away.

 

Milkweed

 

Slim-leafed milkweeds:

 

Whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata --- Identifyng features: whorls of leaves. Usually three to five leaves per junction, but may have mostly pairs with a few whorls. Flowers white with neck and long horns.

 

Slim milkweed, Asclepias linearis— Identifyng features: Paired opposite leaves: Never whorled leaves, flowers much like verticillata, white with neck and long horns at center of hoods

 

 

Narrow-leaved milkweed, Asclepias stenophylla--- Identifyng features: Alternate leaves, or sometimes opposite leaves: (regular sized plant) Never whorled leaves, flowers neckless, hoods have little protrusions but  not  centered  long  horns. Flowers whitish, but not as white as vertcillata or linearis—more green.

 

 

 Woodson Engelmann's Milkweed, Asclepias engelmanniana--- Alternate to almost opposite leaves: (long slim plants up to 48”, and leaves narrow and widely spaced)  Flowers green with small or no horns  on hoods. Leaves droop and may curl or twist. Leaves can be 8” or more long. (Linearis and stenophylla look a lot like verticillata with small differences in leaves and flowers (best seen in closeup for differences)

Engelmanniana looks weird—long and leggy with drooping twisting leaves. Its flowers are almost same as A. stenophylla.)

 

Not Slim-leafed milkweeds:

Butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa--- Identifyng features: has orange/yellow flowers, and stiff, hairy stems and leaves, prefers acid soils.

 

Green milkweed, Asclepias viridiflora--- Identifyng features: has flower clusters that hang down, hoods clasp crown—color and leaves vary a lot

 

Antelope-Horns Milkweed, Asclepias asperula--- Identifyng features: A. asperula and Asclepias viridis are very similar in flower, with spreading club shaped hoods, but A. asperula has narrower, pointed leaves and a sprawling habit, and more maroon on hoods. A. viridis has oval leaves and is more upright, with lavender hoods. The hoods on A. asperula go all the way to the ends of the petals, but hose on A.  viridis stop well inside the edge of the flower.

 

Sidecluster Milkweed, Zizotes Milkweed, Asclepias oenotheroides --- Identifyng features: Recently found in Collin County, more common in the western 2/3 of Texas. Upright to sprawling habit with single or multiple stems. Flowers greenish, in loose clusters, have hoods (with horns) that extend well above the gynostegium. Plant smells strongly of burnt rubber when touched.

More information, go to:                           

•  Project Monarch Health
• Xerces.org has a milkweed seed finder
• Monarch Watch’s Milkweed Market
• https://www.monarchparasites.org
• https://www.journeynorth.org
• https://www.nwf.org/monarchstewards
• https://blog.nwf.org/2021/08/from-backyard-monarch-enthusiast-to-citizen-community-scientist/?
• https://youtu.be/dAZ7KTpiRR4

 References                                                             

 ITIS Integrated Taxonomy Information System

___________________________________________________

All material © 2021 Hyden Photography 

for

~Grassroots Horticulture~

 __________________________________________________