■♦?- 



HOW ABOUT 



M^9l 



Native Color 



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HERBS 



Autumn is one of the best of 

 times to be out and about and 

 tiiis includes being out and about in 

 garden centers. Plants are changing 

 color for the fall and some herbs 

 are among those that make drastic 

 changes. It's a good idea to pro- 

 mote their fall beauty for those cus- 

 tomers who don't give up gardening 

 just because summer is over. 



One we don't see often, but that 

 I am hearing more about is New Jer- 

 sey tea {Ceanothus amerkanus). This 

 small shrub is a native, the dried 

 leaves of which were used as a 

 source of tea by soldiers during the 

 Revolutionary War. The plumy flow- 

 er has a pleasant fragrance in sum- 

 mer. Later in the year, the interest 

 comes from its many erect stems 

 that have a bronze color in the 

 fall — very attractive once the leaves 

 have fallen — and the three-lobed 

 fruit that is nearly black when ma- 

 ture. I keep reading of this herb in 

 my books, but 1 have yet to find a 

 source for it. I hope to find it in the 

 wild someday, although Wyman 

 states that it's difficult to move. 

 Perhaps this accounts for its ab- 

 sence in nurseries. It prefers dry 

 rocky soil in open fields and would 

 make a good candidate for gardens 

 where water must be conserved. It's 

 hardy to Zone 4 and mentioned in 

 Marilyn Dwelley's Summer and Fall 

 Wildflowers of New England, The Eyewit- 

 ness Handbook of Herbs by Lesley 

 Bremness, and The Native Plant Primer 

 by Carole Ottesen. Wyman mentions 

 that it is parent to many of the 

 more showy and very popular 

 Ceanotkus used in gardens on the 

 West Coast 



We've all heard, I'm sure, that 

 butterflies are in trouble. They've 

 recently had cold winters to con- 

 tend with down south and, once 

 they return to New England, find 



fewer and fewer of the meadowland 

 plants they prefer as our landscape 

 evolves toward a mix of forest and 

 mowed lawn. Milkweed is one of 

 these plants and has long been 

 considered an herb. Its early spring 

 shoots are edible and its downy 

 seed fluff was once used as stuffing 

 for small pillows and even mat- 

 tresses. Beth Simpson of Rolling 

 Green Landscape suggested Asclepias 

 incarnata "Ice Ballet" for our peren- 

 nial border at the Urban Forestry 

 Center when I was looking for "some 

 more white " This is a graceful 

 clump of stems that bears white 

 flowers all summer and then forms a 

 seed pod similar to the common 

 milkweed. Once the seeds have 

 flown, its open pods add texture 

 and interest to the fall — and 

 winter — garden. Commonly called 

 swamp milkweed, it grows two-to- 

 three feet tall and is an elegant ad- 

 dition to any garden. I've read of 

 the immature seed pods being 

 cooked up in stir fry, much like day- 

 lily buds. )ust be sure to leave 

 enough on the plant to propagate 

 more plants for the butterflies. 



Baptisia or false indigo (Baptisifl 

 australis) is a beautiful native, a 

 long-lived source of purple blue 

 flowers in the garden. (Butterflies 

 also like this plant.) This dense, 

 shrubby bush holds its blue-green 

 leaves for a long time in the fall, 

 with clusters of fat, black, pea-like 

 pods held high above the foliage. It 

 will grow just about anywhere in full 

 sun (it doesn't like wet feet) and is 

 very heat-and-drought-tolerant. Her- 

 bal uses include dye and the seed 

 pods in decorative wreaths and ar- 

 rangements. 



Another shrub not seen too of- 

 ten, but which is lovely in the fall, 

 is the fragrant sumac [Rhus aroma- 

 tica). The grouping at the Forestry 



Center has been there a long time 

 and, although it spreads, it does so 

 very slowly. The leaves, which have 

 a very spicy fragrance when crushed, 

 turn a violent red in the fall and the 

 rounded clusters of berries, said to 

 be used for dye, last long into the 

 winter, or until the birds — cardinals 

 and mockingbirds, in particular — fin- 

 ish them off. 



Most of us are aware of the me- 

 dicinal uses of purple coneflower 

 (Echinacea purpurea). Tough, unde- 

 manding, beloved by birds and but- 

 terflies alike, this native flowering 

 herb has a lot going for it. It blooms 

 from late June on and the large 

 cone-like seed heads remain attrac- 

 tive long into winter. Little finches 

 will come and pick out every seed 

 (the plant is a member of the sun- 

 flower family), but leave the cone 

 intact. This plant asks for little: it 

 can take dry soil; heat and sun 

 don't faze it. There's a white variety 

 as well as a pale purple one (E. 

 pallida] with longer, narrower petals 

 than E. purpurea. 



To be honest, I am one of those 

 gardeners who, after a summer of 

 trying to get water to all the plants 

 that need it, keep the weeds at 

 bay, and keep my back from giving 

 out, starts to pray for lack Frost to 

 come and put an end to it all. Then 

 I can enjoy the cooler temperatures 

 of autumn, as well as all the plants, 

 seed pods, and grasses that put on 

 their show at that time. Before I 

 "den up" to read my books and 

 wait for spring, one of the last 

 shows I enjoy is that of witch hazel 

 [Hamamelis virqiniana). This witch ha- 

 zel is a tall shrub and its flowers do 

 not appear until late in the fall after 

 the leaves have dropped. The flow- 

 ers are pale yellow, spidery- 

 petalled clusters that are followed 

 Continued on Page 23 



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THE PLANTSM AN 



