Derek Fell
Avant Gardens
by Derek Fell
I was driving through France recently and came across a sight that took my breath away. Between the road and a village church was a meadow full of red poppies. Since they grow so easily in Bucks County gardens and self-seed reliably it made me wonder why I had never seen such a pleasing poppy display anywhere in the county, or indeed anywhere in the state. Given time, perhaps they will naturalize, like the daylilies (from China), dame’s rocket (from Europe) and ox-eye daisies (also from Europe) that have already spread throughout the northeast and which no-one seems to consider undesirable ‘invasives’ like the aggressive multiflora rose from China, Japanese knotweed and Japanese honeysuckle which interfere with growing economic crops.
Another introduced wildflower on the Bucks County forbidden invasives list is purple loosestrife (Lythrum spicata) from Europe which has self-seeded into damp meadows, but ironically Quebec (where it is even more prolific) has refused to declare it an invasive, claiming that they know of no desirable native plant species that it has displaced.We are fortunate that Bucks County is rich in other wildflowers that are native plant species, such as yellow black-eyed Susans, pink bergamot(which can cover acres of meadows) and crimson cardinal flowers (which relish damp stream banks). While spring is generally a good time to appreciate woodland wildflowers, such as white trillium, Virginia bluebells and pink ladyslipper orchids, summer is a good time to view meadow wildflowers that relish the sun. It is these that can make some of the most colorful wildflower gardens.
If it’s woodland wildflowers you prefer then I recommend a visit in spring to Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve since it is mostly a woodland setting, and the early displays of trillium, Virginia bluebells and blue phlox are uplifting among stands of native pink azaleas, dogwoods and redbuds. For a summer wild garden in shade there are not many flowering wildflowers, native or otherwise, largely because of the more dense leaf canopy at that time of year) but I have found that certain foliage plants can make a remarkably naturalistic effect, notably Japanese variegated woodland grass, Christmas and ostrich fernss, heuchera and hostas such as ‘Blue angel’, which I have planted along a shaded stream bank at Cedaridge Farm and which produces beautiful fragrant white flowers above large blue blistered leaves.
At my home, Cedaridge Farm we have almost 20 acres of meadows and a favorite time of year is late summer when they are a sea of self-seeding golden yellow daisy-like blooms of the swamp sunflower, which resembles a yellow cosmos. But you do not need a large meadow to enjoy wild plantings. By seeding wildflowers into islands of bare soil you can create the effect of a naturalistic planting on a smaller scale and have them knit into each other like a prairie planting. By including a mix of varieties the planting will draw butterflies and songbirds like a magnet.
Another summer-flowering Bucks County native I admire—and which is irresistible to swallowtail butterflies—is Joe pye weed, which grows massive smoky pink flower clusters on six-foot stems, while monarch butterflies flock to species of milkweed, especially the orange-flowered butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa).
Of course you can always buy a packaged wildflower mix of mostly annuals that you simply scatter onto bare soil in spring, although late summer and early fall is also a good time for seeding these wildflower mixtures since they tend to produce a crown of hardy top growth that turns dormant during cold winter months to bloom extra early the following season. I prefer to buy my wildflower seeds separately and mix to my liking, making sure that I have equal amounts of red and pink poppies, blue cornflowers, white, pink and red cosmos, yellow calliopsis, blue larkspur, white and pink corn cockle, annual white Queen Anne’s lace, yellow annual rudbeckia and blue annual scabiosa. A bonus of using these ever-blooming annuals is that they are all good for cutting to make beautiful indoor arrangements.
(bio)
DEREK FELL’s latest book is titled Monet’s Palate Cookbook (Gibbs Smith) that he co-authored with Aileen Bordman, producer of the PBS video, Monet’s Palate. He is also the publisher of the award-winning monthly on-line gardening newsletter, the Avant Gardener.