This native garden that we started in the spring of 2024 is doing well, with just a few exceptions, in its second year. In 2023, we put down cardboard and composted wood chips in a rough square along the edge of the backyard turf. It receives direct sun in the morning into the midday with filtered light through the rest of the day. A wet area at the edge of the woods that had started to be infiltrated by the Japanese knotweed lies behind and to the west of it. We planted three spicebush starts in that wet area behind this garden this past spring. Renee also planted five Canada anemones, Anemone canadensis, in this wet area behind this garden this summer. As it is a robust native spreading ground cover, we are hoping that it gets established and does its part to combat the return of the knotweed here in the west of our property.
The star of the "backyard native garden" so far is the false sunflower,
Heliopsis helianthoides. It has an extended bloom time, from early summer until first frost. It is not fussy, and is thriving in this garden. It is often described as a short lived perennial, so we may want to collect seeds. Some birds like its seeds, so it is one to leave without cutting back in the fall. Another feature is that the deer and groundhog population appear to leave it alone, unlike some other plants in this garden. In addition to being easy to grow and thriving in this location, it is pollinator friendly. In this photo, Renee recently caught a swallowtail visiting our false sunflower.
Right now, in August, the bee balm, Monarda didyma, is also blooming. As a member of the mint family it is not that attractive to deer or rabbits, so I suspect that the groundhog was the culprit that chomped it down earlier. It has spread and is blooming despite being grazed on.
Seen in the rear of the garden from a different perspective and a little earlier this summer, the figwort,
Scrophularia marilandica, has been blooming for weeks now. It is a tall plant without picturesque blooms. However it is rich with nectar and draws many bees and wasps including different native bees. It is recommended by the
Xerces Society. Renee grew some figworts from seed, and the ones here in this garden are thriving. In the center foreground in this shot, our bergamont,
Monarda fistulosa, appears to be thriving, but still has not bloomed in late August.
Several plants on this side of the backyard native garden have really struggled. Both the couple of black eyed Susans and the purple coneflower have been seriously browsed. Whether the culprit was the groundhog or the deer family, someone has repeatedly eaten these plants despite the use of deer repellent sprays.
Loooking at this photo of the other (north) side of the garden, one can see some of our attempts to include flowering plants with a variety of bloom times. The plant in the foreground of this photo is eastern bluestar,
Amsonia tabernaemontana. It appears to thrive here in this location, and as a member of the Dogbane family, it has not been browsed upon. It flowers in the spring. Another early bloomer is the columbine,
Aquilegia canadensis, which got started in this garden after Renee tossed in some spent flower heads from another location last year. Barely visible behind the figwort and false sunflower is one of our couple of boneset,
Eupatorium perfoliatum. Now, in late August, it is not yet blooming, but it should soon.
Here along the border between the wet edge of the existing woods and the turf of the backyard, this backyard native garden is doing pretty well despite our focus on reclaiming the knotweed expanse. (Frankly, now a burnweed expanse, the topic of a future post.) We plan to apply the cardboard and chip approach to an additional area to the south of this garden and expand it with more plantings next year. We may plant a couple of our mountain mint starts here on the border between the planned new section and this garden to jumpstart the expansion and protect the plants suffering from excessive browsing.
