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Stars, bells and violets shine in an ephemeral spring garden
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FarkRAPID CITY -- “Ephemeral,” according to the dictionary, defines something that lasts or lives only a day or a few days or is transitory in nature. Each year in March, I carp and whine that the only true garden ephemeral we have in this area is the season itself — the fleeting, transitory spring.
However, by mid-May, the garden shines with the plants that, accurately or not, I think of as ephemerals. I have no favorites because each gives me great delight when I find it blooming. I pause to rave about these because, although all are not readily found in the shops because they bloom so early, they are easily available and should be grown here.
BluebellsThe lance-leaf bluebell, Mertensia lanceolata is native to the western part of the state. It is a small plant, often less than a foot tall, the top of each stem hung with a tassel-like arrangement of 1/2-inch-long bluebells. Because they reseed if left alone, it is easy to find small communities of this lovely, early plant.
By midsummer, they die back into heat-induced dormancy. David Ode, botanist and ecologist for the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks, discussed the lance-leaf bluebell in his book, “Dakota Flora.” Poet as well as scientist, Ode wrote a charming poem about the bluebells.
I don’t know of a commercial source for the native bluebell. A slightly larger cousin, Mertensia Virginica, is readily available. The small, tuberous roots are planted in the fall. They are a welcome addition to any woodland garden.
Shooting StarsWho can’t love a plant with a name like Shooting Stars? These breathtaking natives, usually with dart-shaped reddish-purple petals curving back from a golden point, rise on long, thin stems from a basal rosette of leaves.
They are described as short-lived perennials. My experience is that if I leave them alone, they reseed and the community will maintain itself.
They prefer a slightly wild, woodland garden, and they also disappear in the early heat of summer.
Meadowrue and Solomon’s sealWhat I think of romantically as my “woodland garden” is, in fact, a glorious and vigorous tangle of plants that are considered slightly fragile under heavily cultivated conditions. What interests me is their ongoing battle for dominance and the manner in which they seem to constantly renegotiate space and population.
Right now, the battle is between the native purple meadowrue Thalictrum dasycarpum and the Starry False Solomon’s Seal. They are duking it out in an astonishing manner. Right now, the Starry False Solomon’s seal, Smilacina stellata, is winning because it is tall (10 to 12 inches) and can get the sun.
However, the flowers are beginning to fade, and soon, the plant will set seed and experience reduced vigor. Then, the meadowrue will burst from the tangle of violets and ferns to rise almost 3 feet before its cloud of tiny flowers emerge in June and July. I love this woodland chaos. It is, by and large, a hands-off garden; I only thin out some of the plants each spring.
Fremont’s clematisJohn Charles Fremont, explorer, soldier and political leader, is considered by many to be one of the most controversial figures of Western history. He eloped with the young daughter of Senator Thomas Hart Benton in the mid-1800s and pursued a variety of projects throughout his life.
Considered by many a rogue, braggart and charlatan, he was also a man of courage and determination to open the West. Perhaps it was some of this history that gave Fremont’s name to the stunningly beautiful prairie nonvining clematis, Fremont’s Crowfoot or Clematis Fremontii.
Honored in 2000 as a Nebraska Statewide Arboretum Introduction, the plant has leathery leaves that rattle in the wind when dry and solitary, drooping urn-shaped flowers.
Although it is native to north-central Kansas, my two plants are thriving in moderately poor but well-draining soil and full sun with some chicken grit (or sand) spread around their bases.
Dog-tooth violetI bought my dog-tooth violet on a whim because the name caught my attention. (Dog-tooth describes the root, not the flower). It is a member of the lily family; the genus name is Erythonium and the cultivar that I grow is tuolumnense. It is a yellow native flower with a greenish center and unmottled, large, rounded, pale green leaves.
And there are more.
There are other plants that are truly stars in the spring garden. Some worth looking for are hepatica and Penstemon “Claude Barr.” Hepatica or liverwort emerges very early with liver-shaped leaves about the size of a quarter. Flowers emerge shortly after, and the plant disappears in the heat.
Penstemon “Claude Barr” is a prairie native, named for the Dakota native plantsman Claude Barr. It is a mat of tiny, deep green leaves that at this time of year is covered with exceedingly small, sky blue, perfectly formed penstemon flowers. One of mine is happy in full soil and moderately poor soil; the other is thriving in serious shade and rich, organic soil. That would suggest that it is highly adaptable.
A little effort to locate and plant these wonderful native spring flowers is vastly rewarding. Always use commercial sources. Do not remove plant material from the wild.
Sources- www.prairienursery.com — Source for Mertensia Virginica (bluebells) and Dodecatheon (shooting stars).
- www.prairiemoon.com — Source for Smilacina stellata (Starry False Solomon’s Seal), bluebells, shooting stars, Fremont’s clematis and hepatica.
- www.brentandbeckys bulbs.com — Source for Erythonium tuolumnense (dog-tooth violet).
- The Plantsmyth, 2613 E. Hwy. 44, Rapid City — Source for Penstemon “Claude Barr” and Fremont’s clematis.
Cathie Draine is a member of the South Dakota State University Co-operative Extension Master Gardeners and the Garden Writers’ Association. She lives and gardens in Black Hawk. She may be contacted at cathiedraine@rap.midco.net.
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