We were recently visited by a well-known landscape designer, who specializes in Southeastern US native plants. As we walked through the crevice garden, and I pointed out a clump of Polygonella americana, he was shocked at how nice it looked. His comment was that American jointweed always looked scraggly in the wild, so he hadn’t paid it much attention for potential garden use. Such is the case with so many plants, where they remain in horticultural obscurity until someone actually trials them for garden value. This amazing native can be found in dry sites from NC, through the Missouri, and into New Mexico. You would think with a range that large, that it would be better known for its garden value. Perhaps the common name will attract a whole new crop of young gardeners.
Polygonellas look like miniature coniferous subshrubs, composed of obscure green joints until they burst into flower with hundreds of tufts of small white flowers, often blushed pink, that are covered by all kinds of bees. Below is a current photo of our 6-year-old clump of the easy-to-grow Polygonella americana. In my humble opinion, honeybee keepers should be planting these everywhere, since they flower during what is known as the “nectar dearth” season, starting here in June. For us, Polygonella americana flowers from June until October. Our plant is growing in our un-irrigated crevice garden in a Permatill dominant soil, since great drainage is important. We’ve finally got around to propagating a crop of these, which will appear in the August Plant Delights catalog. Interestingly, in six years, we’ve never seen a single seedling. We sure hope some folks give these a try. Hardiness should be at least Zone 6b-9a.
Thank you for bringing this attractive plant to light. I shall obtain some Polygonella americana for my son’s rocky, terraced California garden.
It’s lovely but probably not a candidate for my clay prairie soil.
Pretty. Great bloom season. Thank you for the information.
A plant native to NC that many consider to be a ‘scraggly weed’ is fall blooming Baccharis halimifolia (groundsel, sea myrtle).
We do find the baccharis to be attractive, but it is horribly weedy in the garden. In just a short time, it followed the Interstate 40 construction from it’s native coastal haunts into the NC mountains and beyond, because of its prolific seed production. As such, it chokes out other plants, decreasing diversity. Until there is a sterile form, this is one our list to never allow it to become established in our garden.
As a word of warning we’re seeing quite a bit of seeding around from a screen of mature Cleyera japonica, more so than our Mahonia bealei. But just up the road is a large vacant lot that has been overrun with Bradford Pear, a threat to botany and humanity; haha, it’s always something!
Speaking of ‘Smoke this over’, another NC native that’s often disregarded as a weed, has a rich history and holds special memories from my childhood wanderings afield is Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium (Rabbit Tobacco, Sweet Everlasting). The flowers last from summer to frost, thus blooms are ‘everlasting’. As the plant enters dormancy in the fall the foliage dries and curls on the stem, taking on the rich aroma of tobacco that has been cured in maple syrup. I recall brush-busting through thickets of rabbit tobacco as a child and being surrounded by the aroma. I understand in colonial America when tobacco was scarce this made an acceptable substitute.
Yes, it’s native, but fits all of my criteria for a concerning garden weed. We rush to remove it as soon as it appears, and before it seeds. I can find beauty in most plants, but not here…glad to share from our weed pile. We’ve seen a number of growers think about adding it to their offerings. I can’t imagine that will end well.
Tony,
When young I used to wade through the P. obtusifolium in a pasture that had laid fallow for years; it had spread but had stiff competition from broom sedge, lespedeza, briars, etc.. I’ve kept a couple of plants in-check (so far) in a rocky xeric spot for 2-3 years and it hasn’t shown a propensity for seeding around (yet). Years 3-4 will be the test since the seeds are carried by wind and take 2 years to go from cold-stratification to flowering plant. I may have a bumper crop of Rabbit Tobacco in my future.
But that’s OK, I have a lot of natives that spread when happy, that’s what they do.
Greg
I am putting the Polygonella americana on my wish list and hope to get it when I visit Raleigh area. I think it would be NICE for a SMALL rock garden on my property on a sea island in the SC low country. (Advice from Tony appreciated) . I also appreciate the information regarding showy natives that are NOT good horticultural companions – IE too rambunctious for garden setting. I have had experience with wonderful natives that became out of balance in the rich soil or with diminutive natives.
With sincere thanks for the great work and mission of JLBG!