#texas largest SP

[humongouscasheaglebagel]

Big Bend Ranch SP is larger than all other Texas’ state parks combined

[tameblog]

As a budding horticulturist, my first encounter with prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) was intriguing and puzzling. The sheer size and verticality of the spade-like leaves slicing through grasses and forbs captured my imagination, and while its place in the University of Wisconsin’s Curtis Prairie provided a clue to its nativity, its identity was a mystery. Over the ensuing years I came to know prairie dock well, thanks to its prominent position in certain naturalistic areas at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It honestly delights me in every season. From the unfurling spring-green foliage to the brown autumnal leaves, twisting and curling on themselves, to the starkness of the dark, wizened husks poking through a crystalline snowfall, I love this plant. To this day, the sight of its sunny daisies anchored by the prodigious foliage is both nostalgic and heartening. So let’s talk about rosinweeds, the catchall common name for many Silphium. The comments I hear most often are rarely effusive but rather succinct: too big, too wild, too weedy, too yellow. The likability of yellow aside, let’s consider those other descriptors, as they are what ultimately led to our trial—well, two trials to be exact. I made a novice’s mistake by not giving these plants enough room in the 2002 trial, so I spread them wider in the second trial nearly 20 years later, or so I thought. My calculations were still off; their battle for space is best described as a clash of the titans. I think many rosinweeds might be too big or too wild-looking for some folks to appreciate, but it is their over-the-top size and strong architecture that makes them so unique in the garden. And our trials proved that several species are well worth finding room for. I’ll leave you to decide if yellow is a problem. Learn more: Jump to the trial results See Rosinweed culture tips TRIAL PARAMETERS Rosinweeds (Silphium sp. and cvs.) The Chicago Botanic Garden evaluated 13 rosinweeds between 2002 and 2024. All specimens were mail ordered except for S. radula, which was wild-collected in East Texas in 2019, and S. perfoliatum ‘The Holy Grail’, obtained locally from its originator. The seed-grown nature of the species accounts for habit and plant size variations observed within each taxon. How Long: Minimum four years Zone: 6 Conditions: Full sun; well-drained, alkaline, clay loam soil Care: We provided minimal care, allowing the plants to thrive or fail under natural conditions. Besides observing their ornamental traits, we monitored them to see how well they grew and adapted to environmental and soil conditions while keeping a close eye on any disease or pest problems and assessing plant injury or losses over winter. Top Performers That Make a Bold Statement and Encourage Biodiversity Large, deeply lobed leaves of compass plant When it comes to impressive texture, compass plant (S. laciniatum) is hard to beat. This plant features deeply lobed, sandpaper-rough leaves that are big (24 inches long and 18 inches wide). Like the well-known prairie dock, the basal foliage stands vertically. The common name refers to the orientation of the leaf blades, which face east and west to take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun while avoiding the desiccating hot midday sun. Flower stems rose to over 8 feet above the tall leafy bases—and all of this with a whole lot of taproot (12 feet) below. These plants did get quite wide over time, but some of the girth was due to stems splaying under the weight of the flowers. The 4-inch yellow blooms—the largest in the trial—are borne along thick, beet red–tinged stems from early summer to mid-fall. The chunky phyllaries are bristly and lack fragrance. Compass plant is native to prairies, glades, and disturbed habitats from Wisconsin and Minnesota, south to Louisiana and Texas. Resist the urge to put this giant at the back of a bed, border, or meadow—the large foliage is better appreciated near the front. And taking a cue from its prairie habitat, pair it with grasses and perennials that accentuate the foliage but won’t mask the flowers, such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, Zones 3–9), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, Zones 3–8), and flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollate, Zones 3–9). Dark yellow blooms on wiry stems. I’m sticking with prairie dock (S. terebinthinaceum) as my favorite of this plant group. Once seen, it’s not forgotten—mastering the botanical spelling and pronunciation was a bit of a challenge, though. Dark yellow flowers cupped in smooth green phyllaries opened nearly a month later than compass plant and had a shorter overall bloom period. The slender, nearly naked flower stems were the tallest in our trial at 126 inches. The broad shovelhead-like basal leaves were 2 feet long, or maybe “tall” is a better word, as they stand vertically. Like compass plant, the thick, sandpapery leaves orient north to south, thus reducing moisture loss through transpiration and keeping leaf surfaces cool to the touch on hot days. A deep taproot helps prairie dock survive extreme droughts. Surprisingly, rabbits and deer occasionally munched the rough leaves but left other plants in the trial alone. To be at its best, I feel like prairie dock would prefer leaner soil and the company of other plants rather than just hanging out by itself. In our prair-ies I love it with flowering spurge because the bright white clouds of baby’s breath–like flowers soften the sharpness of the large prairie dock leaves. And let the branched flower clusters have their space by planting companions closer to the height of the leafy clumps. Magenta-flowered winecup (Callirhoe involucrata, Zones 4–9) clambering over and through prairie dock foliage is a particularly brilliant combination. This species is primarily native to the central United States from Wisconsin south to Mississippi. Roughstem rosinweed (S. radula) is a standout for a few reasons—it blooms later, into late fall here—and its big rosette-shaped phyllaries are pretty cool. The bright yellow flowers are 3 to 4 inches across with broad, overlapping rays that make them look more substantial than the spidery blossoms of others in this genus. It’s also a heavy bloomer, with hundreds of flowers produced at the top. The coarse-textured phyllaries look like green roses before and after flowering and are quite large at 1½ inches wide. Many of the leafy-stemmed rosinweeds drop their foliage and look a bit shabby by late fall, but roughstem rosinweed’s stiff, scratchy leaves stayed green longer. At 6½ feet tall and almost as wide, this species is too big and bushy for the front of a bed or meadow. But in the back or middle it mixes nicely with coneflowers (Echinacea spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9), ironweeds (Vernonia spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9), and tall to mid-sized grasses. For a southern native—South Carolina west to Texas and south from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico—it did well in our northern clime. | FUN FACT | Rosinweeds producea sticky substance A resinous, gumlike material often oozes from stems, flower stalks, and phyllaries, giving rise to the group’s common name. Historically, the hardened, amber-colored resin drops were chewed by Native Americans to clean teeth and freshen breath.I think I’ll stick with toothpaste! Whorled rosinweed (S. trifoliatum) is probably the best-looking rosinweed late into autumn because its leaves are still mostly green and stay attached into November! The scabrous dark green leaves are arranged in whorls of three, or sometimes borne oppositely on smooth burgundy-tinged stems. It has a finer texture than most as the leaves are only 4 inches long and just over an inch wide. The bushy, vase-shaped habit is attractive, and the tall stems remained upright most of the time, although relaxed somewhat during heavy peak bloom. The bright yellow flowers are more starlike, since the ray florets do not overlap and are plentiful from early summer to early fall. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii, Zones 3–9), beebalm (Monarda didyma, Zones 4–8), and pitcher sage (Salvia azurea, Zones 4–9) are good matches for scale and texture. Whorled rosinweed is native to prairies and roadsides east of the Mississippi River from Pennsylvania and Ohio, south to North Carolina and Alabama. Dense, compact foliage Starry rosinweed (S. asteriscus) gets an honorary mention despite its less than stellar performance. I wanted so badly for it to make my top-picks list because of its lemony yellow flowers and short stature; there aren’t many Silphium options for smaller gardens. Unfortunately, starry rosinweed wasn’t as cold hardy as other species—only one of the five plants survived through 2024. It is a southern native from Tennessee to Florida, and since our seed came from a Florida mail-order nursery, we assumed it had a southern provenance. I would like to try seed from a potentially hardier locale—native populations purportedly come as far north as southern Illinois. The cheerful starlike flowers bloom from mid to late summer and have 1-inch-wide leafy phyllaries with a strong medicinal fragrance when bruised or crushed. The 5-inch green leaves are less rough than other rosinweeds and are arranged alternately on burgundy-tinged green stems. Try it if you garden in warmer zones, or protect it in colder areas and couple it with mounding asters, little bluestem, and a shorter ironweed like ‘Summer’s Swan Song’.     3 to 4 inch flowers of ‘Holy Grail’ cup plant I admit that cup plant (S. perfoliatum) scares me a little. It’s not the ginormous size—that actually intrigues me, as do the conjoined opposite leaves, which form cups that hold rainwater and dew for birds and bees to drink. My nervousness stems from how quickly and widely it can spread to form colonies. While I hate to think all it takes to sway me is a little color enhancement, ‘The Holy Grail’ cup plant did just that. The enormous jagged leaves are yellow early in the spring before fading to chartreuse and then to bright green from late spring on. Yellow flowers cluster at the top of 10-foot-tall stems from midsummer to mid-fall; the 3-inch flowers are not proportional to the exuberant size! The phyllaries and stout, square stems are hairless, while the large leaves (15 inches long and 11 inches wide) are rough. ‘The Holy Grail’—introduced by Intrinsic Perennial Gardens—has a tighter and more upright habit than the species, which is native to wet places from Quebec to Georgia, and west to Nebraska and Kansas. It is best in large beds and meadows or near water, planted with other moisture lovers such as Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum, Zones 4–8), queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra, Zones 3–9), and ‘Skyracer’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Skyracer’, Zones 5–8). The smaller stature of Mohr’s rosinweed (S. mohrii) will appeal to gardeners who might be nervous about its bigger cousins. At 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, it was one of the shortest rosinweeds in the trial. For nearly three months, beginning in early summer, abundant 2-inch pale yellow flowers put on a nice show (photo p. 48). Their light almond or vanilla scent is an unexpected treat that people and pollinators adore. Mohr’s rosinweed is noticeably fuzzy all over—more so than any other species—making the green leaves, stems, and phyllaries look grayish (photo p. 56, bottom). Unfortunately, it has a messy downside—the withered ray florets fall and cling to the fuzzy leaves as does other organic debris. Mohr’s rosinweed is a prairie native in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, but has been fully hardy in the upper Midwest. The bushy habit can be softened by billowy asters, catmints (Nepeta racemosa and cvs., Zones 4–8), and grasses, both short and tall. | CULTURE TIPS | The ins and outs of rosinweed Traditionally, this group of plants is low-maintenance when sited correctly in the landscape. The biggest challenge lies in—well, their bigness. The shortest rosinweed in our trial was still 5 feet tall and nearly as wide, so if you want to grow these native perennials (and you should), you’ll need to have adequate space. Here are some other things to note when it comes to these giant plants. The blooms may be small, but they’re profuse. The flowers—shades from pale to golden yellow—have a central disk surrounded by petal-like ray florets and look much like their sunflower (Helianthus spp. and cvs.) cousins. The ray florets of rosinweeds are fertile and produce seeds, while the disk florets are just for show. Flowers range from 2 to 4 inches wide and seem undersized on such large plants, but their great abundance makes up for it. You’ll notice the phyllaries. The flowers have prominent stiff phyllaries—reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below the flower head. Think of a phyllary as a leafy cup that flowers sit within. The character of phyllaries varies by species and aids in identification. Pollinators are plentiful and diverse. Honeybees, native bees, leafcutter bees, monarchs, tiger swallowtails, skippers, and fritillaries all feed on rosinweed nectar, while birds such as American goldfinches and black-capped chickadees forage for the seeds. Most Silphium species are also host plants for an assortment of butterflies and moths, including the aptly named silphium moth (Papaipema silphii). Watch out for reseeding. Although most of the species are quite robust, there is one Silphium that is bigger (and more thuggish) than the rest. Deadheading might be a good idea for cup plant (S. perfoliatum, pictured) as it can be a vigorous seeder and could quickly overtake a sizable corner of the landscape if not kept in check.   | Sources | Prairie Nursery, Westfield, WI; 800-476-9453; prairienursery.com Camp Creek Native Plants, New Albany, MS; 662-539-7175; campcreeknativeplants.com Prairie Moon Nursery, Winona, MN; 507-452-1362; prairiemoon.com Native Plants Unlimited, Fishers, IN; 317-777-9469;  nativeplantsunlimitedshop.com   Contributing editor Richard Hawke is the director of ornamental plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. Source link

[ramestoryworld]

As a budding horticulturist, my first encounter with prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) was intriguing and puzzling. The sheer size and verticality of the spade-like leaves slicing through grasses and forbs captured my imagination, and while its place in the University of Wisconsin’s Curtis Prairie provided a clue to its nativity, its identity was a mystery. Over the ensuing years I came to know prairie dock well, thanks to its prominent position in certain naturalistic areas at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It honestly delights me in every season. From the unfurling spring-green foliage to the brown autumnal leaves, twisting and curling on themselves, to the starkness of the dark, wizened husks poking through a crystalline snowfall, I love this plant. To this day, the sight of its sunny daisies anchored by the prodigious foliage is both nostalgic and heartening. So let’s talk about rosinweeds, the catchall common name for many Silphium. The comments I hear most often are rarely effusive but rather succinct: too big, too wild, too weedy, too yellow. The likability of yellow aside, let’s consider those other descriptors, as they are what ultimately led to our trial—well, two trials to be exact. I made a novice’s mistake by not giving these plants enough room in the 2002 trial, so I spread them wider in the second trial nearly 20 years later, or so I thought. My calculations were still off; their battle for space is best described as a clash of the titans. I think many rosinweeds might be too big or too wild-looking for some folks to appreciate, but it is their over-the-top size and strong architecture that makes them so unique in the garden. And our trials proved that several species are well worth finding room for. I’ll leave you to decide if yellow is a problem. Learn more: Jump to the trial results See Rosinweed culture tips TRIAL PARAMETERS Rosinweeds (Silphium sp. and cvs.) The Chicago Botanic Garden evaluated 13 rosinweeds between 2002 and 2024. All specimens were mail ordered except for S. radula, which was wild-collected in East Texas in 2019, and S. perfoliatum ‘The Holy Grail’, obtained locally from its originator. The seed-grown nature of the species accounts for habit and plant size variations observed within each taxon. How Long: Minimum four years Zone: 6 Conditions: Full sun; well-drained, alkaline, clay loam soil Care: We provided minimal care, allowing the plants to thrive or fail under natural conditions. Besides observing their ornamental traits, we monitored them to see how well they grew and adapted to environmental and soil conditions while keeping a close eye on any disease or pest problems and assessing plant injury or losses over winter. Top Performers That Make a Bold Statement and Encourage Biodiversity Large, deeply lobed leaves of compass plant When it comes to impressive texture, compass plant (S. laciniatum) is hard to beat. This plant features deeply lobed, sandpaper-rough leaves that are big (24 inches long and 18 inches wide). Like the well-known prairie dock, the basal foliage stands vertically. The common name refers to the orientation of the leaf blades, which face east and west to take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun while avoiding the desiccating hot midday sun. Flower stems rose to over 8 feet above the tall leafy bases—and all of this with a whole lot of taproot (12 feet) below. These plants did get quite wide over time, but some of the girth was due to stems splaying under the weight of the flowers. The 4-inch yellow blooms—the largest in the trial—are borne along thick, beet red–tinged stems from early summer to mid-fall. The chunky phyllaries are bristly and lack fragrance. Compass plant is native to prairies, glades, and disturbed habitats from Wisconsin and Minnesota, south to Louisiana and Texas. Resist the urge to put this giant at the back of a bed, border, or meadow—the large foliage is better appreciated near the front. And taking a cue from its prairie habitat, pair it with grasses and perennials that accentuate the foliage but won’t mask the flowers, such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, Zones 3–9), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, Zones 3–8), and flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollate, Zones 3–9). Dark yellow blooms on wiry stems. I’m sticking with prairie dock (S. terebinthinaceum) as my favorite of this plant group. Once seen, it’s not forgotten—mastering the botanical spelling and pronunciation was a bit of a challenge, though. Dark yellow flowers cupped in smooth green phyllaries opened nearly a month later than compass plant and had a shorter overall bloom period. The slender, nearly naked flower stems were the tallest in our trial at 126 inches. The broad shovelhead-like basal leaves were 2 feet long, or maybe “tall” is a better word, as they stand vertically. Like compass plant, the thick, sandpapery leaves orient north to south, thus reducing moisture loss through transpiration and keeping leaf surfaces cool to the touch on hot days. A deep taproot helps prairie dock survive extreme droughts. Surprisingly, rabbits and deer occasionally munched the rough leaves but left other plants in the trial alone. To be at its best, I feel like prairie dock would prefer leaner soil and the company of other plants rather than just hanging out by itself. In our prair-ies I love it with flowering spurge because the bright white clouds of baby’s breath–like flowers soften the sharpness of the large prairie dock leaves. And let the branched flower clusters have their space by planting companions closer to the height of the leafy clumps. Magenta-flowered winecup (Callirhoe involucrata, Zones 4–9) clambering over and through prairie dock foliage is a particularly brilliant combination. This species is primarily native to the central United States from Wisconsin south to Mississippi. Roughstem rosinweed (S. radula) is a standout for a few reasons—it blooms later, into late fall here—and its big rosette-shaped phyllaries are pretty cool. The bright yellow flowers are 3 to 4 inches across with broad, overlapping rays that make them look more substantial than the spidery blossoms of others in this genus. It’s also a heavy bloomer, with hundreds of flowers produced at the top. The coarse-textured phyllaries look like green roses before and after flowering and are quite large at 1½ inches wide. Many of the leafy-stemmed rosinweeds drop their foliage and look a bit shabby by late fall, but roughstem rosinweed’s stiff, scratchy leaves stayed green longer. At 6½ feet tall and almost as wide, this species is too big and bushy for the front of a bed or meadow. But in the back or middle it mixes nicely with coneflowers (Echinacea spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9), ironweeds (Vernonia spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9), and tall to mid-sized grasses. For a southern native—South Carolina west to Texas and south from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico—it did well in our northern clime. | FUN FACT | Rosinweeds producea sticky substance A resinous, gumlike material often oozes from stems, flower stalks, and phyllaries, giving rise to the group’s common name. Historically, the hardened, amber-colored resin drops were chewed by Native Americans to clean teeth and freshen breath.I think I’ll stick with toothpaste! Whorled rosinweed (S. trifoliatum) is probably the best-looking rosinweed late into autumn because its leaves are still mostly green and stay attached into November! The scabrous dark green leaves are arranged in whorls of three, or sometimes borne oppositely on smooth burgundy-tinged stems. It has a finer texture than most as the leaves are only 4 inches long and just over an inch wide. The bushy, vase-shaped habit is attractive, and the tall stems remained upright most of the time, although relaxed somewhat during heavy peak bloom. The bright yellow flowers are more starlike, since the ray florets do not overlap and are plentiful from early summer to early fall. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii, Zones 3–9), beebalm (Monarda didyma, Zones 4–8), and pitcher sage (Salvia azurea, Zones 4–9) are good matches for scale and texture. Whorled rosinweed is native to prairies and roadsides east of the Mississippi River from Pennsylvania and Ohio, south to North Carolina and Alabama. Dense, compact foliage Starry rosinweed (S. asteriscus) gets an honorary mention despite its less than stellar performance. I wanted so badly for it to make my top-picks list because of its lemony yellow flowers and short stature; there aren’t many Silphium options for smaller gardens. Unfortunately, starry rosinweed wasn’t as cold hardy as other species—only one of the five plants survived through 2024. It is a southern native from Tennessee to Florida, and since our seed came from a Florida mail-order nursery, we assumed it had a southern provenance. I would like to try seed from a potentially hardier locale—native populations purportedly come as far north as southern Illinois. The cheerful starlike flowers bloom from mid to late summer and have 1-inch-wide leafy phyllaries with a strong medicinal fragrance when bruised or crushed. The 5-inch green leaves are less rough than other rosinweeds and are arranged alternately on burgundy-tinged green stems. Try it if you garden in warmer zones, or protect it in colder areas and couple it with mounding asters, little bluestem, and a shorter ironweed like ‘Summer’s Swan Song’.     3 to 4 inch flowers of ‘Holy Grail’ cup plant I admit that cup plant (S. perfoliatum) scares me a little. It’s not the ginormous size—that actually intrigues me, as do the conjoined opposite leaves, which form cups that hold rainwater and dew for birds and bees to drink. My nervousness stems from how quickly and widely it can spread to form colonies. While I hate to think all it takes to sway me is a little color enhancement, ‘The Holy Grail’ cup plant did just that. The enormous jagged leaves are yellow early in the spring before fading to chartreuse and then to bright green from late spring on. Yellow flowers cluster at the top of 10-foot-tall stems from midsummer to mid-fall; the 3-inch flowers are not proportional to the exuberant size! The phyllaries and stout, square stems are hairless, while the large leaves (15 inches long and 11 inches wide) are rough. ‘The Holy Grail’—introduced by Intrinsic Perennial Gardens—has a tighter and more upright habit than the species, which is native to wet places from Quebec to Georgia, and west to Nebraska and Kansas. It is best in large beds and meadows or near water, planted with other moisture lovers such as Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum, Zones 4–8), queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra, Zones 3–9), and ‘Skyracer’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Skyracer’, Zones 5–8). The smaller stature of Mohr’s rosinweed (S. mohrii) will appeal to gardeners who might be nervous about its bigger cousins. At 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, it was one of the shortest rosinweeds in the trial. For nearly three months, beginning in early summer, abundant 2-inch pale yellow flowers put on a nice show (photo p. 48). Their light almond or vanilla scent is an unexpected treat that people and pollinators adore. Mohr’s rosinweed is noticeably fuzzy all over—more so than any other species—making the green leaves, stems, and phyllaries look grayish (photo p. 56, bottom). Unfortunately, it has a messy downside—the withered ray florets fall and cling to the fuzzy leaves as does other organic debris. Mohr’s rosinweed is a prairie native in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, but has been fully hardy in the upper Midwest. The bushy habit can be softened by billowy asters, catmints (Nepeta racemosa and cvs., Zones 4–8), and grasses, both short and tall. | CULTURE TIPS | The ins and outs of rosinweed Traditionally, this group of plants is low-maintenance when sited correctly in the landscape. The biggest challenge lies in—well, their bigness. The shortest rosinweed in our trial was still 5 feet tall and nearly as wide, so if you want to grow these native perennials (and you should), you’ll need to have adequate space. Here are some other things to note when it comes to these giant plants. The blooms may be small, but they’re profuse. The flowers—shades from pale to golden yellow—have a central disk surrounded by petal-like ray florets and look much like their sunflower (Helianthus spp. and cvs.) cousins. The ray florets of rosinweeds are fertile and produce seeds, while the disk florets are just for show. Flowers range from 2 to 4 inches wide and seem undersized on such large plants, but their great abundance makes up for it. You’ll notice the phyllaries. The flowers have prominent stiff phyllaries—reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below the flower head. Think of a phyllary as a leafy cup that flowers sit within. The character of phyllaries varies by species and aids in identification. Pollinators are plentiful and diverse. Honeybees, native bees, leafcutter bees, monarchs, tiger swallowtails, skippers, and fritillaries all feed on rosinweed nectar, while birds such as American goldfinches and black-capped chickadees forage for the seeds. Most Silphium species are also host plants for an assortment of butterflies and moths, including the aptly named silphium moth (Papaipema silphii). Watch out for reseeding. Although most of the species are quite robust, there is one Silphium that is bigger (and more thuggish) than the rest. Deadheading might be a good idea for cup plant (S. perfoliatum, pictured) as it can be a vigorous seeder and could quickly overtake a sizable corner of the landscape if not kept in check.   | Sources | Prairie Nursery, Westfield, WI; 800-476-9453; prairienursery.com Camp Creek Native Plants, New Albany, MS; 662-539-7175; campcreeknativeplants.com Prairie Moon Nursery, Winona, MN; 507-452-1362; prairiemoon.com Native Plants Unlimited, Fishers, IN; 317-777-9469;  nativeplantsunlimitedshop.com   Contributing editor Richard Hawke is the director of ornamental plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. Source link

[alexha2210]

As a budding horticulturist, my first encounter with prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) was intriguing and puzzling. The sheer size and verticality of the spade-like leaves slicing through grasses and forbs captured my imagination, and while its place in the University of Wisconsin’s Curtis Prairie provided a clue to its nativity, its identity was a mystery. Over the ensuing years I came to know prairie dock well, thanks to its prominent position in certain naturalistic areas at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It honestly delights me in every season. From the unfurling spring-green foliage to the brown autumnal leaves, twisting and curling on themselves, to the starkness of the dark, wizened husks poking through a crystalline snowfall, I love this plant. To this day, the sight of its sunny daisies anchored by the prodigious foliage is both nostalgic and heartening. So let’s talk about rosinweeds, the catchall common name for many Silphium. The comments I hear most often are rarely effusive but rather succinct: too big, too wild, too weedy, too yellow. The likability of yellow aside, let’s consider those other descriptors, as they are what ultimately led to our trial—well, two trials to be exact. I made a novice’s mistake by not giving these plants enough room in the 2002 trial, so I spread them wider in the second trial nearly 20 years later, or so I thought. My calculations were still off; their battle for space is best described as a clash of the titans. I think many rosinweeds might be too big or too wild-looking for some folks to appreciate, but it is their over-the-top size and strong architecture that makes them so unique in the garden. And our trials proved that several species are well worth finding room for. I’ll leave you to decide if yellow is a problem. Learn more: Jump to the trial results See Rosinweed culture tips TRIAL PARAMETERS Rosinweeds (Silphium sp. and cvs.) The Chicago Botanic Garden evaluated 13 rosinweeds between 2002 and 2024. All specimens were mail ordered except for S. radula, which was wild-collected in East Texas in 2019, and S. perfoliatum ‘The Holy Grail’, obtained locally from its originator. The seed-grown nature of the species accounts for habit and plant size variations observed within each taxon. How Long: Minimum four years Zone: 6 Conditions: Full sun; well-drained, alkaline, clay loam soil Care: We provided minimal care, allowing the plants to thrive or fail under natural conditions. Besides observing their ornamental traits, we monitored them to see how well they grew and adapted to environmental and soil conditions while keeping a close eye on any disease or pest problems and assessing plant injury or losses over winter. Top Performers That Make a Bold Statement and Encourage Biodiversity Large, deeply lobed leaves of compass plant When it comes to impressive texture, compass plant (S. laciniatum) is hard to beat. This plant features deeply lobed, sandpaper-rough leaves that are big (24 inches long and 18 inches wide). Like the well-known prairie dock, the basal foliage stands vertically. The common name refers to the orientation of the leaf blades, which face east and west to take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun while avoiding the desiccating hot midday sun. Flower stems rose to over 8 feet above the tall leafy bases—and all of this with a whole lot of taproot (12 feet) below. These plants did get quite wide over time, but some of the girth was due to stems splaying under the weight of the flowers. The 4-inch yellow blooms—the largest in the trial—are borne along thick, beet red–tinged stems from early summer to mid-fall. The chunky phyllaries are bristly and lack fragrance. Compass plant is native to prairies, glades, and disturbed habitats from Wisconsin and Minnesota, south to Louisiana and Texas. Resist the urge to put this giant at the back of a bed, border, or meadow—the large foliage is better appreciated near the front. And taking a cue from its prairie habitat, pair it with grasses and perennials that accentuate the foliage but won’t mask the flowers, such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, Zones 3–9), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, Zones 3–8), and flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollate, Zones 3–9). Dark yellow blooms on wiry stems. I’m sticking with prairie dock (S. terebinthinaceum) as my favorite of this plant group. Once seen, it’s not forgotten—mastering the botanical spelling and pronunciation was a bit of a challenge, though. Dark yellow flowers cupped in smooth green phyllaries opened nearly a month later than compass plant and had a shorter overall bloom period. The slender, nearly naked flower stems were the tallest in our trial at 126 inches. The broad shovelhead-like basal leaves were 2 feet long, or maybe “tall” is a better word, as they stand vertically. Like compass plant, the thick, sandpapery leaves orient north to south, thus reducing moisture loss through transpiration and keeping leaf surfaces cool to the touch on hot days. A deep taproot helps prairie dock survive extreme droughts. Surprisingly, rabbits and deer occasionally munched the rough leaves but left other plants in the trial alone. To be at its best, I feel like prairie dock would prefer leaner soil and the company of other plants rather than just hanging out by itself. In our prair-ies I love it with flowering spurge because the bright white clouds of baby’s breath–like flowers soften the sharpness of the large prairie dock leaves. And let the branched flower clusters have their space by planting companions closer to the height of the leafy clumps. Magenta-flowered winecup (Callirhoe involucrata, Zones 4–9) clambering over and through prairie dock foliage is a particularly brilliant combination. This species is primarily native to the central United States from Wisconsin south to Mississippi. Roughstem rosinweed (S. radula) is a standout for a few reasons—it blooms later, into late fall here—and its big rosette-shaped phyllaries are pretty cool. The bright yellow flowers are 3 to 4 inches across with broad, overlapping rays that make them look more substantial than the spidery blossoms of others in this genus. It’s also a heavy bloomer, with hundreds of flowers produced at the top. The coarse-textured phyllaries look like green roses before and after flowering and are quite large at 1½ inches wide. Many of the leafy-stemmed rosinweeds drop their foliage and look a bit shabby by late fall, but roughstem rosinweed’s stiff, scratchy leaves stayed green longer. At 6½ feet tall and almost as wide, this species is too big and bushy for the front of a bed or meadow. But in the back or middle it mixes nicely with coneflowers (Echinacea spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9), ironweeds (Vernonia spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9), and tall to mid-sized grasses. For a southern native—South Carolina west to Texas and south from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico—it did well in our northern clime. | FUN FACT | Rosinweeds producea sticky substance A resinous, gumlike material often oozes from stems, flower stalks, and phyllaries, giving rise to the group’s common name. Historically, the hardened, amber-colored resin drops were chewed by Native Americans to clean teeth and freshen breath.I think I’ll stick with toothpaste! Whorled rosinweed (S. trifoliatum) is probably the best-looking rosinweed late into autumn because its leaves are still mostly green and stay attached into November! The scabrous dark green leaves are arranged in whorls of three, or sometimes borne oppositely on smooth burgundy-tinged stems. It has a finer texture than most as the leaves are only 4 inches long and just over an inch wide. The bushy, vase-shaped habit is attractive, and the tall stems remained upright most of the time, although relaxed somewhat during heavy peak bloom. The bright yellow flowers are more starlike, since the ray florets do not overlap and are plentiful from early summer to early fall. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii, Zones 3–9), beebalm (Monarda didyma, Zones 4–8), and pitcher sage (Salvia azurea, Zones 4–9) are good matches for scale and texture. Whorled rosinweed is native to prairies and roadsides east of the Mississippi River from Pennsylvania and Ohio, south to North Carolina and Alabama. Dense, compact foliage Starry rosinweed (S. asteriscus) gets an honorary mention despite its less than stellar performance. I wanted so badly for it to make my top-picks list because of its lemony yellow flowers and short stature; there aren’t many Silphium options for smaller gardens. Unfortunately, starry rosinweed wasn’t as cold hardy as other species—only one of the five plants survived through 2024. It is a southern native from Tennessee to Florida, and since our seed came from a Florida mail-order nursery, we assumed it had a southern provenance. I would like to try seed from a potentially hardier locale—native populations purportedly come as far north as southern Illinois. The cheerful starlike flowers bloom from mid to late summer and have 1-inch-wide leafy phyllaries with a strong medicinal fragrance when bruised or crushed. The 5-inch green leaves are less rough than other rosinweeds and are arranged alternately on burgundy-tinged green stems. Try it if you garden in warmer zones, or protect it in colder areas and couple it with mounding asters, little bluestem, and a shorter ironweed like ‘Summer’s Swan Song’.     3 to 4 inch flowers of ‘Holy Grail’ cup plant I admit that cup plant (S. perfoliatum) scares me a little. It’s not the ginormous size—that actually intrigues me, as do the conjoined opposite leaves, which form cups that hold rainwater and dew for birds and bees to drink. My nervousness stems from how quickly and widely it can spread to form colonies. While I hate to think all it takes to sway me is a little color enhancement, ‘The Holy Grail’ cup plant did just that. The enormous jagged leaves are yellow early in the spring before fading to chartreuse and then to bright green from late spring on. Yellow flowers cluster at the top of 10-foot-tall stems from midsummer to mid-fall; the 3-inch flowers are not proportional to the exuberant size! The phyllaries and stout, square stems are hairless, while the large leaves (15 inches long and 11 inches wide) are rough. ‘The Holy Grail’—introduced by Intrinsic Perennial Gardens—has a tighter and more upright habit than the species, which is native to wet places from Quebec to Georgia, and west to Nebraska and Kansas. It is best in large beds and meadows or near water, planted with other moisture lovers such as Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum, Zones 4–8), queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra, Zones 3–9), and ‘Skyracer’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Skyracer’, Zones 5–8). The smaller stature of Mohr’s rosinweed (S. mohrii) will appeal to gardeners who might be nervous about its bigger cousins. At 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, it was one of the shortest rosinweeds in the trial. For nearly three months, beginning in early summer, abundant 2-inch pale yellow flowers put on a nice show (photo p. 48). Their light almond or vanilla scent is an unexpected treat that people and pollinators adore. Mohr’s rosinweed is noticeably fuzzy all over—more so than any other species—making the green leaves, stems, and phyllaries look grayish (photo p. 56, bottom). Unfortunately, it has a messy downside—the withered ray florets fall and cling to the fuzzy leaves as does other organic debris. Mohr’s rosinweed is a prairie native in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, but has been fully hardy in the upper Midwest. The bushy habit can be softened by billowy asters, catmints (Nepeta racemosa and cvs., Zones 4–8), and grasses, both short and tall. | CULTURE TIPS | The ins and outs of rosinweed Traditionally, this group of plants is low-maintenance when sited correctly in the landscape. The biggest challenge lies in—well, their bigness. The shortest rosinweed in our trial was still 5 feet tall and nearly as wide, so if you want to grow these native perennials (and you should), you’ll need to have adequate space. Here are some other things to note when it comes to these giant plants. The blooms may be small, but they’re profuse. The flowers—shades from pale to golden yellow—have a central disk surrounded by petal-like ray florets and look much like their sunflower (Helianthus spp. and cvs.) cousins. The ray florets of rosinweeds are fertile and produce seeds, while the disk florets are just for show. Flowers range from 2 to 4 inches wide and seem undersized on such large plants, but their great abundance makes up for it. You’ll notice the phyllaries. The flowers have prominent stiff phyllaries—reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below the flower head. Think of a phyllary as a leafy cup that flowers sit within. The character of phyllaries varies by species and aids in identification. Pollinators are plentiful and diverse. Honeybees, native bees, leafcutter bees, monarchs, tiger swallowtails, skippers, and fritillaries all feed on rosinweed nectar, while birds such as American goldfinches and black-capped chickadees forage for the seeds. Most Silphium species are also host plants for an assortment of butterflies and moths, including the aptly named silphium moth (Papaipema silphii). Watch out for reseeding. Although most of the species are quite robust, there is one Silphium that is bigger (and more thuggish) than the rest. Deadheading might be a good idea for cup plant (S. perfoliatum, pictured) as it can be a vigorous seeder and could quickly overtake a sizable corner of the landscape if not kept in check.   | Sources | Prairie Nursery, Westfield, WI; 800-476-9453; prairienursery.com Camp Creek Native Plants, New Albany, MS; 662-539-7175; campcreeknativeplants.com Prairie Moon Nursery, Winona, MN; 507-452-1362; prairiemoon.com Native Plants Unlimited, Fishers, IN; 317-777-9469;  nativeplantsunlimitedshop.com   Contributing editor Richard Hawke is the director of ornamental plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. Source link

[angusstory]

As a budding horticulturist, my first encounter with prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) was intriguing and puzzling. The sheer size and verticality of the spade-like leaves slicing through grasses and forbs captured my imagination, and while its place in the University of Wisconsin’s Curtis Prairie provided a clue to its nativity, its identity was a mystery. Over the ensuing years I came to know prairie dock well, thanks to its prominent position in certain naturalistic areas at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It honestly delights me in every season. From the unfurling spring-green foliage to the brown autumnal leaves, twisting and curling on themselves, to the starkness of the dark, wizened husks poking through a crystalline snowfall, I love this plant. To this day, the sight of its sunny daisies anchored by the prodigious foliage is both nostalgic and heartening. So let’s talk about rosinweeds, the catchall common name for many Silphium. The comments I hear most often are rarely effusive but rather succinct: too big, too wild, too weedy, too yellow. The likability of yellow aside, let’s consider those other descriptors, as they are what ultimately led to our trial—well, two trials to be exact. I made a novice’s mistake by not giving these plants enough room in the 2002 trial, so I spread them wider in the second trial nearly 20 years later, or so I thought. My calculations were still off; their battle for space is best described as a clash of the titans. I think many rosinweeds might be too big or too wild-looking for some folks to appreciate, but it is their over-the-top size and strong architecture that makes them so unique in the garden. And our trials proved that several species are well worth finding room for. I’ll leave you to decide if yellow is a problem. Learn more: Jump to the trial results See Rosinweed culture tips TRIAL PARAMETERS Rosinweeds (Silphium sp. and cvs.) The Chicago Botanic Garden evaluated 13 rosinweeds between 2002 and 2024. All specimens were mail ordered except for S. radula, which was wild-collected in East Texas in 2019, and S. perfoliatum ‘The Holy Grail’, obtained locally from its originator. The seed-grown nature of the species accounts for habit and plant size variations observed within each taxon. How Long: Minimum four years Zone: 6 Conditions: Full sun; well-drained, alkaline, clay loam soil Care: We provided minimal care, allowing the plants to thrive or fail under natural conditions. Besides observing their ornamental traits, we monitored them to see how well they grew and adapted to environmental and soil conditions while keeping a close eye on any disease or pest problems and assessing plant injury or losses over winter. Top Performers That Make a Bold Statement and Encourage Biodiversity Large, deeply lobed leaves of compass plant When it comes to impressive texture, compass plant (S. laciniatum) is hard to beat. This plant features deeply lobed, sandpaper-rough leaves that are big (24 inches long and 18 inches wide). Like the well-known prairie dock, the basal foliage stands vertically. The common name refers to the orientation of the leaf blades, which face east and west to take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun while avoiding the desiccating hot midday sun. Flower stems rose to over 8 feet above the tall leafy bases—and all of this with a whole lot of taproot (12 feet) below. These plants did get quite wide over time, but some of the girth was due to stems splaying under the weight of the flowers. The 4-inch yellow blooms—the largest in the trial—are borne along thick, beet red–tinged stems from early summer to mid-fall. The chunky phyllaries are bristly and lack fragrance. Compass plant is native to prairies, glades, and disturbed habitats from Wisconsin and Minnesota, south to Louisiana and Texas. Resist the urge to put this giant at the back of a bed, border, or meadow—the large foliage is better appreciated near the front. And taking a cue from its prairie habitat, pair it with grasses and perennials that accentuate the foliage but won’t mask the flowers, such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, Zones 3–9), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, Zones 3–8), and flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollate, Zones 3–9). Dark yellow blooms on wiry stems. I’m sticking with prairie dock (S. terebinthinaceum) as my favorite of this plant group. Once seen, it’s not forgotten—mastering the botanical spelling and pronunciation was a bit of a challenge, though. Dark yellow flowers cupped in smooth green phyllaries opened nearly a month later than compass plant and had a shorter overall bloom period. The slender, nearly naked flower stems were the tallest in our trial at 126 inches. The broad shovelhead-like basal leaves were 2 feet long, or maybe “tall” is a better word, as they stand vertically. Like compass plant, the thick, sandpapery leaves orient north to south, thus reducing moisture loss through transpiration and keeping leaf surfaces cool to the touch on hot days. A deep taproot helps prairie dock survive extreme droughts. Surprisingly, rabbits and deer occasionally munched the rough leaves but left other plants in the trial alone. To be at its best, I feel like prairie dock would prefer leaner soil and the company of other plants rather than just hanging out by itself. In our prair-ies I love it with flowering spurge because the bright white clouds of baby’s breath–like flowers soften the sharpness of the large prairie dock leaves. And let the branched flower clusters have their space by planting companions closer to the height of the leafy clumps. Magenta-flowered winecup (Callirhoe involucrata, Zones 4–9) clambering over and through prairie dock foliage is a particularly brilliant combination. This species is primarily native to the central United States from Wisconsin south to Mississippi. Roughstem rosinweed (S. radula) is a standout for a few reasons—it blooms later, into late fall here—and its big rosette-shaped phyllaries are pretty cool. The bright yellow flowers are 3 to 4 inches across with broad, overlapping rays that make them look more substantial than the spidery blossoms of others in this genus. It’s also a heavy bloomer, with hundreds of flowers produced at the top. The coarse-textured phyllaries look like green roses before and after flowering and are quite large at 1½ inches wide. Many of the leafy-stemmed rosinweeds drop their foliage and look a bit shabby by late fall, but roughstem rosinweed’s stiff, scratchy leaves stayed green longer. At 6½ feet tall and almost as wide, this species is too big and bushy for the front of a bed or meadow. But in the back or middle it mixes nicely with coneflowers (Echinacea spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9), ironweeds (Vernonia spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9), and tall to mid-sized grasses. For a southern native—South Carolina west to Texas and south from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico—it did well in our northern clime. | FUN FACT | Rosinweeds producea sticky substance A resinous, gumlike material often oozes from stems, flower stalks, and phyllaries, giving rise to the group’s common name. Historically, the hardened, amber-colored resin drops were chewed by Native Americans to clean teeth and freshen breath.I think I’ll stick with toothpaste! Whorled rosinweed (S. trifoliatum) is probably the best-looking rosinweed late into autumn because its leaves are still mostly green and stay attached into November! The scabrous dark green leaves are arranged in whorls of three, or sometimes borne oppositely on smooth burgundy-tinged stems. It has a finer texture than most as the leaves are only 4 inches long and just over an inch wide. The bushy, vase-shaped habit is attractive, and the tall stems remained upright most of the time, although relaxed somewhat during heavy peak bloom. The bright yellow flowers are more starlike, since the ray florets do not overlap and are plentiful from early summer to early fall. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii, Zones 3–9), beebalm (Monarda didyma, Zones 4–8), and pitcher sage (Salvia azurea, Zones 4–9) are good matches for scale and texture. Whorled rosinweed is native to prairies and roadsides east of the Mississippi River from Pennsylvania and Ohio, south to North Carolina and Alabama. Dense, compact foliage Starry rosinweed (S. asteriscus) gets an honorary mention despite its less than stellar performance. I wanted so badly for it to make my top-picks list because of its lemony yellow flowers and short stature; there aren’t many Silphium options for smaller gardens. Unfortunately, starry rosinweed wasn’t as cold hardy as other species—only one of the five plants survived through 2024. It is a southern native from Tennessee to Florida, and since our seed came from a Florida mail-order nursery, we assumed it had a southern provenance. I would like to try seed from a potentially hardier locale—native populations purportedly come as far north as southern Illinois. The cheerful starlike flowers bloom from mid to late summer and have 1-inch-wide leafy phyllaries with a strong medicinal fragrance when bruised or crushed. The 5-inch green leaves are less rough than other rosinweeds and are arranged alternately on burgundy-tinged green stems. Try it if you garden in warmer zones, or protect it in colder areas and couple it with mounding asters, little bluestem, and a shorter ironweed like ‘Summer’s Swan Song’.     3 to 4 inch flowers of ‘Holy Grail’ cup plant I admit that cup plant (S. perfoliatum) scares me a little. It’s not the ginormous size—that actually intrigues me, as do the conjoined opposite leaves, which form cups that hold rainwater and dew for birds and bees to drink. My nervousness stems from how quickly and widely it can spread to form colonies. While I hate to think all it takes to sway me is a little color enhancement, ‘The Holy Grail’ cup plant did just that. The enormous jagged leaves are yellow early in the spring before fading to chartreuse and then to bright green from late spring on. Yellow flowers cluster at the top of 10-foot-tall stems from midsummer to mid-fall; the 3-inch flowers are not proportional to the exuberant size! The phyllaries and stout, square stems are hairless, while the large leaves (15 inches long and 11 inches wide) are rough. ‘The Holy Grail’—introduced by Intrinsic Perennial Gardens—has a tighter and more upright habit than the species, which is native to wet places from Quebec to Georgia, and west to Nebraska and Kansas. It is best in large beds and meadows or near water, planted with other moisture lovers such as Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum, Zones 4–8), queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra, Zones 3–9), and ‘Skyracer’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Skyracer’, Zones 5–8). The smaller stature of Mohr’s rosinweed (S. mohrii) will appeal to gardeners who might be nervous about its bigger cousins. At 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, it was one of the shortest rosinweeds in the trial. For nearly three months, beginning in early summer, abundant 2-inch pale yellow flowers put on a nice show (photo p. 48). Their light almond or vanilla scent is an unexpected treat that people and pollinators adore. Mohr’s rosinweed is noticeably fuzzy all over—more so than any other species—making the green leaves, stems, and phyllaries look grayish (photo p. 56, bottom). Unfortunately, it has a messy downside—the withered ray florets fall and cling to the fuzzy leaves as does other organic debris. Mohr’s rosinweed is a prairie native in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, but has been fully hardy in the upper Midwest. The bushy habit can be softened by billowy asters, catmints (Nepeta racemosa and cvs., Zones 4–8), and grasses, both short and tall. | CULTURE TIPS | The ins and outs of rosinweed Traditionally, this group of plants is low-maintenance when sited correctly in the landscape. The biggest challenge lies in—well, their bigness. The shortest rosinweed in our trial was still 5 feet tall and nearly as wide, so if you want to grow these native perennials (and you should), you’ll need to have adequate space. Here are some other things to note when it comes to these giant plants. The blooms may be small, but they’re profuse. The flowers—shades from pale to golden yellow—have a central disk surrounded by petal-like ray florets and look much like their sunflower (Helianthus spp. and cvs.) cousins. The ray florets of rosinweeds are fertile and produce seeds, while the disk florets are just for show. Flowers range from 2 to 4 inches wide and seem undersized on such large plants, but their great abundance makes up for it. You’ll notice the phyllaries. The flowers have prominent stiff phyllaries—reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below the flower head. Think of a phyllary as a leafy cup that flowers sit within. The character of phyllaries varies by species and aids in identification. Pollinators are plentiful and diverse. Honeybees, native bees, leafcutter bees, monarchs, tiger swallowtails, skippers, and fritillaries all feed on rosinweed nectar, while birds such as American goldfinches and black-capped chickadees forage for the seeds. Most Silphium species are also host plants for an assortment of butterflies and moths, including the aptly named silphium moth (Papaipema silphii). Watch out for reseeding. Although most of the species are quite robust, there is one Silphium that is bigger (and more thuggish) than the rest. Deadheading might be a good idea for cup plant (S. perfoliatum, pictured) as it can be a vigorous seeder and could quickly overtake a sizable corner of the landscape if not kept in check.   | Sources | Prairie Nursery, Westfield, WI; 800-476-9453; prairienursery.com Camp Creek Native Plants, New Albany, MS; 662-539-7175; campcreeknativeplants.com Prairie Moon Nursery, Winona, MN; 507-452-1362; prairiemoon.com Native Plants Unlimited, Fishers, IN; 317-777-9469;  nativeplantsunlimitedshop.com   Contributing editor Richard Hawke is the director of ornamental plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. Source link

[tumibaba]

As a budding horticulturist, my first encounter with prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) was intriguing and puzzling. The sheer size and verticality of the spade-like leaves slicing through grasses and forbs captured my imagination, and while its place in the University of Wisconsin’s Curtis Prairie provided a clue to its nativity, its identity was a mystery. Over the ensuing years I came to know prairie dock well, thanks to its prominent position in certain naturalistic areas at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It honestly delights me in every season. From the unfurling spring-green foliage to the brown autumnal leaves, twisting and curling on themselves, to the starkness of the dark, wizened husks poking through a crystalline snowfall, I love this plant. To this day, the sight of its sunny daisies anchored by the prodigious foliage is both nostalgic and heartening. So let’s talk about rosinweeds, the catchall common name for many Silphium. The comments I hear most often are rarely effusive but rather succinct: too big, too wild, too weedy, too yellow. The likability of yellow aside, let’s consider those other descriptors, as they are what ultimately led to our trial—well, two trials to be exact. I made a novice’s mistake by not giving these plants enough room in the 2002 trial, so I spread them wider in the second trial nearly 20 years later, or so I thought. My calculations were still off; their battle for space is best described as a clash of the titans. I think many rosinweeds might be too big or too wild-looking for some folks to appreciate, but it is their over-the-top size and strong architecture that makes them so unique in the garden. And our trials proved that several species are well worth finding room for. I’ll leave you to decide if yellow is a problem. Learn more: Jump to the trial results See Rosinweed culture tips TRIAL PARAMETERS Rosinweeds (Silphium sp. and cvs.) The Chicago Botanic Garden evaluated 13 rosinweeds between 2002 and 2024. All specimens were mail ordered except for S. radula, which was wild-collected in East Texas in 2019, and S. perfoliatum ‘The Holy Grail’, obtained locally from its originator. The seed-grown nature of the species accounts for habit and plant size variations observed within each taxon. How Long: Minimum four years Zone: 6 Conditions: Full sun; well-drained, alkaline, clay loam soil Care: We provided minimal care, allowing the plants to thrive or fail under natural conditions. Besides observing their ornamental traits, we monitored them to see how well they grew and adapted to environmental and soil conditions while keeping a close eye on any disease or pest problems and assessing plant injury or losses over winter. Top Performers That Make a Bold Statement and Encourage Biodiversity Large, deeply lobed leaves of compass plant When it comes to impressive texture, compass plant (S. laciniatum) is hard to beat. This plant features deeply lobed, sandpaper-rough leaves that are big (24 inches long and 18 inches wide). Like the well-known prairie dock, the basal foliage stands vertically. The common name refers to the orientation of the leaf blades, which face east and west to take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun while avoiding the desiccating hot midday sun. Flower stems rose to over 8 feet above the tall leafy bases—and all of this with a whole lot of taproot (12 feet) below. These plants did get quite wide over time, but some of the girth was due to stems splaying under the weight of the flowers. The 4-inch yellow blooms—the largest in the trial—are borne along thick, beet red–tinged stems from early summer to mid-fall. The chunky phyllaries are bristly and lack fragrance. Compass plant is native to prairies, glades, and disturbed habitats from Wisconsin and Minnesota, south to Louisiana and Texas. Resist the urge to put this giant at the back of a bed, border, or meadow—the large foliage is better appreciated near the front. And taking a cue from its prairie habitat, pair it with grasses and perennials that accentuate the foliage but won’t mask the flowers, such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, Zones 3–9), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, Zones 3–8), and flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollate, Zones 3–9). Dark yellow blooms on wiry stems. I’m sticking with prairie dock (S. terebinthinaceum) as my favorite of this plant group. Once seen, it’s not forgotten—mastering the botanical spelling and pronunciation was a bit of a challenge, though. Dark yellow flowers cupped in smooth green phyllaries opened nearly a month later than compass plant and had a shorter overall bloom period. The slender, nearly naked flower stems were the tallest in our trial at 126 inches. The broad shovelhead-like basal leaves were 2 feet long, or maybe “tall” is a better word, as they stand vertically. Like compass plant, the thick, sandpapery leaves orient north to south, thus reducing moisture loss through transpiration and keeping leaf surfaces cool to the touch on hot days. A deep taproot helps prairie dock survive extreme droughts. Surprisingly, rabbits and deer occasionally munched the rough leaves but left other plants in the trial alone. To be at its best, I feel like prairie dock would prefer leaner soil and the company of other plants rather than just hanging out by itself. In our prair-ies I love it with flowering spurge because the bright white clouds of baby’s breath–like flowers soften the sharpness of the large prairie dock leaves. And let the branched flower clusters have their space by planting companions closer to the height of the leafy clumps. Magenta-flowered winecup (Callirhoe involucrata, Zones 4–9) clambering over and through prairie dock foliage is a particularly brilliant combination. This species is primarily native to the central United States from Wisconsin south to Mississippi. Roughstem rosinweed (S. radula) is a standout for a few reasons—it blooms later, into late fall here—and its big rosette-shaped phyllaries are pretty cool. The bright yellow flowers are 3 to 4 inches across with broad, overlapping rays that make them look more substantial than the spidery blossoms of others in this genus. It’s also a heavy bloomer, with hundreds of flowers produced at the top. The coarse-textured phyllaries look like green roses before and after flowering and are quite large at 1½ inches wide. Many of the leafy-stemmed rosinweeds drop their foliage and look a bit shabby by late fall, but roughstem rosinweed’s stiff, scratchy leaves stayed green longer. At 6½ feet tall and almost as wide, this species is too big and bushy for the front of a bed or meadow. But in the back or middle it mixes nicely with coneflowers (Echinacea spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9), ironweeds (Vernonia spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9), and tall to mid-sized grasses. For a southern native—South Carolina west to Texas and south from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico—it did well in our northern clime. | FUN FACT | Rosinweeds producea sticky substance A resinous, gumlike material often oozes from stems, flower stalks, and phyllaries, giving rise to the group’s common name. Historically, the hardened, amber-colored resin drops were chewed by Native Americans to clean teeth and freshen breath.I think I’ll stick with toothpaste! Whorled rosinweed (S. trifoliatum) is probably the best-looking rosinweed late into autumn because its leaves are still mostly green and stay attached into November! The scabrous dark green leaves are arranged in whorls of three, or sometimes borne oppositely on smooth burgundy-tinged stems. It has a finer texture than most as the leaves are only 4 inches long and just over an inch wide. The bushy, vase-shaped habit is attractive, and the tall stems remained upright most of the time, although relaxed somewhat during heavy peak bloom. The bright yellow flowers are more starlike, since the ray florets do not overlap and are plentiful from early summer to early fall. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii, Zones 3–9), beebalm (Monarda didyma, Zones 4–8), and pitcher sage (Salvia azurea, Zones 4–9) are good matches for scale and texture. Whorled rosinweed is native to prairies and roadsides east of the Mississippi River from Pennsylvania and Ohio, south to North Carolina and Alabama. Dense, compact foliage Starry rosinweed (S. asteriscus) gets an honorary mention despite its less than stellar performance. I wanted so badly for it to make my top-picks list because of its lemony yellow flowers and short stature; there aren’t many Silphium options for smaller gardens. Unfortunately, starry rosinweed wasn’t as cold hardy as other species—only one of the five plants survived through 2024. It is a southern native from Tennessee to Florida, and since our seed came from a Florida mail-order nursery, we assumed it had a southern provenance. I would like to try seed from a potentially hardier locale—native populations purportedly come as far north as southern Illinois. The cheerful starlike flowers bloom from mid to late summer and have 1-inch-wide leafy phyllaries with a strong medicinal fragrance when bruised or crushed. The 5-inch green leaves are less rough than other rosinweeds and are arranged alternately on burgundy-tinged green stems. Try it if you garden in warmer zones, or protect it in colder areas and couple it with mounding asters, little bluestem, and a shorter ironweed like ‘Summer’s Swan Song’.     3 to 4 inch flowers of ‘Holy Grail’ cup plant I admit that cup plant (S. perfoliatum) scares me a little. It’s not the ginormous size—that actually intrigues me, as do the conjoined opposite leaves, which form cups that hold rainwater and dew for birds and bees to drink. My nervousness stems from how quickly and widely it can spread to form colonies. While I hate to think all it takes to sway me is a little color enhancement, ‘The Holy Grail’ cup plant did just that. The enormous jagged leaves are yellow early in the spring before fading to chartreuse and then to bright green from late spring on. Yellow flowers cluster at the top of 10-foot-tall stems from midsummer to mid-fall; the 3-inch flowers are not proportional to the exuberant size! The phyllaries and stout, square stems are hairless, while the large leaves (15 inches long and 11 inches wide) are rough. ‘The Holy Grail’—introduced by Intrinsic Perennial Gardens—has a tighter and more upright habit than the species, which is native to wet places from Quebec to Georgia, and west to Nebraska and Kansas. It is best in large beds and meadows or near water, planted with other moisture lovers such as Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum, Zones 4–8), queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra, Zones 3–9), and ‘Skyracer’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Skyracer’, Zones 5–8). The smaller stature of Mohr’s rosinweed (S. mohrii) will appeal to gardeners who might be nervous about its bigger cousins. At 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, it was one of the shortest rosinweeds in the trial. For nearly three months, beginning in early summer, abundant 2-inch pale yellow flowers put on a nice show (photo p. 48). Their light almond or vanilla scent is an unexpected treat that people and pollinators adore. Mohr’s rosinweed is noticeably fuzzy all over—more so than any other species—making the green leaves, stems, and phyllaries look grayish (photo p. 56, bottom). Unfortunately, it has a messy downside—the withered ray florets fall and cling to the fuzzy leaves as does other organic debris. Mohr’s rosinweed is a prairie native in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, but has been fully hardy in the upper Midwest. The bushy habit can be softened by billowy asters, catmints (Nepeta racemosa and cvs., Zones 4–8), and grasses, both short and tall. | CULTURE TIPS | The ins and outs of rosinweed Traditionally, this group of plants is low-maintenance when sited correctly in the landscape. The biggest challenge lies in—well, their bigness. The shortest rosinweed in our trial was still 5 feet tall and nearly as wide, so if you want to grow these native perennials (and you should), you’ll need to have adequate space. Here are some other things to note when it comes to these giant plants. The blooms may be small, but they’re profuse. The flowers—shades from pale to golden yellow—have a central disk surrounded by petal-like ray florets and look much like their sunflower (Helianthus spp. and cvs.) cousins. The ray florets of rosinweeds are fertile and produce seeds, while the disk florets are just for show. Flowers range from 2 to 4 inches wide and seem undersized on such large plants, but their great abundance makes up for it. You’ll notice the phyllaries. The flowers have prominent stiff phyllaries—reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below the flower head. Think of a phyllary as a leafy cup that flowers sit within. The character of phyllaries varies by species and aids in identification. Pollinators are plentiful and diverse. Honeybees, native bees, leafcutter bees, monarchs, tiger swallowtails, skippers, and fritillaries all feed on rosinweed nectar, while birds such as American goldfinches and black-capped chickadees forage for the seeds. Most Silphium species are also host plants for an assortment of butterflies and moths, including the aptly named silphium moth (Papaipema silphii). Watch out for reseeding. Although most of the species are quite robust, there is one Silphium that is bigger (and more thuggish) than the rest. Deadheading might be a good idea for cup plant (S. perfoliatum, pictured) as it can be a vigorous seeder and could quickly overtake a sizable corner of the landscape if not kept in check.   | Sources | Prairie Nursery, Westfield, WI; 800-476-9453; prairienursery.com Camp Creek Native Plants, New Albany, MS; 662-539-7175; campcreeknativeplants.com Prairie Moon Nursery, Winona, MN; 507-452-1362; prairiemoon.com Native Plants Unlimited, Fishers, IN; 317-777-9469;  nativeplantsunlimitedshop.com   Contributing editor Richard Hawke is the director of ornamental plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. Source link

[romaleen]

As a budding horticulturist, my first encounter with prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) was intriguing and puzzling. The sheer size and verticality of the spade-like leaves slicing through grasses and forbs captured my imagination, and while its place in the University of Wisconsin’s Curtis Prairie provided a clue to its nativity, its identity was a mystery. Over the ensuing years I came to know prairie dock well, thanks to its prominent position in certain naturalistic areas at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It honestly delights me in every season. From the unfurling spring-green foliage to the brown autumnal leaves, twisting and curling on themselves, to the starkness of the dark, wizened husks poking through a crystalline snowfall, I love this plant. To this day, the sight of its sunny daisies anchored by the prodigious foliage is both nostalgic and heartening. So let’s talk about rosinweeds, the catchall common name for many Silphium. The comments I hear most often are rarely effusive but rather succinct: too big, too wild, too weedy, too yellow. The likability of yellow aside, let’s consider those other descriptors, as they are what ultimately led to our trial—well, two trials to be exact. I made a novice’s mistake by not giving these plants enough room in the 2002 trial, so I spread them wider in the second trial nearly 20 years later, or so I thought. My calculations were still off; their battle for space is best described as a clash of the titans. I think many rosinweeds might be too big or too wild-looking for some folks to appreciate, but it is their over-the-top size and strong architecture that makes them so unique in the garden. And our trials proved that several species are well worth finding room for. I’ll leave you to decide if yellow is a problem. Learn more: Jump to the trial results See Rosinweed culture tips TRIAL PARAMETERS Rosinweeds (Silphium sp. and cvs.) The Chicago Botanic Garden evaluated 13 rosinweeds between 2002 and 2024. All specimens were mail ordered except for S. radula, which was wild-collected in East Texas in 2019, and S. perfoliatum ‘The Holy Grail’, obtained locally from its originator. The seed-grown nature of the species accounts for habit and plant size variations observed within each taxon. How Long: Minimum four years Zone: 6 Conditions: Full sun; well-drained, alkaline, clay loam soil Care: We provided minimal care, allowing the plants to thrive or fail under natural conditions. Besides observing their ornamental traits, we monitored them to see how well they grew and adapted to environmental and soil conditions while keeping a close eye on any disease or pest problems and assessing plant injury or losses over winter. Top Performers That Make a Bold Statement and Encourage Biodiversity Large, deeply lobed leaves of compass plant When it comes to impressive texture, compass plant (S. laciniatum) is hard to beat. This plant features deeply lobed, sandpaper-rough leaves that are big (24 inches long and 18 inches wide). Like the well-known prairie dock, the basal foliage stands vertically. The common name refers to the orientation of the leaf blades, which face east and west to take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun while avoiding the desiccating hot midday sun. Flower stems rose to over 8 feet above the tall leafy bases—and all of this with a whole lot of taproot (12 feet) below. These plants did get quite wide over time, but some of the girth was due to stems splaying under the weight of the flowers. The 4-inch yellow blooms—the largest in the trial—are borne along thick, beet red–tinged stems from early summer to mid-fall. The chunky phyllaries are bristly and lack fragrance. Compass plant is native to prairies, glades, and disturbed habitats from Wisconsin and Minnesota, south to Louisiana and Texas. Resist the urge to put this giant at the back of a bed, border, or meadow—the large foliage is better appreciated near the front. And taking a cue from its prairie habitat, pair it with grasses and perennials that accentuate the foliage but won’t mask the flowers, such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, Zones 3–9), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, Zones 3–8), and flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollate, Zones 3–9). Dark yellow blooms on wiry stems. I’m sticking with prairie dock (S. terebinthinaceum) as my favorite of this plant group. Once seen, it’s not forgotten—mastering the botanical spelling and pronunciation was a bit of a challenge, though. Dark yellow flowers cupped in smooth green phyllaries opened nearly a month later than compass plant and had a shorter overall bloom period. The slender, nearly naked flower stems were the tallest in our trial at 126 inches. The broad shovelhead-like basal leaves were 2 feet long, or maybe “tall” is a better word, as they stand vertically. Like compass plant, the thick, sandpapery leaves orient north to south, thus reducing moisture loss through transpiration and keeping leaf surfaces cool to the touch on hot days. A deep taproot helps prairie dock survive extreme droughts. Surprisingly, rabbits and deer occasionally munched the rough leaves but left other plants in the trial alone. To be at its best, I feel like prairie dock would prefer leaner soil and the company of other plants rather than just hanging out by itself. In our prair-ies I love it with flowering spurge because the bright white clouds of baby’s breath–like flowers soften the sharpness of the large prairie dock leaves. And let the branched flower clusters have their space by planting companions closer to the height of the leafy clumps. Magenta-flowered winecup (Callirhoe involucrata, Zones 4–9) clambering over and through prairie dock foliage is a particularly brilliant combination. This species is primarily native to the central United States from Wisconsin south to Mississippi. Roughstem rosinweed (S. radula) is a standout for a few reasons—it blooms later, into late fall here—and its big rosette-shaped phyllaries are pretty cool. The bright yellow flowers are 3 to 4 inches across with broad, overlapping rays that make them look more substantial than the spidery blossoms of others in this genus. It’s also a heavy bloomer, with hundreds of flowers produced at the top. The coarse-textured phyllaries look like green roses before and after flowering and are quite large at 1½ inches wide. Many of the leafy-stemmed rosinweeds drop their foliage and look a bit shabby by late fall, but roughstem rosinweed’s stiff, scratchy leaves stayed green longer. At 6½ feet tall and almost as wide, this species is too big and bushy for the front of a bed or meadow. But in the back or middle it mixes nicely with coneflowers (Echinacea spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9), ironweeds (Vernonia spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9), and tall to mid-sized grasses. For a southern native—South Carolina west to Texas and south from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico—it did well in our northern clime. | FUN FACT | Rosinweeds producea sticky substance A resinous, gumlike material often oozes from stems, flower stalks, and phyllaries, giving rise to the group’s common name. Historically, the hardened, amber-colored resin drops were chewed by Native Americans to clean teeth and freshen breath.I think I’ll stick with toothpaste! Whorled rosinweed (S. trifoliatum) is probably the best-looking rosinweed late into autumn because its leaves are still mostly green and stay attached into November! The scabrous dark green leaves are arranged in whorls of three, or sometimes borne oppositely on smooth burgundy-tinged stems. It has a finer texture than most as the leaves are only 4 inches long and just over an inch wide. The bushy, vase-shaped habit is attractive, and the tall stems remained upright most of the time, although relaxed somewhat during heavy peak bloom. The bright yellow flowers are more starlike, since the ray florets do not overlap and are plentiful from early summer to early fall. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii, Zones 3–9), beebalm (Monarda didyma, Zones 4–8), and pitcher sage (Salvia azurea, Zones 4–9) are good matches for scale and texture. Whorled rosinweed is native to prairies and roadsides east of the Mississippi River from Pennsylvania and Ohio, south to North Carolina and Alabama. Dense, compact foliage Starry rosinweed (S. asteriscus) gets an honorary mention despite its less than stellar performance. I wanted so badly for it to make my top-picks list because of its lemony yellow flowers and short stature; there aren’t many Silphium options for smaller gardens. Unfortunately, starry rosinweed wasn’t as cold hardy as other species—only one of the five plants survived through 2024. It is a southern native from Tennessee to Florida, and since our seed came from a Florida mail-order nursery, we assumed it had a southern provenance. I would like to try seed from a potentially hardier locale—native populations purportedly come as far north as southern Illinois. The cheerful starlike flowers bloom from mid to late summer and have 1-inch-wide leafy phyllaries with a strong medicinal fragrance when bruised or crushed. The 5-inch green leaves are less rough than other rosinweeds and are arranged alternately on burgundy-tinged green stems. Try it if you garden in warmer zones, or protect it in colder areas and couple it with mounding asters, little bluestem, and a shorter ironweed like ‘Summer’s Swan Song’.     3 to 4 inch flowers of ‘Holy Grail’ cup plant I admit that cup plant (S. perfoliatum) scares me a little. It’s not the ginormous size—that actually intrigues me, as do the conjoined opposite leaves, which form cups that hold rainwater and dew for birds and bees to drink. My nervousness stems from how quickly and widely it can spread to form colonies. While I hate to think all it takes to sway me is a little color enhancement, ‘The Holy Grail’ cup plant did just that. The enormous jagged leaves are yellow early in the spring before fading to chartreuse and then to bright green from late spring on. Yellow flowers cluster at the top of 10-foot-tall stems from midsummer to mid-fall; the 3-inch flowers are not proportional to the exuberant size! The phyllaries and stout, square stems are hairless, while the large leaves (15 inches long and 11 inches wide) are rough. ‘The Holy Grail’—introduced by Intrinsic Perennial Gardens—has a tighter and more upright habit than the species, which is native to wet places from Quebec to Georgia, and west to Nebraska and Kansas. It is best in large beds and meadows or near water, planted with other moisture lovers such as Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum, Zones 4–8), queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra, Zones 3–9), and ‘Skyracer’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Skyracer’, Zones 5–8). The smaller stature of Mohr’s rosinweed (S. mohrii) will appeal to gardeners who might be nervous about its bigger cousins. At 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, it was one of the shortest rosinweeds in the trial. For nearly three months, beginning in early summer, abundant 2-inch pale yellow flowers put on a nice show (photo p. 48). Their light almond or vanilla scent is an unexpected treat that people and pollinators adore. Mohr’s rosinweed is noticeably fuzzy all over—more so than any other species—making the green leaves, stems, and phyllaries look grayish (photo p. 56, bottom). Unfortunately, it has a messy downside—the withered ray florets fall and cling to the fuzzy leaves as does other organic debris. Mohr’s rosinweed is a prairie native in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, but has been fully hardy in the upper Midwest. The bushy habit can be softened by billowy asters, catmints (Nepeta racemosa and cvs., Zones 4–8), and grasses, both short and tall. | CULTURE TIPS | The ins and outs of rosinweed Traditionally, this group of plants is low-maintenance when sited correctly in the landscape. The biggest challenge lies in—well, their bigness. The shortest rosinweed in our trial was still 5 feet tall and nearly as wide, so if you want to grow these native perennials (and you should), you’ll need to have adequate space. Here are some other things to note when it comes to these giant plants. The blooms may be small, but they’re profuse. The flowers—shades from pale to golden yellow—have a central disk surrounded by petal-like ray florets and look much like their sunflower (Helianthus spp. and cvs.) cousins. The ray florets of rosinweeds are fertile and produce seeds, while the disk florets are just for show. Flowers range from 2 to 4 inches wide and seem undersized on such large plants, but their great abundance makes up for it. You’ll notice the phyllaries. The flowers have prominent stiff phyllaries—reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below the flower head. Think of a phyllary as a leafy cup that flowers sit within. The character of phyllaries varies by species and aids in identification. Pollinators are plentiful and diverse. Honeybees, native bees, leafcutter bees, monarchs, tiger swallowtails, skippers, and fritillaries all feed on rosinweed nectar, while birds such as American goldfinches and black-capped chickadees forage for the seeds. Most Silphium species are also host plants for an assortment of butterflies and moths, including the aptly named silphium moth (Papaipema silphii). Watch out for reseeding. Although most of the species are quite robust, there is one Silphium that is bigger (and more thuggish) than the rest. Deadheading might be a good idea for cup plant (S. perfoliatum, pictured) as it can be a vigorous seeder and could quickly overtake a sizable corner of the landscape if not kept in check.   | Sources | Prairie Nursery, Westfield, WI; 800-476-9453; prairienursery.com Camp Creek Native Plants, New Albany, MS; 662-539-7175; campcreeknativeplants.com Prairie Moon Nursery, Winona, MN; 507-452-1362; prairiemoon.com Native Plants Unlimited, Fishers, IN; 317-777-9469;  nativeplantsunlimitedshop.com   Contributing editor Richard Hawke is the director of ornamental plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. Source link

[monaleen101]

As a budding horticulturist, my first encounter with prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) was intriguing and puzzling. The sheer size and verticality of the spade-like leaves slicing through grasses and forbs captured my imagination, and while its place in the University of Wisconsin’s Curtis Prairie provided a clue to its nativity, its identity was a mystery. Over the ensuing years I came to know prairie dock well, thanks to its prominent position in certain naturalistic areas at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It honestly delights me in every season. From the unfurling spring-green foliage to the brown autumnal leaves, twisting and curling on themselves, to the starkness of the dark, wizened husks poking through a crystalline snowfall, I love this plant. To this day, the sight of its sunny daisies anchored by the prodigious foliage is both nostalgic and heartening. So let’s talk about rosinweeds, the catchall common name for many Silphium. The comments I hear most often are rarely effusive but rather succinct: too big, too wild, too weedy, too yellow. The likability of yellow aside, let’s consider those other descriptors, as they are what ultimately led to our trial—well, two trials to be exact. I made a novice’s mistake by not giving these plants enough room in the 2002 trial, so I spread them wider in the second trial nearly 20 years later, or so I thought. My calculations were still off; their battle for space is best described as a clash of the titans. I think many rosinweeds might be too big or too wild-looking for some folks to appreciate, but it is their over-the-top size and strong architecture that makes them so unique in the garden. And our trials proved that several species are well worth finding room for. I’ll leave you to decide if yellow is a problem. Learn more: Jump to the trial results See Rosinweed culture tips TRIAL PARAMETERS Rosinweeds (Silphium sp. and cvs.) The Chicago Botanic Garden evaluated 13 rosinweeds between 2002 and 2024. All specimens were mail ordered except for S. radula, which was wild-collected in East Texas in 2019, and S. perfoliatum ‘The Holy Grail’, obtained locally from its originator. The seed-grown nature of the species accounts for habit and plant size variations observed within each taxon. How Long: Minimum four years Zone: 6 Conditions: Full sun; well-drained, alkaline, clay loam soil Care: We provided minimal care, allowing the plants to thrive or fail under natural conditions. Besides observing their ornamental traits, we monitored them to see how well they grew and adapted to environmental and soil conditions while keeping a close eye on any disease or pest problems and assessing plant injury or losses over winter. Top Performers That Make a Bold Statement and Encourage Biodiversity Large, deeply lobed leaves of compass plant When it comes to impressive texture, compass plant (S. laciniatum) is hard to beat. This plant features deeply lobed, sandpaper-rough leaves that are big (24 inches long and 18 inches wide). Like the well-known prairie dock, the basal foliage stands vertically. The common name refers to the orientation of the leaf blades, which face east and west to take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun while avoiding the desiccating hot midday sun. Flower stems rose to over 8 feet above the tall leafy bases—and all of this with a whole lot of taproot (12 feet) below. These plants did get quite wide over time, but some of the girth was due to stems splaying under the weight of the flowers. The 4-inch yellow blooms—the largest in the trial—are borne along thick, beet red–tinged stems from early summer to mid-fall. The chunky phyllaries are bristly and lack fragrance. Compass plant is native to prairies, glades, and disturbed habitats from Wisconsin and Minnesota, south to Louisiana and Texas. Resist the urge to put this giant at the back of a bed, border, or meadow—the large foliage is better appreciated near the front. And taking a cue from its prairie habitat, pair it with grasses and perennials that accentuate the foliage but won’t mask the flowers, such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, Zones 3–9), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, Zones 3–8), and flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollate, Zones 3–9). Dark yellow blooms on wiry stems. I’m sticking with prairie dock (S. terebinthinaceum) as my favorite of this plant group. Once seen, it’s not forgotten—mastering the botanical spelling and pronunciation was a bit of a challenge, though. Dark yellow flowers cupped in smooth green phyllaries opened nearly a month later than compass plant and had a shorter overall bloom period. The slender, nearly naked flower stems were the tallest in our trial at 126 inches. The broad shovelhead-like basal leaves were 2 feet long, or maybe “tall” is a better word, as they stand vertically. Like compass plant, the thick, sandpapery leaves orient north to south, thus reducing moisture loss through transpiration and keeping leaf surfaces cool to the touch on hot days. A deep taproot helps prairie dock survive extreme droughts. Surprisingly, rabbits and deer occasionally munched the rough leaves but left other plants in the trial alone. To be at its best, I feel like prairie dock would prefer leaner soil and the company of other plants rather than just hanging out by itself. In our prair-ies I love it with flowering spurge because the bright white clouds of baby’s breath–like flowers soften the sharpness of the large prairie dock leaves. And let the branched flower clusters have their space by planting companions closer to the height of the leafy clumps. Magenta-flowered winecup (Callirhoe involucrata, Zones 4–9) clambering over and through prairie dock foliage is a particularly brilliant combination. This species is primarily native to the central United States from Wisconsin south to Mississippi. Roughstem rosinweed (S. radula) is a standout for a few reasons—it blooms later, into late fall here—and its big rosette-shaped phyllaries are pretty cool. The bright yellow flowers are 3 to 4 inches across with broad, overlapping rays that make them look more substantial than the spidery blossoms of others in this genus. It’s also a heavy bloomer, with hundreds of flowers produced at the top. The coarse-textured phyllaries look like green roses before and after flowering and are quite large at 1½ inches wide. Many of the leafy-stemmed rosinweeds drop their foliage and look a bit shabby by late fall, but roughstem rosinweed’s stiff, scratchy leaves stayed green longer. At 6½ feet tall and almost as wide, this species is too big and bushy for the front of a bed or meadow. But in the back or middle it mixes nicely with coneflowers (Echinacea spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9), ironweeds (Vernonia spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9), and tall to mid-sized grasses. For a southern native—South Carolina west to Texas and south from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico—it did well in our northern clime. | FUN FACT | Rosinweeds producea sticky substance A resinous, gumlike material often oozes from stems, flower stalks, and phyllaries, giving rise to the group’s common name. Historically, the hardened, amber-colored resin drops were chewed by Native Americans to clean teeth and freshen breath.I think I’ll stick with toothpaste! Whorled rosinweed (S. trifoliatum) is probably the best-looking rosinweed late into autumn because its leaves are still mostly green and stay attached into November! The scabrous dark green leaves are arranged in whorls of three, or sometimes borne oppositely on smooth burgundy-tinged stems. It has a finer texture than most as the leaves are only 4 inches long and just over an inch wide. The bushy, vase-shaped habit is attractive, and the tall stems remained upright most of the time, although relaxed somewhat during heavy peak bloom. The bright yellow flowers are more starlike, since the ray florets do not overlap and are plentiful from early summer to early fall. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii, Zones 3–9), beebalm (Monarda didyma, Zones 4–8), and pitcher sage (Salvia azurea, Zones 4–9) are good matches for scale and texture. Whorled rosinweed is native to prairies and roadsides east of the Mississippi River from Pennsylvania and Ohio, south to North Carolina and Alabama. Dense, compact foliage Starry rosinweed (S. asteriscus) gets an honorary mention despite its less than stellar performance. I wanted so badly for it to make my top-picks list because of its lemony yellow flowers and short stature; there aren’t many Silphium options for smaller gardens. Unfortunately, starry rosinweed wasn’t as cold hardy as other species—only one of the five plants survived through 2024. It is a southern native from Tennessee to Florida, and since our seed came from a Florida mail-order nursery, we assumed it had a southern provenance. I would like to try seed from a potentially hardier locale—native populations purportedly come as far north as southern Illinois. The cheerful starlike flowers bloom from mid to late summer and have 1-inch-wide leafy phyllaries with a strong medicinal fragrance when bruised or crushed. The 5-inch green leaves are less rough than other rosinweeds and are arranged alternately on burgundy-tinged green stems. Try it if you garden in warmer zones, or protect it in colder areas and couple it with mounding asters, little bluestem, and a shorter ironweed like ‘Summer’s Swan Song’.     3 to 4 inch flowers of ‘Holy Grail’ cup plant I admit that cup plant (S. perfoliatum) scares me a little. It’s not the ginormous size—that actually intrigues me, as do the conjoined opposite leaves, which form cups that hold rainwater and dew for birds and bees to drink. My nervousness stems from how quickly and widely it can spread to form colonies. While I hate to think all it takes to sway me is a little color enhancement, ‘The Holy Grail’ cup plant did just that. The enormous jagged leaves are yellow early in the spring before fading to chartreuse and then to bright green from late spring on. Yellow flowers cluster at the top of 10-foot-tall stems from midsummer to mid-fall; the 3-inch flowers are not proportional to the exuberant size! The phyllaries and stout, square stems are hairless, while the large leaves (15 inches long and 11 inches wide) are rough. ‘The Holy Grail’—introduced by Intrinsic Perennial Gardens—has a tighter and more upright habit than the species, which is native to wet places from Quebec to Georgia, and west to Nebraska and Kansas. It is best in large beds and meadows or near water, planted with other moisture lovers such as Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum, Zones 4–8), queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra, Zones 3–9), and ‘Skyracer’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Skyracer’, Zones 5–8). The smaller stature of Mohr’s rosinweed (S. mohrii) will appeal to gardeners who might be nervous about its bigger cousins. At 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, it was one of the shortest rosinweeds in the trial. For nearly three months, beginning in early summer, abundant 2-inch pale yellow flowers put on a nice show (photo p. 48). Their light almond or vanilla scent is an unexpected treat that people and pollinators adore. Mohr’s rosinweed is noticeably fuzzy all over—more so than any other species—making the green leaves, stems, and phyllaries look grayish (photo p. 56, bottom). Unfortunately, it has a messy downside—the withered ray florets fall and cling to the fuzzy leaves as does other organic debris. Mohr’s rosinweed is a prairie native in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, but has been fully hardy in the upper Midwest. The bushy habit can be softened by billowy asters, catmints (Nepeta racemosa and cvs., Zones 4–8), and grasses, both short and tall. | CULTURE TIPS | The ins and outs of rosinweed Traditionally, this group of plants is low-maintenance when sited correctly in the landscape. The biggest challenge lies in—well, their bigness. The shortest rosinweed in our trial was still 5 feet tall and nearly as wide, so if you want to grow these native perennials (and you should), you’ll need to have adequate space. Here are some other things to note when it comes to these giant plants. The blooms may be small, but they’re profuse. The flowers—shades from pale to golden yellow—have a central disk surrounded by petal-like ray florets and look much like their sunflower (Helianthus spp. and cvs.) cousins. The ray florets of rosinweeds are fertile and produce seeds, while the disk florets are just for show. Flowers range from 2 to 4 inches wide and seem undersized on such large plants, but their great abundance makes up for it. You’ll notice the phyllaries. The flowers have prominent stiff phyllaries—reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below the flower head. Think of a phyllary as a leafy cup that flowers sit within. The character of phyllaries varies by species and aids in identification. Pollinators are plentiful and diverse. Honeybees, native bees, leafcutter bees, monarchs, tiger swallowtails, skippers, and fritillaries all feed on rosinweed nectar, while birds such as American goldfinches and black-capped chickadees forage for the seeds. Most Silphium species are also host plants for an assortment of butterflies and moths, including the aptly named silphium moth (Papaipema silphii). Watch out for reseeding. Although most of the species are quite robust, there is one Silphium that is bigger (and more thuggish) than the rest. Deadheading might be a good idea for cup plant (S. perfoliatum, pictured) as it can be a vigorous seeder and could quickly overtake a sizable corner of the landscape if not kept in check.   | Sources | Prairie Nursery, Westfield, WI; 800-476-9453; prairienursery.com Camp Creek Native Plants, New Albany, MS; 662-539-7175; campcreeknativeplants.com Prairie Moon Nursery, Winona, MN; 507-452-1362; prairiemoon.com Native Plants Unlimited, Fishers, IN; 317-777-9469;  nativeplantsunlimitedshop.com   Contributing editor Richard Hawke is the director of ornamental plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. Source link

[iamownerofme]

As a budding horticulturist, my first encounter with prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) was intriguing and puzzling. The sheer size and verticality of the spade-like leaves slicing through grasses and forbs captured my imagination, and while its place in the University of Wisconsin’s Curtis Prairie provided a clue to its nativity, its identity was a mystery. Over the ensuing years I came to know prairie dock well, thanks to its prominent position in certain naturalistic areas at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It honestly delights me in every season. From the unfurling spring-green foliage to the brown autumnal leaves, twisting and curling on themselves, to the starkness of the dark, wizened husks poking through a crystalline snowfall, I love this plant. To this day, the sight of its sunny daisies anchored by the prodigious foliage is both nostalgic and heartening. So let’s talk about rosinweeds, the catchall common name for many Silphium. The comments I hear most often are rarely effusive but rather succinct: too big, too wild, too weedy, too yellow. The likability of yellow aside, let’s consider those other descriptors, as they are what ultimately led to our trial—well, two trials to be exact. I made a novice’s mistake by not giving these plants enough room in the 2002 trial, so I spread them wider in the second trial nearly 20 years later, or so I thought. My calculations were still off; their battle for space is best described as a clash of the titans. I think many rosinweeds might be too big or too wild-looking for some folks to appreciate, but it is their over-the-top size and strong architecture that makes them so unique in the garden. And our trials proved that several species are well worth finding room for. I’ll leave you to decide if yellow is a problem. Learn more: Jump to the trial results See Rosinweed culture tips TRIAL PARAMETERS Rosinweeds (Silphium sp. and cvs.) The Chicago Botanic Garden evaluated 13 rosinweeds between 2002 and 2024. All specimens were mail ordered except for S. radula, which was wild-collected in East Texas in 2019, and S. perfoliatum ‘The Holy Grail’, obtained locally from its originator. The seed-grown nature of the species accounts for habit and plant size variations observed within each taxon. How Long: Minimum four years Zone: 6 Conditions: Full sun; well-drained, alkaline, clay loam soil Care: We provided minimal care, allowing the plants to thrive or fail under natural conditions. Besides observing their ornamental traits, we monitored them to see how well they grew and adapted to environmental and soil conditions while keeping a close eye on any disease or pest problems and assessing plant injury or losses over winter. Top Performers That Make a Bold Statement and Encourage Biodiversity Large, deeply lobed leaves of compass plant When it comes to impressive texture, compass plant (S. laciniatum) is hard to beat. This plant features deeply lobed, sandpaper-rough leaves that are big (24 inches long and 18 inches wide). Like the well-known prairie dock, the basal foliage stands vertically. The common name refers to the orientation of the leaf blades, which face east and west to take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun while avoiding the desiccating hot midday sun. Flower stems rose to over 8 feet above the tall leafy bases—and all of this with a whole lot of taproot (12 feet) below. These plants did get quite wide over time, but some of the girth was due to stems splaying under the weight of the flowers. The 4-inch yellow blooms—the largest in the trial—are borne along thick, beet red–tinged stems from early summer to mid-fall. The chunky phyllaries are bristly and lack fragrance. Compass plant is native to prairies, glades, and disturbed habitats from Wisconsin and Minnesota, south to Louisiana and Texas. Resist the urge to put this giant at the back of a bed, border, or meadow—the large foliage is better appreciated near the front. And taking a cue from its prairie habitat, pair it with grasses and perennials that accentuate the foliage but won’t mask the flowers, such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, Zones 3–9), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, Zones 3–8), and flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollate, Zones 3–9). Dark yellow blooms on wiry stems. I’m sticking with prairie dock (S. terebinthinaceum) as my favorite of this plant group. Once seen, it’s not forgotten—mastering the botanical spelling and pronunciation was a bit of a challenge, though. Dark yellow flowers cupped in smooth green phyllaries opened nearly a month later than compass plant and had a shorter overall bloom period. The slender, nearly naked flower stems were the tallest in our trial at 126 inches. The broad shovelhead-like basal leaves were 2 feet long, or maybe “tall” is a better word, as they stand vertically. Like compass plant, the thick, sandpapery leaves orient north to south, thus reducing moisture loss through transpiration and keeping leaf surfaces cool to the touch on hot days. A deep taproot helps prairie dock survive extreme droughts. Surprisingly, rabbits and deer occasionally munched the rough leaves but left other plants in the trial alone. To be at its best, I feel like prairie dock would prefer leaner soil and the company of other plants rather than just hanging out by itself. In our prair-ies I love it with flowering spurge because the bright white clouds of baby’s breath–like flowers soften the sharpness of the large prairie dock leaves. And let the branched flower clusters have their space by planting companions closer to the height of the leafy clumps. Magenta-flowered winecup (Callirhoe involucrata, Zones 4–9) clambering over and through prairie dock foliage is a particularly brilliant combination. This species is primarily native to the central United States from Wisconsin south to Mississippi. Roughstem rosinweed (S. radula) is a standout for a few reasons—it blooms later, into late fall here—and its big rosette-shaped phyllaries are pretty cool. The bright yellow flowers are 3 to 4 inches across with broad, overlapping rays that make them look more substantial than the spidery blossoms of others in this genus. It’s also a heavy bloomer, with hundreds of flowers produced at the top. The coarse-textured phyllaries look like green roses before and after flowering and are quite large at 1½ inches wide. Many of the leafy-stemmed rosinweeds drop their foliage and look a bit shabby by late fall, but roughstem rosinweed’s stiff, scratchy leaves stayed green longer. At 6½ feet tall and almost as wide, this species is too big and bushy for the front of a bed or meadow. But in the back or middle it mixes nicely with coneflowers (Echinacea spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9), ironweeds (Vernonia spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9), and tall to mid-sized grasses. For a southern native—South Carolina west to Texas and south from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico—it did well in our northern clime. | FUN FACT | Rosinweeds producea sticky substance A resinous, gumlike material often oozes from stems, flower stalks, and phyllaries, giving rise to the group’s common name. Historically, the hardened, amber-colored resin drops were chewed by Native Americans to clean teeth and freshen breath.I think I’ll stick with toothpaste! Whorled rosinweed (S. trifoliatum) is probably the best-looking rosinweed late into autumn because its leaves are still mostly green and stay attached into November! The scabrous dark green leaves are arranged in whorls of three, or sometimes borne oppositely on smooth burgundy-tinged stems. It has a finer texture than most as the leaves are only 4 inches long and just over an inch wide. The bushy, vase-shaped habit is attractive, and the tall stems remained upright most of the time, although relaxed somewhat during heavy peak bloom. The bright yellow flowers are more starlike, since the ray florets do not overlap and are plentiful from early summer to early fall. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii, Zones 3–9), beebalm (Monarda didyma, Zones 4–8), and pitcher sage (Salvia azurea, Zones 4–9) are good matches for scale and texture. Whorled rosinweed is native to prairies and roadsides east of the Mississippi River from Pennsylvania and Ohio, south to North Carolina and Alabama. Dense, compact foliage Starry rosinweed (S. asteriscus) gets an honorary mention despite its less than stellar performance. I wanted so badly for it to make my top-picks list because of its lemony yellow flowers and short stature; there aren’t many Silphium options for smaller gardens. Unfortunately, starry rosinweed wasn’t as cold hardy as other species—only one of the five plants survived through 2024. It is a southern native from Tennessee to Florida, and since our seed came from a Florida mail-order nursery, we assumed it had a southern provenance. I would like to try seed from a potentially hardier locale—native populations purportedly come as far north as southern Illinois. The cheerful starlike flowers bloom from mid to late summer and have 1-inch-wide leafy phyllaries with a strong medicinal fragrance when bruised or crushed. The 5-inch green leaves are less rough than other rosinweeds and are arranged alternately on burgundy-tinged green stems. Try it if you garden in warmer zones, or protect it in colder areas and couple it with mounding asters, little bluestem, and a shorter ironweed like ‘Summer’s Swan Song’.     3 to 4 inch flowers of ‘Holy Grail’ cup plant I admit that cup plant (S. perfoliatum) scares me a little. It’s not the ginormous size—that actually intrigues me, as do the conjoined opposite leaves, which form cups that hold rainwater and dew for birds and bees to drink. My nervousness stems from how quickly and widely it can spread to form colonies. While I hate to think all it takes to sway me is a little color enhancement, ‘The Holy Grail’ cup plant did just that. The enormous jagged leaves are yellow early in the spring before fading to chartreuse and then to bright green from late spring on. Yellow flowers cluster at the top of 10-foot-tall stems from midsummer to mid-fall; the 3-inch flowers are not proportional to the exuberant size! The phyllaries and stout, square stems are hairless, while the large leaves (15 inches long and 11 inches wide) are rough. ‘The Holy Grail’—introduced by Intrinsic Perennial Gardens—has a tighter and more upright habit than the species, which is native to wet places from Quebec to Georgia, and west to Nebraska and Kansas. It is best in large beds and meadows or near water, planted with other moisture lovers such as Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum, Zones 4–8), queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra, Zones 3–9), and ‘Skyracer’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Skyracer’, Zones 5–8). The smaller stature of Mohr’s rosinweed (S. mohrii) will appeal to gardeners who might be nervous about its bigger cousins. At 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, it was one of the shortest rosinweeds in the trial. For nearly three months, beginning in early summer, abundant 2-inch pale yellow flowers put on a nice show (photo p. 48). Their light almond or vanilla scent is an unexpected treat that people and pollinators adore. Mohr’s rosinweed is noticeably fuzzy all over—more so than any other species—making the green leaves, stems, and phyllaries look grayish (photo p. 56, bottom). Unfortunately, it has a messy downside—the withered ray florets fall and cling to the fuzzy leaves as does other organic debris. Mohr’s rosinweed is a prairie native in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, but has been fully hardy in the upper Midwest. The bushy habit can be softened by billowy asters, catmints (Nepeta racemosa and cvs., Zones 4–8), and grasses, both short and tall. | CULTURE TIPS | The ins and outs of rosinweed Traditionally, this group of plants is low-maintenance when sited correctly in the landscape. The biggest challenge lies in—well, their bigness. The shortest rosinweed in our trial was still 5 feet tall and nearly as wide, so if you want to grow these native perennials (and you should), you’ll need to have adequate space. Here are some other things to note when it comes to these giant plants. The blooms may be small, but they’re profuse. The flowers—shades from pale to golden yellow—have a central disk surrounded by petal-like ray florets and look much like their sunflower (Helianthus spp. and cvs.) cousins. The ray florets of rosinweeds are fertile and produce seeds, while the disk florets are just for show. Flowers range from 2 to 4 inches wide and seem undersized on such large plants, but their great abundance makes up for it. You’ll notice the phyllaries. The flowers have prominent stiff phyllaries—reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below the flower head. Think of a phyllary as a leafy cup that flowers sit within. The character of phyllaries varies by species and aids in identification. Pollinators are plentiful and diverse. Honeybees, native bees, leafcutter bees, monarchs, tiger swallowtails, skippers, and fritillaries all feed on rosinweed nectar, while birds such as American goldfinches and black-capped chickadees forage for the seeds. Most Silphium species are also host plants for an assortment of butterflies and moths, including the aptly named silphium moth (Papaipema silphii). Watch out for reseeding. Although most of the species are quite robust, there is one Silphium that is bigger (and more thuggish) than the rest. Deadheading might be a good idea for cup plant (S. perfoliatum, pictured) as it can be a vigorous seeder and could quickly overtake a sizable corner of the landscape if not kept in check.   | Sources | Prairie Nursery, Westfield, WI; 800-476-9453; prairienursery.com Camp Creek Native Plants, New Albany, MS; 662-539-7175; campcreeknativeplants.com Prairie Moon Nursery, Winona, MN; 507-452-1362; prairiemoon.com Native Plants Unlimited, Fishers, IN; 317-777-9469;  nativeplantsunlimitedshop.com   Contributing editor Richard Hawke is the director of ornamental plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. Source link

[shelyold]

As a budding horticulturist, my first encounter with prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) was intriguing and puzzling. The sheer size and verticality of the spade-like leaves slicing through grasses and forbs captured my imagination, and while its place in the University of Wisconsin’s Curtis Prairie provided a clue to its nativity, its identity was a mystery. Over the ensuing years I came to know prairie dock well, thanks to its prominent position in certain naturalistic areas at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It honestly delights me in every season. From the unfurling spring-green foliage to the brown autumnal leaves, twisting and curling on themselves, to the starkness of the dark, wizened husks poking through a crystalline snowfall, I love this plant. To this day, the sight of its sunny daisies anchored by the prodigious foliage is both nostalgic and heartening. So let’s talk about rosinweeds, the catchall common name for many Silphium. The comments I hear most often are rarely effusive but rather succinct: too big, too wild, too weedy, too yellow. The likability of yellow aside, let’s consider those other descriptors, as they are what ultimately led to our trial—well, two trials to be exact. I made a novice’s mistake by not giving these plants enough room in the 2002 trial, so I spread them wider in the second trial nearly 20 years later, or so I thought. My calculations were still off; their battle for space is best described as a clash of the titans. I think many rosinweeds might be too big or too wild-looking for some folks to appreciate, but it is their over-the-top size and strong architecture that makes them so unique in the garden. And our trials proved that several species are well worth finding room for. I’ll leave you to decide if yellow is a problem. Learn more: Jump to the trial results See Rosinweed culture tips TRIAL PARAMETERS Rosinweeds (Silphium sp. and cvs.) The Chicago Botanic Garden evaluated 13 rosinweeds between 2002 and 2024. All specimens were mail ordered except for S. radula, which was wild-collected in East Texas in 2019, and S. perfoliatum ‘The Holy Grail’, obtained locally from its originator. The seed-grown nature of the species accounts for habit and plant size variations observed within each taxon. How Long: Minimum four years Zone: 6 Conditions: Full sun; well-drained, alkaline, clay loam soil Care: We provided minimal care, allowing the plants to thrive or fail under natural conditions. Besides observing their ornamental traits, we monitored them to see how well they grew and adapted to environmental and soil conditions while keeping a close eye on any disease or pest problems and assessing plant injury or losses over winter. Top Performers That Make a Bold Statement and Encourage Biodiversity Large, deeply lobed leaves of compass plant When it comes to impressive texture, compass plant (S. laciniatum) is hard to beat. This plant features deeply lobed, sandpaper-rough leaves that are big (24 inches long and 18 inches wide). Like the well-known prairie dock, the basal foliage stands vertically. The common name refers to the orientation of the leaf blades, which face east and west to take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun while avoiding the desiccating hot midday sun. Flower stems rose to over 8 feet above the tall leafy bases—and all of this with a whole lot of taproot (12 feet) below. These plants did get quite wide over time, but some of the girth was due to stems splaying under the weight of the flowers. The 4-inch yellow blooms—the largest in the trial—are borne along thick, beet red–tinged stems from early summer to mid-fall. The chunky phyllaries are bristly and lack fragrance. Compass plant is native to prairies, glades, and disturbed habitats from Wisconsin and Minnesota, south to Louisiana and Texas. Resist the urge to put this giant at the back of a bed, border, or meadow—the large foliage is better appreciated near the front. And taking a cue from its prairie habitat, pair it with grasses and perennials that accentuate the foliage but won’t mask the flowers, such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, Zones 3–9), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, Zones 3–8), and flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollate, Zones 3–9). Dark yellow blooms on wiry stems. I’m sticking with prairie dock (S. terebinthinaceum) as my favorite of this plant group. Once seen, it’s not forgotten—mastering the botanical spelling and pronunciation was a bit of a challenge, though. Dark yellow flowers cupped in smooth green phyllaries opened nearly a month later than compass plant and had a shorter overall bloom period. The slender, nearly naked flower stems were the tallest in our trial at 126 inches. The broad shovelhead-like basal leaves were 2 feet long, or maybe “tall” is a better word, as they stand vertically. Like compass plant, the thick, sandpapery leaves orient north to south, thus reducing moisture loss through transpiration and keeping leaf surfaces cool to the touch on hot days. A deep taproot helps prairie dock survive extreme droughts. Surprisingly, rabbits and deer occasionally munched the rough leaves but left other plants in the trial alone. To be at its best, I feel like prairie dock would prefer leaner soil and the company of other plants rather than just hanging out by itself. In our prair-ies I love it with flowering spurge because the bright white clouds of baby’s breath–like flowers soften the sharpness of the large prairie dock leaves. And let the branched flower clusters have their space by planting companions closer to the height of the leafy clumps. Magenta-flowered winecup (Callirhoe involucrata, Zones 4–9) clambering over and through prairie dock foliage is a particularly brilliant combination. This species is primarily native to the central United States from Wisconsin south to Mississippi. Roughstem rosinweed (S. radula) is a standout for a few reasons—it blooms later, into late fall here—and its big rosette-shaped phyllaries are pretty cool. The bright yellow flowers are 3 to 4 inches across with broad, overlapping rays that make them look more substantial than the spidery blossoms of others in this genus. It’s also a heavy bloomer, with hundreds of flowers produced at the top. The coarse-textured phyllaries look like green roses before and after flowering and are quite large at 1½ inches wide. Many of the leafy-stemmed rosinweeds drop their foliage and look a bit shabby by late fall, but roughstem rosinweed’s stiff, scratchy leaves stayed green longer. At 6½ feet tall and almost as wide, this species is too big and bushy for the front of a bed or meadow. But in the back or middle it mixes nicely with coneflowers (Echinacea spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9), ironweeds (Vernonia spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9), and tall to mid-sized grasses. For a southern native—South Carolina west to Texas and south from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico—it did well in our northern clime. | FUN FACT | Rosinweeds producea sticky substance A resinous, gumlike material often oozes from stems, flower stalks, and phyllaries, giving rise to the group’s common name. Historically, the hardened, amber-colored resin drops were chewed by Native Americans to clean teeth and freshen breath.I think I’ll stick with toothpaste! Whorled rosinweed (S. trifoliatum) is probably the best-looking rosinweed late into autumn because its leaves are still mostly green and stay attached into November! The scabrous dark green leaves are arranged in whorls of three, or sometimes borne oppositely on smooth burgundy-tinged stems. It has a finer texture than most as the leaves are only 4 inches long and just over an inch wide. The bushy, vase-shaped habit is attractive, and the tall stems remained upright most of the time, although relaxed somewhat during heavy peak bloom. The bright yellow flowers are more starlike, since the ray florets do not overlap and are plentiful from early summer to early fall. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii, Zones 3–9), beebalm (Monarda didyma, Zones 4–8), and pitcher sage (Salvia azurea, Zones 4–9) are good matches for scale and texture. Whorled rosinweed is native to prairies and roadsides east of the Mississippi River from Pennsylvania and Ohio, south to North Carolina and Alabama. Dense, compact foliage Starry rosinweed (S. asteriscus) gets an honorary mention despite its less than stellar performance. I wanted so badly for it to make my top-picks list because of its lemony yellow flowers and short stature; there aren’t many Silphium options for smaller gardens. Unfortunately, starry rosinweed wasn’t as cold hardy as other species—only one of the five plants survived through 2024. It is a southern native from Tennessee to Florida, and since our seed came from a Florida mail-order nursery, we assumed it had a southern provenance. I would like to try seed from a potentially hardier locale—native populations purportedly come as far north as southern Illinois. The cheerful starlike flowers bloom from mid to late summer and have 1-inch-wide leafy phyllaries with a strong medicinal fragrance when bruised or crushed. The 5-inch green leaves are less rough than other rosinweeds and are arranged alternately on burgundy-tinged green stems. Try it if you garden in warmer zones, or protect it in colder areas and couple it with mounding asters, little bluestem, and a shorter ironweed like ‘Summer’s Swan Song’.     3 to 4 inch flowers of ‘Holy Grail’ cup plant I admit that cup plant (S. perfoliatum) scares me a little. It’s not the ginormous size—that actually intrigues me, as do the conjoined opposite leaves, which form cups that hold rainwater and dew for birds and bees to drink. My nervousness stems from how quickly and widely it can spread to form colonies. While I hate to think all it takes to sway me is a little color enhancement, ‘The Holy Grail’ cup plant did just that. The enormous jagged leaves are yellow early in the spring before fading to chartreuse and then to bright green from late spring on. Yellow flowers cluster at the top of 10-foot-tall stems from midsummer to mid-fall; the 3-inch flowers are not proportional to the exuberant size! The phyllaries and stout, square stems are hairless, while the large leaves (15 inches long and 11 inches wide) are rough. ‘The Holy Grail’—introduced by Intrinsic Perennial Gardens—has a tighter and more upright habit than the species, which is native to wet places from Quebec to Georgia, and west to Nebraska and Kansas. It is best in large beds and meadows or near water, planted with other moisture lovers such as Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum, Zones 4–8), queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra, Zones 3–9), and ‘Skyracer’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Skyracer’, Zones 5–8). The smaller stature of Mohr’s rosinweed (S. mohrii) will appeal to gardeners who might be nervous about its bigger cousins. At 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, it was one of the shortest rosinweeds in the trial. For nearly three months, beginning in early summer, abundant 2-inch pale yellow flowers put on a nice show (photo p. 48). Their light almond or vanilla scent is an unexpected treat that people and pollinators adore. Mohr’s rosinweed is noticeably fuzzy all over—more so than any other species—making the green leaves, stems, and phyllaries look grayish (photo p. 56, bottom). Unfortunately, it has a messy downside—the withered ray florets fall and cling to the fuzzy leaves as does other organic debris. Mohr’s rosinweed is a prairie native in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, but has been fully hardy in the upper Midwest. The bushy habit can be softened by billowy asters, catmints (Nepeta racemosa and cvs., Zones 4–8), and grasses, both short and tall. | CULTURE TIPS | The ins and outs of rosinweed Traditionally, this group of plants is low-maintenance when sited correctly in the landscape. The biggest challenge lies in—well, their bigness. The shortest rosinweed in our trial was still 5 feet tall and nearly as wide, so if you want to grow these native perennials (and you should), you’ll need to have adequate space. Here are some other things to note when it comes to these giant plants. The blooms may be small, but they’re profuse. The flowers—shades from pale to golden yellow—have a central disk surrounded by petal-like ray florets and look much like their sunflower (Helianthus spp. and cvs.) cousins. The ray florets of rosinweeds are fertile and produce seeds, while the disk florets are just for show. Flowers range from 2 to 4 inches wide and seem undersized on such large plants, but their great abundance makes up for it. You’ll notice the phyllaries. The flowers have prominent stiff phyllaries—reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below the flower head. Think of a phyllary as a leafy cup that flowers sit within. The character of phyllaries varies by species and aids in identification. Pollinators are plentiful and diverse. Honeybees, native bees, leafcutter bees, monarchs, tiger swallowtails, skippers, and fritillaries all feed on rosinweed nectar, while birds such as American goldfinches and black-capped chickadees forage for the seeds. Most Silphium species are also host plants for an assortment of butterflies and moths, including the aptly named silphium moth (Papaipema silphii). Watch out for reseeding. Although most of the species are quite robust, there is one Silphium that is bigger (and more thuggish) than the rest. Deadheading might be a good idea for cup plant (S. perfoliatum, pictured) as it can be a vigorous seeder and could quickly overtake a sizable corner of the landscape if not kept in check.   | Sources | Prairie Nursery, Westfield, WI; 800-476-9453; prairienursery.com Camp Creek Native Plants, New Albany, MS; 662-539-7175; campcreeknativeplants.com Prairie Moon Nursery, Winona, MN; 507-452-1362; prairiemoon.com Native Plants Unlimited, Fishers, IN; 317-777-9469;  nativeplantsunlimitedshop.com   Contributing editor Richard Hawke is the director of ornamental plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. Source link

[iammeandmy]

As a budding horticulturist, my first encounter with prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) was intriguing and puzzling. The sheer size and verticality of the spade-like leaves slicing through grasses and forbs captured my imagination, and while its place in the University of Wisconsin’s Curtis Prairie provided a clue to its nativity, its identity was a mystery. Over the ensuing years I came to know prairie dock well, thanks to its prominent position in certain naturalistic areas at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It honestly delights me in every season. From the unfurling spring-green foliage to the brown autumnal leaves, twisting and curling on themselves, to the starkness of the dark, wizened husks poking through a crystalline snowfall, I love this plant. To this day, the sight of its sunny daisies anchored by the prodigious foliage is both nostalgic and heartening. So let’s talk about rosinweeds, the catchall common name for many Silphium. The comments I hear most often are rarely effusive but rather succinct: too big, too wild, too weedy, too yellow. The likability of yellow aside, let’s consider those other descriptors, as they are what ultimately led to our trial—well, two trials to be exact. I made a novice’s mistake by not giving these plants enough room in the 2002 trial, so I spread them wider in the second trial nearly 20 years later, or so I thought. My calculations were still off; their battle for space is best described as a clash of the titans. I think many rosinweeds might be too big or too wild-looking for some folks to appreciate, but it is their over-the-top size and strong architecture that makes them so unique in the garden. And our trials proved that several species are well worth finding room for. I’ll leave you to decide if yellow is a problem. Learn more: Jump to the trial results See Rosinweed culture tips TRIAL PARAMETERS Rosinweeds (Silphium sp. and cvs.) The Chicago Botanic Garden evaluated 13 rosinweeds between 2002 and 2024. All specimens were mail ordered except for S. radula, which was wild-collected in East Texas in 2019, and S. perfoliatum ‘The Holy Grail’, obtained locally from its originator. The seed-grown nature of the species accounts for habit and plant size variations observed within each taxon. How Long: Minimum four years Zone: 6 Conditions: Full sun; well-drained, alkaline, clay loam soil Care: We provided minimal care, allowing the plants to thrive or fail under natural conditions. Besides observing their ornamental traits, we monitored them to see how well they grew and adapted to environmental and soil conditions while keeping a close eye on any disease or pest problems and assessing plant injury or losses over winter. Top Performers That Make a Bold Statement and Encourage Biodiversity Large, deeply lobed leaves of compass plant When it comes to impressive texture, compass plant (S. laciniatum) is hard to beat. This plant features deeply lobed, sandpaper-rough leaves that are big (24 inches long and 18 inches wide). Like the well-known prairie dock, the basal foliage stands vertically. The common name refers to the orientation of the leaf blades, which face east and west to take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun while avoiding the desiccating hot midday sun. Flower stems rose to over 8 feet above the tall leafy bases—and all of this with a whole lot of taproot (12 feet) below. These plants did get quite wide over time, but some of the girth was due to stems splaying under the weight of the flowers. The 4-inch yellow blooms—the largest in the trial—are borne along thick, beet red–tinged stems from early summer to mid-fall. The chunky phyllaries are bristly and lack fragrance. Compass plant is native to prairies, glades, and disturbed habitats from Wisconsin and Minnesota, south to Louisiana and Texas. Resist the urge to put this giant at the back of a bed, border, or meadow—the large foliage is better appreciated near the front. And taking a cue from its prairie habitat, pair it with grasses and perennials that accentuate the foliage but won’t mask the flowers, such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, Zones 3–9), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, Zones 3–8), and flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollate, Zones 3–9). Dark yellow blooms on wiry stems. I’m sticking with prairie dock (S. terebinthinaceum) as my favorite of this plant group. Once seen, it’s not forgotten—mastering the botanical spelling and pronunciation was a bit of a challenge, though. Dark yellow flowers cupped in smooth green phyllaries opened nearly a month later than compass plant and had a shorter overall bloom period. The slender, nearly naked flower stems were the tallest in our trial at 126 inches. The broad shovelhead-like basal leaves were 2 feet long, or maybe “tall” is a better word, as they stand vertically. Like compass plant, the thick, sandpapery leaves orient north to south, thus reducing moisture loss through transpiration and keeping leaf surfaces cool to the touch on hot days. A deep taproot helps prairie dock survive extreme droughts. Surprisingly, rabbits and deer occasionally munched the rough leaves but left other plants in the trial alone. To be at its best, I feel like prairie dock would prefer leaner soil and the company of other plants rather than just hanging out by itself. In our prair-ies I love it with flowering spurge because the bright white clouds of baby’s breath–like flowers soften the sharpness of the large prairie dock leaves. And let the branched flower clusters have their space by planting companions closer to the height of the leafy clumps. Magenta-flowered winecup (Callirhoe involucrata, Zones 4–9) clambering over and through prairie dock foliage is a particularly brilliant combination. This species is primarily native to the central United States from Wisconsin south to Mississippi. Roughstem rosinweed (S. radula) is a standout for a few reasons—it blooms later, into late fall here—and its big rosette-shaped phyllaries are pretty cool. The bright yellow flowers are 3 to 4 inches across with broad, overlapping rays that make them look more substantial than the spidery blossoms of others in this genus. It’s also a heavy bloomer, with hundreds of flowers produced at the top. The coarse-textured phyllaries look like green roses before and after flowering and are quite large at 1½ inches wide. Many of the leafy-stemmed rosinweeds drop their foliage and look a bit shabby by late fall, but roughstem rosinweed’s stiff, scratchy leaves stayed green longer. At 6½ feet tall and almost as wide, this species is too big and bushy for the front of a bed or meadow. But in the back or middle it mixes nicely with coneflowers (Echinacea spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9), ironweeds (Vernonia spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9), and tall to mid-sized grasses. For a southern native—South Carolina west to Texas and south from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico—it did well in our northern clime. | FUN FACT | Rosinweeds producea sticky substance A resinous, gumlike material often oozes from stems, flower stalks, and phyllaries, giving rise to the group’s common name. Historically, the hardened, amber-colored resin drops were chewed by Native Americans to clean teeth and freshen breath.I think I’ll stick with toothpaste! Whorled rosinweed (S. trifoliatum) is probably the best-looking rosinweed late into autumn because its leaves are still mostly green and stay attached into November! The scabrous dark green leaves are arranged in whorls of three, or sometimes borne oppositely on smooth burgundy-tinged stems. It has a finer texture than most as the leaves are only 4 inches long and just over an inch wide. The bushy, vase-shaped habit is attractive, and the tall stems remained upright most of the time, although relaxed somewhat during heavy peak bloom. The bright yellow flowers are more starlike, since the ray florets do not overlap and are plentiful from early summer to early fall. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii, Zones 3–9), beebalm (Monarda didyma, Zones 4–8), and pitcher sage (Salvia azurea, Zones 4–9) are good matches for scale and texture. Whorled rosinweed is native to prairies and roadsides east of the Mississippi River from Pennsylvania and Ohio, south to North Carolina and Alabama. Dense, compact foliage Starry rosinweed (S. asteriscus) gets an honorary mention despite its less than stellar performance. I wanted so badly for it to make my top-picks list because of its lemony yellow flowers and short stature; there aren’t many Silphium options for smaller gardens. Unfortunately, starry rosinweed wasn’t as cold hardy as other species—only one of the five plants survived through 2024. It is a southern native from Tennessee to Florida, and since our seed came from a Florida mail-order nursery, we assumed it had a southern provenance. I would like to try seed from a potentially hardier locale—native populations purportedly come as far north as southern Illinois. The cheerful starlike flowers bloom from mid to late summer and have 1-inch-wide leafy phyllaries with a strong medicinal fragrance when bruised or crushed. The 5-inch green leaves are less rough than other rosinweeds and are arranged alternately on burgundy-tinged green stems. Try it if you garden in warmer zones, or protect it in colder areas and couple it with mounding asters, little bluestem, and a shorter ironweed like ‘Summer’s Swan Song’.     3 to 4 inch flowers of ‘Holy Grail’ cup plant I admit that cup plant (S. perfoliatum) scares me a little. It’s not the ginormous size—that actually intrigues me, as do the conjoined opposite leaves, which form cups that hold rainwater and dew for birds and bees to drink. My nervousness stems from how quickly and widely it can spread to form colonies. While I hate to think all it takes to sway me is a little color enhancement, ‘The Holy Grail’ cup plant did just that. The enormous jagged leaves are yellow early in the spring before fading to chartreuse and then to bright green from late spring on. Yellow flowers cluster at the top of 10-foot-tall stems from midsummer to mid-fall; the 3-inch flowers are not proportional to the exuberant size! The phyllaries and stout, square stems are hairless, while the large leaves (15 inches long and 11 inches wide) are rough. ‘The Holy Grail’—introduced by Intrinsic Perennial Gardens—has a tighter and more upright habit than the species, which is native to wet places from Quebec to Georgia, and west to Nebraska and Kansas. It is best in large beds and meadows or near water, planted with other moisture lovers such as Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum, Zones 4–8), queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra, Zones 3–9), and ‘Skyracer’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Skyracer’, Zones 5–8). The smaller stature of Mohr’s rosinweed (S. mohrii) will appeal to gardeners who might be nervous about its bigger cousins. At 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, it was one of the shortest rosinweeds in the trial. For nearly three months, beginning in early summer, abundant 2-inch pale yellow flowers put on a nice show (photo p. 48). Their light almond or vanilla scent is an unexpected treat that people and pollinators adore. Mohr’s rosinweed is noticeably fuzzy all over—more so than any other species—making the green leaves, stems, and phyllaries look grayish (photo p. 56, bottom). Unfortunately, it has a messy downside—the withered ray florets fall and cling to the fuzzy leaves as does other organic debris. Mohr’s rosinweed is a prairie native in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, but has been fully hardy in the upper Midwest. The bushy habit can be softened by billowy asters, catmints (Nepeta racemosa and cvs., Zones 4–8), and grasses, both short and tall. | CULTURE TIPS | The ins and outs of rosinweed Traditionally, this group of plants is low-maintenance when sited correctly in the landscape. The biggest challenge lies in—well, their bigness. The shortest rosinweed in our trial was still 5 feet tall and nearly as wide, so if you want to grow these native perennials (and you should), you’ll need to have adequate space. Here are some other things to note when it comes to these giant plants. The blooms may be small, but they’re profuse. The flowers—shades from pale to golden yellow—have a central disk surrounded by petal-like ray florets and look much like their sunflower (Helianthus spp. and cvs.) cousins. The ray florets of rosinweeds are fertile and produce seeds, while the disk florets are just for show. Flowers range from 2 to 4 inches wide and seem undersized on such large plants, but their great abundance makes up for it. You’ll notice the phyllaries. The flowers have prominent stiff phyllaries—reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below the flower head. Think of a phyllary as a leafy cup that flowers sit within. The character of phyllaries varies by species and aids in identification. Pollinators are plentiful and diverse. Honeybees, native bees, leafcutter bees, monarchs, tiger swallowtails, skippers, and fritillaries all feed on rosinweed nectar, while birds such as American goldfinches and black-capped chickadees forage for the seeds. Most Silphium species are also host plants for an assortment of butterflies and moths, including the aptly named silphium moth (Papaipema silphii). Watch out for reseeding. Although most of the species are quite robust, there is one Silphium that is bigger (and more thuggish) than the rest. Deadheading might be a good idea for cup plant (S. perfoliatum, pictured) as it can be a vigorous seeder and could quickly overtake a sizable corner of the landscape if not kept in check.   | Sources | Prairie Nursery, Westfield, WI; 800-476-9453; prairienursery.com Camp Creek Native Plants, New Albany, MS; 662-539-7175; campcreeknativeplants.com Prairie Moon Nursery, Winona, MN; 507-452-1362; prairiemoon.com Native Plants Unlimited, Fishers, IN; 317-777-9469;  nativeplantsunlimitedshop.com   Contributing editor Richard Hawke is the director of ornamental plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. Source link

[januishstory]

As a budding horticulturist, my first encounter with prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) was intriguing and puzzling. The sheer size and verticality of the spade-like leaves slicing through grasses and forbs captured my imagination, and while its place in the University of Wisconsin’s Curtis Prairie provided a clue to its nativity, its identity was a mystery. Over the ensuing years I came to know prairie dock well, thanks to its prominent position in certain naturalistic areas at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It honestly delights me in every season. From the unfurling spring-green foliage to the brown autumnal leaves, twisting and curling on themselves, to the starkness of the dark, wizened husks poking through a crystalline snowfall, I love this plant. To this day, the sight of its sunny daisies anchored by the prodigious foliage is both nostalgic and heartening. So let’s talk about rosinweeds, the catchall common name for many Silphium. The comments I hear most often are rarely effusive but rather succinct: too big, too wild, too weedy, too yellow. The likability of yellow aside, let’s consider those other descriptors, as they are what ultimately led to our trial—well, two trials to be exact. I made a novice’s mistake by not giving these plants enough room in the 2002 trial, so I spread them wider in the second trial nearly 20 years later, or so I thought. My calculations were still off; their battle for space is best described as a clash of the titans. I think many rosinweeds might be too big or too wild-looking for some folks to appreciate, but it is their over-the-top size and strong architecture that makes them so unique in the garden. And our trials proved that several species are well worth finding room for. I’ll leave you to decide if yellow is a problem. Learn more: Jump to the trial results See Rosinweed culture tips TRIAL PARAMETERS Rosinweeds (Silphium sp. and cvs.) The Chicago Botanic Garden evaluated 13 rosinweeds between 2002 and 2024. All specimens were mail ordered except for S. radula, which was wild-collected in East Texas in 2019, and S. perfoliatum ‘The Holy Grail’, obtained locally from its originator. The seed-grown nature of the species accounts for habit and plant size variations observed within each taxon. How Long: Minimum four years Zone: 6 Conditions: Full sun; well-drained, alkaline, clay loam soil Care: We provided minimal care, allowing the plants to thrive or fail under natural conditions. Besides observing their ornamental traits, we monitored them to see how well they grew and adapted to environmental and soil conditions while keeping a close eye on any disease or pest problems and assessing plant injury or losses over winter. Top Performers That Make a Bold Statement and Encourage Biodiversity Large, deeply lobed leaves of compass plant When it comes to impressive texture, compass plant (S. laciniatum) is hard to beat. This plant features deeply lobed, sandpaper-rough leaves that are big (24 inches long and 18 inches wide). Like the well-known prairie dock, the basal foliage stands vertically. The common name refers to the orientation of the leaf blades, which face east and west to take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun while avoiding the desiccating hot midday sun. Flower stems rose to over 8 feet above the tall leafy bases—and all of this with a whole lot of taproot (12 feet) below. These plants did get quite wide over time, but some of the girth was due to stems splaying under the weight of the flowers. The 4-inch yellow blooms—the largest in the trial—are borne along thick, beet red–tinged stems from early summer to mid-fall. The chunky phyllaries are bristly and lack fragrance. Compass plant is native to prairies, glades, and disturbed habitats from Wisconsin and Minnesota, south to Louisiana and Texas. Resist the urge to put this giant at the back of a bed, border, or meadow—the large foliage is better appreciated near the front. And taking a cue from its prairie habitat, pair it with grasses and perennials that accentuate the foliage but won’t mask the flowers, such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, Zones 3–9), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, Zones 3–8), and flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollate, Zones 3–9). Dark yellow blooms on wiry stems. I’m sticking with prairie dock (S. terebinthinaceum) as my favorite of this plant group. Once seen, it’s not forgotten—mastering the botanical spelling and pronunciation was a bit of a challenge, though. Dark yellow flowers cupped in smooth green phyllaries opened nearly a month later than compass plant and had a shorter overall bloom period. The slender, nearly naked flower stems were the tallest in our trial at 126 inches. The broad shovelhead-like basal leaves were 2 feet long, or maybe “tall” is a better word, as they stand vertically. Like compass plant, the thick, sandpapery leaves orient north to south, thus reducing moisture loss through transpiration and keeping leaf surfaces cool to the touch on hot days. A deep taproot helps prairie dock survive extreme droughts. Surprisingly, rabbits and deer occasionally munched the rough leaves but left other plants in the trial alone. To be at its best, I feel like prairie dock would prefer leaner soil and the company of other plants rather than just hanging out by itself. In our prair-ies I love it with flowering spurge because the bright white clouds of baby’s breath–like flowers soften the sharpness of the large prairie dock leaves. And let the branched flower clusters have their space by planting companions closer to the height of the leafy clumps. Magenta-flowered winecup (Callirhoe involucrata, Zones 4–9) clambering over and through prairie dock foliage is a particularly brilliant combination. This species is primarily native to the central United States from Wisconsin south to Mississippi. Roughstem rosinweed (S. radula) is a standout for a few reasons—it blooms later, into late fall here—and its big rosette-shaped phyllaries are pretty cool. The bright yellow flowers are 3 to 4 inches across with broad, overlapping rays that make them look more substantial than the spidery blossoms of others in this genus. It’s also a heavy bloomer, with hundreds of flowers produced at the top. The coarse-textured phyllaries look like green roses before and after flowering and are quite large at 1½ inches wide. Many of the leafy-stemmed rosinweeds drop their foliage and look a bit shabby by late fall, but roughstem rosinweed’s stiff, scratchy leaves stayed green longer. At 6½ feet tall and almost as wide, this species is too big and bushy for the front of a bed or meadow. But in the back or middle it mixes nicely with coneflowers (Echinacea spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9), ironweeds (Vernonia spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9), and tall to mid-sized grasses. For a southern native—South Carolina west to Texas and south from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico—it did well in our northern clime. | FUN FACT | Rosinweeds producea sticky substance A resinous, gumlike material often oozes from stems, flower stalks, and phyllaries, giving rise to the group’s common name. Historically, the hardened, amber-colored resin drops were chewed by Native Americans to clean teeth and freshen breath.I think I’ll stick with toothpaste! Whorled rosinweed (S. trifoliatum) is probably the best-looking rosinweed late into autumn because its leaves are still mostly green and stay attached into November! The scabrous dark green leaves are arranged in whorls of three, or sometimes borne oppositely on smooth burgundy-tinged stems. It has a finer texture than most as the leaves are only 4 inches long and just over an inch wide. The bushy, vase-shaped habit is attractive, and the tall stems remained upright most of the time, although relaxed somewhat during heavy peak bloom. The bright yellow flowers are more starlike, since the ray florets do not overlap and are plentiful from early summer to early fall. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii, Zones 3–9), beebalm (Monarda didyma, Zones 4–8), and pitcher sage (Salvia azurea, Zones 4–9) are good matches for scale and texture. Whorled rosinweed is native to prairies and roadsides east of the Mississippi River from Pennsylvania and Ohio, south to North Carolina and Alabama. Dense, compact foliage Starry rosinweed (S. asteriscus) gets an honorary mention despite its less than stellar performance. I wanted so badly for it to make my top-picks list because of its lemony yellow flowers and short stature; there aren’t many Silphium options for smaller gardens. Unfortunately, starry rosinweed wasn’t as cold hardy as other species—only one of the five plants survived through 2024. It is a southern native from Tennessee to Florida, and since our seed came from a Florida mail-order nursery, we assumed it had a southern provenance. I would like to try seed from a potentially hardier locale—native populations purportedly come as far north as southern Illinois. The cheerful starlike flowers bloom from mid to late summer and have 1-inch-wide leafy phyllaries with a strong medicinal fragrance when bruised or crushed. The 5-inch green leaves are less rough than other rosinweeds and are arranged alternately on burgundy-tinged green stems. Try it if you garden in warmer zones, or protect it in colder areas and couple it with mounding asters, little bluestem, and a shorter ironweed like ‘Summer’s Swan Song’.     3 to 4 inch flowers of ‘Holy Grail’ cup plant I admit that cup plant (S. perfoliatum) scares me a little. It’s not the ginormous size—that actually intrigues me, as do the conjoined opposite leaves, which form cups that hold rainwater and dew for birds and bees to drink. My nervousness stems from how quickly and widely it can spread to form colonies. While I hate to think all it takes to sway me is a little color enhancement, ‘The Holy Grail’ cup plant did just that. The enormous jagged leaves are yellow early in the spring before fading to chartreuse and then to bright green from late spring on. Yellow flowers cluster at the top of 10-foot-tall stems from midsummer to mid-fall; the 3-inch flowers are not proportional to the exuberant size! The phyllaries and stout, square stems are hairless, while the large leaves (15 inches long and 11 inches wide) are rough. ‘The Holy Grail’—introduced by Intrinsic Perennial Gardens—has a tighter and more upright habit than the species, which is native to wet places from Quebec to Georgia, and west to Nebraska and Kansas. It is best in large beds and meadows or near water, planted with other moisture lovers such as Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum, Zones 4–8), queen of the prairie (Filipendula rubra, Zones 3–9), and ‘Skyracer’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Skyracer’, Zones 5–8). The smaller stature of Mohr’s rosinweed (S. mohrii) will appeal to gardeners who might be nervous about its bigger cousins. At 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, it was one of the shortest rosinweeds in the trial. For nearly three months, beginning in early summer, abundant 2-inch pale yellow flowers put on a nice show (photo p. 48). Their light almond or vanilla scent is an unexpected treat that people and pollinators adore. Mohr’s rosinweed is noticeably fuzzy all over—more so than any other species—making the green leaves, stems, and phyllaries look grayish (photo p. 56, bottom). Unfortunately, it has a messy downside—the withered ray florets fall and cling to the fuzzy leaves as does other organic debris. Mohr’s rosinweed is a prairie native in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, but has been fully hardy in the upper Midwest. The bushy habit can be softened by billowy asters, catmints (Nepeta racemosa and cvs., Zones 4–8), and grasses, both short and tall. | CULTURE TIPS | The ins and outs of rosinweed Traditionally, this group of plants is low-maintenance when sited correctly in the landscape. The biggest challenge lies in—well, their bigness. The shortest rosinweed in our trial was still 5 feet tall and nearly as wide, so if you want to grow these native perennials (and you should), you’ll need to have adequate space. Here are some other things to note when it comes to these giant plants. The blooms may be small, but they’re profuse. The flowers—shades from pale to golden yellow—have a central disk surrounded by petal-like ray florets and look much like their sunflower (Helianthus spp. and cvs.) cousins. The ray florets of rosinweeds are fertile and produce seeds, while the disk florets are just for show. Flowers range from 2 to 4 inches wide and seem undersized on such large plants, but their great abundance makes up for it. You’ll notice the phyllaries. The flowers have prominent stiff phyllaries—reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below the flower head. Think of a phyllary as a leafy cup that flowers sit within. The character of phyllaries varies by species and aids in identification. Pollinators are plentiful and diverse. Honeybees, native bees, leafcutter bees, monarchs, tiger swallowtails, skippers, and fritillaries all feed on rosinweed nectar, while birds such as American goldfinches and black-capped chickadees forage for the seeds. Most Silphium species are also host plants for an assortment of butterflies and moths, including the aptly named silphium moth (Papaipema silphii). Watch out for reseeding. Although most of the species are quite robust, there is one Silphium that is bigger (and more thuggish) than the rest. Deadheading might be a good idea for cup plant (S. perfoliatum, pictured) as it can be a vigorous seeder and could quickly overtake a sizable corner of the landscape if not kept in check.   | Sources | Prairie Nursery, Westfield, WI; 800-476-9453; prairienursery.com Camp Creek Native Plants, New Albany, MS; 662-539-7175; campcreeknativeplants.com Prairie Moon Nursery, Winona, MN; 507-452-1362; prairiemoon.com Native Plants Unlimited, Fishers, IN; 317-777-9469;  nativeplantsunlimitedshop.com   Contributing editor Richard Hawke is the director of ornamental plant research at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. Fine Gardening Recommended Products A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs. MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY. Source link

[carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory]

The Bromacker Fossil Project Part XI: Dimetrodon teutonis, an apex predator

Holotype specimen of Dimetrodon teutonis, which consists of a partial vertebral column. The preserved portion of this vertebral column is highlighted in the reconstruction of Dimetrodon (lower right). Photograph by the author, 2007. Dimetrodon reconstruction modified from Romer and Price, 1940.

Specimens of two top predators have been discovered at the Bromacker quarry. Like Martensius, both are basal members of the group Synapsida, the later members of which gave rise to mammals. You might be familiar with one of them – Dimetrodon, a synapsid sometimes incorrectly portrayed with dinosaurs, which carried a tall sail on its back that was supported by bony spines. The other is a new genus and species that will be presented in my next post.

The fossil pictured above, the first-discovered specimen of Dimetrodon from the Bromacker quarry, may not look like much, but it was the first record of Dimetrodon outside of North America. The circumstances under which it was found were very different from the discovery of other fossils from the Bromacker quarry. Before Dave Berman and I arrived for the 1999 field season, Thomas Martens noticed that someone, possibly a fossil poacher, had been in the quarry overnight and knocked some rocks off the quarry lip. The rocks apparently broke upon hitting the ground, which exposed some bones. Thomas carefully picked them up and took them to his lab at the Museum der Natur, Gotha (MNG). When Dave and I met Thomas at the quarry on our first day of the field season, Thomas mentioned the find and told us that he thought the bones were ribs. We didn’t think much of it, other than horror at learning a fossil poacher might have visited the quarry overnight, one of our worst fears.

As planned, Dave and I spent the last day of the field season in the museum collections, and when Thomas let us in that morning, he reminded us to look at the potential ribs and told us where they were. Shortly after we began examining them, Dave and I simultaneously realized that the “ribs” were actually spines of Dimetrodon. We couldn’t believe our eyes, because of all the Early Permian fossils known from North America, Dimetrodon was Thomas’ favorite. Indeed, he’d used an image of it on signs at the Bromacker and included a model of Dimetrodon in a diorama, once on display in the MNG, that showed models of Bromacker animals in their environment. Thomas jumped for joy later that day when we gave him the news.

So how did Dave and I so quickly realize that the “ribs” were spines of Dimetrodon? Besides Dimetrodon, some other basal synapsids had sails, the function of which remains unknown, though scientists have speculated they could’ve been used for display or regulating body temperature. The spines (known as neural spines) supporting the sails vary in shape and length, with those of Dimetrodon and its herbivorous relative Edaphosaurus being tall and narrow, and those of another relative, the carnivorous Sphenacodon, being shorter and blade-like. Neural spines of Dimetrodon are easy to distinguish, because in addition to being long they bear fore and aft grooves, which create a dumbbell-shaped cross-sectional outline, and they lack the ‘crossbars’ that occur on the long neural spines of Edaphosaurus. When Dave and I saw the fore and aft grooves, the dumbbell-shaped cross-sectional outline of some broken spine ends, and an absence of crossbars, we knew that the “ribs” were indeed spines of Dimetrodon.

Flesh reconstructions of Sphenacodon sp. (left) Dimetrodon grandis (middle) and Edaphosaurus pogonias (right) to show the differences between their sails. Note that Dimetrodon and Sphenacodon are more closely related to one another than they are to Edaphosaurus, despite their different sail shapes. Reconstructions of Sphenacodon and Dimetrodon by Dmitry Bogdanov and that of Edaphosaurus by Nobu Tamura, all from Wikimedia Commons.

The Bromacker Dimetrodon is considerably smaller than other known species of the genus, and this is one character among other more detailed anatomical features that distinguishes it. For the new species name, Dave selected the Latin “teutonis,” which means an individual of a German tribe, in reference to the geographic origin of the holotype specimen.

Two additional specimens of Dimetrodon teutonis. Left, hindleg and shoulder girdle bone (fused scapulocoracoid) and right, several vertebrae bearing complete to nearly complete neural spines of an individual that was larger and presumably more mature than the holotype. Photographs by the author, 2007.

Dave was able to use a mathematical equation involving measurements of the vertebrae to estimate the holotype’s weight as a living animal at 31 pounds. In contrast, other known Dimetrodon species have estimated weights of about 81–550 pounds. We later discovered additional partial specimens of Dimetrodon at the Bromacker quarry, and Dave estimated the weight of the largest specimen with vertebrae at 53 pounds, still considerably less than that of what had previously been the smallest species, D. natalis from Texas. Dimetrodon is otherwise known from numerous species from the American mid-continent and southwest that generally got larger through time.

Reconstructions of various species of Dimetrodon drawn to scale. The diminutive D. teutonis is at bottom center and D. natalis, no longer the smallest species, is at bottom left. Illustration adapted from Dmitry Bogdanov via Wikimedia Commons. 

All Dimetrodon species have teeth adapted for meat-eating in being teardrop-shaped with sharp edges for slashing flesh. By size and jaw position these sharp teeth are divided into precanines, canines, and postcanines of varying numbers. Unlike D. teutonis, some species even had fine serrations on their tooth edges. The only known upper jaw bone of Dimetrodon teutonis clearly has two canines, but one is missing and represented by a large gap in the tooth row that would have accommodated this tooth. The second canine is represented only by its broad base, but it too must have been large. Although it was a small animal, the teeth of D. teutonis indicate that it was a meat-eater and as such would have preyed on other vertebrates from the Bromacker, many of which were even smaller.

Diagrammatic drawing of the skull of Dimetrodon (left) and photograph of the maxilla or upper jaw bone (right) of D.teutonis. Abbreviations: c, canine; pc, postcanine; prc, precanine. Photographs by the author, 2007. Drawing of skull from Wikimedia Commons.

Stay tuned for my next post, which will be about the second-known apex carnivore from the Bromacker. In the meantime, here are links to scientific papers on Dimetrodon teutonis:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325670232_A_new_species_of_Dimetrodon_Synapsida_Sphenacodontidae_from_the_Lower_Permian_of_Germany_records_first_occurrence_of_genus_outside_of_North_America

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288544821_New_materials_of_Dimetrodon_teutonis_Synapsida_Sphenacodontidae_from_the_Lower_Permian_of_Germany

Amy Henrici is Collection Manager in the Section of Vertebrate Paleontology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

[buzzesquenews]

Just How Big was the Largest Flying Dinosaur? Huge.

Quetzalcoatlus was the largest flying dinosaur and the largest flying creature ever to have existed. It stood as tall as a giraffe when it was on the ground.

What was Quetzalcoatlus?

Quetzalcoatlus eating small dinosaurs. Image by By Mark Witton and Darren Naish - Witton MP, Naish D (2008) Quetzalcoatlus is named after the Aztec feathered serpent deity Quetzalcoatl. It was a dinosaur of the Late Creteaceous period, which was about 100 million to 60 million years ago (later than the large dinosaurs like T-Rex), in North America. While not technically a dinosaur, it was part of the family of pterosaurs which lived in that period was related to other large pterosaurs. A few skeletons of Quetzalcoatlus have been found, including some rather complete skeletons. They show that Quetzalcoatlus was indeed a pterosaur, with a very large skull and it may have spent quite a bit of time hunting on the ground as well. Quetzalcoatlus lived in North America and most of the remains have been found in Texas.

Quetzalcoatlus skeleton at the Houston Museum of Natural Science

How big was Quetzalcoatlus?

Quetzalcoatlus was indeed extemely large. It was at least 10ft tall at the shoulders when standing up and most scholars believe it was slightly taller than a full grown giraffe at the head. The wingspan of Quetzalcoatlus has been subject to debate. When the Texas remains were initially found, paleontologists thought the wingspan could be as high as 50ft. Current estimates, based on subsequent findings, put Quetzalcoatlus's wingspan at 36 to 39ft.

Two different species of Quetzalcoatlus compared with a full grown man. By Matt Martyniuk (Dinoguy2), Mark Witton and Darren Naish That would make Quetzalcoatlus's wingspan, which is over 10 meters, making it about the same size as a private airplane, such as a Cessna.

By The Nature Box - CC BY-SA 4.0 Getting an estimate on the weight of Quetzalcoatlus is much more difficult since we have no tissue samples and the bones have been petrified. Estimates range from 150lbs for a normal individual to nearly 1,000lbs. However, the consensus among paleontologists now is that an average individual weighed about 200–250 kg (440–550 lb).

Other Giants

As seen in the above photograph, there were actually two different sub-species of Quetzalcoatlus. The smaller one had a wingspan of around 18ft, making it about half the size. Originally, when they found the smaller skeletons, the idea was that they may be juvenile specimens of the same species. Supsequent research indicates, though, that they are a different sup-species. Quetzalcoatlus northropi is the large one and Quetzalcoatlus sp. is the small one. In Europe, there was a very similar pterosaur, known as Hatzegopteryx, which was roughly the same size. It may have been slightly heavier and had a large head with a more pronounced crest running down the middle.

Hatzegopteryx was roughly the same size as Quetzalcoatlus northropi. By Mark Witton Both species fed on small dinosaurs which could be up to the size of a human. In the case of Hatzegopteryx, it lived on an island of dwarf dinosaurs near present day Transylvania, Romania. Before you go: https://buzzesque.com/largest-insect-of-all-time-discovered/ Read the full article

[dallasareaopinion]

A quick hodgepodge mess somehow related

So for all you marketing majors, advertising works. Yep, much as I hate advertising, watching them, reading them, we are stuck with them.

I was reading (skimming) an article the other day about the demise of Quiznos. Yes, Quiznos (?sp). First of all I am not much of the sandwich connoisseur when it comes to fast food restaurants. I will force myself to eat Subway if there is nothing else around, maybe one of the other chains if there is nothing for hundreds of miles. And oddly I do like these various chains’ food, but just do not want to spend money on a sandwich. I spent years taking my lunch to work and yes you guessed, it was primarily sandwiches so the thought of eating out and buying a sandwich, no matter how much you can flavor it up so to speak, it just isn’t a choice. So I may have eaten at a Quiznos maybe once or twice, maybe. What caught me was the fact that I didn’t miss them. And why had I not missed them, because I had not see an ad for them in years so they faded into the background and I had no idea they were not around anymore. Yet when I read the article I remembered the brand. Strange.

Have you noticed the Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks have both played in two championships, each have won one, even the Texas Rangers have played in two World Series since the Cowboys last won a Super Bowl? Yet when you think of Dallas Sports Teams, which one comes to mind first. Brand recognition you say, and I say probably correct. And what makes the Cowboys more recognized, well a variety of factors, but one is the advertising the NFL and branding the NFL has developed. Football took over Baseball as the national pastime sport so to speak in the 1960′s when television became the mainstream form of entertainment in this country and what brought us all this, advertising. We could watch endless hours of TV for “free” because of advertising. The other sports have been playing catch up ever since. Somehow or another football jumped onto this way of bringing us free entertainment and the unholy marriage on Sunday afternoons took flight. Now the ads are rated, liked and critiqued as much as the big game each year. 

And as the largest hater of advertising this side of Manhatten you might  imagine I stream some nowadays. And as a very frugal (cheap) individual though I still watch regular TV and if possible will record it so I can fast forward through the ads. This works well for regular season sports games, for the playoffs though, you have to watch it live, which means suffering through the ads. Not pushing buttons to turn 3-5 minute of mostly inept commercials into thirty seconds hurts, but you got to watch the playoffs live. Too much at stake not to. And to be honest because I grew up with TV, I have seen ads that work or companies that do a damn good job with the advertising. Coca Cola, McDonalds, Budweiser, Miller Lite are some examples of historical marketing campaigns that have worked. As much as McDonalds food is bland their advertising at times is remarkable. Some campaigns can get replayed in my head if a certain phrase is said or other trigger happens, amazing but true. Other campaigns have left me on the precipice of madness they were so bad, yet for some reason those sometimes are remembered. Whether I like an ad or not has no bearing on whether I buy the product. 

So what gives this evening? I am not sure, but it did hit me that a company had grown to be so big and then completely disappeared and the only way I knew of their existence was advertising.And once that stopped, it was gone even in the memory cells until the article came about.  I cannot remember one person ever recommending to eat there. 

Companies will still come and go, but to all the marketing majors etc who put this together, it does make a difference if you do a good job, maybe not with me, but I can tell the public eats it up. 

Cheers

[shashiemrf]

Energy Harvesting System Market Size Expected to Experience Noteworthy Expansion Over 2022

Energy Harvesting System Global Market - OverviewEnergy Harvesting is a process of collecting minute amount of energy from one or more of naturally occurring energy sources such as solar, wind or water and use them later in the different application areas. Energy harvesting devices are designed to efficiently and effectively capture, store, accumulate and supply it in the form which can be used to perform various task in the daily application areas. Advancement in technology and various development have increased the efficiencies which are used in the process of collecting energy and convert them into electrical energy which is widely used. Heavy investment by the key companies have also led to the advancement in the microprocessors technology leading to maximum efficiency of the processors and optimum utilization. Wide range of benefits and reducing the carbon footprint have also led to the development of interest among several large-scale companies.There are various application of energy harvesting and several real-life application who uses energy harvesting system to source the power is no more a dream. There are various companies who is working constantly in the development of energy harvesting components and products such as sensors, wireless nodes and high capacity batteries. Recently, Tesla have also started working on the new generation solar panels which can be deployed on the roof of any building and can collect solar energy.Get Free Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1167Industry NewsDecember, 2017, X-FAB Introduces New Low-Power eFlash Block Optimized for Energy Harvesting & IoT Devices. The new X-FAB eFlash IP block is targeted at replacing standalone NVM memories and embedded One-Time-Programmable (OTP) memories in low power applications, enabling onsite program code updates. This means that it is highly suited to energy harvesting and remotely located Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, where power constraints and harsh environments need to be dealt with, but field re-programmability must be offered at a low cost.December, 2017, Samsung has patented smart clothing that is able to harvest energy for powering personal gadgets or embedded sensors. The patent details a shirt that contains this energy-harvesting technology, making it not just a shirt that could charge your gadgets, but one that could actually harvest the energy needed to do it. This is in contrast to previously unveiled “smart clothes,” which typically involve a battery that needs to be charged elsewhere. The patent was filed by Samsung Electronics and describes as “Wearable Electronic Device and Operating Method” involving an energy harvester that uses movement to generate energy.November, 2017, New Bluetooth Low Energy and Energy Harvesting Sensor Shields Further Extend the Capabilities of ON Semiconductor’s IoT Development Kit. The company has released two new boards (shields) further extending the recently launched Internet of Things (IoT) Development Kit (IDK) platform’s capabilities. With the addition of two new shields that include Bluetooth low energy technology and Smart Passive Sensors (SPS), customers are now able to create diverse and unique use cases that target smart home/building, smart city, industrial automation and mHealth applications.Energy Harvesting System Global Market - SegmentationSegmentation by Components: Transistors, controllers, solar cells, capacitors, batteries, and switches among othersSegmentation by Methods: Vibration, photovoltaic, and thermal among othersSegmentation by Sensors: Temperature, pressure, humidity and IR among othersSegmentation by Application: Automation, consumer electronics, industrial, and transportation among othersKey Players:ABB Limited (Switzerland), Fujitsu (Japan), Honeywell International Inc.(U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), Microchip Technology Inc. (U.S.), Convergence Wireless (U.S.), Cymbet Corporation (U.S.), STMicroelectronics (Switzerland), and Texas Instruments (U.S.) among others are some of the prominent players profiled in MRFR Analysis and

are at the forefront of competition in the global Energy Harvesting System market. Energy Harvesting System offers several benefits to their consumers including easy receive and payment and more access to their account details.Energy Harvesting System Global Market - Regional AnalysisNorth America is dominating the market of energy harvesting system. High growth in the field of technology and heavy investment by the key players in the field of research and development and new product launches are some of the major factor supporting the market growth. The market is also expected to witness rapid demand from residential sector as prices of electricity in the region is increasing day by day. Europe stands as second largest market for energy harvesting system due to increasing awareness about the benefits offered by energy harvesting system. The region is also expected to show positive growth rate due to the government initiatives towards the promotion of carbon free energy. Asia-Pacific on the other hand has emerged as fastest growing market. Growth of Asian countries such as China and India are expected to create huge demand in the near future. Major companies are also focusing on Asian countries and making investment towards the market of energy harvesting system.Get Complete Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/energy-harvesting-system-market-1167About UsMarket Research Future (MRFR) is an esteemed company with a reputation of serving clients across domains of information technology (IT), healthcare, and chemicals. Our analysts undertake painstaking primary and secondary research to provide a seamless report with a 360 degree perspective. Data is compared against reputed organizations, trustworthy databases, and international surveys for producing impeccable reports backed with graphical and statistical information.We at MRFR provide syndicated and customized reports to clients as per their liking. Our consulting services are aimed at eliminating business risks and driving the bottomline margins of our clients. The hands-on experience of analysts and capability of performing astute research through interviews, surveys, and polls are a statement of our prowess. We constantly monitor the market for any fluctuations and update our reports on a regular basis.Media Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com