Spiderworts (Tradescantia spp.) have been a favorite for years as a dependable garden perennial - one of the classic pass-along plants.  I suspect few people realize it is a Georgia native plant but it is.  I was hiking last week in the north Georgia mountains and saw many wild populations blooming.  The mountain spiderwort that I saw is Tradescantia subaspera, sometimes called zig-zag spiderwort:

Six species of Tradescantia are native to Georgia, but many folks lump all of them into one - the aggressive smooth spiderwort whose species name is T. ohiensis.  The smooth spiderwort can be distinguished from the other popular garden varieties, Tradescantia virginiana being the main one, by the absence of hairs on the buds that hold the blooms (hence the name "smooth").  Smooth spiderwort is a great plant but needs to be sited carefully so that it either does not overwhelm a small area or you give it the room it wants to have!  Perhaps you can see in the picture below the lack of hairs on the buds:

How did this plant get it's common name anyway?  Some people feel that the bloom/leaf arrangement looks like a spider. The USDA Plant Guide offers that it is perhaps because of the "spider web-like filaments that surround the anthers of the flower or the threadlike secretion that emerges from the stem upon cutting." Personally, I think it is because the root mass looks like a spider!  Common names can be so mysterious.  At least we can agree that the scientific name was created in honor of John Tradescant. He was the gardener for Charles I, King of England.

The tree officially known as Liriodendron tulipifera is a tree, of course, but the tulip-shaped blossoms are a delight to those that come across them.  Since the tree can be very large, reaching well over 100 feet in ideal conditions, the blossoms that one sees up close are often those that were broken in a spring thunderstorm and found on the ground.  Such accidents allow us to appreciate the details of the beautiful flowers, including the orange markings inside them.

Common names for this tree include "tuliptree" and "tulip-poplar" and even "yellow-poplar".  This is not a true poplar tree (Populus), so the common names can be a bit confusing to some.  It is a fast growing tree in my area, usually growing straight and tall as an arrow.  Despite it's fast growth, the wood is strong.  I wish more nurseries would sell this tree to homeowners looking for fast growing shade trees. The natural range for this tree in Georgia is widespread throughout the state, from top to bottom and even out to the maritime counties.

It is a member of the Magnolia family (Magnoliaceae) and close examination of the buds and flowers reveal the resemblance.  There are only two individuals in the genus - our native one and one in China. Liriodendron tulipifera is considered the tallest hardwood in the eastern US, and the native range spans from Florida and Texas in the south all the way into southern New England and Canada and west to Iowa.

The tree is beneficial to wildlife in several ways.  The flowers are rich in nectar and so are an excellent food source for its pollinators, including hummingbirds.  It is the larval host plant for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) and others.  In the fall, mature trees produce abundant papery seeds that are eaten by cardinals, other birds and squirrels.






Next time you're looking for a fast growing shade tree, consider Liriodendron tulipifera.

Reference: USDA Forest Service publication

Azaleas in the springtime are every bit as familiar as our beloved native Dogwood (Cornus florida).  But the azaleas that most people buy, plant, and see in other gardens are azaleas from Asia.  Those azaleas have evergreen leaves and come in a wide range of colors.  Native azaleas, which used to be known as "wild honeysuckle", are every bit as beautiful but not as well known.

Georgia's native azaleas are members of the Rhododendron genus and are deciduous shrubs (they drop their leaves in the winter).  Georgia has an abundance of them naturally - twelve different species make their home here.  Some of them are delightfully fragrant - hence the common name of "wild honeysuckle".  Many of them are white but they also come in shades of pink, yellow, orange and red.  When different species are near each other, they can hybridize naturally and create new colors.  In my area there is both the fragrant Piedmont azalea (Rhododendron canescens) and the colorful Oconee azalea (Rhododendron flammeum).  The Piedmont azalea lends its fragrance to the mix while the Oconee brings color.  In the pictures below, the flower on the left is likely a hybrid of Piedmont and Oconee while the flower on the right is pure Oconee - but that is just my personal guess!

In my personal collection I also have a spectacular red azalea - the late blooming Plumleaf azalea.  This azalea is normally found in the area around Callaway Gardens; in fact it is the symbol of Callaway Gardens as it was one of the reasons to preserve the area.  It blooms in late June and into July. 

Nurserymen have used the plumleaf azalea to hybridize with a number of other late blooming azaleas - in particular the swamp white azalea Rhododendron viscosum.  Last year I bought one of these hybrids and it is a beautiful plant that blooms in late May through June.  It is called 'Millenium' and has the color of the plumleaf with a slight fragrance of the swamp.  In addition the foliage is bluish-green which pairs nicely with the blooms.

Many other hybrids are in the trade and native azaleas are being more regularly stocked by mainstream nurseries - even stores like Home Depot.  But you can find a really good selection of them at the spring plant sale held by the Georgia Native Plant Society on Saturday, April 14, 2012 in Marietta, GA.