Obedient Plant Physostegia virginiana is a great native nectar plant that will carry your garden into fall. This attractive perennial has long-lasting snapdragon-like pink to lavender tubular blossoms that bloom successively for four to six weeks starting at the bottom of the spike. The flowers are a favorite of hummingbirds, long-tongued bees, butterflies and bumblebees. Its square stem is typical of the mint family, and, like other mint family members, deer will avoid it. It is called “obedient” because if the flowers are bent, they tend to stay in the new position for a while.
You do not have to bend the blossoms of obedient plant intentionally; it happens to mine when I fail to steak this tall growing plant and the rain or wind knocks them over. In the Atlanta area it grows 3-6 feet and blooms late August to October. Its native habitats include riverbanks, wet thickets, prairies, pine savannahs, swamps, and low grounds so it does well in damp areas and rain gardens and will grow in sand, clay, limestone and soil with poor drainage. It is happiest in full sun and moist soil but will take part shade and dryer soil and is somewhat drought tolerant. Mine are in plain soil that is mostly clay, I never water them, and this is their third summer. Next spring I’ll look at dividing them.
Like mountain mint and other members of the mint family it can be aggressive in a garden because it spreads by stolons. Decide if you will allow it to take over an area or grow it next to an equally aggressive plant and let them fight it out, or just remove any unwanted plants as they are shallow-rooted (2-4” deep), so, do-not fear the obedient plant, this is one “aggressive” plant you can tame!
Obedient plant can be propagated by root division or seed. Clumps that form from spreading stolons can be divided in early spring or late fall. Plant seeds in fall or in spring after 2 months damp stratification or winter sow. Sow seeds just below the surface and keep moist. Colors will vairy from magenta to pale pink when reproduced by seed. Plants bloom 2nd year from seed; 1st year from clump division. We usually have some for sale at our annual spring plant sale, the last Saturday in April.
Obedient Plant
Milkweed Bugs
Are Your Milkweeds Going to Seed?
Do you want to Harvest the Seed?
If not, don’t worry about it! If so, Protect the Seed!
The Milkweed Bug Oncopeltus fasciatus. You will see that orange-red and black six-legged critter on your milkweeds this time of year. They are herbivores but highly specialized. Like the pickiest eater you know, they only eat one type of food, milkweeds. You will never see them on your tomatoes, squash, or roses, so do not fear the milkweed bug! They do not bite or sting and will never chase you down. They are used as research insects because they are so docile and easy to manipulate. Their only “natural” predator is a gardener with a hose. Since they have no other natural predators, you’ll notice they’ve never learned to escape quickly so you can pick them off. There is no need for chemical assault, not to mention the damage you do to your monarchs if you apply chemicals.
You see, the red and black color combination is no mistake; it is a warning sign to any potential predator that they will be a particularly nasty meal. Their tissue is infused with the toxins from milkweed sap which they ingest with their piercing proboscis. They feed on leaves, stems, and seeds but do not usually cause excessive damage to the plant. If you want to collect seeds to use or share next year, it would be a good idea to protect the pods you want with an organza mesh bag. That way, you can be sure that all the embryos have adequately developed without being robbed of nutrition by our little danger flagmen.
You will notice little brown spots on the surface of the green pods that are not protected. The pod was pierced to get to a developing seed in these spots. The bugs do not destroy all the seeds in the pod but given that Monarchs have just been put on the endangered species list, I want to ensure I’m handing out good seeds when I encourage folks to plant them.
You can find organza bags on the internet and at craft stores. I recommend using white bags to reduce heat absorption; they come in different sizes and can be reused yearly.
For more on these little critters see this link at the Pollinator Web:
https://pollinatorweb.com/milkweed-bugs-friend-or-foe/#:~:text=Large%20milkweed%20bugs%20%28LMBs%29%20are%20herbivorous%20–%20they,and%20cause%20misshapen%20seeds%20and%20lower%20seed%20production.
Trumpet Vine, Hummingbirds and Ants
Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans)– A rambunctious, beautiful, native flowering vine, that is aggressive and can take over quickly! It grows wild in my yard. The underground root system is well established and pops up under every shrub and next to every tree we have. I am constantly battling it. When the plumber put in a 12-foot-tall white vent pipe for my new, costly septic system, I immediately painted it green to blend in, put chicken wire on it, and planted coral vine at the base. Besides the coral vine, trumpet creeper grew, and this time I said, “Why not! If it grows quickly, perhaps it will cover and hide the pipe, and hummingbirds are supposed to love the flowers, and I love hummers, so win-win.” Not so fast!
Finally, in its third year, we have a consistent trumpet vine bloom, but the hummingbirds do not frequent it! @#$%^&* Why not? I sit in my little spy position, waiting to get a picture of a hummer frequenting a flower, which never happens. They visit other flowers. I don’t spray poisons. The answer came in a recent post in Terry Johnson’s Backyardwildlifeconnection blog. It seems hummingbirds can smell the trail of insects that can hurt them, including the formic acid of ants!
Sure enough, there are relatively large ants all over my trumpet creeper. iNaturalist identifies them as Pale Field Ants Formica pallidefulva. I tried to find out more about these critters. A website sells them for people with ant farms because they are “entertaining to watch.” These ants forage for both sugars and live prey.
“When they hunt, they grab their prey’s legs and stretch it out. Then some workers spit formic acid all over them.” – Canada Ant Colony
Charming little critters! I doubt these ants have the herculean strength they would need to subdue a hummingbird, but a bite is a bite. The hummers are wise to stay away.
So, what to do? These ants’ hives are entirely underground, and I’ve not been bitten. I don’t particularly want to kill them; they do eat aphids. On the internet, I found a natural ant repellent that is supposed to be safe around birds, pets, and kids. The active ingredient is cinnamon oil. I may have to spray the trumpet creeper with a soap solution to remove the formic acid still present since it is only partially soluble in water. Maybe our fourth year with trumpet creeper will be the charm!
If you are not a subscriber to Terry Johnson’s Backyardwildlifeconnection https://backyardwildlifeconnection.com I highly recommend it. Terry is a retired DNR wildlife biologist who specialized in endangered wildlife and is the current Executive Director of The Environmental Resource Network (TERN). He will keep you up to date on all things related to the special creatures of Georgia.
