Birdsong Nature Center
Plant Sale

Easy to grow, moderately drought tolerant (once established.) Smaller than northern sugar maples -- less than 50 feet -- with a rounded crown and great fall color.

Red flowers in late January early February give the whole crown of the tree a reddish glow, followed by red winged samaras (keys) in spring.

This unique tree is native to Alabama but does well in our area. Pretty white flowers attract butterflies in summer. Does best in light shade and forms a small colony. Produces buckeyes for wildlife– mostly squirrels.

The flower spikes of this beautiful perennial can get up to 36 inches tall. They like full sun. Average water needs and do not overwater. Bloom in the summer.

This is a great summer-flowering bulb for Southern gardens. These tough plants have strap-like leaves and bloom all summer long with pom-pom shaped flower clusters, typically in white, blue, or purple. We don't know what color these are yet. The flowers attract hummingbirds and work well as cut flowers.
Size:
The plants can reach three feet tall and two feet wide. Can be grown in containers as well as in garden beds.
Growing conditions:
Lily of the Nile can take full sun but in Florida prefers some shade. Likewise, it’s relatively drought tolerant but performs better with regular watering.

shade

6 inches, spreading ground cover

This plant has an attractive spike of purple flowers in the summer

This plant grows well in shady areas, and slowly spreads.
It is easy to pull up if needed, and transplants well.
The leaves are an attractive color and pattern. This plant came from my mother's garden, where she let it grow down a slope in the front year below a live oak tree. I use this plant in several places in my shady garden.

prefers partial shade

OK in predominantly clay soil

7 to 8 feet

Small flower spikes in spring to summer

Dies back with hard freezes, but returns in spring Galangal, called kah in Thai and known variously as "galanga" and "laos root," is a spicy rhizome related to the common ginger but with a personality distinctly its own. Our Galangal was obtained from Pam Maneeratana, known locally as the daughter of Sue Snyder, owner of Bahn Thai restaurant. You may have also seen Pam demonstrating the art of Kae – Sa – Luk, Thai fruit and vegetable carving, at local Asian festivals. Pam and Sue love to provide my husband with authentic Thai ingredients since he frequently has dinner parties where he cooks Asian food.

Lush foliage but rarely blooms. Prefers shade and is perfect for bright room indoors or as a container or patio plant. 1-3 feet tall. Outside, plant in part shade and protect from wind. In a pot use loose, well-drained potting soil.Protect from frost, but can handle below freezing temperatures.
Let the soil dry slightly between waterings. Give bright light but avoid hot sun. Apply any balanced fertilizer about once a month.

Full sun

4 feet

Spring through fall

tender perennial - dies down to ground in winter

Larval food for Monarch caterpillars. Sometimes called Bloodflower. I love to keep a watch for the Monarch caterpillars to arrive and after they've eaten their fill, see if I can find where they crawled off to form a chrysalis. They can eat the plants to nubs, but it comes back.

These plants need bright light but little to no direct sunlight. Keep moderately moist, allow soil to dry on top before watering. Sprinkle water among the leaves. Use rainwater when possible. Do not allow to stand in water. These beautiful Bromeliads were donated to the plant sale by Cricket’s Tree Service in Tallahassee.

12 to 20 foot small tree or shrub is covered for three weeks each spring with white, soft, fluffy, honey scented flower panicles which dangle gracefully from last year's twigs. A slow grower, but blooms when very young. Olive-like fruit on female trees is good wildlife food.

A testament to its long history of landscape use is the string of affectionate names for this little tree: Grancy graybeard, old man's beard, grandaddy graybeard.

Full sun to part shade.

Someone gave me this chrysanthemum one fall and when it quit blooming I just threw it on the ground. To my surprise it came up and bloomed the next year, and it has multiplied and spread. It blooms profusely every year in football season, and is a bright spot in the fall garden.

Two to three feet high and wide. Needs minimal care.

This deciduous small tree grows 8-10 feet tall and wide, and has multiple stems that are an attractive red color. The undersides of its leaves have silky hairs, giving it its common name. It has white blooms in the spring, blue fruit in the summer and fall, and nice red autumn color in its leaves. The birds like the fruit of this tree.
It prefers moist locations, but will also do well in drier sites. It can grow in shade, part shade, or sun. It may sucker over time, but not extensively. It grows naturally in forested seasonal wetlands and floodplains, shrub wetlands, and along stream and pond banks. It is a very attractive border plant.

A small, twiggy, thorny tree. White blooms in spring make the red cranberry-fruit in May. Fruit can be gathered and juice extracted to make ruby red, crystal clear Mayhaw jelly, well known as the world's best jelly.
In nature Mayhaw trees grow in large colonies along the edges of standing water wetlands, but they adapt well to the garden. You need at least two for pollination and fruit.

Partial shade

3 to 4 feet

Dies back with hard freezes

This ginger, which produces the spice turmeric, produces tall, very beautiful, white flower spikes near the base, if clumps are left undisturbed for a year. Grows best in shaded areas, can be divided and replanted in the spring. Ours has done fine in predominantly clay soil. Can be somewhat invasive, so pots are a good option if you don’t want to dig them up periodically. Our “crop” started from roots purchased at one of the Indian grocers in Tallahassee. The turmeric can be used in cooking, and reputedly has a number of healthful qualities. Yellow stains on the fingers from peeling and cutting fresh turmeric can be removed with effervescent denture cleaner.

A small, grass-like plant from Australia closely related to New Zealand flax. Like New Zealand flax, long fibers are harvested from the leaves. These fibers and entire leaves have been used in weaving. Flowers are small and borne on spikes held above the foliage. The small fruits are blue.

Size: Herbaceous plant with leaves twelve to eighteen inches tall.

Care Instructions: sun to shade,moderately drought tolerant when established, water during prolonged droughts,widely adaptable to soils

Blue flax lily is sturdy and easy to use in the north Florida landscape. It is evergreen to the mid-20’s F. Below that, it dies to the ground and resprouts in spring.

Bright Light to Dappled Shade

Water Requirement: Drench then allow to dry out completely before next watering

Temperature: Not frost hardy, but can be placed outside during warm weather, loves humidity. Propagation: Easy to propagate.

Warning - Called "Dumb" cane because of chewing renders person mute due to toxicity. Contact with sap should be washed off immediately. Not recommended if you have a pet that eats your plants.

shade

rich soil

2 feet

“Ed and Betty's fern.” Betty and Ed Komarek were married on Sherwood Plantation (Herbert L. Stoddard's home place) in the woods on a winter day under oak trees with this evergreen fern covering the ground.

Full sun

up to 30 feet

Fast growing evergreen tree with large coarse leaves and clusters of whitish fragrant flowers in the fall. If the winter freezes are timed right it will make an edible fruit in the spring.

any

any

4 feet

In spring before foliage emerges, red tubular flowers appear on tall stems and form long bean pods. In late summer these pods turn black and split open, revealing the shiny bright red seeds. While beautiful in dried arrangements, THE SEEDS ARE POISONOUS TO EAT!

This is not a cactus and does need water and some fertilizer.

Common names include: Dragoon bones tree, Dragon bones, Candelabra spurge, Candelabra Cactus, Cactus Candelabre, Caper Spurge, Candle-stick tree.
Cultivation: Euphorbia lactea is only hardy to 35 degrees F and most grow it either inside in pots in a well lighted area or plant it in very protected locations. Euphorbia lactea does exceptionally well in very wet, humid climates. Plant in morning sun or partial shade. Water thoroughly when soil is dry to the touch during active growing season. Likes porous soil with adequate drainage. Allow to dry out before next watering.

Full sun

Climbs to 6 feet

Mid summer blooms

Completely dies back in winter and emerges in spring

Will slowly spread by deep underground tubers. It will climb a fence by means of its hook-like leaf tips. From Quincy, FL garden

A small deciduous tree with a rounded crown. Attractive, white bell-shaped flowers in early spring before leaves come out. Acquires its graceful, open form while still a small tree and blooms at a young age. Eventually grows to 30 feet. Occurs naturally in wet soils but adapts to moist, well-drained soil. Flowers best in partial sun.

Very tolerant of heat and drough. Multiply quickly. The original bulbs of these amaryllis were given to Rodie White in the 1950's

Partial shade

Moist, fertile soil

Urn-shaped 4-5 foot shrub

Summer

Unusual purple and red, medium-sized flowers, which are attractive and not large like typical mopheads. An original plant from the 1970's at my house in Bainbridge, Georgia.

Full sun to partial shade

12-18 inches

Blooms late winter to early spring

Bulbs send off smaller bulbs and plants, so group multiplies and spreads. Found growing around my friend Laine Lasseter's old farmhouse built in the 1850's in Musella, Georgia. Second donor: Propagated from passalongs by Herbert and Kitty Blow, the former owners of our home, now in their eighties.

Dense blazing star or gayfeather is a native wildflower, and blooms in late summer. Narrow leaves extend up to the purple flower cluster, which is concentrated on the upper third of the stem.

This liatris will thrive in moist, acid soil and full sun.

This is a stunningly beautiful large shade tree. Its leaves are the larval food for Tiger Swallowtail butterflies. Beautiful orange, peach and green flowers.

Sun to partial shade

5-6 feet

late January to early February

This is not a very showy plant, but the small yellowish flowers in winter attract hummingbirds, butterflies or insects looking for nectar. Fragrance is like orange blossoms. This plant was given to me by Mrs. Lavinia Short, (mother of Birdsong member, Sally Jue) in the fall of 1996, after we had moved to this house. The Shorts had hosted Rufous hummingbirds in winter, and I was hoping to attract them

Full sun or part shade

Blooms September

Handsome strap shaped leaves emerge after the flowers and last all winter. The leaves die down in the spring and there is no sign of the plant all summer until the flowers appear again in September. Henrietta Jinright saw these flowers blooming in a yard in Monticello in 1947. She stopped and asked the lady if she could have a start of them. Her daughter-in-law Betty Jinright has shared the bulbs all over Thomasville in the 60 years since then.

Full sun to light shade

Early fall

Whorls of red blossoms with long protruding stamens. The blooms spring up overnight in early fall. The strap shaped leaves come later and last all winter and spring.

Long, strap-like leaves emerge in winter and grow all spring. They make a handsome, healthy foliage clump in the spring garden, three feet high. In summer the leaves die back and nothing is seen of the plant until August when the pink flowers dramatically appear. These are big lilies, a gorgeous shade of delicate pink atop three foot tall sturdy, bare, stalks. Also called Magic Lily, or Surprise Lily because of their late summer eruption after you have almost forgotten where you planted them.

However, Naked Ladies need a cold winter. In our climate zone we usually get leaves only (very healthy leaves, since no energy goes into making blooms). In my garden they bloom only after winters with long, sustained cold spells. North of Albany the Naked Ladies should be spectacular garden flowers.=

Small deciduous tree with spreading branches and an attractive form to 25 feet tall. Leaves are very large -- 18 inches long and 10 inches wide. Silvery white on underside. Flowers are very large, up to one foot wide -- and so fragrant they will perfume your whole yard. You will not have to wait long for these spectacular flowers. Very young plants only 2 -- 3 feet tall will produce flowers.

Full sun to part shade. Will become more densely foliaged in full sun. Prefers acidic soil and good drainage.

This is a special and uncommon tree, growing naturally in only a few southeastern areas. It is a slender semi-deciduous tree that can grow to 20 feet. It has large leaves (6-9 inches) and large fragrant, showy, creamy-white flowers. It is a larval plant for the tiger swallowtail butterfly.
It grows in part shade and rich, acidic, well-drained soils. In nature it may be found in rich wooded bluffs, ravines, and uplands.

Part shade

6 feet

Red blooms in the Fall

Native tender perennial shrub that the hummingbirds like. Started this plant from cuttings off a plant at my in-laws collectibles shop. I've heard it called "Lipstick plant" since the blooms are shaped like a tube of lipstick.

full sun to partial shade

loose, fertile

2-foot stalks in mid summer

mid-summer

This beautiful perennial is loved by bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. It requires sun to part shade, grows 1-2 feet tall and 2 feet wide. Average soil and water needs. These plants came from the outstanding garden of Julie Neel from Thomasville.

Full sun to partial shade

18-24 inches

Blooms in early spring

Not fussy and does well outdoors or in a pot inside. Prefers moist soil. Given to me by my friend Cathy Beacher 10 to 12 years ago.

This is our most spectacular native tree in fall. Its shiny leaves seem to glow in the sunlight. Black gum is handsome all year long because of its graceful sweeping branches.

Full Sun to mostly shade

Moist, well drained soil

6 feet

Flowers midsummer to frost

Dies back with hard freeze

These straight, smooth, green herbaceous stems bear opposite shiny undulate leaves in a 6 foot high clump. In the autumn spikes of fire-red tubular flowers rise high above the foliage until the first freeze when the whole plant dies back. They will come back in the spring.

Full sun to light shade

3 to 5 feet

throughout summer

Forms nice clumps. Can be susceptible to powdery mildew so provide good air circulation. I got this plant like so many others at a plant swap. It really seems to epitomize heirloom, passalong plants since it's been a mainstay in southern gardens for many years.

part to full shade

1-2 feet tall

summer

Partial shade to sun

3-10 feet with similar spread

Summer

Dies back with hard freeze

Use Plumbago in borders, foundation plantings, and for color massed in beds. Plumbago is a beautiful shade of periwinkle blue. It can be a large shrub if supported, and it can be kept trimmed as a tall ground cover. It blooms on new growth but grows quickly enough that cutting does not interfere. It grows in full sun, is drought tolerant and attracts butterflies. Several clumps in our yard were started from a cutting from a friend a few years ago. It loves our pine shaded yard and provides beautiful color spring through fall.

Full sun

rich, well drained soil

Summer, fall blooms

The little bulbs will be dormant until mid spring when the grass-like strap-shaped foliage appears. In the heat of the summer the bloom scapes rise up three feet and the white single flowers open. Julie Neel's grandmother first grew these tuberoses in Americus, Georgia. Julie brought them to Thomasville in the 1950's. This is one of the most fragrant flowers on earth. A clump of tuberoses in bloom can scent a whole yard. Hummingbird moths will flock to your tuberoses at night.

Light shade to full sun

25 feet

late March

This is a very special tree. I got it from my mother's tree, maybe 20 years ago, and now it is very large. It blooms in late March, so I have my garden party then in its honor. It is covered with double white flowers which appear before the leaves. It makes fruit that is not edible, but is viable, and I have given many friends the seedlings. It takes several years for it to become large enough to bloom, but it is worth the wait!

This is a tall, beautiful, and fast-growing shade tree that has a clean, straight trunk with light bark. In nature it grows in bottomlands along streams, and in rich, moist forests. However, it can also tolerate drier conditions once it is well-rooted. It is deciduous, with very large leaves (up to 9 inches long) that have rounded teeth in each side of a leaf. In the fall the leaves turn dark red or light brown. The acorns are large and an important wildlife food.

Height: 30 to 40 feet
Spread: 40 to 60 feet
Shape: Spreading
A massive shade tree with evergreen foliage that is bright olive-green when new and changes to a glossy, dark green when mature.
Light: Partial shade to full sun
Moisture: Wet to moist
Soil Type: Sandy, loam, or clay
pH Range: 3.7 to 7.0
Uses for this plant include shade, street tree, and specimen plant. Transplant small size trees. Tolerates soils ranging from light sand to heavy and compact silt and clay. Tolerates a wide range of moisture conditions. Tolerates salt spray. Requires large area for branches and roots to spread.
Prune when young to establish main branches. Maintain adequate soil conditions. These are from the trees that I got for joining the Arbor Day Foundation. One that I bought at this sale a few years ago is already several feet high.

This is one of David Austin's English roses.

Large, heavy, deeply cupped blooms in shades of apricot, pink, and yellow. Rich, fruity fragrance. Blooms all summer long. The bush is vigorous and healthy in our climate. It may get some black spot, but will not be enfeebled by it.

Five feet high and wide.

This rose was collected many years ago by Betty Jinright from an old rose growing at Melrose Plantation outside Thomasville Georgia. Its true name is not known.

The Melrose Rose is a once blooming climber. The blooms are a gorgeous shade of peachy coppery yellow. With good support it will reach ten feet high. The one in the photograph is trained onto an old swing set.

This rose has vicious thorns. But its spectacular spring bloom makes it worth every drop of blood you will shed.

This is an old China rose the specific origins of which are not known. The flowers are single and open to reveal five gold-colored petals. The flowers gradually turn to a rosy pink and then finally to crimson. Often, a single bush will have flowers of all three colors open at the same time. Because its flowers tend to flutter in the breeze, Mutabilis is often called “The butterfly rose”. Planted in full sun and fertilized occasionally, it becomes a thick, twiggy bush 5 to 7 feet tall. Only minor pruning to shape the busy is required.

2 -- 5 feet height 3 -- 5 feet spread
This rose was found in an old cemetery in Natchitoches Louisiana. It is well suited for our climate. Very disease resistant and pest free.
Noted for its graceful form and sweet fragrance. Natchitoches Noisette has a very showy bloom in spring, and continues to bloom all through summer and fall.

full sun

well drained

3 to 4 feet

Evergreen perennial that becomes a small woody shrub with small blooms in Winter and Summer

A gorgeous perennial that can get from 24-48 inches tall and likes sun to partial shade. Average soil and water needs. It will die back in the winter and return in the spring. Attractive to hummingbirds, butterflies and other pollinators.

shade

2 inches

Blooms late February and March

fall

A fast easy-to-grow small tree with a graceful form and brilliant red to yellow fall foliage. Sassafras will spread by root suckering to form a colony of trees appropriate for screening and naturalistic landscapes. Or you can cut the suckers off and have one stately specimen tree.

Tolerates a wide variety of soil and moisture conditions. Very drought tolerant once established.

A densely-leafed evergreen native lowbush blueberry to 3 feet high and wide. Its natural rounded form makes it a neat, orderly looking plant. Its small grayish or blue-green leaves take on a pinkish cast in the fall. Tiny white urn-shaped flowers in spring attract hummingbirds and the summer berries are important wildlife food.

Darrow's blueberry is a tough plant and thrives on neglect. In fact it requires it, and can be killed by overwatering or planting in too rich soil. In needs full sun, dry, sandy, acidic soil and good drainage. Do not overwater!

This lovely shrub will reach heights up to 10’ and usually has multiple trunks and an open spreading form. It has clusters of white flowers in the spring that transform into blue-black fruit clusters by late summer and fall. Its leaves are large and toothed along the edges, giving it its scientific name. Its common name comes from arrow shafts Native Americans made from its wood. It is deciduous with lovely fall colors of yellow and red. Arrowwood will adapt to a variety of growing conditions. It will grow in moist or well-drained soil, in sun or partial shade. It may send out root shoots but not extensively. In nature, it grows in the understory of mixed hardwood forests.

This is a shrub or small tree with an open and spreading form. It has showy clusters of small white flowers in the spring with fruits that age from yellow to pink to beautiful blue-black by fall. Wild birds and small mammals eat this fruit. In the south this plant is almost evergreen, losing its glossy large dark green leaves late in the season when they turn reddish purple.
Possum Haw likes to grow in wet woods and along creeks, but will also do fine in drier landscapes in your garden. It is usually an understory tree or shrub in mixed woods, but will produce flowers best when grown in full sun.

This small tree has a slender trunk and open form and will reach 10-15 feet tall. It is a lovely tree providing clusters of white flowers in the spring, dark blue fruit in the summer for the birds, and reddish purple leaves in the fall. It gets its common name from the downy red buds and stems. Its large green leaves are shiny and glisten in the light.
This plant is drought tolerant once established. It can grow in the light shade of upland mixed hardwoods, but it can also grow well in the sun where it will flower and fruit more. It may sucker from the roots, but usually not extensively. You need at least two for pollination and fruit.

This deciduous tree is for sun to semi-shade and is a larval food plant for the Giant Swallowtail butterfly. It is sometimes known as the medicinal “toothache tree.” It is salt-tolerant and can grow up to 30 feet.