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According to research published by Chicago Bot Garden (https://www.chicagobotanic.org...) this species of Liatris and several others are self-incompatible. You need at least two plants blooming at the same time plants to collect any good seed, and at that, there will still be many infertile seeds. When saving seeds remember that the seed coat is produced even when a fertilized embryo is not present, so seeds may look "normal". To check a seed see if it bends in your fingers, if it does it is empty. Good seed should be solid and not bend once dried.

As previously mentioned, the cardinal flower is a short-lived perennial. That is because it is a pioneer species. In nature, its seeds germinate on bare ground and the plants persist until crowded out by the next generation of plants in secondary (or primary) succession. Many people are disappointed when their cardinal flowers die after 2 to 3 years. The way to perpetuate your planting is to allow it to self- seed on bare ground. That means NO mulch. The basal rosettes are normally evergreen and will persist through the winter if they are not mulched, when mulched they tend to rot. I know this goes against the grain of gardeners, we want to mulch everything, but if you want to keep your cardinal flowers, resist mulching and don't crowd them.

This wonderful shrub resists most things except beavers. If yours is in a wetland or near a river like mine and you do not have one to spare consider wrapping the trunk with hardware cloth. I lost my only one to the beaver family which was expanding. I certainly don't mind sharing other hardwoods that I have in abundance, but my ONLY buttonbush? That's just mean. They also took one of my two Eastern red cedars, but it is coming back strong from the stump, thank goodness for good root systems!

Southern Wild Senna is a host plant for several species of sulphur caterpillars: Sleepy Orange, Tailed Orange, Little Yellow Sulphur, Cloudless Sulphur, and Orange-Barred Sulphur. You can check with your state butterfly association to see which ones are native to your area.

Stone Mountain Daisy is a lovely annual wildflower that grows on granitic outcroppings in Alabama and Georgia. It prefers full sun and moist soil. It is a great self-seeder. The seeds germinate early. There is very little published about propagating it. The first year I collected the seeds they went into the frig in mid-October; they germinated in the refrigerator in March! Since then I just let it self-seed and use it as a green mulch. I do have to remove seedlings from the woodchip walkways in the garden, but it is a small price to pay, and the removed plants transplant well with little downtime from stress. The seedlings stay small until about July when they start growing up rapidly. Then in September, they explode with yellow blossoms. Deer do browse the early flower buds, but not heavily. This only seems to pinch back the plants and make tighter blooming heads. Once established they handle drought well. It is a plant I give to beginning gardeners, I don't think you can go wrong with it.