Bruce Miller, a retired agriculture teacher, asked about the shrubs seen blooming along the roadways in Rowan County.
With this November officially being the coldest on record, I was puzzled to what, if anything could be blooming this time of year.
However, just outside our office on an abandoned road bank I found silverling shrubs (Baccharis halimifolia) in full bloom. These plants often form dense thickets in open areas along roadways or abandoned fields
The blooming plant is an indigenous shrub or small tree capable of reaching a height of about 15 feet.
Silverling shrubs are in the aster family, a distant cousin to mums. Like our cultivated mums and other asters the silvering blooms in the late fall. The shrub is also dioecious; some shrubs are female and others can be male. The female shrub bares conspicuous, paintbrush-like fruits with long, white, silky plumes of hairs similar to dandelion blooms. Leaves are small, notched and oak-like in appearance.
The plant is considered a trash tree of no economic or aesthetic value for most landscapes and has also been placed on the watch list as a possible invasive species. However, the outcast native does have some redeeming value as a salt tolerant hedge or screen in coastal or flooded areas.
It has been successfully used in difficult areas as a small specimen tree or as a shrub border.
But don’t look for this plant at your local nursery. It’s not a “show stopper” plant. However, you can propagate this native plant from seed or transplant from the wild with permission. Darrell Blackwelder is an agricultural agent in charge of horticulture with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service in Rowan County. For archived garden columns or other information, visit www.rowanmastergardener.com or e-mail Darrell_ Blackwelder@ncsu.edu