Reflections and Anticipation

View into Backyard Woods

Now that the shortest day of the year is past and 2012 is only a few days away, I'm looking out at the bare woodlands in our backyard and wondering what new discoveries I'll see this spring.  Last spring I wasn't even aware of native plants in our own property.  I didn't know what to look for as the woods started to come alive and hide the view of neighbors' houses a mere hundred yards away.  Although in the past we had worked religiously on eliminating the invasive garlic mustard plants from the area, this year I became very aware of the overwhelming number of invasive honeysuckle shrubs that choke out the native plants.  So this year I concentrated on removing as much of this foreign invader as I could.  I can't remember a single walk through the yard or woods that didn't include pulling up at least some small honeysuckle seedlings, if not larger growths. 

Several weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Jacob's Ladder growing at the base of a Honeysuckle I cut down earlier in the year.  Further inspection shows a good number of these plants hidden in what was once a honeysuckle forest.  They would surely have succumbed to the invasive honeysuckle had I not intervened.  In The American Woodland Garden: Capturing the Spirit of the Deciduous Forest by Rick Darke, I found a marvelous picture of a large group of blooming Jacob's Ladder.  Although my mother used to tell me not to wish my life away, I can't wait for spring to see the blooms from these rescued plants.

Jacob's Ladder - winner over
 Honeysuckle

I don't know the specific species yet, but I do know our woods are full of many different trees.  There are Hickories, Maple, Elms, Walnut, and even one Paw Paw tree.  The once abundant Ash have been totally wiped out by the advancing Emerald Ash Borer.  These Ash were the tallest trees in the woods.  The dead tree trunks are now producing a lot of food for the woodpeckers.  Hairy and Downy woodpeckers, along with Red Bellied Woodpeckers and White Breasted Nuthatch are always harvesting beetles and other insects from these decaying poles.  Supposedly a little more light will now reach the woodland floor this spring.  With the honeysuckle removal, and the loss of the Ash, I wonder what dormant natives will start to make themselves visible in this small Northwest Ohio woodland?   I can't wait.  It'll certainly be awesome to watch the woods wake up from its winter rest.  And best of all I'll get to see this through new eyes; eyes now wakened to and continually amazed by the wonders of our natural world.

Recent Inspiration

You might want to get a cup of coffee or tea.  This is much longer than I usually post.  I often wonder what percentage of plants used in popular urban and suburban landscaping are natives?  In my wanderings around our city and neighborhoods, it seems like there are no native plants whatsoever.  Non native evergreens, invasive burning bush, imported cultivars, and domestically hybridized plants are everywhere.  I cringe as I see the preponderance of non native plants consuming our yards.   Isn't anyone paying attention to what we've done?   Isn't it obvious that we've tried to "beautify" our yards at the expense of our vitally important ecosystems?   The necessity of using natives is so absolutely logical to me now, I easily become depressed when faced with the sheer magnitude of exotic and hybridized plants used everywhere.  Now that I've learned that landscaping with native plants is absolutely essential to our own well being, I get discouraged.  But wait a minute.  Get a grip.  Hey, until only recently I was part of this big problem.  It's taken me several years of obsessive study to finally adopt this culture.  And still I struggle with giving up some of the non-native plants I've purchased and nurtured.   So I've got no right to look askew at other yards and judge.  Having been helped by many others to understand and accept the importance of native plants, I have to stand back and realize that education is the key to helping others adopt this philosophy.  I've got to help in this education.  Still, some recent experiences encourage me. 

Simpson Garden Native planting
- Phase I

On my way home from Bowling Green one day, I stopped to check on the native plant bed installed at Simpson Garden Park last year.   After only one short year, all the plants had grown and filled in the space allowed for them.  I was thrilled to see this rapid progress.  I emailed Dan Parrat, a fellow Master Gardener, who works for the BG park system coordinating the volunteer activity at the various city parks.   I believe Dan too is a recent convert to the importance of natives.   I offered my help to maintain  this public display of native plants.  He quickly took me up on the offer.  A few weeks later, I popped in again to take another look.  Dan was there and tossed me into his golf cart.  We were off to the back native garden.  He physically walked me through the layout of a five year plan to expand the native garden.  He and Cinda Stutzman, a Natural Resource Specialist for the City of Bowling Green, had developed a thorough and inspiring plan.  This was highly encouraging.   Nice!  I hadn't met Cinda, but understand she is highly respected in the local area.   Now I'm starting to see there are a lot more dedicated people than I knew involved in educating the public locally on native plants and their vital benefits.

From time to time, I pass by the Bowling Green Community Center on the north edge of town.  Recently I noticed signs indicating the natural border landscape was a Prairie Restoration.  Wow!  This is fantastic.  How did this come about and who was responsible?  I emailed Cinda and asked her.  Turns out she was the driving force behind this remarkable project.  Knowing earlier there had been a failed attempt to get the community to accept a small prairie planting at Simpson Garden, I thought there must have some push back before this prairie became a successful effort.  Cinda told me that there had been some discontent.  Addressing the issues, she published and handed out a small pamphlet speaking about the money savings aspect of this prairie project.  No mowing!  No costly and harmful chemicals.  No CO2 emissions.  The community of BG accepted this prairie restoration.  Another boost for my hopefulness, a win for the environment, and more public awareness.

Native Witch Hazel
 Nichol's Arboretum

A few weeks ago our local chapter of Wild Ones had a field trip to the University of Michigan's Nichol's Arboretum in Ann Arbor Michigan.  For three hours we walked through the dramatically colored fall woods with Matt Ross.  Matt is a graduate of UM and teaches the Urban Horticulture and Sustainability class at Owens Community College.   He pointed out the various trees, noting the particular environment where they each grew.   One of the late blooming shrubs that really caught my attention was the native Witch Hazel.  We have several nursery cultivated ones in our yard, but they aren't native and as such don't function as wildlife support.  I've got to replace our old non-natives with several of these attractive native plants.  For me, the real take away from this trip was finding out that our educational institutions realize this subject is so important, they teach classes in the subject.  They also preserve large and and conveniently located areas of pristine habitat readily available for all to learn from.

Jan Hunter told me to check out Catherine Zimmerman's website.    I met Catherine at a talk she gave in Columbus, Ohio several months ago.  What an interesting lady.  She had been interviewed by Jane Pauly as part of the series Jane did about people who changed careers late in life.  Catherine had been a documentary film maker.  Going back to school she got a degree in landscape design.  This led her to developing an interest in creating meadows in home landscapes.  As part of her growing interest in home meadows, she started researching the topic and wrote "Urban & Suburban Meadows".  Now using her film making background, she's doing a documentary film to accompany her book.  She periodically posts articles to the Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens blog.  One of her recent posts highlights how various cities are using native plants and meadowscaping to overcome blighted areas, return interest to playgrounds, and otherwise put underutilized public land to good use.  This was highly encouraging to me to see the numerous public projects utilizing native plants to better our way of life.  Seeing these projects take hold in public areas and schools, shows me that education is working.  Keep those articles coming Catherine.

For me, " Bringing Nature Home" by Doug Tallamy is the the most important environmental book since "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson.  Reading Tallamy's book  has literally helped to change my life.  Prior to reading this, I thought native plants were merely good for the environment because they used less water, required little maintenance, and needed no harmful pesticides.  Little did I realize they are absolutely vital for us.  So I jumped at the chance to hear him speak in person  in nearby Ann Arbor, at the University of Michigan.  Inside an hour's presentation, he presented his carefully conducted scientific studies demonstrating the necessity for shunning foreign plants in favor of natives.  At the end of the lecture, he stepped out of his role of a scientist.  Showing pictures of native wildlife he now finds in his own yard, he made an impassioned and emotional case for using native plants.  One study he and some of his graduate students conducted was comparing two neighborhoods.  One was a typical suburban neighborhood devoid of native plants.  The other neighborhood had started planting natives three years earlier.  The data was astounding to me.  In only three years time, a significant amount of wildlife, birds, bees, butterflies and others had returned to the native neighborhood.   OK!   Have I said this before?  I'm impatient!   But three years I can do.  You can't increase your education into the natural world any better than reading and listening to this man.  Thanks Dr., Doug Tallamy.  .

White Tailed Deer

Several weeks ago, I looked out my office window and saw a late migrating Chipping Sparrow plucking the last seeds from the Snakeroot.  Several American Goldfinch were enjoying a quick drink from the birdbath.  Winter is coming and the squirrels were busy burying Walnuts and Hickory nuts.  A movement to the right caught my attention.  Two deer were slowly working their way up the ravine about 20 feet outside my window.  Oops.  Darn!  There went the leaves from that little Oak seedling I was hoping would someday produce acorns.  Tallamy says the Oak supports more wildlife than any other tree species.  I guess deer are one of those animals.  In spite of the colder weather and cloudy skies, I'm encouraged and dream of  helping others to realize a way to a richer environment, full of the natural wonders that we once had.

UGH - Lawns

The Old Chemical Lawn

One thing leads to another.  The more I learn, the more I want to know.  I started this journey drawn to the low maintenance and natural beauty of native plants.  Then I found out about the positive and important ecological role of these in our lives.  Along the way I learned that most of our turf grasses are not native  That led me to learning more about the synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides I've religiously applied to my lawns for most of my adult life.  They were part of the regimen necessary to keep these non native lawn grasses lush, weed and pest free.  Researching, researching, and finally listening to my own heart, I had to stop the chemicals and go organic on the lawn.  As with all non-native plant environments, this chemically treated lawn is devoid of life.  The evidence of links between lawn chemicals and cancer in ourselves, and our pets is growing.  There is a huge controversy surrounding this issue, but as a cancer surivior, I'd rather be safe than sorry.  Now, I'm not going to hijack my own blog on Native Plants and blog on and on about organic lawn care.   I promise.  Rather, after this one post, I'll put all my organic lawn info on a separate page within this blog.  There is an enormous amount of info on the web about this subject.  I'll just tell you what I'm doing. 

This started as an experiment.  I took three parts of the yard, generally out of sight from the street, and stopped the lawn service from applying the chemicals.  After reading numerous books and other papers, I decided that to make this work, I had to get the soil back to the biologically rich environment it once was.  In order to compare the before and after results of my organic treatments, I took soil samples from the test area.  Instead of the standard nutrient soil tests, I sent these away for a biological test to determine what and how much life was in the soil.  After a year or two I will compare the organic results visually and scientifically (before and after biological soil test comparisons) with the remaining chemically treated lawn.   As suspected, the microbial life in the soil was pretty poor.  The chemicals had drastically hurt the "soil food web". 

Step one had me stop the lawn service chemical treatment to these three areas.    Step two was to spread a thin layer of compost over the test areas.  As part of this initial strategy, I also had the compost tested for biological life.  The free compost available at our city was surprisingly strong with the necessary life.  Organic matter in the soil is one of the things that helps to feed the microorganisms.  This compost not only adds some organic matter, but also inoculates the soil with the lacking microorganisms.  In step three, I sowed grass seed into the existing turf.  In step four, I brewed some compost tea and applied to the new organic lawn areas.  Actively aerated compost tea (AACT) is easily created and contains high populations of the microorganisms found in the compost.  So this really kick starts the whole process of reestablishing the soil life.

The plan was to apply two thin layers of compost annually, along with four applications of AACT to the test areas.  During the summer and into the fall, I kept the lawn service for the rest of the lawn.  When mowing I had always left the grass clippings on the lawn.  I had known for a long time that this helped to provide the soil with some organic matter and natural nitrogen.  But I never considered the counter affect the lawn chemicals would have on this practice.  Put organic material on, then kill the microbes that break it down into nutrients the plants use.  I guess that doesn't make much sense.  DUH!

Every time I cut the lawn, I kept asking myself if I should really wait the planned two years to see the results in the test sections.  As I was struggling with my own impatience, the lawn service did the fall chemical  application and posted the required "pets, kids, and people stay off for 24 hours" notice sign.   Everyday I see neighbors walk along our neighborhood yards with their kids and pets.  I'm a cancer survivor and this time the notice really hit me hard. That did it.  I decided to pull the plug and go totally organic. No test.  The yard is now totally organic.  No more synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.  Better safe than sorry.

6 cubic yards Compost

With the leaves falling and nighttime temperatures periodically dropping into the 40's, perhaps it's too late in the season to effectively make a big change.  Nonetheless, I'm doing what I can.  Knowing I've got to start  restoring the biological life to the soil, I cancelled the chemical treatments.  I did have them do a core aeration right away.  Next I've started raking organic compost in a thin layer over the entire lawn.  So far it's taken a whole week to get only 2/3 of the lawn done.  And there is probably another 2 cubic yards of compost to spread.  This has proven to be a lot more work than I ever imagined.  I've definitely got to find an easier way to accomplish this in the future.  Once the compost is down, I'll spray about 10 gallons of AACT on the lawn.  And then if the temperature forecast shows a warm up coming, I'll over seed with a slow growing grass seed mixture.  From then on I'll continue spraying AACT perhaps four times a year to help maintain the microorganisms.    That soil biology will effectively break down the grass clippings and naturally feed the grass plants.  I'll continue to over seed as necessary. 

Here's the goal:
1) Gradually reduce the lawn size to the point where I can comfortably cut it with hand powered push mower.
2)  Where I must have grass, it will be maintained exclusively with organic methods. 
3)  Get more neighbors to do the same.

No More

And from now on. I'll update you on my organic lawn on a separate page within this blog.  Here's to less work on lawn maintenance, lower water bills, no chemical pollution to the runoff water, less frequent mowing, and best of all, a safer and healthier lawn for the benefit of my family and neighbors.

6 Hours Later

Pachysandra Removal in Process

My back is aching; my legs are cramped, and I'm awfully dirty.  I spent 6 hours over two days pulling out the Pachysandra.  On the first day, I was totally amazed.  At the end of 4 hours, pulling plants and coaxing roots from the soil, I had not seen a single sign of life other than earthworms.  Not a single spider, beetle, fly, or other insect.  The Pachysandra leaves were untouched by insects or other creatures.  How could this be?  Not a single insect.  I know, I know.  This is a non-native plant.  And native insects don't generally eat non-native plants.  After all, one of the reasons so many of us used Pachysandra in the past was its "pest free" status.  But not a single bug!  Not even the deer had munched on these plants.  I would have thought at least a few insects or creatures would have roamed the dense stand looking for food.  But not a single sign of life above the ground.  Wow!  I didn't expect to experience first hand such dramatic evidence of herbivores shunning non-native plants.

On day two I continued my eradication of this plant.  The roots are shallow but extend far from the green plant.  Pulling on a root often created a movement three or four feet away where the "other end" of the plant shook and eventually gave way to my persistent pulling.  Although my muscles still ache, this is kind of fun to see some quick results.  I run into the large roots of two specimen-sized Bleeding Hearts.  They are non-native ephemerals, meaning they grow and flower early in the spring and totally die back to the ground in the summer.  But what a show they put on in the spring.  Decision time!  Non-native but  magnificent spring specimens, or pull and replace with something native.  Over the past 12 years I've nurtured them and watched these two plants grow in size and marveled at their beautiful drooping deep pink and white flowers.  Pull or leave?  I'll leave them.  No, they aren't native and thus don't provide the life I'm trying to reestablish.  So they go.  I start pulling and the roots break easily in my hands.  OK, I'll leave some small pieces.  No, no no.  I've had to water these for twelve years.  They are beautiful but that's all.  No other benefit.  OK, that's it.  OUT!   As the roots keep breaking I keep struggling with my decision but finally decide for the wildlife, for conserving water, and my new found respect for the environment.  After filling several 5 gallon buckets, finally all the Bleeding Heart roots are gone. 

As I continue pulling pachysandra, I started to see some pill bugs, small spiders, and other small insects.  Why the difference from the prior day.  There is some life here.  I'm thinking "are non-natives not so bad after all?"  What's different this day over the prior day.   I continued to pull and follow every root I found.  These pachysandra roots are everywhere.  Ah.  Now I see.  There are several small areas of decaying wood branches. The insects seem to be concentrated around these piles of woody debris.  Microorganisms are working on breaking down the wood, and larger creatures are feeding on them.  This small food web is just a tiny example of the new life that will flourish in this area once it's restored to native vegetation.

Five garbage bags of pachysandra later, now on to the good stuff.  On day three I'm at my local native nursery loading up on a variety of plants to replace the Pachysandra.  After consulting with Jan, I ended up with Great Blue Lobelia, Foxglove Beardtongue, Smooth Aster, Common and Swamp Milkweed plants, Butterflyweed, Brown-Eyed Susan, Jewelweed, and some Cardinal Flower.  To keep the cost down, most of these purchases were very small, young plants called plugs.  However, the Smooth Asters are blooming now, so I got larger quart size ones.  I also got a Silky Dogwood to replace the foreign Variegated Red Twig Dogwood that was on far right of this planting area.  Jan and I had quite a discussion about the Jewelweed, its wildlife benefits, and how prolific it can be.  Jewelweed is the native variety of the common non-native Impatiens used so much in "traditional" gardens.  Unlike most of the native plants I'm growing, this is an annual.  It lives for only one year.  I was stunned as Jan pinched a seed pod on one of these plants.  It exploded and sent seed scattering for feet in every direction.  What great fun.  Jewelweed is also known as Touch-Me-Not.  I guess we now know why.  As we loaded the Jewelweed onto the cart, we could hear seed pods popping.  I expect I'm going to have a lot of Jewelweed next year.  While at the nursery, I met an energetic young lady who turns out to be a locally known Monarch butterfly expert.  You can see her Monarch pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/candy__kasey/?saved=1.   She was so enthusiastic about Jewelweed for attracting hummingbirds and butterflies, I wanted to hurry home to get it planted. 

Replanted with Native plugs

Over the next two days I planted all these treasures.  I was able to remove 15 pieces of drip irrigation that previously kept the pachysandra, dogwood, and bleeding heart watered.  Now this is where I learn patience.  You can hardly see the new plants in this patch of dirt.  This late in the season with the cold weather setting in, I don't expect any new growth.  But the Jewelweed can sow its seed, and the others can start making themselves at home.  I know next year they'll start to fill in, and the following year, this will be marvelous.  In the meantime, I keep dreaming of a lush bed, alive with bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, a variety of other interesting insects and birds, and a changing palette of colors as the seasons change.

Oops!

White Snakeroot Leaves

Sorry 'bout that folks.  I posted some wrong info in my last entry.  Thank goodness I've got a good Native Plant Mentor who helps to keep me from spreading misinformation.  It turns out that the plants I labeled as Boneset aren't that at all.  They are White Snakeroot.  When Jan Hunter saw my error shortly after the posting, she quickly notified me. (jh: In your blog: I believe what you are calling Boneset is actually White Snakeroot: Ageratina altissima var. altissima ).  Had I taken the time to check one of the wildflower guides , I might have avoided this embarrassment.  Looking closer now, I can clearly see the differences documented in the wildflower guide.  For one thing, Boneset leaves have almost no stem if any at all.  The leaves go all the way to the main stalk.  In some varieties they even wrap around the stalk, making it look like the stalk is growing right through the leaf.  In contrast, the White Snakeroot leaf has a stem nearly an inch long. But I sure was puzzled how she was able to easily see the error by looking at that distant, fuzzy picture.  I just had to know.  Running down to the nursery to get some other plants, I posed the question to her.  "Habitat, habitat, habitat" was her answer.  She just knew that Boneset doesn't grow in a large group in a shady environment.  But White Snakeroot does.  Thanks Jan.

White Snakeroot blooms

Walk with Me

Smooth Aster

Every morning I take a quick tour of our property to see what's up, particularly how the native plants are doing.  I thought it be fun for you to come with me and hear my random thoughts.

This morning the grass is particularly wet so I slip into my large rubber garden boots and head 60 feet down the driveway to the "Monarch Farm".  Oh my gosh!  A mole has gotten into this bed bordered with deep plastic edging.  Although I appreciate his efforts at turning over our soil breaking up some of the clay, and eating some grubs, this isn't going to look good if he burrows under the edging into our lawn, or worse, our neighbor's lawn.  I wonder how he got into the bed in the first place.  Later I'll set the trap that worked so well in the side yard earlier this year.  And hooray - the Smooth Asters planted in the spring have burst into bloom.  Nice indeed.  After I get the mole taken care of, I'd sure like to get rid of that edging and expand the bed.  There's a narrow band of bare dirt next to the bed where the yews were growing last year.  My first thought had been to plant grass there, but hey, I really want to reduce the lawn.  So this'll be a nice easy expansion of native plantings.

Now retracing my steps back up the driveway to the front walk and the two prairie beds.  The Prairie Dropseed grasses have put up nice long seed heads.  They aren't quite ready for seed collecting but I'll keep checking.  Most of the Blue-Eyed Grass has filled out nicely.  There are a few of these plants that haven't flourished and several looked like they were dead.  However, today I notice there are small shoots coming emerging from several of them.  And the Prairie Smoke presents a similar story.  Most of them have spread out from the small dime sized plants placed in the spring.  But several of them have also struggled.  It'll be interesting to see how they all show next spring. 

Moving up the walk, I again see the Eastern Red Cedar tree that has volunteered to grow at the base of an Elm tree that's slowly falling apart.  Can I keep this here to replace the Elm.  The Eastern Red Cedar is the only evergreen native to Northwest Ohio.  I want to keep it.   Now I'm looking at the Purple Love Grass.  It is putting up more small seed heads but will take several years to fill out nicely.  The Northern Sea Oats flat seed heads are just starting to get a bit of bronze color on their edges.  The Ostrich Fern I transplanted weeks ago isn't thriving like I expected, but they are sending up new shoots.  That's a good sign.  The new Wild Geranium plants may be suffering from too much water.  The drip irrigation system that is keeping a new grass seed planting moist is also watering this area of natives mixed with older foreign ornamentals.  The natives won't need the water, so perhaps now is the time to remove the watering from this area.  The small Bottlebrush Grass sprigs next to the front porch are all showing new shoots, and the several Wild Ginger plants I put here are doing well.   Oh - here's a small invasive honeysuckle seedling showing itself.  I quickly pull that out.  All the invasives get my immediate attention while the other weeds I remove with less urgency. 

I now step off the concrete walk, walking close to the front part of the house staying out of the organic lawn experiment area (another story soon on this).  This front foundation area I carefully step through as the small Columbine seedlings are still taking hold but doing nicely.  This will be very colorful in the spring.  Continuing along the foundation to the southwest corner of the house, I check on the rescued Eastern Wahoo.  Good.  It now has ten pairs of leaves and looks healthy.  I should cut down the original 4 foot dead stalk so the new growth doesn't rub against it and get damaged in the wind.   Ooh!  Here's a small invasive Garlic Mustard sprout.  That quickly gets pulled and put in my pocket for later safe disposal. 

Sliding around the southeast side of the front organic lawn experiment, I get to check out all the native plants in the large shaded bed.  The Columbine have really recovered from their aggressive spring transplanting and the seedlings are also showing robust growth.  I really like that mellow green of the late summer Columbine leaves.  Hey - the new Tall Thimbleweed is going to seed.  I have to collect some of that so I can get a lot of spring seedlings to plant elsewhere.  Now that I think of it, this is one of the extra benefits of using native plants.  You can propagate them all you want for free.  With the exotic hybridized nursery plants, it is technically an infringement of the patent to propagate them.  How can you beat free AND beneficial to the environment?  The Purple Coneflower transplants are also filling in nicely.  Even the Bottlebrush Grass and Virginia Wild Rye rescues are putting out some nice sprouts.  The new Wild Geranium are looking good too.  The tiny Bloodroot seedlings I transplanted a few weeks ago look very, very small.  Hopefully they too will take hold.  Overall this area is filling in nicely.  I thought it was going to take several years before this would become attractive.  Now I'm thinking by spring, this bed might be looking very good.
Moving on along the south edge of the property, I see a very hard, bare dirt environment that I caused myself.  I really killed this area with my ignorance.   Insisting on using lawn chemicals and raking up all the leaf litter has killed all the beneficial soil organisms.   I'm now bringing life back with the generous use of compost when I planted Red Chokeberry and Winterberry shrubs.  I also transplanted two small Oak seedlings and a small Hickory seedling.  These all are holding up well.  I understand Oak trees are particularly poor at surviving this kind of move.   Perhaps they are small enough that they'll do OK.  We'll see what happens.  Thank goodness I've learned, stopped the chemicals, and am now work with Mother Nature to restore the life I've killed.

Many of the Brown-eyed Susans in the "wild area" are pushed over to the ground.  I'm assuming the deer we see from time to time are foraging through this part of the yard during the night and knockiing down these down.  The Boneset are in full bloom, creating a nice light contrast to the darker woods right behind them.  Still there is no life from the Joe-Pye Weed stalks rescued and planted here several months ago.   The stalks no longer have that green color that was there last week.  Are they dead?  Oh look at that.  There is a nice fuzzy brown and black caterpillar happily munching away in one of the Boneset flowers.  I'll have to look that up later and see what it is.  What's that old Farmer's Almanac saying?  Does this foretell a hard winter ahead?

Boneset in "Wild Area"

Skirting another organic lawn test plot in the back, I move down the stone steps. The Wild Ginger planted here in early summer is struggling in certain areas and doing well in others.    There's a couple of Jack-in-the-Pulpits planted here too.  We'll have to see how this all comes up in the spring.   Several weeks ago I planted two Virgin's Bower adjacent to these steps, tying their vines to two of the posts supporting the upper deck.  Both of these plants are already growing nicely.  I can clearly imagine how beautiful these flowering vines are going to look once they spread and grow up the posts.

A few feet away, the Blue Lobelia are still blooming in the nearby office garden.  Hummingbirds still visit them daily.  The Swamp Milkweed hasn't fared well here.  I'm surprised about that.  Perhaps it's getting too much water from my third and last organic lawn test plot that butts up to it.  The Foxglove Beardtongue has long been through blooming but now the seed is ready to harvest.  I'd sure like to propagate all of these and place in more areas of the yard next year. 

Now I backtrack up the stone steps to the upper deck where I can look down on the Ostrich Fern I transplanted just under the edge.  It is doing OK, but I really want it to take off and fill up this space.  And looking out to the other side of the grass test, I see the a dense bed of Pachysandra.  It's non native and coming out soon.  I can imagine Brown-eyed Susans, Purple Coneflower, Foxglove Beardtongue, Cardinal Flower, and numerous milkweed species to provide life to this area that now supports no insect life at all.

The Cardinal flower at the edge of the kitchen deck is nearly done blooming, but putting up a nice rosette of basal leaves for next year's growth.   I just read about Lobelia and Cardinal Flower not being true perennials.  In the fall they generate this small group of leaves as a new plant that becomes next year's blooms.  I'm interested in seeing how this develops. 

Now I get to check out the area under the bird feeder that has a smorgasbord of natives I've accumulated.  The Sneezeweed is still blooming profusely.  From a volunteer seed collecting session at the Wood County Park's native nursery last week, I now know how to collect these seeds.  The Monkeyflower, Wild Bergamot, and Dotted Horsemint look like they are all ready for some seed harvesting.  The lavender blooms of the New England Aster blend well with the yellow Sneezeweed.  The three Ostrich Ferns I transplanted on the backside of this planting are doing well.

Soon to be GONE - Pachysandra

Finally I move across the driveway to see the small border bed of Purple Coneflower, and Black Eyed Susan.   Both of these area almost done blooming and have seed that looks ready to harvest.  There's a Thimbleweed and a couple of Whorled Milkweed tucked in here, but the Milkweed is not doing well.  This semi shady area isn't the ideal environment for this species.  The Tall Ironweed I stuck in here months ago also prefers sun.  Regardless, they all have survived their rescue and transplant.  Except for the Thimbleweed, they haven't bloomed.  I'm hoping they'll show up stronger and produce at least a few blooms next year . 

I'm sure you'll say my wife is right.  My morning tours aren't so "quick".  Nonetheless, it's now time for a cup of coffee and dreams of what to do next.

Monarch Update

Monarch Chrysalis at
Naturally Native Nursery

The day after I reported the 5 Monarch caterpillars on our Butterflyweed, they started disappearing.  By the 2nd morning, I could only find three.  That afternoon, there were only two to see.  The next morning, there was one left.  And later in the day, none!  What happened?  I'd already been told these were 5th instar, meaning the caterpillars had already molted 4 times during their growth and were now ready to enter the chrysalis stage.  But certainly it couldn't happen this fast, right?  Reportedly, the caterpillars are foul tasting and therefore not prized food for birds and other would be predators. I looked all over for what I thought a chrysalis looked like.  No luck.  Demoralized I ran down to Naturally Native Nursery.  The previous week Jan Hunter had shown me some Monarch caterpillars that were getting to go into chrysalis.  I had to see what a Monarch chrysalis looked like.  What am I looking for?  She had put her caterpillars on small potted milkweed plants in a screened wooden cage.  Now there were about 10 cylinders about 2 inches long hanging by a small stem from the window screening at the top of the cage.  Well, that certainly helped because I wasn't looking for anything close to that.  I told her my fears, but she explained that most likely they did crawl off somewhere and go into their next phase.  But so fast?  A caterpillar in the morning and gone by noon?  She said they could make the transformation in about an hour.  Wow.  I had no idea it could happen so quickly. Well, back to my Monarch farm to look for the camouflaged green capsules hanging from the milkweed plant.  She quickly told me that she had never found a chrysalis in the wild when tracking the numerous caterpillars that munched their way through her milkweed.  They can crawl off the plant, up a tree, fence, or somewhere quite removed from the plant that gave them so much nourishment.  She often brings the caterpillars into her greenhouse where she can raise them to butterflies, tag them, record vital data, and then release them.  Nonetheless, I hurried back to our Monarch Farm to search.  No luck so far.  The Butterflyweed that they devoured is starting to grow back some small leaves to re energize the plant for next year's cycle.    I'd sure like to see the adult butterflies before they start their legendary journey to Mexico.  That's over 2,000 miles from northwest Ohio. They're going to need some serious energy boost.  Perhaps our Monarchs will stick around a little bit, gaining strength from the nectar of the various blooming native plants around the yard.

Recovering Munched Butterflyweed





Oh Happy Day

Monarch caterpillars

I never saw them until this morning.  Remember that "incident" a while ago where an ill fated foot step wiped out one of the new Butterflyweed plants?  Remember that it resprouted, and bloomed?  Well, today my friends, we have Monarch caterpillars! Big Ones!  Hallelujah.  I don't know why I never saw eggs or little caterpillars.  Do they hatch overnight and get this big in one day?  Do these guys travel from plant to plant as caterpillars?   Today these caterpillars have eaten a good amount of the top part of the plant.  They remind me of myself eating a good ear of corn.  There's also two more caterpillars on an adjacent plant. 

The Monarch Farm

Apparently it doesn't take a large garden or lots of plants for the Monarch to make itself at home.  Among other natives, there are five Butterflyweed plants in this small plot.  You'll remember the Butterflyweed is a milkweed.  It's also commonly called Butterfly Milkweed.  And milkweed are the only plants where the Monarch will lay its eggs.    The only plant.  Nothing else will do.  However, I thought I'd have to have at least a larger group and more milkweed species to really make a Monarch happy enough to start a new family.  There certainly are a lot of other native nectar producing plants in the yard.  So the newly hatched  Monarch's will have enough juice to get them going on their epic migration to Mexico.  I can't wait to see the chrysalis the caterpillars form.  And perhaps in a few weeks I'll get to see some Monarch's emerge.  We now qualify and have submitted our application to the Monarch Watch organization for certification as a Monarch Way Station.  Welcome to the Monarch Farm!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Ravine planting of
 Virginia Wild Rye

No wonder the native plant experts tell you to start off with small projects.  These  plants are certainly hardy and low maintenance, once established.  "Once established" is the key phrase.  It takes time for them to get established.  And as I've said before, I'm impatient.  It's been a long, very hot summer here in Northwest Ohio.  Very dry.   My impatience with this conversion has caused me to add a lot of plants.  And that's requiring a lot of work.  That's OK because I enjoy it.  But I sure am anxious for the results.  Even though we have a drip irrigation system I put in many years ago, it doesn't reach to all the areas where we put new native plantings.  I've been forced to stretch hoses, and carry buckets of water to help get these new plants through the drought. 

Several things I've discovered along the way.  Smaller plant specimens are much easier to get established than larger ones.  The  Eastern Wahoos Jan helped me get from the last plant rescue are from 2 to 4 feet tall.  Digging them up certainly had an adverse effect on the root system.  It's taking a lot of energy to get water up to the leafs.  That's putting a bit of stress on the diminished roots.  In the act of transpiration water moves from the roots up to the leaves where it is given up to the air.  I cringed as I watched the Wahoo leaves wilt in spite of the large amounts of watering I've done.   I decided to mist their foliage once or twice a day.  That's seems to be making a huge difference.  Perhaps that helps them conserve their moisture a little more while their roots grow enough.  Before planting, I cut back the rescued Joe-Pye Weed, leaving only short stalks and large root masses.  The idea is similar to the Wahoos in lessening the burden of transpiration.  It is also encouraging the energy from the healthy roots to go into creating new growth instead of pumping water way up the stalk.  I also cut back the newly rescued Virginia Wild Rye and Bottlebrush Grass plants to only a couple of inches.  Dividing the Virginia Wild Rye into 16 individuals, I  planted them on an eroding slope in the woods.  The other day I noticed that half of them are showing new sprouts.  Likewise, the Bottlebrush Grass clumps were divided into 9 plants and planted with only short stalks.  Several days ago I saw the first new shoots sprouting from the Bottlebrush roots. 

Northern Sea Oats

In spite of all this additional work, I bought two Northern Sea Oats to replace some foreign exotic ornamental grasses in the front; planted 5 Winterberries, 3 Red Chokeberries, 3 Cardinal Flowers, Tall Ironweed,  Joe-Pye Weed,  and transplanted several Ostrich Ferns .  I also managed to snag a couple of Dotted Horsemint plants from a recent volunteer weeding session at the Park system's native nursery.  Although listed as "endangered" in the state of Ohio, they have all they want at the county nursery.  These two growing wild in the Columbine bed were headed for the compost heap.  Funny - rescuing plants from the nursery.  In addition to all this I got sidetracked on experimenting with organic lawn care.

One of our first native plants put in this spring, Prairie Dropseed, is now showing its first seed heads.  I can just imagine how attractive this will be as it fills in next year.  The seed heads blowing in the breeze will be spectacular.  And now I see the Purple Love Grass also is showing some seed.

And two nights ago it rained and rained.  Last night's forecast proved correct with even more.  Thank you Lord.  We really needed that. 

Attack of the Hummingbirds

Cardinal Flower

I couldn't stand it.  I just had to try.  Over the past several weeks I've seen several magnificent displays of Cardinal Flower.  I don't really have the ideal spot for them since they like to be in moist soil. But hey, what can I say,  I'm a gardener and I like to experiment.  So, off to the native nursery where I purchased three very small blooming specimens.  At least I won't be out much if they don't survive.  As I was about half way through putting the first plant in the ground, I heard a familiar buzzing over my left shoulder.  Slowly turning, I found a Ruby Throated Hummingbird hovering just inches away from me.  I'd swear he would have shoved me out of the way had I not had my awesome trowel in hand.  Not wanting to get in the way of his afternoon snack, I quickly finished and stood back.  That little guy dove into the bright red flowers and methodically worked his way through all the blooms.  He pressed so hard into those flowers I thought he was going to break the single stem of this little plant  Apparently, this natural nectar was much more appealing than the sugar water in a nearby feeder.  After a few minutes, he rose quickly, happily chattering away.  What a smile that brought to my face.   I'm already glad I bought these little plants.

Finishing up planting the remaining two Cardinal Flowers, I went back to work in my home office.  A little later, a movement caught my eye in the small native garden outside my office window.  Another hummingbird was eagerly working over the Blue Lobelia.  Knowing the hummingbird's attraction to red, I hadn't expected to see this tiny bird drinking up nectar from a blue flower.  Nice!

Blue Lobelia

Later that day,I had a chance to take a break outside.  No sooner had a I sat down on the side deck, than I heard the excited chattering of my favorite bird.  Another hummer was extracting nectar from the first Cardinal Flower.  After a few seconds, he zipped over to the second plant about 10 feet away.  Then, onto the last Cardinal Flower about 20 feet from there.  He spent quite a bit of time reaping a harvest from that plant.  In the meantime, a Chickadee flitted in to rest at the top of the pole holding a hummingbird feeder.  What a ruckus there was as that hummer came back and hovered a few inches in front this black and white bird.  Finally the Chickadee took off and the hummer settled down to take a few sips from the feeder before shooting off into a tree.   I sure hope these Cardinal Flowers thrive for next year's show.

It's Alive?

Wahoo sprout

Monday morning, Jan Hunter dropped by to check up on the natives she planted for us last spring.  I took advantage of her presence with tons of questions as we toured the yard.  She identified native Black Raspberry and  Elderberry plants as well as some unwanted: Black Nightshade, and Lamb's quarters.  Discovering several invasive Norway Maple trees, she showed me a very neat identification tip.  When you tear a Norway Maple leaf stem from the branch, it will exude a white sap.  Norway Maple is the only maple that does that.  Cool!  So now I can confidently identify the invasive maple seedlings that are sprouting up around the property.  She must have taken pity on me when she saw the now dead Eastern Wahoo sapling acquired at the first plant rescue.  She invited me to revisit the rescue site.  So that night, Jan helped me rescue lots of Wahoo, several large clumps of Joe-Pye weed, some Wild Ginger, Jack in the Pulpit, Bottlebrush Grass, and Virginia Wild Rye.  Imagine my surprise the next day when I went to replace the dead Wahoo.   This tiny sprout rose from the bottom of the sad looking stick in the ground.  Yeah!  Maybe it'll make it after all. 

Monday night, after loading the rescue plants into my truck, we drove around the corner to meet a friend of Jan's.  Linda is an amazing person who beams with enthusiasm.  She had hired a bucket lift and a bee keeper to rescue a swarm of Honeybees.  The bees had set up an ill fated nest 70 feet up in a tree next to her driveway.  This rescue was an amazing event to witness and I learned a lot about bees.  Even this small hive had 10,000 bees in it.  But the real treat was to talk with Linda about her yard.  She is an avid and outspoken advocate of protecting and restoring natural environments.  She has a residential landscape fit for Better Homes and Garden.  And it is almost all native.  She doesn't know what she's gotten herself into when she told me to visit anytime.  I'll certainly take her up on that, reporting back here with pictures.

Brown-Eyed Susan

And as we move into the late stages of summer, I'm finding lots of our native plants starting to show their colors.  Black eyed Susans, and Purple Coneflowers planted years ago are in full bloom.  Last year's planting of Brown-Eyed Susans are putting on a magnificent display in the "wild area" of the side yard.  Monkey flower and Tall Bellflower continue to bloom.  The brilliant orange flowers of the Butterfly Weed are certainly eye catching.  Sneezeweed is a newly identified species I acquired last year but had forgotten about.  Its yellow flowers are a nice companion to the blue Monkey Flower.  The  Blue Lobelia Jan Hunter planted in the spring has burst into bloom.  These flowers brought in a beautiful large butterfly yesterday.  I was thrilled to watch it enjoy the nectar for a while before it moved on.  It feels good to see all these colors developing.  The birds seem more plentiful.  The yard seems to be coming alive.  This conversion to native plants just might be working.

Learning to Chill

Purple Love Grass at sitting area

Several days ago I helped weed at one of the local county parks.  There was a bed of Purple Love Grass surrounding a formal sitting area which we wanted to tidy up.  Bryan, the Wood County Park District stewardship coordinator, asked me to clear out all the growth up to the fence.  Wait a minute!  "Bryan, there's a couple of young milkweed plants here.  You don't want me to pull those, do you?"  He assured me that we had plenty  and there was no danger of running out if he wanted more to plant somewhere.  "I'll take them."  "Sure, he said".  Then Joy who was weeding and thinning out another bed, had large clumps of Tall Ironweed, so large she needed a shovel to get them out.  "NO!  Don't throw those away.  I'll take them."  Bryan diplomatically told me to chill out.  This was a very common native and he had more than he could possibly use.  Besides, he grew 13,000 natives from seed last year and could always get more.  At the end of the session, he helped me load two tubs of Ironweed, and the small milkweed plants into my truck.  I'm glad to report they all are doing well, but I learned something.  Just because it is native doesn't mean you have to let it grow, particularly where you don't want it.

Oak seedlings - squirrel planted

When I started this journey a few months ago, I felt I had to preserve every single native plant I found.  These plants are special and we really do need them.  But he truth is some are very common, some not so common, and some are rare and endangered.  As I walk around our yard everyday, I run across a number of very common native plants growing where I don't really want them.  Ever questioning what I find growing around the house, I've taken leaf samples to Pam and Debbie, two of the naturalists for the Park District.  They recently identified one as an American Elm.  I didn't know we still had Elm trees, yet alone in our yard.  I thought all elms were killed long ago by Dutch Elm disease.   Now that I know what the leaf looks like, I'm discovering scads of little Elms.   The squirrels have obviously been doing a great job of planting Hickory nuts and acorns.  The Shagbark Hickory and Oak seedlings are numerous.  However, native though they are, and terrific trees for supporting wildlife, I can't let these seedlings grow where they are.  I'm transplanting a few of them to fill in for some Ash trees killed by the dreaded Emerald Ash Borer.  The rest of theses little seedlings will have to go in the compost heap.  I wonder if I could give them away through Craig's list?  It would certainly be nice if these native tree seedlings could find a nice home.  I still wince every time I do it, but I'm now pulling up many common natives just like any weed. 

Oh, by the way.  Those Purple Love Grass plants I carefully weeded really caught my attention.  So much so, I bought several from our local native nursery.  These little plants have now replaced several non-native ornamental grass clumps I had in front of the house.  It's probably going to be several years before they grow into the basketball size flowering clumps I saw at the park.  How do I wait that long?

The Doctor's Office

While waiting at the doctor's office today, I was reading "the Landscape Revolution" by Andy and Sally Warsowski.  This book was recommended by my native plant mentor, Jan Hunter.  Although out of print and hard to find, I was able to get a used copy from an internet search.  The authors walk through the reasons for converting to native landscaping and show with numerous pictures, how nice native landscaping can be.  They have a particularly humorous writing style that makes this an easy and enjoyable read. 

Both the nurse and doctor noticed the Landscaping title and asked me what landscaping I was doing.  Each of them was interested but had different reactions when I started to describe my recent activities.  "Native plants - those are weeds, right?" asked the nurse.  I laughed because that is probably a widespread misperception about native plants.  After a very brief discussion, she went on to describe some of the headaches she has with her landscaping.  She told me about a "weed" she is currently fighting.  I hadn't heard of "buckweed" before so she drew a picture.  Armed with both the description and picture, I'm sad to report I can't find anything that comes close to matching.  Can anybody help me here?  The doctor on the other hand asked me whether our native plants were any harder to establish with the climate change underway.  I told her I hadn't heard or experienced that so far.  But the invasives seem to be getting worse.  She was aware of invasive species, more so of foreign invasive insects (e.g. Emerald Ash Borer) that have plagued our plant populations.

Native Plants - NOT

Of course, we did get around to the medical aspects of the visit.  Nonetheless, I found it interesting that so other people are curious about the subject.  Unfortunately, the nurse's misunderstanding is a common one.   After all, "native plants" are those that grow when you don't apply any weed killer, right?   I too used to think that if I just let the yard go, it would be native plants that grew.  And what a mess that would certainly be.  Then too, it was interesting to find that the awareness of invasive species, both flora and fauna, might be growing. 

Grayhead Coneflower

On the way home, I found these two patches of land.  The first is a pile of dirt where whatever sprouted was allowed to grow.  A superficial inspection shows this weed pile is almost all invasive or at least non native plants.  No wonder most people think native plants are synonymous with weeds.  The second lot is a small field, blooming with Grayhead Coneflower.  There are a few invasives growing here, but mostly it is native.  How or why this plot of land came to be this way, I don't know.  But it sure was nice to see.

What Now?

OK.  So now I've got a beautiful little patch of native Tall Bellflower just teeming with life.  A variety of little bee species are constantly buzzing in and out of the flowers.  I've found a dozen or so different insects on the leaves.  This is adding up to quite a feast for some birds, toads, and other creatures.   In a little while, the flowers will turn to seed for a larger crop of flowers next year.  This is doing exactly what we want it to do.  As I stand looking at this little mass of biodiversity, I begin to worry.  What happens when the city truck comes rumbling down the street, spraying for mosquitoes?  Does all this life get zapped too?  I don't know but fear the answer isn't what I want to hear.    Is the mosquito spray effective?  I don't know, but I've been told that in a few short days after the spraying, the mosquitoes are back.  How fast will the other insects we've been nurturing return?  How much money do we spend on attempting to control the mosquito population?  Is it worth it?  Again, I don't know.  Here are a few articles I found while trying to understand this better.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/effectiveness-of-widespread-mosquito-spraying-for-west-nile-virus-in-question-56237797.html

http://www.calisafe.org/_disc1/0000005a.htm

http://www.epa.gov/reg5rcra/ptb/pest/mosquito_reference.html

Mosquito repellants: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in419

After reading these, I'm inclined to go more with individually applied mosquito repellant rather than wholesale spraying for mosquitoes.   And please, please city administrators, don't kill my little contribution to a healthy ecology.

What do you think?  If you don't want to post comments here, feel free to email me:  NativePlantNeophyte@gmail.com.

Musings from Up North 2011

Up North

It’s early Friday morning, just a little after 6 am.  I’m sitting on the dock with a cup of coffee, looking out over the small lake where we vacation for a week every summer.  The loons we haven’t seen all week are now in front of me, silently diving beneath the glassy smooth surface of the lake.  The sounds of the Chickadees up at the cabin float down to me and I smile.  I’m thinking how pristine this environment in northern Michigan seems.  As we’ve driven around the area this week, I couldn’t help but notice how much native Milkweed is growing everywhere.  Earlier in the week, I found myself wondering what invasive plants they deal with here, just 250 miles north of our home in northwest Ohio.  It’s interesting to me how my awareness has changed and grown since I’ve started writing this blog.  Yesterday while visiting the Grand Traverse County Natural Education Reserve sitting adjacent to the Boardman River, I noticed a posting calling for volunteers to help remove one of their invasive plants, Swamp Thistle, from a natural area.  Then my wife later pointed out to me she had seen another invitation for volunteers to pull Garlic Mustard from the Brown Bridge Quiet Area.  This is an absolutely beautiful area we frequently hike through each year while we're up north.  This time hiking through a small part of the quiet area, I find myself looking at all the plants and wondering what is native here and what is not.  I marvel at the numerous small pine saplings growing everywhere in this natural pine forest.  These are apparently native trees here whereas at home in northwest Ohio, we have only one native evergreen, the Eastern Red Cedar.   

Still sitting on the dock, watching a small kayak quietly slip across the water, I think back to dinner the other night with the former owners of the small 3 cabin resort where we stay every year.  They are humble advocates of nature and the conservation of our natural resources.  I remember being startled when Jim asked me what the solution to the Colorado Blue Spruce was.  He pointed out that this gorgeous evergreen tree is not native to Northern Michigan, yet is a very popular ornamental tree frequently planted throughout the area.  Should we cut them all down?   I quickly responded with “it’s not going to happen”.  And we talked about what harm is done with our rearrangement of the natural world.  

So as I watch a small turtle raise its nose above the water, I reflect more this morning about the state of things.   Is there hope that we can fix what we’ve done?   Is it too late?   On the one hand it seems totally overwhelming.  How to increase the awareness and understanding of these things?  At this point in my new found passion, I realize I don’t know what I don’t know.  And maybe that’s where most of us are in regards to the natural world.   Fortunately,  we can and do learn.  At one time we thought that DDT was an important chemical to use in pest control.  Then we found it was dangerous and killing things we didn’t want killed, like the Bald Eagle.  Thank God Rachael Carson brought this to our attention in her book, Silent Spring.   Now we don’t use DDT anymore. 

My family of four loons has disappeared from sight.  But shortly, I hear an unfamiliar sound above me.  The wing beats of the loon are not usual sounds I hear.  The three other members of his group join up and wing off to better hunting.  As they disappear behind the nearby small island, their distinctive warbling cry reaches to my gut and warms my spirit.

I look up and the eagle that I’ve only seen from afar several days ago, gracefully glides toward the water in front of me.  As he tilts slightly, the early morning rays of the sun strike his white head and tail.  He quickly extends his talons into the water.  Immediately rising without the prey he was after, a few powerful flaps of the large wings takes him to another part of the lake to search for another fish.   This majestic bird is here today in spite of the mistakes we made.   We realized our error and took action.  We learned. 

Common Loon

Perhaps we have gone too far and the damage we’ve done is too great.  But the eagle gives me hope.  The small patch of Tall Bellflower in our yard back home is alive with creatures, adding to our environment rather than taking away.  We can learn and we can take action, even if only one yard at a time.