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.