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Post by prunella on Mar 3, 2015 13:40:02 GMT -5
Everyone hates weeds in the garden. But some weedy plants are just close relatives of the plants you work so hard to nurture! The poor cousins grow on the other side of the fence and look on as the lettuce grows green and the carrots get watered. A visit to a nursery for landscape plants can sometimes find plants for sale that ere very pretty but listed as Invasive species elsewhere, sometimes right in the same county! I have spent hours helping remove Invasive Scotch Broom ( Cytisus scoparius) only to see it being sold at a local big box store as a garden shrub for $15! So let's talk about natives, even the weeds. What butterflies can you attract with the right plants? What can we learn about connections?
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Post by breezygardener on Mar 3, 2015 14:02:01 GMT -5
Scotch Broom is a common roadside weed around here in VA - mostly on highway medians - which leads one to wonder if they were planted there on purpose.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Mar 3, 2015 14:37:17 GMT -5
This is an area in which I need to become more educated. I've just recently read that loosestrife has apparently been considered a problem in this area, although I thought it made a nice accent to the thick lush growth of fronds in the many roadside ditches. And given that those are in roadside easements, it falls to the city, county or state to eliminate them. So it's not something which really concerns me.
Native plants in my own yard are more of a concern, as they apparently are so happy and excited that they just keep reproducing and spreading without concern for anything else.
I've had one flower which I haven't been able to identify specifically, but it might be soapwort. It is lovely but the root system is so aggressive that it's hard to contain. Other recent volunteers are goldenrod and what I'm sure is Virginia Creeper. As yet it hasn't begun vining but is spreading on the ground. And although I like the appearance of the foliage, its initial behavior is more aggressive than I want in any volunteer.
Last year another plant appeared and spread so rapidly with such a thick root system that I knew it would be a problem. Unfortunately, I can't even remember what it looked like and don't know what it was, except that it's on the "removal" target list for this year.
The best surprise I've had has been the Wake Robin, a delicately lovely burgundy Trillium, which apparently is high on the menu for some of the local critter population. I discovered it 4 - 5 years ago, with about 12 blooms. The buds were allowed to dry, then saved, and are still being saved as I haven't gotten around to deciding where I want the plant.
I did have to fence it as the second year's buds were all chewed off. Thus far the fence has protected the buds.
Another pleasant surprise has been a plant with a campanula like flower; it matches photos of Ladybells. Unlike the other volunteers, it's not prolific, and in behavior which I don't understand, appears in a different place every year. It's has a beautiful, delicate little bell shaped flower. I've saved the dried flowers, again with the intent of planting...someday.
When my grandparents were alive, I recall going with them and my siblings into local woods around Easter to see which wildflowers were blooming. We used to see plants which we called umbrella plants, but don't match any of the photos of that species which Google presented. So I'm not really sure what they were, and worse yet, I can't remember what they looked like but would recognize them if I see them. Still, it was exciting to wander through the woods to see what treasures we could find.
Those Easter time trips were always refreshing - just to be out after the snow, to be with family, and to be on a journey of discovery.
As to butterflies, I've never seen very many in my garden. Over a period of years, I don't think I've seen more than a few Monarchs and a few other varieties, the names of which I don't know. That's something else I need to address this year. Sometimes ago I gathered milkweed seeds with the intention of planting them....another item on the long to-do list.
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Post by breezygardener on Mar 3, 2015 14:52:11 GMT -5
Could your springtime "Umbrella Plants" have been "Mayapple"? It's a common springtime woodland wild plant around here, popping up long before other undergrowth has started. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podophyllum
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Post by gakaren on Mar 3, 2015 17:11:37 GMT -5
On our property I have discovered a couple of natives that most of us never see....a wild clematis....
clematisviorna.info/clematis_glaucophylla.html
And a wild orchid....
www.missouriplants.com/Whitealt/Spiranthes_cernua_page.html
I was able to dig up one of the orchids so we will see if it has made it through the winter. But I also know the general area where another one appeared last year...so I'll keep a lookout for it. DH mowed off the wild clematis before I could get it moved...I'll have to see if it reappears this year. It showed up around wild blackberry picking time!
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Post by binnylou on Mar 3, 2015 17:27:14 GMT -5
Could your springtime "Umbrella Plants" have been "Mayapple"? It's a common springtime woodland wild plant around here, popping up long before other undergrowth has started. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PodophyllumThat sounds right...and in Iowa, when the Mayapple is in bloom, the Morel mushrooms are popping.
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Post by prunella on Mar 3, 2015 17:35:46 GMT -5
Scotch Broom is a common roadside weed around here in VA - mostly on highway medians - which leads one to wonder if they were planted there on purpose. Scotch Broom is Invasive everywhere. Was it planted? Might have been, but one plant spreads quickly. That's why the stuff I saw for sale at the BigBox, catering to a growing new community of new homes was almost funny. Mr. Smith plants one, next year all his neighbors have some. I mentioned helping remove it from a nearby Area of Special Botanical Interest, but on the way, the highway is lined for miles with dense stands oit, It was planted years ago ny a local garden club!
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Post by ncgarden on Mar 3, 2015 17:50:03 GMT -5
Not sure what the difference is, exactly, between a true native and one that grows on its own without invitation. Elderberries are a good example, they grow around here like weeds, but not sure if they are considered native. I love them, and have several large ones I have imported into my growing space. I have a particular fondness for things that will grow without any intervention from me.
Steve, I cringe every time I see your avatar. I encouraged thistles for a couple of years, and have lived to regret it....
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Post by prunella on Mar 3, 2015 18:06:19 GMT -5
Not sure what the difference is, exactly, between a true native and one that grows on its own without invitation. . Disclaimer: I am not a trained botanist, just took an interest in my own local flora and started learning. Translation: I can't guarantee complete accuracy Now for Invasive vs Native: You can find lots of info on the USDA site, telling you the status of most anything. Here is the page for Cystus scoparius: plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=cysc4I don't think any of the Brooms (genus Genista) are native in the United States, all invasive fro Europe. Elderberry is native everywhere. That doesn't expan how to know what's what, that's where the USDA site comes in. Trivia: the species name scoparius comes from Latin for "broom", used to sweep a floor in Rome.
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Post by prunella on Mar 4, 2015 11:08:11 GMT -5
Elderberries are a good example A good example indeed. A fine native pant to have on your property, and you might like to use the berries. You can make jelly or wine (Google for recipes. I tried making jelly once, thought it too thin, added a boatload of pectin and ended up with dark blue synthetic rubber!) I have a friend who saves plenty of brries in his freezer to add to salads during winter. Of interest: the name has nothing to do with age, the "elder" part comes from Anglo-Saxon aeld,fire! The hollowed stems were used as blow pipes to get a fire going, just like w blow on embrs now. And the genus is Sambucus, coming from a Greek word for a musical instrument like a pan flute. Elderberries have a long and interesting history as a useful plant.
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Post by OregonRed on Mar 4, 2015 11:23:53 GMT -5
elderberries reminds me of the Elton john song: elderberry wine...
Oregon is one of the berry capitals of the u.s. I think I bet we have those. I never ate a fresh blueberry until I moved here! -how sad is that?!
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Post by gakaren on Mar 4, 2015 11:29:13 GMT -5
Not sure what the difference is, exactly, between a true native and one that grows on its own without invitation. Elderberries are a good example, they grow around here like weeds, but not sure if they are considered native. I love them, and have several large ones I have imported into my growing space. I have a particular fondness for things that will grow without any intervention from me. Steve, I cringe every time I see your avatar. I encouraged thistles for a couple of years, and have lived to regret it.... Try doing a search of native plants in the state of N.C.! You can also do one on invasive plants for your state.
Our local extension office has info on this too, especially the invasive ones. We even have a state wide lottery for help with spraying/paying for the elimination of the invasives. It is spot spraying, not your entire property....just the invasive plants.
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Post by prunella on Mar 4, 2015 11:39:52 GMT -5
The USDA site is a fine place to research, Here is a link to the Invasive Weed stuff:http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/index.shtml Yes, locate your state to see what's listed. Then of course you need to know how to recognize things, I'm getting info together to post here to help with that,
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Post by davidjp on Mar 4, 2015 12:25:21 GMT -5
A good example indeed. A fine native pant to have on your property, and you might like to use the berries. You can make jelly or wine (Google for recipes. I tried making jelly once, thought it too thin, added a boatload of pectin and ended up with dark blue synthetic rubber!) I have a friend who saves plenty of brries in his freezer to add to salads during winter. Of interest: the name has nothing to do with age, the "elder" part comes from Anglo-Saxon aeld,fire! The hollowed stems were used as blow pipes to get a fire going, just like w blow on embrs now. And the genus is Sambucus, coming from a Greek word for a musical instrument like a pan flute. Elderberries have a long and interesting history as a useful plant. I love the elder plant, but I'm actually more keen on the flowers than the berries. You can make a really great spring time drink from the flowers. I'm actually in the middle of a batch of spring wheat beer made with elderflowers at the moment, or rather a bottle of elderflower syrup that came from IKEA. Unfortunately after all the boiling and fermenting with CO2 being pushed thru the solution by the yeast a lot of the volatiles have gone but there's still some hint of elderflowers in there. I think also that the Druids thought it a magical plant and so that would have predated the anglo-saxons but as with much else I'm sure they swept all before them and they probably liked elderberries as well. I daresay King Arthur had a drink of elderflower before he went out to defeat the anglo saxons at the battle of Mt Badon. You can be thankful that the anglo saxons did finally defeat the britons as the welsh name for elderberry is "Ysgawen" which is what it would probably be called today if the germans (Anglo saxons) had been routed from Britain. It used to an old english country type drink that you really had to make yourself and i remember making as a child, its really easy to do, something like steep in boiled water, helps in killing all the multitude of insects that the flower heads seem to attract and then add lemon juice and sugar. However its now gone from something that was old style country to something thats pretty much on the menu in every pub/cafe and available in every supermarket in the UK. Its even available in my local supermarket here in southern california which inexplicably has a British food section. The best source though is IKEA and their Swedish food market, good at a reasonable price. So imagine my excitement when I first moved here to find elderberries growing wild and they seem pretty resilent as well which i was surprised by, I wouldn't have thought they were drought tolerant. I even went on a local botanical field trip talking about native uses for plants and on passing an elder bush it was mentioned that they used it as a food plant. But I was massively crushed to find out its got to be a different species here in California at least than the english northern european one. The flowers just don't have that much smell to them. The European ones have a very, almost overpowering smell thats almost like you're not quite sure if its nice or not but when made into a drink it sells by the millions now. So I'm a little confused by the nomenclature and species distribution for the elderberry. If you do a wikipedia search en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus_nigrayou come up with a species that it says is native to Europe but it does mention there is a subspecies mexicana which obviously must be the one I'm seeing around here. If thats true then subspecies mexicana doesn't have the floral aroma that I'm looking for. If you search calflora which Steve reminded me is a good resource for california native plants it comes up with www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=10347 Sambucus nigra which it says is native and thats what I had heard that its a native california plant. Elderflower cordial en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elderflower_cordialHere's a recipe for making elderflower cordial www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/531660/homemade-elderflower-cordialAnyway I'm a little confused, maybe i should try a small batch of mexicana elderflowers and hope that some flavour comes out but it just doesn't have the heady aroma that i would expect from elderflowers.
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Post by ahntjudy on Mar 4, 2015 23:10:40 GMT -5
Steve, I cringe every time I see your avatar. I encouraged thistles for a couple of years, and have lived to regret it.... Isn't that forget-me-not?
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