Protecting Baby Trees

          Last year volunteers joined the James River Association in planting trees along a riparian buffer between an agricultural field and the riverfront in rural Virginia.  The worksite was in a area where a thousand acres are protected by a conservation easement, thanks to the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, owners of several thousand acres dedicated to historic preservation and environmental education and conservation.

          Riparian buffers are important buffer zones that help reduce the impact of flooding, stabilize shoreline, provide shade and wildlife habitat, and protect rivers and streams against sediment, run off and pollution.

          Simply planting trees would have been easy.  But before planting nearly 1,500 native trees last year, first a lot of invasive Ailanthus altissima, or trees of heaven had to be removed.  Tree of heaven is an evil, aggressive tree originally from China.  A single tree can produce thousands of seeds each year, and, a tree's roots can sprout new trees that can produce seeds within two years.  But wait, there's more...the tree produces a chemical that kills whatever is growing around it, including native trees.  Try cutting it down and the stump will produce new trees!  The only thing is it good at is creating a dead zone among native trees and plants. 

          Once we removed the invasive trees, the next step was planting small native tree seedlings.  These seedlings, only eight to 12 inches tall, included birch, sycamore, wild cherry, oaks and other native trees.  Tree tubes were placed around the seedlings and staked into place.to protect the tiny trees.  Tubes allow sunlight in but protect tender seedlings and prevent animal grazing.

A Master Naturalist inspects a seedling by the James River.
I happen to know she has an I Love Baby Trees bumper sticker.

A healthy seedling

          Once the trees were planted, our work wasn't over.  This year, a year later, we inspected the trees to evaluate the survival rate.  Most of the trees were alive, although in the dormancy of early spring, we looked for tiny leaf buds rather than leaves.  We also had to rake away dead and competing plant material from around each tree to give it space to grow.

          Tubes remained in place unless we found a dead tree.  Damaged tubes were replaced and re-staked. Some tubes were damaged by animals.  Other tubes were damaged by vines.  A large area of the property is covered in Japanese hops vines, the new kudzu of vines.  Unfortunately, it isn't the right kind of hops to harvest for beer.  Seeds travel by water and can aggressively overtake a new area after flooding.  So, where did this awful vine come from?  It was introduced as a ornamental vine because someone somewhere thought it looked nice on a trellis.  It escaped into surrounding states and is doing its best to prevent our seedlings in Virginia from surviving.
 

Hops vines in pursuit of baby trees.

 

          We worked all afternoon on a cold, spring day.  A light drizzle fell near the end of our chores.  We found mice living in nests in some tubes and wasps in others.  One person found a black snake in a tube.  Despite the weather the work was gratifying.  After a few hours about 35 amazing volunteers had completed the job and more than about 1,300 baby trees were ready to begin a second year of survival, on their way to becoming giant, noble trees.

          I want to come back in a hundred years just to see those trees.

Spring Ephemerals

         Spring ephemerals are wildflowers that are appear in deciduous forests in early spring.  Most grow close to the ground, a habit which makes them more adaptable to varying weather conditions. They must rise out of the ground, bloom, get pollinated and set seed promptly, before leaves emerge on the trees and block their sunlight. 

          Some ephemerals emerge before many pollinators appear.  That’s why a few flowers rely on the queen bumble bee for pollination.  In the late fall, the entire bumble bee colony dies out – with the exception of a single fertile female who overwinters.  Come spring, she has the daunting task of finding a site, building a nest and creating a whole new colony.  Such tasks require plenty of energy in the form of nectar.  At the same time, some early spring ephemerals are desperate to exchange nectar for pollination since pollinator competition is limited.  So, once again nature provides the perfect plant/pollinator relationship. 

Virginia Bluebells, Mertensia virginica



Showy Orchid, Galearis spectabilis

 

Orchid Extravaganza

       In the world of gardening there are many societies of serious growers who share their horticultural love, knowledge, and success with like-minded members.  Once a year these societies gather to show the best-of-the-best of beautiful flowers, and compete for ribbons and awards.  In Richmond there is a daffodil society, a rose society, a daylily society and an orchid society.  Their annual shows are open to the public and members welcome visitors.  These shows are a magical fairyland of exquisite flowers you may not see anywhere else.  And these shows are free.  It was a grey February day when a local nursery hosted the Virginia Orchid Society’s Annual Show and Sale in Richmond.  Although I am not a member, the event was on my calendar weeks prior because it is a special treat I always look forward to.  Imagine hundreds of perfect specimens of exotic orchids all blooming at once.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keeping Good Gardening Notes

          There is a lot of spontaneity to gardening.  Oh, a plant sale at the local nursery – buy something!  Or, a friend needs to divide an interesting perennial her grandmother gave her and wants to share with you – yes please!  In landscape design school we learn that many of us are plant collectors, whereas a designer plans a plant selection for a garden based on numerous environmental conditions and factors.  Well, there is something to be said in defense of both styles.  But regardless of what kind of gardening style you enjoy, a gardening notebook can be very helpful. It doesn’t have to be a lovely leather-bound journal.  A composition book with pockets and dividers works well.  Useful contents might include:

• Receipts – some nurseries guarantee their stock for a year…if you keep your receipt.  Simply tape them to a page with a note about what you bought and where you planted it.  You won’t have to write much in your notebook if the receipt lists  plant names along with costs.
• Repeat purchases – some kind of begonia grew so beautifully last summer that you want to plant it again…but what was it called and what color was it?  Take the small growers tag that says “Dragon Wing Red” or “Cocktail Vodka” and tape it in your notebook, along with the date and planting site.
• Botanical names.  You join a garden club and want to enter a horticulture exhibit.  You will need the plant variety and the latin botanical name.  The plant tag you saved in your journal has both for easy reference.
• To do list – As you walk around the yard you find yourself thinking…I should have cut this back in February, I’ve got to remember that next year.  Keep a running list in your notebook for “February Reminders,” “To Do Next Fall,” “Spring Cleanup,” etc. 
• Budget.  You call a landscaper to install a 10 foot long bed in your front yard.  He gives you an estimate of $600 for labor.  You check in your notebook to see that last year he installed the same size bed in your back yard and only charged you $400 for labor.  Even if you do all the work yourself, record the project costs so you know how much you spent on a garden project as well as quantities you used.  You’ll find it helpful to be able to look up how many cubic yards of mulch you used last year when you are planning for this year.   
• Planting Site.  Last fall I planted an area of all white spring bulbs and noted the plants and location in my notebook.  A few weeks later I planted purple anemones and yellow daffodils.  When I went to record it in my notebook…oops…I planted them all in the same site.  I should have checked my notebook.

          Keeping notes, saving receipts and keeping tabs on plant names can be very helpful in gardening.  Your method may be very sophisticated, or very simple, like mine.

 

Save plant tags to record the correct name and variety, and note the price and where you planted it.

 

It is helpful to keep the plant tags and receipts.

Beech Trees in Winter

American Beech, Fagus grandifloria

          Beech trees turn golden yellow in the fall, but instead of dropping their leaves, many hold on to their brown leaves through winter.  This leaf retention trait is called marcescence, and usually occurs on either young beeches or the newer lower branches of mature beeches.  Many oaks are  marcescent as well.  Scientists don’t know why some trees keep their dead leaves past fall, but some believe that the dead leaves deter deer from eating the fresh young sprouts in spring. 

            Beech trees produce beechnuts, which are not related to the chewing gum.   The small, three-sided nuts are edible to humans and wildlife.  They can be found inside a prickly bur, or husk, and can be roasted or eaten raw.

            In the woods, beech trees are very shade tolerant.  However, their thin bark makes them susceptible to extreme winter temperatures, late spring frosts, fire injury and diseases.  The thin gray bark is one reason people are inclined to carve their initials on the tree. 

            Beech wood is used for flooring, furniture, lumber and veneer.  The tree was also important in colonial medicine.

Beechnuts and their husks

Finding Color in Winter

           Lacking summer's vivid colors, winter may at first glance seem rather drab.  However, if you take a walk looking for color, you may find it in some interesting places, both in nature and in the garden.   


          The green and white stripes of a single leaf found among the leaf litter on the forest floor indicate a future orchid.  The single basal leaf of the puttyroot orchid emerges in the fall and remains through winter and into spring, when it withers and disappears just as a stalk, or raceme appears.  The raceme will have about a dozen tiny orchid flowers.  The size of the flowers, as well as the pale, muted colors makes them very hard to see.  The orchid blooms for about two weeks during summer.  It is believed that a substance in the plant's corm was once used as putty to repair broken pottery.

Puttyroot orchid leaf, Aplectrum hyemale

           Another single leaf orchid is the crane-fly orchid.  It, too, emerges in autumn and is gone by the time the flower blooms in late summer.  The top of the leaf is dull green but the underside is purple.  Despite the flower’s long spur, they are small and often difficult to spot.

Crane-fly orchid leaf, Tipularia discolor

The purplish underside.

 

 

            The distinct silvery veins of the downy rattlesnake plantain, Goodyera pubescens, are attractive and easy to see, even among the leaf litter.  This native evergreen orchid blooms in late summer, producing a spike of white flowers.  The entire plant is covered in fine, downy hair. Pubescens in the botanical name means hairy.

Rattlesnake plantain

 

          In a container garden, euphorbia leaves provide interesting color.  Euphorbias belong to a diverse group of plants worldwide that includes cacti, trees, flowers and even the Christmas poinsettia.  All have a toxic substance that can irritate skin.  Some non native euphorbias can be invasive in the garden.

Euphorbia

 

            In shade gardens, Lenten rose, Helleborus spp, is an evergreen plant that blooms in winter.  These hardy, drought tolerant perennials add color and interest to the winter garden.  Despite the name they are not roses, nor are they native. 

Lenten rose

   


           With less showy flowers but great chartreuse color, Helleborus foetidus, also known as "stinking hellebore," adds color and interest to the garden in winter.

Stinking hellebore

Unlike the open flowers of most hellebores, this one features drooping, cup-shaped flowers.

 

A Spa for Birds



            This fall I installed a new garden bed that included a water feature that can easily be seen from my window.  My "bird spa" looks natural and features continuously running water.  Created to attract a variety of birds, the system was designed by professional bird photographer Bob Schamerhorn, and is affordable and easy to install. This water feature takes birdwatching to a whole new level. 

 

 

 

To see outstanding bird photography or to order this instruction book, visit www.iphotobirds.com