PENNSYLVANIA SEDGE, AND OTHER WAYS OF UNDERSTANDING THE UNIVERSE

Carex pennsylvanica - Pennsylvania Sedge, Oak Sedge
Zone: 4-7, although I've seen plenty of 3-8
Purchase from: Classy Groundcovers, Everwilde Farms, Greenwood Nursery, Morning Sky Greenery, Prairie Nursery, Prairie Moon Nursery, Santa Rosa Gardens, Shooting Star Nursery, Yellow Springs Farm

Well, at least the botanical universe anyway. In the last few years I've become enamored with Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica), but more importantly, its one of the first plants that made me realize that rarity and beauty aren't one in the same. This was one of the many native species I was first introduced to through the pages of a book, but unlike most of the species I read about, was pretty stunned to find this one growing in abundance along the shady-ish edges of the roads and highways around my home.

C. pensylvanica is one of those few gems that's at its best when its a bit neglected, growing in the in-between where its either a bit too shady, a bit too dry, or a bit too infertile for other plants to thrive. After seeing it where its happy, when it makes soft gently flowing drifts of vibrant green (or warmer slightly duller hues by the end of the season) it occurred to me that most of us landscape professionals are missing the point behind these and other naturally occurring scenes we try to recreate in our gardens, parks, and whatever other manufactured landscape might fill this list of three I'm failing to complete. And yes, we might be able to temporarily fabricate some poor imitation, but it is almost always temporary. What we fail to grasp with all our irrigation, fertilizers, and whatever other noxious chemicals we throw at our yards in a sad attempt to beautify them (I think I need to figure out some way to get around the list of three thing.....) is that these scenes exist as either a result of deficiency or of excess, and are sustainable and persistent not because of some nutritionally balanced, moderately moist, well drained soil, but usually because these environments have either too little or too much of something that suppresses the growth and vigor of other, less specialized species. While these natural scenes of, uuummm, let's call them deficit or surplus, aren't always the most diverse, they are almost always visually compelling.

In fact when we condition our soils, irrigate, and spray clouds of fungicides and pesticides in order to create the perfect garden, what we're actually doing is creating a perfect environment for generalists plant species, aka weeds. From an evolutionary perspective these weedy species have picked the opposite route of C. pensylvanica and in a fight to the death in an "ideal" garden setting the weeds will always win out. So if you've ever wondered why it's always the plants you don't want that always seem to out-compete the plants you want, its probably because you're creating the ideal environment for the unwanted guys; a fabricated moderate in-between that doesn't really exist in nature. The sad truth is, in an attempt to create a garden where everything grows well, the weeds will always grow best. So yes, while the desired plants may grow lushly for a bit while we hack back the thugs that pop up around them, it's only a matter of time before the thugs win out.

And so, in an attempt to embrace my own yards deficiencies, I'm converting the ratty lawn covered leach field at my parents into what will hopefully be a healthy, self sustaining colony of C. pensylvanica (update to follow). Given that the species is notoriously difficult to start from seed, and genetic diversity is never a bad thing in a population, I may have stopped at a few places along the highway and "borrowed" a few individuals to add to the colony to-be (I know, I know, I'm a terrible person). In my defense, like I said before, C. pensylvanica is nearly impossible to start from seed, and since local stock is a nearly impossible to come by, the only way I could get locally adpated plants was to, well...., collect locally adapted plants (side note.... am I going to hell?, jk, kinda, not really,... but I'm not, right?). And to allow for easy reporting to the local authorities I have documented my questionably legal sampling on my crappy camera phone. Anyway, here's hoping I don't go to jail for digging up what is to most people an otherwise boring looking grass.... but even if I do, TOTALLY worth it!.... I think?

BALANCE.... AND A BIT OF INDULGENCE

So my friends have often pointed out that my gardening philosophies (yes plural), seem to be in a constant state of contradiction. And while they may be right, I'd like to think it is only natural that some of my views change as I evolve as gardener and all around plant obsessed person, but ultimately, if we're being honest, gardening in itself is sort of a contradiction. For me at least, gardening has always existed in the foggy tension between "the cultivated" aka subjugation and "the wild" aka freedom, (see above illustration)..... Lean too far in one direction and its easy to become, well, let's say unbalanced.

Lately, I feel like I have been doing a bit too much rolling around in the weeds and am a pair of oversized cargo shorts away from having a bit too much in common with the lady on the left (but just to be clear I'd much rather have more in common with the woman on the left then the man on the right). As much as I still think its important to appreciate the plants that already grow in your own backyard, the simple truth is that part of the joy of gardening, and general plant appreciation, is discovering new and exotic things. So, for my own gardening sanity and life balance (and at least partially in the spirit of indulgence) I give you some of the cooler plants I have come across in the last few years that are (at least in my area) not well known. In my defense the discovery of some of the these plants came out of necessity in trying to combat deer, clay, and waterlogged soil, all of which seem to be in excess where ever I decide to garden.



Hymenocallis occidentalis var. occidentalis Synonym: H. caroliniana - Northern Spider Lily
Zones 5-?(the literature is all over the place with this one, have seen 8,9, and 10)
Purchase from: Missouri Wildflower Nursery, Munchkin Nursery, Niche Gardens, Sunshine Farm and Gardens

Out of all the plants I've come across in the last few years I am most excited about this one....excited is actually a bit of an understatement, elated.... or ecstatic maybe?, whatever the word I can't wait to try out this native-ish (lower Mississippi watershed) semi-aquatic plant. The flowers look like they belong in some exotic fairy tail, and the foliage looks very much like an amaryllis on steroids, which is actually quit apt considering it's in the amaryllis family. But, in short, a very tropical looking plant. This, coupled with and awesome adaptability to light, its tolerance of waterlogged soil, and its potential to be hardy through ZONE 5, and you have, by all appearance, the perfect plant. I'm a little worried it might fall into the "bit too good to be true" category, because if it is all its cracked up to be, why isn't everyone growing it?

SIDE NOTE: there seems to be some pretty extensive blurring between the various species of Hymenocallis (H. rotata, H. occidentalis, H. liriosme, and H. coronaria) and as far as I can tell they may all be one in the same, as flower and foliage seem to vary widely within each species, particularly in H. occidentalis. With that said, H. coronaria seems to be the easiest to identify among the group, being more robust in foliage and flower, but also an obligate aquatic and doesn't appear to be shade tolerant. However, it may be hardy to at least zone 6 and may be worth a try for northerns if you have a some shallow water with lots of sun.






Iris virginica 'Contraband Girl' - Contraband Girl Southern Blue Flag
Zones 5-9 (although came across a few zone 4s)
Purchase from: Niche Gardens, Plant Delights, Secret Garden Growers

So there's zero excuse to keep using Iris psuedoacorus now. This selection of our "native" iris, (using the word a bit loosely now) should be able to hold its own easily with the introduced Yellow Flag, and topping out at 6' with enough moisture, just as imposing. And why settle for yellow when you can have blue, well pink-violet at least. Just planted in the garden this year, fingers crossed I won't be a let down.




Sabal minor 'McCurtain'- McCurtain Dwarf Palmetto
Zones 5b-10 (possibly solid zone 5 once established)
Purchase from: Brian's Botanicals, Plant Delights Nursery, Alligator Alley

So this evergreen dwarf palm species is fairly typical of mixed hardwood swamps in the southeast, and while the generic species is only hardy to zone 7, a vigorous seed strain grown from the northern most population in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, has been known to withstand temperatures down to -24 degrees F . This strain may give the official cold hardiest palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix, aka Needle Palm) a run for its money. Supposedly very adaptable to extremes in moisture and light, although when you push a plant's cold hardiness sometimes this adaptability is tempered. Hope to give this guy a try soon, but it's recommended to either spring plant or keep it in a pot for a year or two inside before leaving it outside year round; as in most plants, age increases cold hardiness. Its best to find a permanent place for this plant when you do plant it outside as the subterranean trunk makes it pretty damn difficult to transplant.





Salvia darcyi 'Vermilion Bluffs', Synonym: S. darcyi 'Pscarl'- Vermilion Bluffs Mexican Sage
Zones 5b-10
Purchase from: Flowers By The Sea, Nature Hills Nursery, Plant Delights Nursery, Sooner Plant Farm

I've always been a bit of a sucker for the stereotypical hummingbird plant, yet most of the hummingbird attracting salvias (S. greggii, S. microphylla, S. coccinea, and S. splendens) are not hardy here in a wet zone 6a. While this flaming red salvia certainly meets the cold hardy qualification, I'm a bit worried its one of those plants that tolerates the cold so long as the winter is dry. There are plenty of plants that do find in Denver, that will never make it here on the east coast. Hopefully this salvia doesn't fall into this category.




Napaea dioica - Glade Mallow
Zone: 3a-8b
Purchase from: Annie's Annuals, Everwilde Farms, Plant Delights Nursery, Prairie Moon

It's a Ligularia!, it's Macleaya!, it's a Saxifrage!..... it's a Napaea? For some reason this Great Lakes/Mid-Atlantic native has flown under the mainstream garden radar for the most part, and considering the only real demand that it has consistent moisture, I can't really figure out why its not more widely planted. A few of the images I've seen hint at a slug susceptibility, but if you're looking for an otherwise knockout foliage plant that doesn't demand much, look no further. While you wouldn't guess it to look, it's actually in the mallow family, and if you look closely at the end of the HUGE flowering stalk it sends up around early summer you can see the family resemblance.




Ribes x gordonianum (R. odoratum x R. sanguineum) - ?(Hybrid Flowering Currant)
Zone: 4-8
Purchase from: Digging Dog Nursery, Forest Farm Nursery, Dancing Oaks Nursery, Joy Creek Nursery

The truth is that anyone east of the Mississippi should be wary of planting any Ribes species given that its a primary host to White Pine Blister Rust. But given that the tough as nails R. odoratum, is one of the parents of R. x gordonianum and native throughout much of the east and provided you don't have any White Pines nearby (and its legal, in some states Ribes have been restricted or banned all together) this is the perfect native-ish shrub to break the onslaught of Forsythia, Quince, and Azalea that assaults our eyes come spring time. And, as a bonus, it provides an early nectar source for premature Hummers.

And in case this didn't satisfy your unusual plant appetite for the month check out this post from Green Sparrow Gardens.

BUZZ BUZZ..... WAS?

When someone says "garden" the first thing that probably comes to mind is brightly colored flowers, maybe rows of plump, ripe tomatoes, or even the relentless weeds that inevitably, one day, will reclaim the land that is rightfully theirs.... but in some form or another, plants. And while plants are, in fact, entirely necessary in the creation of a garden, they certainly, at least for me, do not stand alone. Or to put it another way, a 6 pack of petunias and a bag of glowing orange mulch from Home Depot does not a garden make. The final and necessary ingredients come later, once the plants have settled in, and the neighbors start to take up residence. Whether it be bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, or praying mantis(manti?) there is something awe-inspiring about seeing the pieces that you put into place become working parts of a larger system. And so this week I celebrate the quint-essential representative of the 'living pieces' that make a garden a garden and turn what would otherwise be stagnant discrete parts into a complex dynamic web of amazing relationships. I give you the bee.



Unless you've been living in a cave somewhere a couple hundred feet underground you probably have noticed that bees have been quite the buzz (do your best to ignore my obvious and not so clever puns) as of late, but more specifically the beloved, but now very troubled Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera). It seems lately, at least a few times a month I come across a story of how both the human race and the honey bees are undeniably doomed, DOOMED I SAY!!! In all seriousness though, it's pretty damn serious. And just in case you need an example of a real world illustration of why bees are so freakin important to begin with, take a look at Nature's Silence of the Bees (skip ahead to 38:36 to see the really scary part):



While this may be blasphemous to point out, the beloved Western Honey Bee, however integral to our modern way of life, was actually introduced to the Americas by european settlers, and and its effects on our endemic, less metropolitan members of the bee family, Apidae, have not been widely studied. However, with the menagerie of honey bee afflictions mounting, culminating in the now widely publicized colony collapse disorder (CCD) it might be time to take a closer look at our native bee species. This isn't by any means a call to write off the honey bee, but rather an opportunity to get more acquainted with our native bees and other pollinators.

My first introduction to the wide world of bees, outside of the honey and bumble, happened in the back seat of a car when I was a kid (insert joke here) when I noticed a poor, probably long dead but still brilliant emerald body of a female metallic sweat bee, genus Agapostemon (I found out later that only the female is fully iridescent)



It was fairly hard to miss, but for me, up to that point in my life the only awe-inspiring insects I was aware of were butterflies and the scarab beatle I saw on Aladdin, but this little deceased bee certainly rivaled any of the most beautiful butterflies I had seen up to that point. I, being the type of kid that I was, hauled the poor little lady around for at least a few days, asking every person of authority within earshot if they had ever seen anything so amazing, most of whom either ignored me, or gave me a disgusted look and told me that I shouldn't pick up dead things.

If I had found her today I could have avoided the dirty glances all together cause there are TONS of places online where you can find this stuff, but here's a shortlist of some of the better places:

BUGGUIDE
THE XERCES SOCIETY
DISCOVER LIFE
TYPES OF BEES, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION

I'd try to give a brief synopsis of each native bee species we have in the northeast, but given my complete lack of expertise, and the fact that there are around 5,000 bees native to the U.S. – and about 400 to the northeast, this is more information than I'm willing to tackle.....but there were few things you could generalize about our native bees in this area:

- Aside from the native bumblebee the majority of our native species are solitary, meaning they do not live in hives.
- Most are very reluctant to sting.
- Their life cycle generally last only one year
- They are often able to fly and pollinate in much colder temperatures then the imported honeybee.

And for a bit more detailed information on our native bees check out this article from Northern Woodlands.

As one would suspect, it is the messy gardner that is the better gardner, or at least as far as our native pollinators are concerned. Old ratty stems, open soil, lawn weeds, and no pesticides are either beneficial or necessary for our native bees' survival and these are all elements that are less likely to be found in a "well-kept" garden. Its pretty simple actually, if you want more native bees, then us gardners just all need to calm the hell down (the humane society actually did a great job summing up a few ways to make your yard a bit more comfy for our native bees in this article). Here's also a list of pollinator friendly plants for the northeast compiled by the NRCS.

Furthermore, the same ecological principles that apply to gardening and large scale horticulture apply to our bee problem as well. The more of a monoculture we create, for example, the American Elm (Ulmus americana), the more susceptible to disease the species becomes. While this may be an oversimplification of what is happening to the honey bee, one way we can begin to help is stop relying on them for the sole pollination of the majority of our commercial crops. It's time we approach pollination holistically in the context of the larger systems under which we operate. The sooner we diversify and utilize local pollinators the sooner we help save the honey bee and promote the health of all bees and pollinators everywhere. And there are actually a few companies out there (Crown Bees, Beediverse, Arbico Organics, and Planet Natural) that have recognized this and are taking the first steps by selling pollinator alternatives.

FYI - If you're want to learn a bit more about our native bees and live in northeast MA or southern NH the Nashua River Watershed is hosting a lecture on native bees "Native Bees of Massachusetts, Their Diversity and Natural History" on Wednesday, July 30, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., at the NRWA River Resource Center, 592 Main Street (Rt.119) in Groton, MA. Get there if you can.

And to end this post I leave you with this message from BEEFRIENDLY.CA. Enjoy.



MORE POLLINATOR RESOURCES AND INFORMATION:
http://www.pollinator.org/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/replacing-the-honeybee/
http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2011/10/native-bees-are-better-pollinators-honeybees
http://extension.psu.edu/plants/tree-fruit/news/2011/wild-bees-as-alternative-pollinators
http://ucanr.edu/delivers/?impact=305
http://www.thetrustees.org/what-we-care-about/the-natural-world/get-the-buzz.html
http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/organic-farming-for-bees-xerces-society.pdf
http://www.bestbees.com/
http://www.honeybeegenetics.com/
http://www.glenn-apiaries.com/genetics.html
http://beeinformed.org/
http://www.ibra.org.uk/