Wild Flora's Wild Gardening: Plants, Plants, Plants

Plants, Plants, Plants

SPRING IS SPRUNG, and an aging woman's fancy turns to plants. A visit to the local farmer's market proved beyond rewarding this morning, despite a drenching rain. I was able to meet, for the first time in person, both Jane Blackburn, owner of Woodlands & Meadows Nusery, and by favorite gardening writer, Jodi DeLong, author of the Bloomingwriter blog.

Jodi, who is just as warm and engaging in person as she is on her blog, observed a time-honored tradition by sharing plants from her garden. She brought me a giant wad of Solomon's Seal, Polygonatum pubescens (aka Hairy Solomon's Seal to distinguish it from Smooth Solomon's Seal, P. biflorum), which is native from Nova Scotia to Ontario and as far south as Georgia and Iowa.*

Jodi also brought me a clump of Purple Trillium, Trillium erectum (aka Wake-Robin), which is shown in the photo above. Trilliums are among the most beloved of native woodland wildflowers, and most parts of North America have at least one native species. This one is native from Nova Scotia to Manitoba, and as far south as Georgia and Tennessee.

And Jodi's gifts were the first course, whetting my appetite for plant purchases ahead. From Jane, amazing plantswoman that she is, I acquired:

May-apple, Podophyllum peltatum, which is found from Nova Scotia and Quebec to Minnesota and south to Florida and Texas. Although it's considered an introduced species in Nova Scotia, where I live, it is native to most of eastern North America, and I consider it more than "native enough" for gardening purposes. My friend Brett Johnson, a plantsman in the Seattle area, calls plants such as these "nearly natives."
Dutchman's breeches, Dicentra cucullaria, which is native from Nova Scotia to Ontario and south to Georgia and Missouri. According to the USDA Plants Database, it is also native to the Pacific Northwest. An interesting tidbit about this plant is that its seeds are spread by ants. It was considered medicinal by Native Americans.
Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis, which is native from Nova Scotia to Manitoba and south to Florida. This one also is spread by ants, and the Wikipedia has an extensive entry on its chemical properties!
Trout Lily, Erythonium americanum (aka Dog's-Tooth Violet or Yellow Adder's Tongue), which is native from Nova Scotia to Lake Superior and south to Florida and Oklahoma. I happen to think that this is a particularly charming Erythronium, with its bright yellow upcurved petals. But various trout lilies (so called because of the trout-like markings on the foliage) are native all across North America.
Wild Lily, Lilium canadense (aka Yellow Lily or Canada Lily), which is native from Nova Scotia to Ontario and south to Alabama and Virginia. This is a striking plant which can grow as tall as five feet. (After Jane showed me a photo of it in bloom, I would have mugged her for it; good thing she had one for sale!) Apparently it's becoming rare. But with Jane's help, maybe I can do my bit to bring it back again.
And finally, last but certainly not least:
Pride of Ohio Shooting Star, Dodecatheon meadia: This is another one that, being native to eastern North America, is "native enough" for gardening purposes. Besides, I have a soft spot for the Dodecatheons, with their little pink flowers that do indeed resemble shooting stars. The photo at left shows a shooting star, probably few-flowered shooting star (D. pulchellum), growing with (tall, dark blue) Common Camas (Camassia quamash) in a garden I designed for a client outside of Seattle.

Thank you, Jodi! Thank you, Jane!

* Unless otherwise stated, all information about where plants are native is taken from Roland's Flora of Nova Scotia, revised by Marian Zinck and published by Nimbus Publishing and the Nova Scotia Museum in 1998.

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About this blog and its owner

I’ve lived and gardened in Chicago and the Seattle area, and now I live on 250 acres in eastern Canada. Most of my life has been spent as a journalist and editor, but after moving to Seattle I took a detour and ended up designing and installing wildlife-friendly gardens. For a long (sorry) but (I think) funny essay about this experience, please click here.

In this blog, I try to combine my gardening experiences with journalism-type research to come up with items that I hope will be useful to you, the gardener who wants to be kind to wildlife. The blog will probably be most useful to people living in areas where I have some practical experience, namely the band of states and provinces that are on either side of the United States-Canada border.

Being self-employed, I go through spells when I’m self-unemployed and am able to post frequently, and spells when I’m involved in a project and not able to post. This site is a labor of love and, alas, like so many labors of love it often has to take a back seat to labors of lucre.

If you like what you find here, please consider joining the site as a member or adding it to your “follow” list. The modules for this are below.

Q&A

Question: I have a neat old elm tree in the front yard which is sorely afflicted with mistletoe. I don't know quite what to do with it, as every windstorm drops branches, bark and other parts down on the yard below. I know the infected wood will have to go, at least that is what I'm told, but a considerable amount of tree must be removed in the process. It is a dear tree, and I don't want it to come to fatal harm. What should I do? From Mary

Answer: Dear Mary, old is not ugly, dying is not bad, and dead is part of the natural order. At least if you're a tree.

Old, diseased trees, and the dead trees they eventually turn into, play just as important a role in an ecosystem as the young, healthy ones do--even more important because, thanks to the misguided practices of the past, dead and dying trees have become so rare. Holes in dead and dying trees are vital nesting spots for many birds and small mammals. Dead branches and other litter (which is not necessarily a sign of disease--healthy trees drop litter too), if left to decompose naturally, are also important for ecosystem health.

When working with old trees it's important to get advice from an arborist who understands their value and won't be in too much of a hurry to make drastic changes. Before hiring an arborist, I'd ask him or her to explain the ecological value of dead and dying trees. Ideally I'd want to work with an arborist who could show me examples of dead or dying trees he/she has left standing (aka snags).

I don't know much about mistletoe because I've never lived anywhere that it grows, but I wasn't surprised to read in the Wikipedia that it is an ecologically important species. All too often, valuable native species are classified as pests just because they don't fit preconceived notions of attractiveness. To me it sounds like a pretty cool plant and one I would be happy to have in my garden.

All in all, as long as the tree doesn't pose a hazard to people or property (the advice of a professional could be helpful in making this decision), I would leave it alone to live out its life in dignity and peace. If the tree does pose a hazard, I would look for an arborist who is willing to do the least amount of work necessary to remove the hazard, making every effort to leave as much of the tree as possible and not destroy its appearance.

With any luck you will find someone who appreciates the aesthetics of old trees--who recognizes the beauty, as well as the ecological importance, of big holes, broken limbs, and gnarly wood. (With any luck, we will all find people like this as we get older--but that's another story!)

I like to answer questions! Send me a question at wildflora at gmail dot com and I'll try to answer it. If you provide an email address, I usually respond privately within a few days. (If I forget, please forgive me and send me a reminder.)

Looking for a question and answer that appeared here previously? I am archiving them at my new website. Currently you'll find one question and answer about how to get rid of a multiflora rose and another about how to move a bumblebee nest.

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