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Donna VanBuecken

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A Small Native Plant Garden

January 19, 2021

Ken Sikora wrote this in an e-mail the other day: “Thanks for the Winter Seeding of a Prairie, Donna! Just last Thursday I did broadcast seeds in an existing prairie, trying to improve the wildflower diversity and fill in some thin spots. I did it knowing it was going to rain Friday, which would help force the seeds to the ground. Now, I’ll just sit back and wait a couple of years to see the results.”

A Small Native Plant Garden

Generally, I have been asked to assist in the plant design of large prairie fields, but this one is a small planting. One of the objectives of the design was to create a somewhat bold statement in sheer volume of foliage and color to draw attention to the site, as well as create a natural setting to attract pollinators and birds.

Bumblebee on Meadow Blazingstar (Liatris ligulistylis) with Sweet Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia subtomentosa). Photo by Joan Rudolph.

The Site

The site is a northeast corner lot that receives morning sun and faces south. It is shaded by a mature Red Maple (Acer rubrum) tree. The tree is approximately 8 feet from the edge of the area to be planted. The soil is medium. The area is approximately 9 x 18 feet or 162 square feet.

Maple trees are notorious for hogging surface water, so this will make a difference in the plant selection. The maple tree is likely far enough away so the root system may not interfere all that much with the garden (although their roots seem to extend forever), but I suspect the canopy will. We definitely want to stay away from plants that require a lot of moisture, like rain gardens do.

Native Plant Suggestions in Order of Bloom:

May-Jun Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

May –Jul Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)

Jun-Aug Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis)

Jun-Jul Smooth Penstemon (Penstemon digitalis)

Jun-Sep Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) or,

Jul-Oct Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba) Deadhead some Brown-eyed Susan in fall; aggressive seeders.

Nodding Pink Onion (Allium cernuum). Photo by Joan Rudolph.

Jul-Aug Nodding Pink Onion (Alliium cernuum) Deadhead some Nodding Onion in fall; aggressive seeders.

Jul-Sep Lavendar Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)

Aug-Oct New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae) Pinch back in June to maintain a shorter stature.

Aug-Oct Heath Aster (Aster ericoides)

Aug-Oct Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

Others native plants to consider include:

May-Jun Long Beaked Sedge (Carex sprengelii)

Jun-Aug Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Jul-Sep Bergamot (Monarda fisitulosa) Will stay shorter in dryer soils.

Jul-Sep Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) Will stay shorter in dryer soils.

Jul-Oct Zig Zag Goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis)

Aug-Sep Meadow Blazingstar (Liatris ligulistylis) Over 3 feet tall, but not bushy. As a specimen plant, the city might not object.

Remember to humanize your native garden. Be BRASH About Planning for Nature.

This is a small garden. No need to plant spectacle plants. That is NO Siliphiums (Cupplant,  Campusplant, Prairie Dock and Rosinweed). NO Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium). NO Baptisia (Blue False, Cream False and White False Indigo).

To develop a successful garden with plants blooming throughout the season, we need to be mindful of the amount of moisture as well as sunlight the plants require.

Remember! A native plant out of place is not a native plant.

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Winter Seeding of Your Prairie

January 13, 2021

Reference my blog post titled Winter Seeding Your Prairie. I usually use the winter seeding of my prairie as a general overseeding of the prairie. Recently, a gentleman from Ohio e-mailed to ask me a few questions.

He began with the statement, “I’m working with the USDA’s Conservation Stewardship Program and planning on doing a conservation cover for pollinators and beneficial insects. I have purchased my seeds and plan on planting this winter.” Here are his questions along with my responses:

  1. How should I prepare the soil? Is the soil just an old field that’s ready to be planted? All invasive seeds and weed seeds have to be cleaned from the soil before planting the prairie seed. Just putting in the prairie seed without any management plan is setting yourself up for defeat.
  2. When should the prairie seed be planted? When the seed does not have any chance to sprout. If the seed sprouts before winter sets in, the seedlings may freeze.
  3. When should the soil be disked? The soil does not need to be disked. Just put the seed down in the winter snow.
  4. I purchased my seeds. What do I use to cover the mix? I prefer moist sawdust or hamster bedding. You will have extra expense if you go with vermiculite.
  5. What would you recommend — a wheelbarrow? Tubs? It depends upon the size of your planting. If it is a small planting, try a pail and tub. If it is a very large planting, a wheelbarrow or lawn-type wagon. Better yet, try to put one-fourth of the seeds to be planted and one-fourth the sawdust into a tub and plant one-fourth of the prairie.

Winter Seeding Your Prairie

Dave Edwards and I broadcasting native seed on the WILD Center prairie just before a snowfall.

It’s pretty simple. The winter seeding method can be used for a new prairie seeding (as long as the site prep work has been accomplished ahead of time) or for overseeding to fill in the spots that didn’t fill in with seedlings from the original seeding.

Typically, you would plan to do this before the first snowfall, but it can also be done after there is snow on the ground. But not very deep snow, since that can make it more difficult physically to tramp around and broadcast the seed.

Pick a day to broadcast your native seed just before a snowfall, and preferably a day that’s not too windy. Sowing native seeds just before a snowfall, covers the seed and allows the winter weather (snow, sleet, freezing rain, etc.) to work the seed into the ground. The freezing and thawing provided by the weather drills the seed into the ground, and with Mother Nature’s help, to the exact depth for proper germination. In the spring when the soil temperature begins to rise, the seed germinates.

Late November to Mid-March is the perfect time to do this. Earlier in the fall is not recommended because if the seed germinates before winter sets, the new seedlings may freeze off  during the winter. Later in the year may not allow enough freeze-thaw cycles to satisfactorily drill the native seed down into the soil for proper germination in the spring.

Dave and I mixing native grass and forb seed with hamster bedding before broadcasting it on the WILD Center prairie.

Purchase your seed from a local native-plant nursery or gather it in the fall from your local Wild Ones chapter seed-gathering locations, or from their annual seed exchange. I mix the seed with hamster bedding or sawdust. These materials help to give some bulk to the seed and allow you to see where you’ve already broadcast.

I like winter seeding because it allows me to mimic nature, and nothing could be more sure than that. Seeds drop in the fall and germinate in the spring. That’s about as easy as it gets.

So if winter seeding (sometimes called dormant seeding) is something that appeals to you, don’t hesitate any longer. Get yourself outside and sow those prairie seeds. What a great reason to get outside and play!

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Poinsettia (Euphorbia marginata)

December 8, 2020

I’ve always loved the Poinsettia. Because I had a December wedding date, I  had my bridesmaids and maid-of-honor carry Poinsettias in their bouquets, and all around us were plants of all sizes and shapes. Last Friday, December 4th, we celebrated our 55th anniversary!

Poinsettia (Euphorbiai marginata)

The beautiful Poinsettias (genus Euphorbus) we see decorating building interiors this time of the year are not native to the U.S., but rather to Southern Mexico and Central America. But did you know we have a species of native poinsettias here in America as well?

The native Snow on the Mountain (Euphorbia marginata) has light-green variegated leaves. Photo by Nan Hampton, courtesy of Wildflower Center.
The native Painted Poinsettia (Euphorbia cyathophora) has fiddle-shaped leaves. Photo by Joseph A Marcus, courtesy of Wildflower Center.

Members of the Spurge (Euphorbiaceae) family, there are a number of native Euphorbus species. The one most like the non-native is the annual Painted Poinsettia (Euphorbia cyathophora). Its bracts turn orange-red, and it is has fiddle-shaped leaves. Sometimes called Fire on the Mountain, it is closely related to Snow on the Mountain (Euphorbia marginata), which has showy, variegated light-green and white leaves.

Fire on the Mountain (Euphorbia cyathophora). In the south, moister, shadier habitat is more typical, where it grow up to three feet tall and can be a weed. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia by Juni from Kyoto, Japan

In the Midwest, Fire on the Mountain seed can be purchased through Prairie Moon Nursery. The plants grow best in full sun or part shade, in drier soil that has not been composted. It is a good reseeder, but excess plants should be able to be pulled out easily because of the rocky, sandy soil conditions in which it prefers to grow.

All have a thick, white sap that can irritate skin and eyes.

None of the native Euphorbus species, however, are as showy as the non-native Euphorbus species.

Interestingly enough, the Poinsettia gets its name from the first American Ambassador to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett. In 1828 he sent the first plants back to the U.S. where he propagated and shared the plant with friends and botanical gardens. (Mr. Poinsett is also know as the founder of the Smithsonian Institution.)

The non-native invasive species Bishop's Weed is often called Snow on the Mountain also. Photo courtesy of Plant Conservation Alliance.
The non-native invasive species Bishop’s Weed (Aegopodium podgraria) is often called Snow on the Mountain also. Photo courtesy of Plant Conservation Alliance.

Invasive Non-Native Bishop’s Weed

The native Snow on the Mountain (Euphorbia marginata) is different from the invasive non-native Bishop’s Weed (Aegopodium podgraria) often called by the same name.

Read more about the legends associated with Poinsettia.

 

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What’s Happening to Land Use?

December 1, 2020

The first formal study of erosion took place under the Soil Conservation Act of 1935. Through the years, it has been updated by many Acts. The Rural Development of Act of 1972 implemented a land inventory and monitoring program, which generally follows a complex sampling of five-year increments. For 35 years, the NRCS (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service) has been collecting information on the status and condition of land, soil, water, and related resources on the nation’s non-federal lands. It covers erosion, agricultural, rangeland, forestry, wetlands, and other lands. It covers 49 states (Alaska is excluded), Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands to assess resource quantity and quality.

Developed Land

The National Resources Inventory (NRI) is a statistical survey of natural-resource conditions and trends in the United States. Non-federal land includes privately owned lands, tribal and trust lands, and lands controlled by state and local governments. The 2020 report shows that about 44 million acres of land were developed between 1982 and 2017, bringing the total to about 116 million acres. This represents a 61 percent increase during the last 35 years. However, the developed land has been increased less and less proportional to population change. This results in less land available for agricultural, rangeland, and forests. Loss of rural land will have an impact on wildlife and native landscaping.

The NRI collects data on natural resources, soil and water conservation practices, irrigation, and many other farming practices. For 35 years, NRCS has been collecting information on the status and condition of land, soil, water, and related resources on the nation’s non-federal lands.

The Report

Taken from “What’s Happening on America’s Lands, Soils, and Waters?” by Bob Sowers, NRCS.

“The 2017 report shows trends from 2012 to 2017,…Conclusions from the report will take years to evolve as people study the data, but we can already see that cropland acreage increased, erosion rates stabilized, and the expansion of developed land decreased. Some highlights include:

  • Cropland acreage increased by 5.6 million acres between 2012 and 2017, continuing a trend since 2007. Eighty percent of that increase came from land coming out of the Conservation Reserve Program, which decreased during that time.
  • Forest land continued to steadily increase over the last 35 years, with an increase of 1.1 million acres between 2012 and 2017. The increase was mostly from conversion from pastureland, counterbalancing losses to developed land.
  • Rangeland continued to steadily decline over the last 35 years with a reduction of 1.2 million acres between 2012 and 2017. Most of that reduction was due to losses to cropland and developed land.
  • Palustrine* and estuarian** wetlands saw no change overall between 2012 and 2017.
  • Cropland erosion rates remained stable despite the increase in overall cropland, indicating that new cropland does not have a higher likelihood of erosion.

The report also gives a statistical perspective on natural resource and environmental conditions for these lands, with the specific goal of supporting agricultural and environmental policy development and program implementation. It serves as the foundation for critical analytical efforts for USDA and other agencies and groups.”

*Palustrine wetlands include all non-tidal wetlands dominated by trees, shrubs, persistent emergent plants, or emergent mosses or lichens, as well as small, shallow open water ponds or potholes (called swamps, marshes, potholes, bogs or fens.)

**Estuarine wetlands are tidal wetlands that are usually semi-enclosed by land but have open, partly obstructed or sporadic access to the open ocean, and in which ocean water is at least occasionally diluted by freshwater runoff from the land (where a river flows into the ocean).

For the complete report, see the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s What’s Happening on America’s Lands, Soils, and Waters?

Hummingbird exchanging pollen for nectar from this Cardinal Flower. Photo by Larry Master masterimages.org

Conclusion

The net change of rural land into developed land has averaged 1.6 million acres per year over the last 25 years. This results in reduced agricultural land, rangeland, and forests. This loss of rural land — compounded by climate change — leads me to think that our environment and the extreme weather caused by climate change will result in a loss of wildlife and native landscaping.

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Donna VanBuecken