Emerald Ash Borer

For my faithful readers, I am sorry to be repeating myself with this post, but I feel that the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is worth another mention.  

At the Native Plants in the Landscape Conference, some discussion came up about the American Chestnut, Castanea dentata, which was at one time the predominant species in any forest.  This tree has now been replaced by oaks and hickories as it was nearly eradicated by a blight.  One estimate has over FOUR BILLION trees lost during the infection.  The loss of the trees also contributed to the loss of at least six known insect specialists. Insect specialists are insects that only feed on one genus of plants, and sometimes only on species within that genus.   If you are interested in further information about the American Chestnut, go to the American Chestnut Cooperator Foundation website: http://www.accf-online.org/ All of this talk of disease and plant death brings us to the Emerald Ash Borer.  

While you may be fearful that your ash trees will die from the insect, it is important to not remove the trees to "prevent them from being killed" because sometimes nature has a way of dealing with some of her enemies, and perhaps the tree will develop some type of resistance to the Emerald Ash Borer.  This does not mean that the insect is not a problem, it just means that perhaps instead of losing millions of trees to the insect and then cutting down the remaining thousands, we may want to consider leaving the remaining trees to see if they can develop resistance to the Emerald Ash Borer.

I had mentioned that the EAB has been spotted in Bucks County, and recently a press release indicated that the bug has now been found in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  

Just a reminder: DO NOT TRANSPORT ANY FIREWOOD WHEN YOU ARE GOING ON A CAMPING TRIP.  No matter what you think about the wood not having insects, or being "safe" there is a great chance that you will be spreading disease or insects like the Emerald Ash Borer to a county that currently does not have the EAB.  Here is the link to the DCNR (Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) page about EAB: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/fpm_invasives_EAB.aspx 

The pdf on the page has useful contact information . Note that the map showing the spread of EAB is NOT up-t0-date.  Bucks County should be on the list of quarantined counties.

Great Video

As promised over the next few weeks, I will be talking about some of the great information that I learned at the 22nd Millersville Native Plant Conference.  

The first thing that I am going to share with you is an amazing video that was shown to us by Dr. David Wagner, an entomologist.  The topic was titled: The Tangled Fates of Plants, Caterpillars, and Birds.  He also has a great field guide about Caterpillars Native to the Eastern U.S.  The video is about a comet orchid that was sent to Charles Darwin, and scientists were stumped as to how it was pollinated because of the structure of the flower.  Darwin predicted that a large moth with a really long tongue (over 8") had evolved to pollinate the flower, and get the nectar.  He was ridiculed by his peers and the theory went untested for quite some time.  Check out this video for the full story . It is worth the 4 minutes at some odd seconds that it takes:  http://youtu.be/OMVN1EWxfAU 

Insects have wonderful adaptations.  Check out this image of the Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar.  This caterpillar looks like a green snake to potential predators instead of a tasty caterpillar, or "hot dog with legs" which may have been one of my favorite quotes of the native plant conference, courtesy of Jim McCormac.

How cool is that?!

Yellow Star Thistle

I recently wrote about both Canada Thistle and Bull Thistle, but neglected to mention Yellow Star Thistle.

This plant is certainly more of an issue out west than it is here on the east coast, but it has been spotted in Chester County, so it is worth mentioning.  I found this image from a website in California that give some insight into what a major issue this plant is in CA. At this point of the game, we are still in the "early detection" stage, so let's beat this plant before we have to put up "wanted" signs for our thistles as well!

Native Plants in the Landscape

One of my favorite times of the year is upon us: The Millersville Native Plant Conference.  This conference is an amazing opportunity for burgeoning plant nerds, plant experts, and beginners alike to come together to geek out on all things native plants related.  Every year I anticipate the program coming in the mail containing the newest line-up of speakers.  

This is a taste of what the next three days are really about:  

The Native Plants in the Landscape Conference Mission: To increase the knowledge, propagation, cultivation and use of native plants in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. To promote methods of land management and design that respect “sense of place” by preserving and restoring species and natural processes as well as to engender an appreciation of regionally appropriate, sustainable landscapes that are harmonious for people and nature. While the subject of the conference pertains to native plant communities, the spirit of the conference is to build human communities among a broad range of participants by designing a conference affordable to all, encouraging formal and informal exchanges of information and providing opportunities for social interaction. The conference is held on the campus of Millersville University in picturesque, historic Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

It's too late to sign up for 2012, but if you are in the area of Millersville University, stop by the public book sale and plant sale, or check out:  http://www.millersvillenativeplants.org/ for information about their 2013 conference. I'll come back full of new information to share next week!

The Tale of the Magnolia

So when we first purchased our house the landscaping involved four Yew Bushes along the front of the house, and two Japanese Maples in the front yard.  The yew bushes met Mr. Husqvarna before dishes made it in the door, and I was able to plant some of the plants that I periodically mention.  The Japanese Maples continued to wear on my mind, and I have slowly replaced them over the last few years with two Magnolia virginiana (Sweetbay Magnolia).

When I actually replaced the mature Japanese Maples with the Magnolia's my neighbors were in shock.  They couldn't believe that I would remove such "nice" plants, and talked about all of the common "magnolia" misconceptions.  I tried to explain that Magnolia virginiana was a completely different plant than the more common Magnolia stellata (Star Magnolia) whose blooms typically succumb to frost (and of course is native to Japan).  Sweetbay Magnolia is a beautiful plant whose blooms are quite fragrant, and the blooms wait until later in the year.  The two in my front yard just completed the first cycle of blooming and this has been a year when most of the plants are at least a week or two earlier than normal.  

The next time you are looking for some type of flowering specimen tree to spice up your yard, I highly recommend Magnolia virginiana.  Here are some of the great characteristics of the plant: It is semi-evergreen; it will bloom slowly but continuously throughout the summer, it reaches about 15' in height, and the fall red seed pods give added interest and provide a great food source for birds.  

This plant is currently listed as threatened in the state of Pennsylvania so not too many of them are found growing in the wild. 

Early Bird Invasive Warning

Two summers ago, I was introduced to Artemisia vulgaris (Mugwort) by my summer intern who had extensive knowledge of the local flora and fauna.  He was telling me about this invasive plant, Mugwort, that had been a problem at the property he had worked on previously.  I had never really noticed the plant until that summer.  We found a few small populations on the property we were working on and took care of them.  In the past two years, I am starting to notice this plant in more places, and I can see it becoming more of an issue.  I just noticed a hayfield where the mugwort had out-competed both the thistle population that I was trying to diminish, and the grasses in the field. 

I have found the plant touted by herbalists as having great qualities, and while I know nothing about this trade and do not discount their opinion about what it may do for your health; I can attest to the fact that I have seen this plant rapidly spread over the past two years and would recommend that anyone who has a Mugwort population on their property removes it as quickly as possible.  Diligence may help us win this battle before it goes into stage three. 

Mugwort is a clump-forming rhizomatous (spreads through roots) perennial that reproduces primarily by vegetative spread. Reduction of the plant can occur by repeated mowing or herbicide application. The repeated mowing of the plant seems to eventually deplete the rhizomes energy stores.  A broad-leafed herbicide is typically a good bet for chemical control.  This will target A. vulgaris and the other broadleafed plants but not any grasses that may be growing near the plant. 

Keep your eyes out for this plant and remove it by digging, mowing, or chemical control before it is given the opportunity to spread on your property. 


If you have more invasive/identification concerns on your property, feel free to schedule an appointment today with TLC's Landscape Visionaries team by clicking HERE.

Jam and Native Shrubs!

So I was looking for something to put on my toast the other day, and found a forgotten jar of Elderberry Jam.  For those of you who have not tried this great jam, I highly recommend trying it out.  The flavor is a sweet, yet partially mild taste, and best of all, it comes from one of our own native shrubs: Sambucus canadensis  or Elderberry (who would have thought right?!). If you are not a fan of jam with your toast, this does not mean you should exclude this shrub from your landscape.  Birds love the berries, and it has a wonderful white flower that is just starting to bloom which is a nice second tier to the earlier blooming shrubs. 
 
The shrub likes to be in moist soil, and is typically found growing along creek banks, in an open wet meadow, or a hedgerow.  If the plants are planted in a spot that they really like, they will flourish because of the healthy seed crop that they produce each year.  

Turns out it can even be weedwacked (ask my father) and still continue to grow.  It only kills them the second time you weedwack the plant!  Out on a Landscape Visionaries session a week ago, I found twenty to thirty wild elderberries growing on a property, and then out at Stateline Woods this week, I found another great clump of the wild elderberry.  


This is certainly a plant to add into your landscape for the interesting structure, pretty flowers, and delicious berries.  Though if you decide that you want to harvest the berries, realize that you are going to have to fight off the indigo buntings, and other song birds that prefer the berry from an elderberry tree.  



If you are looking for a jam recipe, I am not the person to ask!