Sassafras albidum, Sassafras

Posted on 2009-02-19 by admin

Sassafras albidum, Sassafras, is a medium-sized deciduous tree native to eastern North America. It’s easily identified by its leaves which vary in shape from simple (unlobed) and elliptical, asymmetrically two-lobed (left- or right-handed “mittens”), and three-lobed.

Two forms of Sassafras leaves. Photo: Patrick Coin (Flickr)

Several features of Sassafras led me to select it as the focal point for my backyard garden design planting plan. Although I’ve lived in the Northeast most of my life, it’s only in the past several years that I’ve come to really appreciate Sassafras. I now recognize it as a four-season plant.

In early Spring, before anything leafs out, the clouds of brilliant yellow flowers stand out; both male and female flowers are colorful. Summer foliage is handsome and aromatic. On female plants, the fruit is colorful and attractive, and the red stems persist after the fruit has been devoured by birds. Fall color is among the best there is; it should be part of any fall garden that has the space for it. For winter interest, the bark of older specimens develops interesting textures, while the forms of the bare branches seem to flail chaotically, expressive of wilderness.

Sassafras albidum, typical autumn coloration. Photo: dogtooth77 (Flickr)

Sassafras is in the Lauraceae, the Laurel family. This is a family of mostly pantropical, evergreen shrubs and trees; Sassafras has the most northern distribution of the Lauraceae. Many plants in this family are rich in essential oils, and thus of economic importance; Cinnamon, Bay Laurel and Avocado are also in this family. Sassafras roots were once used to flavor root beer, until concerns about the carcinogenic properties of safrole led to banning its use. Sassafras leaves are still used to make the spice gumbo filé.

All parts of Sassafras are aromatic, including its leaves. It’s an important larval host for several Lepidoptera. It’s the primary larval host for Papilio troilus, spicebush swallowtail, P. palamedes, laurel swallowtail, and Callosamia promethea, Promethea silkmoth.

Flowers are pollinated by bees and flies. Sassafras fruits are eaten by many species of birds. However, plants are dioecious, so both male and female plants are needed within pollinator range. Even if I was lucky enough to get a female plant, the closest other plants I’m aware of are in Prospect Park, a half-mile away. I’m not counting on fruit from my Sassafras, but it would be a terrific bonus.

From my observations, it’s very common in the sandy soils along the New Jersey coast. It’s most common as a successional plant in disturbed areas, where it can form pure stands through suckering. There’s been some research to indicate that Sassafras exhibits allelopathy, interfering with the germination of some other woody species, at least.

A tendency toward suckering and a reputation for difficulty in transplantation have limited its application in cultivation. However, several authors suggest that propagation methods may influence this. Specimens propagated by apparent transplantation from the field may actually be suckers being separated from a parent plant or stand. The thought is that this increases the chance for suckering later, after transplantation. Even true individuals have deep taproots, making transplantation difficult. This obstacle can be eliminated with pot-grown, seed-propagated individuals. I’m on the lookout for a retail source in the NYC area.

Taxonomy

Botanical name: Sassafras albidum
Family: Lauraceae (Laurel Family)
Common name: Sassafras
Description: Deciduous tree.
Range: Widespread in eastern North America, from Maine to Ontario and Michigan, south to Florida and eastern Texas.

Features

Flowers: Bright yellow clusters of flowers appear before leaves in early Spring. Dioecious: both male and female plants needed for fruiting.
Foliage: Multiple shapes, brilliant fall colors, one of the best for fall foliage.
Fruits: (On female plants) Oil-rich, blue-black berries on long bright red stalks.
Bark: Smooth when young, interesting, deeply furrowed, “alligator-hide bark” [Cullina] on older trees.

Culture

Height: 8m/26ft after 20 years [Flint], 30-60 feet at maturity
Width: 25-40 feet at maturity
DBH: 3 feet at maturity

Hardiness zones: 4-8
Exposure: Full sun preferred, but tolerates some shade as an understory tree.
Water: Drought-tolerant

Longevity: The Arnold Arboretum has a specimen that they acquired in 1884, over 120 years ago.

Because of its wide natural range, select a local ecotype, or acquire from a local nursery, for best adaptation and performance to your conditions.
Can be prone to suckering from lateral roots. To minimize this, do not transplant from the wild. Plant only container-grown seedlings. [Cullina, DIRR1997, Flint]
Not readily available commercially, but is carried by nurseries specializing in native plants.
Dioecious, so an individual planting may be male or female, and both are needed to produce fruit on the females.
Allelopathic.

Wildlife value

Birds: Oil-rich fruit on female plants are favored by migrating birds. [Cullina] Species include catbirds, flickers, pileated woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers, thrushes, vireos, and mockingbirds.
Butterflies and Moths: Primary larval host for Papilio troilus, spicebush swallowtail, P. palamedes, laurel swallowtail [Cullina, NPIN], and Callosamia promethea, Promethea silkmoth [NPIN, BONA], Cecropia species [BBG]
Pollinators: Sassafras is pollinated by bees and flies.

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References

[BONA] Butterflies and Moths of North America
Cullina, William. Native Trees, Shrubs and Vines. 2002. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN-13: 978-0-618-09858-3
[DIRR1997] Dirr, Michael. Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs. 1997. Timber Press. ISBN-13: 978-0-88192-404-6
[DIRR1998] Dirr, Michael. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. Revised 1998. Stipes Publishing. ISBN-13: 978-0-87563-795-2
Flint, Harrison. Landscape Plants for Eastern North America. 1983. Wiley. ISBN: 0-471-86905-8
NPIN

Sullivan, Janet (1993). “Sassafras albidum“. Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory

Links

Floridata
Missouri Botanical Garden
Plants For A Future
PLANTS, USDA
University of Connecticut
Wikipedia
Wikibooks

Woodland Garden Design Plant List

Posted on 2009-02-18 by admin

Over the weekend, my Twitter stream reflected the progress I was making on my final class project for the Urban Garden Design class with Nigel Rollings at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Despite battling a wicked head hold and racking cough, I put the finishing touches on my design late Monday night.

A cultivar of Lonicera sempervirens, the native Trumpet Honeysuckle, growing on a metal arbor at the entrance to my backyard. The specific epithet “sempervirens” refers to the evergreen, or nearly so in my Zone 7a/6b garden, foliage.

In last night’s class we each presented our designs. There was a lot of warmth, humor, and enthusiasm among the class. Not to mention wine (though not for me). The night ran late, so there wasn’t time for close inspection of all the designs.

Some of my fellow students wanted more information about my plant selections. Here is the plant list, without further explanation for now, that I used in my design. Most of these are shrubs. Many of these I’ve collected over the past several years, and some are now several feet high and wide. Many, but not all, are species native to New York City. The most precious to me are those that have been propagated from NYC-local ecotypes.

This is just a candidate list, not a final one. As I mentioned in last night’s class, I’m not satisfied with the planting plan. I would like a couple more evergreen plants; I’d really like an Ilex opaca, but the native form gets too large for my site. There are many plants in this list that provide winter interest, in bark, form, berries, and so on, including some that are semi-evergreen. I want to place more vines in the design, and I already have some ideas for where to do that. And I didn’t spend much time specifying perennials. There’s still plenty of room for them in this design; there are at least a hundred to select from, and I just ran out of time to specify and draw them all.

Trees

Sassafras albidum, Sassafras. This would become the focal point of the garden; the design “rotates” around it. This will be a canopy tree, providing primary shade to the house and garden.
Amelanchier arborea, Common or Downy Serviceberry. This is an understory tree from the Rosaceae, the Rose Family, tolerant of the shade the Sassafras will provide. In my design, its placement will also grant it direct afternoon sun from the West during the summer months, which should help in fruit-set. It’s a “replacement” for the old apple tree that grew on the other side of the fence on my neighbor’s property, which they had to take down last winter. I miss that tree; it was a bird magnet. This tree is a better selection, better placed, and with fewer maintenance issues.
All Amelanchier species, commonly known as Serviceberries, are desireable landscape trees and shrubs and provide food for wildlife, especially birds. Alternatives to A. arborea are A. canadensis, Canada or Shadblow Serviceberry, or Shadbush, or A. laevis, Allegheny or Smooth Serviceberry, which is recommended for its human-edible fruit.
Prunus variety. This is an existing tree, the only one remaining from the eight trees that were in the backyard when we bought the property four years ago. It’s healthy, and adds some interest to every season, so I’m happy to keep it as long as it does well. But my design doesn’t depend on it, so when the time comes and it needs to go, the design will remain whole.

Geothlypis trichas, Common Yellowthroat, one of the avian visitors to my neighbor’s apple tree which I hope will be enticed to return by the Serviceberry.

Vines

Lonicera sempervirens cultivar (existing), Trumpet Honeysuckle. Semi-evergreen, twining vine. Flowers best and grows densest with full sun. Grows well, just less vigorously, in partial shade. Mine is visited by hummingbirds every year, but they always seem disappointed by it; it’s not the Hummingbird magnet I hoped it would be. I suspect I would need a local ecotype, one adapted to the phenology of hummingbird migration through this area, to attract hummingbirds well.
Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Virgina Creeper. deciduous vine, climbs by holdfasts to any vertical surface; can also grow as a groundcover. A native alternative to P. tricuspidata, Boston Ivy. Deciduous. Brilliant red color in the fall. Fruit are an important food source for birds.
Vitis labrusca, Fox Grape. Deciduous vine, climbs by tendrils. One of several native grape species, this is the source of the Concord Grape.

I also have an existing small-leaved Aristolochia, Pipevine, but I couldn’t place it yet in the new design. I want to add more vines, including the big-leaved Pipevine; I just need to think more about their placement and function.

Shrubs

Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissimum’ (existing)
Clethra alnifolia ‘September Beauty’ (existing)
Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’ (existing)
Ilex verticillata cultivars, male and female (existing)
Juniperus horizontalis
Kalmia latifolia ‘Minuet’ (existing)
Lindera benzoin
Myrica pensylvanica
Prunus maritima
Rhododendron viscosum NYC-local ecotype (existing)
Rosa carolina (or R. virginiana)

Several shrubs I already have did not make it into this design. I’ve collected them over the years without a plan, based more on their availability and opportunity to acquire them than anything else. Unless I leave no space for people, there simply isn’t enough room for all of them in my 30’x30′ backyard, which is already quite expansive by NYC, even Brooklyn, standards. That gives me some flexibility in the planting plan, as my first choice is to go with plants I already have, but some will eventually have to live on somewhere else.

[TinyURL]

BBG’s Susan Pell in Papua New Guinea

Posted on 2009-01-10 by admin

The Louisiade Archipelao in Papua New Guinea, Oceania. Source: NASA Earth Observatory

Dr. Susan Pell, Plant Molecular Systematist with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, is leading an expedition to explore the Louisiade Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. The expedition team also includes researchers from the New York Botanical Garden, as well as the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Conservation International, Old Dominion University, and the University of Papua New Guinea:

For five weeks in early 2009, BBG’s Dr. Susan Pell is leading a field research team in remote areas of Papua New Guinea. The team will work with local naturalists to survey the flora of the little-explored Louisiade Archipelago and compile a conservation assessment. …
The botanical field reconnaissance will include both intensive collection of forest plants around Alotau and targeted species enumeration studies. The purpose of the fieldwork is to expand knowledge of the biodiversity of the Milne Bay Province. The Louisiade Archipelago is of specific interest because of its large number of native species.
– About the Expedition

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Pell as one of the instructors for the Plant Taxonomy class I completed at BBG in December. Thanks to her, I now have some idea of what a plant molecular systematist does! I would bet she’s currently the most remote correspondent of the Brooklyn blogosphere. She started blogging about the expedition just three days ago:

I’ve spent five years planning a field expedition to Papua New Guinea—and it’s now underway.

Every time I go out into the field there are so many great stories to tell. So I’m going to try to use this web diary to share some of the things that come up over the course of our six-week exploration.

Once we head into the remote island areas I’ll be blogging by satellite phone, so the posts may get a little succinct. I’ll have time at the start and the finish to share some longer stories. Enjoy!
– Blogging PNG, 2008-01-07, Susan Pell, BBG

We’ll be able to track the team’s progress on a map on BBG’s Web site. After 30 hours of travel, Dr. Pell is now in the capital of Port Moresby. From there, they’ll travel to Alotau:

After convening in Alotau, PNG, to provision and confirm final plans, the team will depart January 15 on a charted boat for the three-week exploration of the three main islands of the Archipelago, Misima, Rossel [Yela], and Sudest [Vanatinai]. These islands are home to many species found nowhere else in the world. The expedition will wrap up outside of Alatou, the capital of Milne Bay Province, which located on the island of New Guinea.
– About the Expedition

Links

Expedition: Papua New Guinea, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Steven Earl Clemants, 1954-2008

Posted on 2008-11-14 by admin

Steven Earl Clemants. Credit: Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The botanical world – especially New York State, New York City, and Brooklyn – suffered a great loss recently. Steven Earl Clemants, Ph.D., Vice President of the Science Department of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, died suddenly and unexpectedly on Sunday, November 2, 2008. Funeral services were held last Friday, November 7. He was 54 years old.

I never met Steven, but I’ve known of his work. I’ve written about some of it on my blog. His contributions in several fields, including native plant conservation, invasive plants, and urban botany, are substantial. I can only summarize.

Dr. Clemants was Chair of the Board of the Invasive Plant Council of New York State. He was the Historian and past President for the Torrey Botanical Society, and Chair of the Local Flora Committee of the Long Island Botanical Society. He was a founder, coordinator and contributor for the New York Metropolitan Flora Project (NYMF), which is documenting all the flora within a 50-mile radius of New York City. He was Codirector of the Center for Urban Restoration Ecology (CURE), a collaboration between BBG and Rutgers University. He served on the Advisory Board and Atlas Committee of the New York Flora Association. He was a graduate faculty member of both Rutgers University and the City University of New York. He was also involved with the New York State Invasive Species Task Force, the Prospect Park Woodlands Advisory Board, and the American Institute of Biological Sciences, among many other efforts.

He was Editor-in-Chief of Urban Habitats, an open-science online journal dedicated to worldwide urban ecological studies. In addition to authoring and co-authoring numerous technical journals and articles, he was co-author, with Carol Gracie, of “Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: A Field Guide to the Northeastern United States.”

The Dr. Steven Clemants Wildflower Fund

The Dr. Steven Clemants Wildflower Fund has been established to honor him. Steve’s widow, Grace Markman, is working with the Greenbelt Native Plant Center to plan a living memorial that will foster the planting of native wildflower species in New York City parks.

If you would like to donate to the Fund, there’s a PDF form to fill out and mail with your check. Email me at xrisfg at gmail dot com and I’ll send you the form. Make out your check to “City Parks Foundation” and mail it with the form to:

City Parks Foundation
c/o Greenbelt Native Plant Center
3808 Victory Blvd.
Staten Island, NY 10314

As an alternative, here’s an Amazon Associates link for the paperback edition of the Field Guide which Dr. Clemants co-authored. I will donate any proceeds I receive through this link to the Dr. Steven Clemants Wildflower Fund. The Field Guide is also available in both hardcover and paperback editions from BBG’s online store.

Web Resource: New York Metropolitan Flora Project (NYMF), 2006-06-02

Links

Steven Earl Clemants:

Obituary, BBG, 2008-11-28
Staff Page, BBG
CV [PDF]

Center for Urban Restoration Ecology (CURE)
Invasive Plant Council of New York State
Long Island Botanical Society
New York Flora Association
New York Metropolitan Flora Project (NYMF)
Science Department, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Torrey Botanical Society
Urban Habitats

Colletes thoracicus (Colletidae), Cellophane Bees

Posted on 2008-05-27 by admin

Update 2009.05.09: Cellophane Bees Return
Update 2008.05.28: Many thanks to John Ascher for the id!

While spending most of the weekend gardening, I discovered that the garden is home to a small colony of mining cellophane bees. At first I thought they Andrenidae, mining bees, based on photos and this description on BugGuide.Net:

Many small, ground-nesting bees observed in areas of sandy soil are members of the family, Andrenidae. Characteristics of this family (of which there are approximately 3000 species) are: Small size, 20 mm, (or smaller) brown to black in color, and nesting in a burrow in areas of sparse vegetation, old meadows, dry road beds, sandy paths. Although the nests are built in close proximity of one another, the bees are solitary (each female capable of constructing a nest and reproducing). Many species are active in March and April when they collect pollen and nectar from early spring blooming flowers. The female bee digs a hole 2-3 inches deep excavating the soil and leaving a pile on the surface. She then digs a side tunnel that ends in a chamber (there are about 8 chambers per burrow). Each chamber is then filled with a small ball of pollen and nectar. An egg is laid on the top of each pollen ball and the female seals each brood chamber. The emerging larval bees feed on the pollen/nectar ball until they pupate.
– Family Andrenidae – Mining Bees, BugGuide.Net

I contacted Kevin Matteson, contact person for the Bee Watchers 2008 project here in NYC. I wasn’t able to attend any of their orientation session last week, so I forwarded him a link to this post. He in turn forwarded the link to his “colleague at the museum.” Thus turned out to be John Ascher, a BugGuide contributing editor, and all-around big bee guy, who identified the species in the first comment below. Considering I don’t have a Ph.D. in Entomology, I don’t feel so bad.

[Colletes] are virtually indistinguishable from some of the Andrenidae mining bees. Colletes are honey bee size, and have dramatic black and white banding on the abdomen. Some andrenids have similar markings, but are usually slightly smaller. Colletes tend to nest in dense aggregations, while andrenids are not usually as populous.
– Genus Colletes – Cellophane Bees, BugGuide.Net

I noticed the first entrance mound a couple of weeks ago, shortly after I put up the bat house. I saw a discoloration on the ground directly below the bat house, and thought it might be guano. On closer inspection, I thought it was an anthill.

This weekend, I was doing a lot of work near that corner of the house, and the presence of bees was more obvious, especially when I started digging up and dividing perennials (Hemerocallis and Hosta) from a bed I was preparing for a new sunny native plant border.

I also noticed that the bees were entering and leaving what I had taken to be ant hills. Here’s the area where they’re all nesting. There are six entrance holes visible in this photo. There are a couple more hidden beneath leaves. The area is less than a square foot.

Here’s a closer view of the three entrances to the left. Zoom in and check out the leftmost one. There’s a little bee in there checking me out.

When I saw all this activity around numerous holes, I thought I might have a hive. Since they’re adjacent to the house, I was worried that they might move in. Before I did anything with them, I wanted to identify them to find out what they were.

To photograph this individual, I captured it in a plastic jug and placed it in the refrigerator for a few hours. When I retrieved it, it was inert, and I first feared I had killed it. When I took it into the backyard, where temperatures were still in the 70s, thankfully it slowly revived. I placed it on a piece of graph paper from my notebook for scale. The squares are 1/4″.

Here are two more views of the same individual. When I was done, I returned it back to the nesting area. Not realizing these are solitary bees, I thought it would return to the hive. It flew off, instead. I hope it returns and is able to find its own nest, again.

I want to take some more shots. I think I can get a shot of the wing venation without harming the individual. I’ll be more careful to not keep the subject away from its nest for so long next time. Maybe only a half-hour of chilling is all I would need to get my shots.

I’m not satisfied with the depth of field (DOF) in any of these shots. My macro lens has a focal length of 105mm (digital, around 150mm equivalent 35mm), which compresses DOF. Using the flash helped a lot. A tripod would be better. I’ll try some different options on my next attempts.

Links

Colletes thoracicus, Discover Life
Bee Watchers 2008
Family Andrenidae – Mining Bees, BugGuide.Net

Garden Blogging Bloom Day, May 2008

Posted on 2008-05-15 by admin

2012-01-14: Corrected ID of Bearded Iris ‘Gracchus’, which I had incorrectly id’d as I. neglecta.

Part of my backyard native plant garden.

It’s Garden Blogging Bloom Day, the 15th of the month, when garden bloggers all over the world report on what’s blooming in their gardens.

I’ve organized this by the four gardens, one for each side of the house: the native plant garden in the backyard, the shady and sunny borders on the north and south, and the heirloom garden in the front yard. The heirloom bulbs in the front yard are nearly done; just one Tulip lingers on. The wildflowers in the native plant garden have most of the action right now.

This is my first report for Garden Blogging Bloom Day. I didn’t get to take any shots specifically for this post. I’ve uploaded an added what I have. If there’s something in particular you’re curious to see, let me know in a comment.

Native Plant Garden

Wildflowers in the native plant garden

In alphabetical order by botanical name.

Amsonia tabernaemontana, Eastern Bluestar
Aquilegia canadensis, Eastern Columbine
Chrysogonum virginianum “Allen Bush”, Green & Gold
Dicentra eximia “Aurora”, white-flowering Eastern Bleeding Heart
Iris setosa canadensis
Lonicera sempervirens, Trumpet Honeysuckle
Phlox stolonifera “Sherwood Purple”, Creeping Phlox
Stylophorum diphyllum, Celandine or Woodland Poppy
Tiarella “Running Tapestry”
Viola, white-flowering, unidentified species, possibly Viola striata, Creamy Violet
Zizia aurea, golden zizia

Iris setosa canadensis

Lonicera sempervirens

Here’s the unknown violet. I think it’s Viola striata, Creamy Violet. Any ids?

Zizia aurea

Shady Border

Corydalis cheilanthifolia
Corydalis “Berry Exciting”
Epimedium x versicolor “Sulphureum”, Barrenwort
Rodgersia podophylla? This has a tall, 3-foot spike on it, and it’s still only in bud.

Epimedium x versicolor “Sulphureum”, Barrenwort

Sunny Border

Part of the sunny/long border

Geranium macrorrhizum, another pass-along.
Geranium macrorrhizum “Variegatum”
Bearded Iris “Dee’s Purple.” Not a real cultivar name, just what I call it. It’s a tall, purple Beared Iris, a pass-along I got from Blog Widow John’s mother’s (Dee) house in upstate New York after she died several years ago.
Tradescantia, Spiderwort, a pass-along I got from a neighbor

Geranium macrorrhizum

Iris “Dee’s Purple”

Heirloom Garden

Heirloom Bearded Iris ‘Gracchus’, introduced 1884
Tulip “Clara Butt” (Heirloom, 1880)
The Tree Peony just finished up a few days ago.

Heirloom Bearded Iris ‘Gracchus’, introduced 1884

Links

GBBD, May 2008, May Dreams Gardens

Local ecotypes available from Oak Grove Farms at Union Square Greenmarket

Posted on 2008-05-11 by admin

Handing out shopping bags at the NYC Wildflower Week table at Union Square.

First thing last Saturday, May 3, I went to Union Square in Manhattan to attend the kickoff of NYC Wildflower Week. There was a table where volunteers and Parks staff handed out tote bags with information about native plants. I didn’t get to stick around for the tours of the native plant garden in Union Square Park. The highlights for me were meeting Marielle Anzelone, Parks Ecologist, and the opportunity to acquire local ecotypes of six native plant species from Oak Grove Farms (changed to Nature’s Healing Farm), one of the Greenmarket vendors:

Eupatorium maculatum, Spotted Joe-Pye Weed
Helenium autumnale, Sneezeweed
Monarda fistulosa, Wild Bergamot
Panicum virgatum, Switch Grass
Penstemon digitalis, Tall White Beardtongue
Pycnanthemum virginianum, Mountain Mint

Local ecotype native plants for sale at Oak Grove Farms’ Greenmarket stand

What’s “native”?

A native plant species is one which grows naturally without human intervention. “Native” is both broad and relative. Native to where? And to what habitat? What ecosystem? Native to North America? The eastern United States? The Mid-Atlantic or New England? Is it native to New York City? To Brooklyn (Kings County)? Are they native to the “wooded plains” from which “Flatbush” got its name?

Most native plants commercially available, especially at the retail level, are selections or cultivars of species. Selecting for more compact forms is common, but selections are made for many reasons: the color of flowers, fruits or fall foliage, for example. In other words, they’ve been selected for their horticultural rather than ecological value.

What’s a “local ecotype”?

Within a species, an ecotype is a genetically unique population that is adapted to its local environment [Wikipedia]. A local ecotype is propagated from local natural populations. In this case, the plants have been propagated by the Staten Island Greenbelt from natural populations of each species occurring in or around New York City.

Local ecotypes are not just geographically distributed. Other important factors are differences in moisture, exposure to sun or shade, extremes of winter or summer temperatures and humidity, and so on. Ecotypes may also differ along these ecological gradients.

Why grow native plants?

In the United States, native plants are enjoying a resurgence in interest and popularity. For the gardener, making choices about native plants comes down to examining and expressing one’s reasons for wanting to grow native plants in the garden.

Growing native plants feeds my curiosity about and interest in the natural world. It’s a way for me to converse with the genius loci, the spirit of the place, where I garden. Most of all, I hope to provide food and shelter for native wildlife, especially birds and insects.

The native plant garden I’m developing in my backyard has a wide range of “native” plants. Many of them are selections and cultivars; some of these, such as a variegated pokeweed, would never persist in the wild. Others are not native to New York City, or even New York state, but to larger ecological provinces such as New England or the Mid-Atlantic Coast.

From growing native selections and cultivars over more than 20 decades, I’ve learned from experience that wildlife value is often reduced or even lost when native plants are selected for their horticultural merits. I’ve grown several different cultivars of Lonicera sempervirens, the native (and non-invasive) trumpet honeysuckle. Hummingbirds have shown little interest in any of them; they may be drawn to my garden by the shape and color of my honeysuckle’s flowers, but they feed on other nearby plants, if they stay at all.

Which is why I’ve always sought local ecotypes of native plants. Unknown millenia of co-evolution with local conditions and other species is encoded in their genetic material. If I want to garden for wildlife, I can do no better than attempt to recreate a microcosm of the natural world where I garden.

Oak Grove Farms

Note: Name changed to Nature’s Healing Farm

Oak Grove Farms Greenmarket stand at the northwest corner of the Saturday Union Square Greenmarket, Broadway and West 17th Street.

Oak Grove Farms, from Clinton Corners in upstate New York, is one of the founding members of the Greenmarket in New York City.

Oak Grove Farms is a family owned and operated nursery in the Hudson Valley. It was started by Lenore & Herman Carvalho as Carvalho Greenhouses over 30 years ago! Their son Tony joined them almost as soon as he could walk and carry a hose.

The farm was renamed Oak Grove Farms about 10 years ago, after the Carvalho name sake: Carvalho means Oak in Portuguese …

Herman and Lenore, are ready to retire now, so Tony, and his new wife, Andrea are picking up the reins. Together they hope to expand, the nursery into a real organic farm, with animals and crops!
– About, Oak Grove Farms

Ethics

A final note: never remove plants from the wild. This is poaching.

Ask your sources how they obtain their plants. Early in my urban gardening, I ordered some plants for the wildflower section of the East Village garden. When they arrived, they clearly had been collected from the wild. Removed from their natural habitat to garden conditions, several of them didn’t survive the first year. I might as well have planted cut flowers. I’ve regretted those purchases ever since.

Find and support nurseries and growers that are propagating and growing their own plants. That’s the best way we can increase the demand for ethically-propagated native plants, foster their availability from commercial sources, and protect them in the wild.

Resources

Native Plant Database, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
PLANTS Database (Native and Introduced), U.S. Department of Agriculture

Links

Natural Resources Group, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation
NYC Wildflower Week
Oak Grove Farms
Staten Island Greenbelt
Torrey Botanical Society
Marielle Anzelone
Urban Habitats, Volume 5, May 2008: What is Local?

Saturday, May 3: Bay Ridge Narrows Botanical Gardens Spring Festival

Posted on 2008-04-29 by admin

Crabapple, taken last fall at the Narrows Botanical Gardens

This Saturday, May 3 (rain date Sunday, May 4), the Narrows Botanical Garden in Bay Ridge is holding their annual Spring Festival:

Join us for our 13th Annual Spring Festival on Saturday, May 3rd between 10am and 4pm (rain date Sunday, May 4th). Browse among our many Craft Booths where you are sure to find something that catches your eye. Stroll along the Shore Road Promenade and meet some of our talented artists whose Art Exhibits will be for sale along the fence line of the gardens.

If gardening is your love, you may just find that special plant, shrub or flower that would suit your taste just in time for spring planting at our Plant Sale! Or, maybe you just have a question that needs answering on plants or gardening, our NBG experts would be glad to help.

It’s a Family Event…so bring the kids! The NBG knows that kids are our future! What better way to introduce them to their environment then exposing them to the beauty of the gardens. Showing them how just a few people volunteering together made that difference.

Fun Stuff for Kids! Native Plant Tours: See who can spot a frog, turtle or fish in our pond! Paint a Flower Pot: plant it up in time for Mothers Day. Face Painting. Story telling.
– via email

Narrows Botanical Gardens is in Bay Ridge, along Shore Road between Bay Ridge Avenue and 72nd Street. When I visited it for the first time last fall, due to sidewalk construction along Shore Road, only the northernmost entrance, closest to Bay Ridge Avenue, was open. Unfortunately, the Native Plant Garden – and Turtle Sanctuary! – was also closed when I visited.

Nestled between beautiful Shore Road and the sparkling waters of The Narrows, in the welcoming community of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, four and a half acres of rambling parkland have been transformed by the inspiration and nurturing of a community of volunteers into the Narrows Botanical Gardens.

The Turtle Sanctuary in the Native Plant Garden. Since 1995, this verdant collection of hills, pathways, and gorgeous harbor views has blossomed into a lush conservatory of nature’s beauty and brilliance, providing an unequaled opportunity to stroll amid fragrant blossoms bustling with butterflies, a bubbling brook where turtles sun on the rocks, majestic Redwood trees that seem to touch the sky, and delicate orchids growing wild in a Native Plant Garden. Linger at our city’s only roadside lily pond, or promenade through the towering Linden Tree Allée. Snap portraits at the picturesque Rock Wall bench, or find meditative calm in the Zen Garden.

… And, when you have visited the Narrows Botanical Gardens, strolled its pathways and smelled its roses, you will be amazed to learn it is wholly created by, built by, and nurtured and maintained by volunteers, making the Narrows Botanical Gardens one of the largest community gardens in our great City of New York.

Narrows Botanical Gardens, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, October 22, 2007

Links

Narrows Botanical Gardens

May 3-10: NYC Wildflower Week

Posted on 2008-04-28 by admin

Dicentra cucullaria, Dutchman’s Breeches, with Onoclea sensibilis, Sensitive Fern, poking through, in the Native Flora Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

This Saturday, May 3, the Torrey Botanical Society kicks off NYC Wildflower Week:

NYC Wildflower Week celebrates all things green and wild in the Big Apple—the hundreds of native flowers, trees, shrubs and grasses that call NYC home. It’s a week of inspired environmental learning, with dozens of free activities, walks and talks for all New Yorkers to enjoy.

The week of events actually kicks off this Friday evening, with the first of a series of lectures, at NYU:

Friday May 2nd, 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm
New York University
“Native Wildflowers of New York City”
Discover the City’s 25,000 green acres—filled with majestic trees, wildflowers, grasses and ferns— the wild, unplanted thread in the Big Apple’s ecological fabric. Learn what makes a plant native and why local flora is important. Explore how life in the five boroughs means it’s not easy being green due to characteristics of urban forests and threats to indigenous flora. We’ll also discuss what you can do, including how to go native in the garden.

Speaker Marielle Anzelone is a botanist, landscape designer and founder of NYC Wildflower Week. This introduction to the flora of the five boroughs will be hosted by the Wallerstein Collaborative for Urban Environmental Education at NYU.

Space is limited.
RSVP by email to kathleen [dot] oliver (at) nyu [dot] edu or call 212-992-9362.

Saturday May 3rd, 8am to 3pm
Greenmarket Events

Free NYC Wildflower Week Bags!
Pick up a NYC Wildflower Week bag for your shopping and get information on the week’s events and why gardening with native plants is the way to go.

Gardening Advice and Demonstrations
Look for our tent at the south side of the Greenmarket. Marielle Anzelone will provide native plant gardening advice and demonstrations throughout the day. Find out what makes a plant native, how to attract butterflies and birds, and the best ways to start a native plant garden.

Greenmarket Native Plant Initiative
As a result of this unique program, Greenmarket vendor Oak Grove Farms will offer certified NYC native plants for sale for the first time starting Saturday May 3, 2008!

Sunday May 4th, 8am to 3pm
Native Plant Display Garden

Wildflower Giveaway
Come by the Native Plant Display Garden (15th St. & Union Square West) from 12 to 3 pm to get a free native plant seedling while supplies last.

Natives
Invasives

Links

NYC Wildflower Week
Torrey Botanical Society
Marielle Anzelone

Native Flora Garden, BBG, April 2008

Posted on 2008-04-18 by admin

Sanguinaria canadensis, Bloodroot, Native Flora Garden, BBG

Set aside the Cherries for a moment. Now is the time to visit the Native Flora Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

There’s always something to see in this garden at any time of year – it’s a great spot for birdwatching, for example – but right now, during this brief week or two, is when most of the spring ephemerals are in their peak bloom. Check it out soon, or you’ll have to wait another year for this show to repeat itself.

With more than two acres divided into eight geographical zones, this wildflower garden exhibits native plants growing in the New York Metropolitan Area, a region known for its natural diversity.

Dating back to 1911, the Native Flora Garden isn’t just another wildflower display. In 1931, this wild retreat was ecologically designed to support nine distinct plant communities found within a 100-mile radius of New York City: serpentine rock, dry meadow, kettle pond, bog, pine barrens, wet meadow and stream, deciduous woodland, and limestone ledge, as well as a border mound with several representatives of the region’s coniferous forests.

All plants in this garden are appropriate for their particular ecological niches, determined by environmental factors such as topography, geology, soil acidity or alkalinity, moisture, drainage, and light.

I took this set of photos last night on my way to Botany class. This is not even everything that’s blooming right now, just the ones I had time to shoot before I had to head off to class.

Caltha palustris, Marsh Marigold

Dicentra eximia, Bleeding-Heart

Erythronium americanum, Trout-Lily

Dicentra cucullaria, Dutchman’s Breeches

Uvularia sessilifolia, Wild Oats

I am also quite fond of ferns.

Osmunda cinnamonea, Cinnamon Fern, with some Skunk Cabbage behind

Osmunda regalis, Royal Fern

Links

Native Flora Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Brooklyn Native, New York City Garden, is a great writeup of tips and sources if, like me, you’re interested in growing native plants in your own Brooklyn or NYC garden.
Native Plants Database, Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

Taxonomy

Features

Culture

Wildlife value

References

Links

Trees

Vines

Shrubs

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Posts

Photos

Links

The Dr. Steven Clemants Wildflower Fund

Related Posts

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Links

Native Plant Garden

Shady Border

Sunny Border

Heirloom Garden

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Native Plant Profiles

Links

What’s “native”?

What’s a “local ecotype”?

Why grow native plants?

Oak Grove Farms

Ethics

Resources

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