Pre-Spring Fever

A late winter snow on last year’s plants

Don’t clean up yet! Get those native seeds planted for stratification.

If you didn’t get a fresh two inches of snow yesterday like we did, you might be tempted to head outside and start cutting down the grasses and native plants you left standing last fall. Don’t do it! Insects are still overwintering in the stalks and there may be some berries or seeds left for the birds. Wait another couple weeks until you see some green poking through the ground. Besides, the snow on last year’s plants looks kind of pretty. The birds have even started singing adding to the late winter show.

It is is time to plant those native seeds that need a cold period, or stratification, to germinate. I use a variety of methods. One effective method is using plastic gallon jugs that make good planters. I rinse them thoroughly, then cut most of the way around leaving the handle to attach the top to the bottom. I put several holes in the bottom, then fill with good potting soil about half way up the bottom half. I have successfully started two different varieties of seeds with a stick dividing them. Don’t forget to use a permanent marker to label each side and include: common name, Latin name, starting date, source of seed. The only problem I have had is small animals (I suspect “whaskaly whabbits”) eating my young seedlings. I have had excellent germination rates this way. If you place them outside, make sure you tape the jugs shut to discourage the eating of your seeds or seedlings.

Plastic gallon jugs make good seed starters. Yes, I reuse them.

Yay for Native Volunteers

Yellow violet, Viola pubescens

One of the advantages of the more relaxed “messy” gardening habit is the happy accident of native volunteers. Squirrels and birds such as blue jays are unintentional helpers distributing many native trees and shrubs. Your new native plants attract these helpers who collect seeds and sometimes find locations in your yard for storing the food for later. Sometimes they forget their hiding places and the seeds sprout. I have walnut, hackberry, oak, crabapple, and magnolia growing as volunteers in my gardens. If you catch the seedlings early you can often move them to more agreeable locations or pot them up for friends.

Removing invasive species also can bring pleasant surprises. Native plants can still be alive in the soil beneath the honeysuckle trying to crowd them out. They may sprout if the conditions are suitable. Native plants are amazingly resilient.

Native prairie and woodland plants can also be transported into your yard by birds and other animals. Ironweed, Veronia fasciculata, appeared in my pocket prairie as a volunteer. Ironweed is a tall, purple flowered, prairie plant found in moist prairies and many natural areas. It can be spotted growing along many highways in mid to late summer. It is an important pollinator plant attracting many bees, insects, and butterflies.

Another native plant that often volunteers is snake root, Ageratina altissima. Snake root is a fast spreader, very aggressive in producing seed. It is very useful for pollinators but contains toxins poisonous to humans and some animals. It contains beautiful white flowers in late summer and fall and grows anywhere. Caution is recommended in areas where domesticated animals are grown.

Indian hemp/dogbane, Apocynum cannabinum, is an interesting volunteer that shares features with milkweeds. It does not feed monarch caterpillars but was used by Native Americans to treat rheumatism and make rope. It is poisonous to dogs so don’t plant it in your dog yard. Some moths such as the hummingbird moth feed on this plant. It grows in the mid summer and has small white flowers. I’ve seen it grow as quickly as 3-4 inches a day.

Honey vine milkweed, Cynanchum leave, is another native plant volunteer. It is a vine and will grow in sun or shade. Monarchs will lay their eggs on the leaves, as their caterpillars will feed on the leaves. Honey vine is in the same family as the asclepias/milkweed family.

Fleabane, Erigeron strigosus, is an annual flowering native volunteer blooming in the summer. It has attractive daisy-like flowers and feeds insects. It is known for treating migraines and may have anti-inflammatory properties. When fleabane and honey vine first appeared in my yard, I thought they were weeds until I saw them used by insects.

Jewelweed/Touch-me-not, Impatiens capensis, is a native volunteer in the impatiens family related to the popular shade loving ornamental annual. Jewelweed prefers damp conditions. My neighbor’s gutters empty into my backyard making the perfect conditions that brought the jewelweed. It comes in yellow and orange colors with yellow being the more common variety. It’s seed pods explode when mature, giving it one of its other common names, touch-me-not. It grows about three feet tall and spreads to a thicket when permitted to do so.

Evening primrose, Oenothera biennis, is a very common native to disturbed areas left unmoed. It is brought as a volunteer by birds and has small yellow flowers that open in the evening. In gardens it can get quite tall. I had some growing by my small pond over six feet tall. It has been used to control pain from menstruation in women. All parts of the plant are edible from roots to flowers. It attracts wildlife.

Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus quinqeufolia, is a native volunteer that volunteered into my beds. It loves to extend itself up tree trunks attaching itself to the bark. Its leaves have lovely fall color turning shades of red and orange. Preferring the shade, it is content to extend along the ground too. It is tolerant of many soil conditions and can be used to control erosion. It provides shelter for wildlife.

Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana, is a marvelous exotic looking plant that can grow over eight feet tall. Since it is poisonous it should be kept out of the dog yard. It is known by many names such as dragonberry, pigeonberry, inkberry. It is used in traditional medicine and is food for songbirds. The unobtrusive flowers turn into beautiful dark red berries. It has naturalized into parts of Asia and Europe.

Canada goldenrod, Solidago canadensis, is possibly the most common native plant growing in fields and appearing in my yard as a volunteer. It aggressively spreads by rhizome and seed. It has many benefits for pollinators, livestock, and humans. Growing 4-5 feet tall, it has beautiful bright yellow flowers that are always filled with insects.

White Wood aster, Symphyotrichum ericoides, blooms in the fall with tiny white flowers. It grows in shade and at the woodland edge. It too volunteered into my gardens and spreads quickly from seed. It benefits pollinators and has a mounding habit when the plants mature.

Violets of many colors have volunteered into my shade beds. Viola sororia is the common purple violet. Viola blanda is white and somewhat viney. Viola canadensis is white and grows in clumps. Viola pubescens is yellow and very uncommon but did come by itself unassisted. Violets are wonderful ground covers and have a delicate fragrance and are edible. They are an early source of nectar for pollinators. They are food for skippers, a variety of wildlife, and the only food fritillary butterflies will eat. They’ll grow anywhere and frequently turn up in lawns.

Virginia waterleaf, Hydrophyllum virginianum, is a native volunteer that prefers damp locations, having first appeared near my little pond on its own. Its flowers are unobtrusive but its leaves are attractive making it an excellent groundcover for damp shade. It attracts bees and flies.

I will also mention poison ivy, Toxicodendron radicans, volunteers readily into any garden or woodland area. Yes, it is a native and important to many birds and wildlife as a food source. Many humans are very allergic to it. Even so, it does have its place in nature. If you have room consider letting some survive for wildlife.

Mulch with Native Plants, or leaves

Native sedum, Sedum ternatum

Many people of the gardening variety are getting wise about using native plants in their yards. They’ve heard the fuss and want to try them out. They visit a native plants nursery or read about them online, and enthusiastically want one of everything, (especially if they’re a plantaholic like me). My advice is limit the types of plants but plant more of those natives you choose. Plant in drifts of at least three plants, seven or nine is better. Plant closer together than experts say. Mulch with more plants!

Mulch with native plants, you say. Whatever do you mean? Picture a prairie or the woods (minus honeysuckle, of course). Do you see mulch around the plants? No, just more plants or leaves. It’s ok to mulch with leaves too. You don’t even have to shred them, but they’ll be incorporated into the soil faster if you do. The goal is to cover up bare ground, because guess what happens if you don’t? Something will start growing there. Chances are it will be a weed, that is a plant growing somewhere it’s not wanted. Nature abhors a vacuum. This is oh so true.

I’m all in favor of allowing volunteers of the natives you plant to thrive. If you get too many, just give some to your friends. Plus, the plants are telling you where they want to grow. I planted some Asclepias Incarnata, otherwise known as Swamp Milkweed in my mini prairie. It promptly seeded itself by my pond as a volunteer. OK, it took two years which is pretty prompt for plants moving on their own. Duh… it’s known as SWAMP milkweed. That should have given me a hint of what conditions it prefers. Silly me. If you mulch thickly with pine straw or hardwood mulch, your plants will never get a chance to communicate with you.

Yes, it does matter what natives you grow. Choose the plants that will thrive in the growing conditions you have and let them have at it. Mulch with more natives. Here’s a list of plants of smaller stature that can be used around the taller natives in various locations. Remember to check your growing conditions for sun or shade, wet or dry.

• Violets, Viola, are very common in many places. Chances are you won’t have to plant them. They usually grow in clumps and spread by seed. You can find violets in many colors: the common purple, white, yellow, red, and combinations of those colors. They provide food for insects and butterflies. They are edible by humans too.

• Native Sedum, Argentina anserina, is a gorgeous plant. A low grower, it spreads by spreading out and by seed. In spring its flowers are small. It prefers damp woodland or woodland edge conditions.

• Widows cross sedum, Sedum pulchellum, is a stonecrop that grows in sunny rock gardens in the southern parts of Ohio. It has pink flowers with lime green leaves. I don’t grow it yet, but I’m going to look for it.

• Native pachysandra or allegheny spurge,Pachysandra procumbens, is an evergreen subshrub that prefers dry partial shade. I have found it very attractive with its white flowers in spring but not as hardy in our area as other ground covers. It deserves to be planted more, an excellent native alternative to the more easy to find Japanese pachysandra.

• Wild strawberries, Fragaria virginiana, are wonderful ground cover. Be sure to plant the native variety with hairy petioles with three toothed leaves. The flowers are white and the fruit is edible and sweet.

• Creeping blue sedge, Carex laxiculmis, is a carex that deserves to be planted more. It spreads slowly by extensions. Its leaves are a greenish blue. It is wonderful under trees and shrubs.

• Silverweed, Argentina anserina, is an attractive grown cover native that spreads by seed and extending itself over the ground. It grows well in sun or shade and has small golden yellow flowers in spring.

• Clover Dalea purpurea, grows in full sun so it’s perfect for a lawn substitute. It has a pretty purple flower and attracts bees, butterflies, and insects. It grows about a foot tall and is not picky about moisture. The white clover, Trillium repens, often found in lawns is a native of Europe. Dalea can be sown in meadows that aren’t mowed often.

• Wild ginger, Asarum canadense, is a woodland plant that prefers damp shade. Its reddish flowers are pollinated by ants and grown close to the ground. It spreads nicely by extending itself in all directions.

• Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, is an evergreen mini shrub with lite pink flowers and bright red berries. The branches grow out near to the ground and sometimes drop and root. It was used by Native Americans as an antiseptic. The berries were used as food.

• Canada anenome, Anemonastrum canadense, is a lovely plant that is covered in white flowers in spring. It is a vigorous spreader and good ground cover plant. Beloved by pollinators it is happy with enough moisture and sun.

• Field pussytoes, Asarum canadense, forms a mat of foliage in dry rocky locations. It tolerates woodland edge and spreads by stolens. Its flowers are unusual looking and bloom in early summer.

• Big leaf aster, Aster macrophylla, gets its name from the heart shaped basil leaves. It is common in woodland gardens but is not picky about moisture or soil type. It has daisy like flowers that are white or light pink.

• Pennsylvania sedge, Carex pensylvanii, is one of my favorite sedges. Its thin foliage looks like a small green fountain. It looks lovely in large groups and is a wonderful shady turf grass alternative.

• James sedge, Carex jamesii, is a highly rated sedge that grows almost anywhere. It prefers part sun and dry to moist soil conditions. It is also fountain-like but it takes up a bit more space than Pennsylvania sedge.

• Christmas fern, Polystichum acrostichoides, is an evergreen fern that keeps its dark green fronds all winter. It is a wonderful woodland garden native and a good choice for a shaded slope to prevent erosion. There are other ferns that make good choices too.

• Virginia waterleaf, Hydrophyllum virginianum, is a volunteer in my garden. It likes moisture and partial sun. The flowers are white, blue or purple and appear in late spring. The leaves are spotted.

• Wild petunias, Ruellia humilis, is a delicate plant with purple flowers. It prefers drier woodland edge or open conditions with more sun. In my garden it blooms in early summer. It attracts butterflies.

• Wood or celandine poppy, Stylophorum diphyllum. is a wonderful spring blooming native with good sized buttery yellow flowers. It is an early bloomer and provides early food to insects. The seed pods dangle then pop open to distribute the seeds. It spreads well by seed but not too aggressively.

• Partridge pea, Stylophorum diphyllum, is an annual everyone should know. It has fern-like foliage and beautiful yellow flowers all summer. It attracts pollinators and will reseed itself once established. It prefers sunny and dry locations. It can be used when planting new prairies for blooms the first year while other natives are getting established.

• Golden ragwort, Packera aurea, can sometimes be mistaken for the invasive lesser celandine, but it is native and useful to insects. It grows in shady areas and has pretty yellow daisy-like flowers. It spreads by seed and underground rhizomes.

• Narrow leaf mountain mint, Pycnanthemum tenuifolium, is a good mint to use as ground cover since it has a shorter profile than other mints. It has a wonderful fragrance when touched. Its white flowers are favored by bees and butterflies. Give it sun and room to roam.

Get Messy

Let’s face it. Nature isn’t particularly neat and tidy. In looking to nature’s example, you don’t have to keep your yard neat and tidy either. In fact, most critters looking for food aren’t looking for bush balls or green carpet/turf grass. And when they find those leaves or flowers, they may take a bite or two. That’s ok.

If you’re planting native plants you realize that gardens are more than prettiness. They’re mealtime right up the food chain from the tiniest insect to biggest raptor. Sit back in your yards and enjoy the circulating critters as well as the native plants with holes in the leaves. Let your plants move where they may. Let your bluejays plant a tree or two. Get messy!

Our definition of gardens should change. Gardens can’t be about beauty alone. Gardens don’t belong to us alone even though we might pay the mortgage on the land where they reside. They belong also to the birds, insects, and animals that call it home. By excessive control and tidiness we take away their homes and food. So, plant the natives and let nature take charge. The rewards are worth it.