Latin for Gardeners: September 2025

Latin for Gardeners
September’s Native Maryland Plant

Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash
(skiz-ah-KEER-ee-um sko-PAR-ee-um)
Common Name: Little Bluestem

Get ready for it! The changing of the seasons brings about some of the finest displays of color in nature.  As we move from summer to fall, many plants will turn deep red, purple, orange or yellow.  Others, like Little Bluestem, will change to a more subtle reddish tan, providing a calming effect when planted in drifts, as in the Delaware Botanic Garden, a fabulous place to observe the changing of the seasons. 

However, as watershed stewards, we know it’s not about looks when choosing what to plant.  How a plant functions and fits our site conditions is a more important consideration. Is it providing value to our watershed?  In the case of Schizachyrium scoparium, the answer is a resounding, yes!  In fact, Little Bluestem is used in many stormwater best-management practices (BMPs).  It has an extensive and fibrous root system that can reach over 5’, making it drought tolerant and good for erosion control.  It’s excellent at stabilizing slopes and at filtering runoff, improving water quality. Its heat tolerance makes it useful along driveways or in parking lot islands where access to water is difficult or non-existent.  It’s a low-maintenance grass; unlike a lawn, it requires no fertilizer and only a single pruning in late winter or early spring to look its best in a home or community landscape.  

By itself, Schizachyrium scoparium is an attractive grass that can serve many functions.  Its ability to grow in poor soil conditions makes it one of the most widely occurring grasses in the U.S.   It may come as no surprise that it is native to all but four states (California, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada). The cultivar, ‘Standing Ovation’, is found at most nurseries, and is known for its wider, red tipped blades, and a more upright habit in improved soil conditions.

Planting it alone is common but there are also many native perennials that can serve as excellent companion plants to Little Bluestem.  It is often used to provide a soft contrast to the seedheads of coneflower and other native perennials.  It’s a common prairie plant so most native plants that can tolerate dry, full sun sites can make a good companion – it does especially well in sandy soil.  S. scoparium is a native grass that “is least adapted to growing in close proximity to broad leaved species1”; planting among shrubs would not be the most effective use of this grass.

What about supporting life? There’s a lot to tell there too.  Little Bluestem is host to 9 skipper butterflies. And the small tuft at the base of S. scoparium provides cover, nesting material and sometimes a home for ground nesting birds. And to top it off, the fluffy, white seedheads that form on its spikelets provide winter food for overwintering birds like finch, grosbeak, and towhees. 

I’ll admit, the fact that it has lovely summer and fall color is, indeed, a great feature of this plant, but there’s a long list of other reasons to use it in your garden too.

Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013
Watershed Steward Class 7/Anne Arundel Tree Trooper
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)
aligmilligan@gmail.com

Latin for Gardeners: August 2025

Latin for Gardeners
August’s Native Maryland Plant

Eutrochium fistulosum (Barratt) E. E. Lamont
(yoo-TRO-kee-um fist-yoo-LOW-sum)

Common Name: Trumpetweed, Hollow Joe-Pye-Weed

Some plants just amaze you when you’re in their presence - Trumpetweed is one of those plants. It’s a staggeringly tall plant that towers over observers and almost any neighboring perennial or shrub. With many weeks left before the end of summer, Trumpetweed is still going strong, its long bloom period is another of its awesome features. The mauve to purple flowers sit atop hollow but robust stems – the stems lack the spots that are found on a related plant, Spotted Joe-Pye-Weed (Eutrochium maculatum), and are one of the ways to differentiate the two species.

Eutrochium species, in general, are magnificent at attracting butterflies due to their abundant nectar and wide, flat flower heads that offer a stable landing pad. They’re an excellent alternative to the invasive Butterfly bush (Buddleia spp.) since they not only supply nectar, but as we’ve learned from Dr. Doug Tallamy (1) , they “also provide food for the larvae of more than three dozen species of Lepidoptera.” The plight of butterflies has been in the news for some time but a recent study underscores just how dire the situation has become. This research was focused on butterflies, but we know moths and other pollinators are similarly suffering dramatic losses. Planting host plants, lots of host plants, is one way to help reverse this trend - reducing the use of pesticides is another.

The height of Eutrochium spp. can be intimidating to most gardeners – do not be afraid. There are many smart methods you can use to add this species to your garden. Below are just a few of the ways to keep the plant upright, if this is one of your concerns. There are also cultivars of some of the other already shorter Eutrochium species that may be more acceptable to gardeners. E.g. Eutrochium dubium ‘Little Joe’.

The history of this plant’s common name, Joe Pye Weed, has long been discussed, with several different stories describing its origin. Interestingly, in 2017, two scholars did their research and published a paper in the Great Lakes Botanist journal. They established that the plant was likely named for Joseph Shauquethqueat, an esteemed Mohican sachem, known to his white neighbors as Joe-Pye. Having spent my youth in New England, the original home to the Mohegans (often confused with the Mohicans), I am somewhat familiar with this Hudson River Valley (present-day Eastern New York and western Massachusetts) tribe and their place in history.

I’m wondering, since many botanical names have been changed due to modern DNA analysis, including this genus, Eutrochium (2) , would there be any objection to changing the common name from Joe-Pye-Weed, to Shauquethqueat, thus removing the ‘weed’ and providing a more accurate provenance for this remarkable species?

(1) ‘Bringing Nature Home’, Doug Tallamy

(2) Known previously as Eupatorium fistulosum. Bonesets which have opposite leaves are still Eupatorium spp.

Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013
Watershed Steward Class 7/Anne Arundel Tree Trooper
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)
aligmilligan@gmail.com

Latin for Gardeners: May 2025

Latin for Gardeners
May’s Native Maryland Plant

Aruncus dioicus (Walter) Fernald
(uh-RUN-kus dee-OH-ih-kus)
Common Name: Goat’s-beard, Bride’s-feathers

Aruncus dioicus, a clump-forming herbaceous perennial, makes a great addition to a moist, part-shade garden. Its feathery white plumes rise high above the plant and bloom May through July, typically for 10-14 days; they resemble the non-native astilbe (aka False Goat’s-Beard). Aruncus dioicus can be a slow-growing plant but once established it will grow to the size of a shrub and will occupy a large area before dying back each year.

The plant’s species name, dioicus, refers to there being separate male and female plants. The male plant is considered showier due to its many protruding stamens1 when flowering - plants are generally not identified as one or the other when offered for sale. The alternate, pinnately compound and serrated leaves are also an attractive feature of this plant.

Of course, it’s not only the aesthetics of a plant to be considered when choosing plants for a garden.  A plant’s value should also be based on its contribution to biodiversity and the life it supports. These native plants will support many very small insects that are not often seen on other more familiar native plants. Small bees, hoverflies, beetles, spiders and true bugs2 will be found, some seeking nectar and pollen from the small bowl-shaped flowers.  Insectivorous birds will benefit from these insects as they support an ecological food chain. Aruncus dioicious is also a host plant for the Dusky Azure Butterfly (Celastrina nigra), which unfortunately is considered extirpated from Maryland.3 This butterfly can be found in rich deciduous forest in the Appalachians and some areas of the Midwest.

Fortunately, the Rose-breasted grosbeak is not a rare bird in Maryland. They migrate from the tropics in late spring, arriving to backyards and deciduous forests of Maryland in late April and early May.  Like the Goat’s-beard male plant, the male bird is much showier than their female counterpart.  You’ll easily recognize them from the red chevron that extends down their white breast. For most of the year, over half of their diet is made up of insects – they also enjoy seeds and berries. Their large, strong, triangular beaks allow them to eat large grasshoppers, crickets and other insects with tough exoskeletons – a splendid bird to have visiting a garden, wouldn’t you agree?

1Stamens are the male reproductive organs of flowering plants.

2True bugs are a group of insects belonging to the order Hemiptera. They are known for their specialized mouthparts which are used for piercing and sucking.

3A species that was once a viable component of the fauna of Maryland, but for which no naturally occurring populations are known to exist. The spread of invasive garlic mustard (Alliaria officinalis) is often listed as a reason for habitat loss of the Dusky Azure.

Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013
Watershed Steward Class 7/Anne Arundel Tree Trooper
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)
aligmilligan@gmail.com

Latin for Gardeners: April 2025

Latin for Gardeners
April’s Native Maryland Plant

Acer rubrum L.
(AY-sir ROO-brum)
Common Name: Red Maple

I’m seeing red, are you? 

Acer rubrum is one of the most abundant, widespread trees in North America; it is adaptable to most conditions across its native range and is a prolific seed producer.  It is considered a keystone species1, although its numbers are not in the top five for supporting life. The one growing in my front yard is frequently visited by bees in the spring and woodpeckers year-round, red-bellied, of course. These beautiful birds, with just a blush of red on their bellies can often blend in with the red and black of the tree, it’s just their red cap and nape that are conspicuously red and can give them away – and of course their relentless drumming for insects. With their barbed tongue and sticky spit, they’re able to access insects hiding in tiny crevices of trees.

Acer rubrum is the state tree of Rhode Island, the Ocean State, my original home state.  I grew up loving this tree throughout all four seasons.  In spring and in summer I frequently climbed the one in our front yard, pulled the winged “helicopter” fruits from its branches to press on my nose and raked piles of its leaves in the fall - just so I could jump in them and wrap myself in a blanket of red.  And then in winter I watched from my bedroom window as this beautiful canopy tree held its own against the strong nor’easters that frequent New England. 

My intention in choosing Acer rubrum for this month was to urge you to consider it as a tree to plant on Arbor Day, April 25th.  I do encourage you to find one in your neighborhood, to look at its small flowers which bloom in spring and are a valuable food source for bees, and to plant one if you are really set on a maple.  However, because of its ability to spread so rapidly on its own I’m more inclined to plant a tree that can find it hard to compete and yet, it is one of the most majestic and longest-lived plants, it’s also rated #1 as a keystone species - an oak. I’d urge you to consider a Quercus rubra a northern red oak or maybe a Quercus alba, the white oak, it’s also the state tree of Maryland, the Free State, it’s where I now call home.

1 https://homegrownnationalpark.org/keystone-trees-and-shrubs/

Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013 
Watershed Steward Class 7/Anne Arundel Tree Trooper
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)
aligmilligan@gmail.com