Sugg-Jeff-Tion: February 2023

We are more than halfway through the short, dreary, cold days of winter. As the days grow longer and nature teases us with a warm “false-spring” day here and there- it is easy to dream of the days of working outside with the heat of the sun on your back. We are almost there! However, resist the urge to do too much cleanup in the yard as our overwintering pollinators and other wildlife species are still lying dormant among the leaf litter and dry stems from last year’s blooms. Nature knows better and each species has their own preferred temperature photoperiod that triggers their emergence.

For some of our native bees, consistent temperatures above 50 degrees trigger their emergence from their overwintering slumber. Some species of butterfly may overwinter as adults, and can be observed fluttering around on bright, sunny, warm winter days. When cold weather follows, they return to their overwintering spot of bark or leaf litter. Others overwinter within their chrysalis and usually wait to emerge later in the season when flowers are beginning to bloom. Some species of amphibian and bats may also emerge on warm sunny days but know just what to do if the weather cools down again.

So, what should you do if you are eager to get started on your garden activities for the spring? Now is a great time to start planning new gardens. You can use WSA’s Conservation Landscape Design Tool to get started in planning new planting areas.

Not planning any new gardens this year and would rather focus on maintaining what you have? Create a maintenance plan or review and improve your existing one using tips from WSA’s Rainscaping Manual. Winter is also a great time to evaluate your gardens and plan your spring plant orders. Online catalogs sell out fast, so the earlier you can place your order, the better chance you have of getting the native plants you want.

Finally, if you read my last Sugg-Jeff-tion- it may be time to check on those seeds you have cold stratifying. Some may be ready to plant while others may need a longer stratification period.

So, take the time now to rest and reflect just like nature has intended. That way you are ready to have the best growing season yet when spring arrives in a few short weeks. That’s just my Sugg-Jeff-tion!

Jeffrey Popp, WSA Director of Restoration

jeff@aawsa.org

WSA's First Restoration Intern: Janelle Kellison

We would like to recognize Janelle Kellison for successfully completing her internship with WSA. Janelle is WSA's 1st Restoration Intern and she set the bar high!

During her time as the Restoration Intern, Janelle:

• Helped run more than 8 tree planting events, including one where she led the tree planting demonstration

• Organized and assisted with the delivery of over 200 trees and bags of mulch

• Created a new internal project database to help track essential statistics of the RePlant program

• Planted over 300 native trees, shrubs, and perennials

• Assisted 5 Stewards and over 75 volunteers with projects

We wish you all the best, Janelle and thank you for being an amazing intern!

Latin for Gardeners: January 2023

January’s Native Maryland Plant

Liquidambar styraciflua

(li-kwid am-BAR sty-RAS-i-FLU-a)

Common Name: Sweetgum

Some plants (and birds) get no respect.  Liquidambar styraciflua is one of these plants and turkey vultures are one of those birds.  Sweetgum is a medium to large size, moderate to rapidly growing shade tree that is very common across Maryland, especially in the Coastal Plain region where it often pioneers in old fields and riparian areas.  It is a forest tree that has adapted a tolerance to many different soil and site conditions, including occasional flooding; it has a high resistance to insects, is not browsed heavily by deer, and is a nitrogen fixing plant¹.

Its alternating, glossy, 5-lobed leaves have a distinctive star-like shape, emit a sweet fragrance when crushed, and turn many colors in the fall, ranging from yellow to shades of orange, red and even dark purple.  Its seeds are enjoyed by many birds including finch, mourning dove, towhee, and grosbeak. The tree develops a taproot, making it less susceptible to wind, and it seldom grows more than a single leader trunk and is valued as a hardwood for its use as lumber. So, what’s not to like?

Liquidambar styraciflua is monoecious, it has both male and female flowers that bloom in the spring.  As the female flowers mature, they turn hard and brown and develop a spikey exterior - and then drop to the forest floor.  The seed husks make the tree undesirable in many residential landscapes since these husks, aka ‘gumballs’, can clog a lawnmower, take years to decompose (not viable in a compost), and in the worst case their sharp spines can puncture your skin or act as rollerblades in your lawn, causing you to slip or even fall.

Now let’s talk turkey - turkey vulture, that is. Turkey vultures are common sights on roadways where they’re always looking for their next meal. Their lack of respect may be because they lack head feathers and eat roadkill, or possibly, it’s simply a lack of understanding.  The absence of head feathers is an adaptation that allows them to gorge on carrion with minimal cleaning afterwards; they eat roadkill because they’re the only scavenger birds that can’t kill their prey.² Their claws may not be as impressive as an eagle’s, but their beak is a superior tool, able to rip open a deer hide. However, their most unique attribute is their potent stomach acid, which allows them to eat rotting carcasses, even diseased animals.  They are extremely beneficial birds that remove decaying animals from our environment and prevent the spread of disease to other animals, including humans.

I won’t be planting a Liquidambar styraciflua anytime soon, nor will I be putting out food for vultures – but I am very happy to know they’re out there, keeping our soil healthy and preventing the spread of disease, respectively.

¹ Improve soil by taking nitrogen from the air and depositing it around their roots.

² Black vultures are known to be predatory and may kill small sick or injured animals.

Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013

Watershed Steward Class 7/CBLP

aligmilligan@gmail.com

Sugg-Jeff-Tion: January 2023

Think Spring….and Stratification!

Happy New Year!

Now that the holidays are over and our daylight hours are gradually getting longer, it’s time to begin thinking about our planting plans for the 2023 growing season.

You likely have already started to receive plant catalogs in the mail. While it may be too early to begin purchasing plants, it is a great time to start purchasing seeds. Seeds are a great and inexpensive way to increase the diversity of your planting project and grow species not commonly available in nurseries. 

Purchasing native plant seeds now allows time to pre-treat the seeds in order to simulate natural conditions that seeds would experience on the soil surface over-winter. This natural process is called cold stratification. The stratification process helps the seeds to break dormancy, encouraging the seed to germinate once the weather warms. Stratification can range from just a few months for some species such as Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) to years for many species of trillium.

While some species do not require stratification, the seeds of many plant species will not germinate without a stratification period. For more information and to learn about the different types of stratification, check out this Seed Stratification Guide.

So, if you want to experiment with growing your own native plants from seed, now is a great time to start! Just be sure to leave enough time for the stratification process.

Just a sugg-Jeff-tion!