Latin for Gardeners: October 2024

Latin for Gardeners

 

October’s Native Maryland Plant

Juncus effusus L.

(JUN-kus eff-YOO-sus)

Common Name: Soft Rush

October is Riparian Buffer month¹ – a time to reflect on the waterways that surround us and how we can each play a part in maintaining their health, for ourselves and for all the life that lives in, on and around our shorelines. The word riparian is from the Latin word ripa, meaning "bank" or "shore”, the Latin noun for river is riparius.  Riparian refers to the land that borders a river or body of water – including forests, floodplains or the outskirts of wetlands. Buffers are things that form a barrier to protect against or moderate the impact of other incompatible things. Riparian buffers are vegetated areas that safeguard streams and aquatic ecosystems from harmful things like stormwater pollution (pesticide, fertilizer, …), animal waste and sediment while also creating habitat and providing cooling shade to rivers. Raising awareness of the benefits and need for riparian buffers is one way we can all help preserve the health of the waterways we enjoy.

Juncus effusus is a plant often found in riparian buffers. Its fibrous roots help stabilize embankments and uptake nutrients - a major contributor to algal blooms. Its seeds are eaten by waterfowl while its long arching stems provide them protective habitat.

Many animals eat the seeds of Juncus effusus, including rabbits, songbirds, and waterfowl. Rushes provide habitat for amphibians and spawning areas for fish. Herons feed on the rootstalks of soft rush, and various wetland wading birds find shelter among the stems.

Juncus effusus can be an aggressive plant, its rhizomes weave together to provide excellent erosion control and to suppress weeds.  Because of its ability to tolerate total inundation and drought stress, Juncus effusus is especially useful in rain gardens or landscapes with fluctuating hydrology, a common feature in Maryland residential properties.

Our riparian areas can’t wait to be buffered from the increasing harm of stormwater pollution.  This fall we should all rush to find ways to use Soft Rush (or other native plants), in our own landscapes or communities, to help protect our streams and to provide habitat for the fauna that we love.  

¹ https://www.chesapeakelandscape.org/riparian-buffer-month/

Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013

Watershed Steward Class 7/CBLP

aligmilligan@gmail.com

Meet Mary Smith

Mary Smith has been interested in the environment for as long as she can remember. Her career, however, focused on teaching computer skills and design to high school students. She left teaching in 2017 to focus on web design and development. Although sitting behind a computer paid the bills, she remained deeply connected to the outdoors.

Because of that deeply instilled connection, Mary became a Watershed Steward in 2020 through the Watershed Stewards Academy (WSA). She felt drawn to work with others in her faith community, St Andrew by the Bay, to create a conservation landscape as her capstone project.

As many stewards know, finishing a capstone is often only the start of a new journey of environmental caretaking. Mary recognized that her skills as a web designer could be put to good use in helping Save Our Trees, one of WSA’s programs, develop and maintain a website. For the past year, she has re-designed the site, kept the news current and updated the ever-changing list of upcoming ivy-removal events. Her diligence with these tasks has meant that the SOT founders can focus on new projects, grants and expanded outreach.

Mary recognizes that effective communication can raise awareness and enhance understanding of environmental issues. She is particularly interested in the ways in which the arts can inspire concern for the environment. Save Our Trees is grateful that she is using her interests and inspirations to create a compelling website that explains what we do and why we do it while encouraging others to see the invasive vine problem and join the movement to diminish this scourge on our landscape.

Check out Mary’s work at https://saveourtreestogether.org/.

Latin for Gardeners: September 2024

Latin for Gardeners

September’s Native Maryland Plant

Rudbeckia fulgida Aiton

(rud-BEK-ee-a FUL-gih-duh)

Common Name: Orange Coneflower, Black-eyed Susan

Some plants are tougher than others when it comes to withstanding heat or drought. When I was choosing plants for a new pollinator garden along my circular driveway, I knew I’d need plants that could take the heat and even, on occasion, a bit of running over by my small pickup truck; my driveway is narrow and plants that lean into the driveway are in danger of being run over from time to time. I chose Orange Coneflowers for their hardiness and value to pollinators - little did I know just how tough this plant could be and what an amazing job it would do attracting and feeding insects.

In early November 2019 I planted 50 Rudbeckia fulgida plugs along a section high up on the outer strip of my driveway. It was late in the season to plant plugs, but the area was in full sun and the ground was still warm. After planting, I watered them, put down a light layer of mulch and looked forward to summer 2020 when I hoped to see their bright yellow flowers, greeting me each time I opened my front door.

It was just a few months later, in February 2020, when I came home to find someone had used my driveway and had not been able to make the narrow turn – a moving truck¹ had run over my plugs and many other plants I had recently planted. Oh no! At this time of year, the ground was frozen so there was nothing I could do - I left the area as a spring project.  In March I made the decision to leave the plugs as they were; I was worried they had been fatally wounded but I wanted to see if any could survive. Thankfully, and to my surprise, I had no need to worry. By July, the plants were already over a foot tall and beginning to bloom; throughout August and into the fall, I had a full strip of yellow coneflowers – ready to feed any hungry pollinators passing by. As it turned out, there were many pollinators nearby and they took notice.

It was not long before butterflies, skippers, bees, and beneficial wasps were enjoying the plants – I even found a camouflaged looper on one of the cones.

An added bonus: Rudbeckia fulgida attracts many beneficial insects that provide biological control of pest insects - an environmentally friendly method used in Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Non-aggressive, solitary thread-waisted wasps are excellent hunters who eat caterpillars and crickets. Scoliid wasps are parasitoids of the white beetle grubs that infest lawns. The larvae of flower fly (aka hover fly, syrphid fly) are efficient pollinators whose larvae eat aphids, thrips, and scale insects. The larval stage of elephant mosquito feeds on the larvae of other mosquito species – including Aedes, the ones that feed on people and spread diseases like Dengue and Zika. Crab spiders are ambush predators that eat mites and flies.

This perennial has proven hard to beat; it is a magnet for butterflies and beneficial insects, tolerates the dry, hot conditions found along asphalt, and perhaps most impressive, it has proven to be as tough as a moving van - and the occasional pickup truck.

As a group, Rudbeckia spp. are often referred to as ‘Black-eyed Susan’.  Maryland’s state flower, the Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) differs from R. fulgida in a number of ways. R. hirta is a biennial or short-lived perennial and is typically taller than R. fulgida. R. hirta can be distinguished from R. fulgida by looking at its stems, bracts and leaves which are covered in stiff hairs – the specific epithet hirta means hairy. Both plants are the host for the Silvery Checkerspot butterfly.

¹ I discovered by looking at my Ring cameras that my neighbors’ moving truck company had not once, but twice entered my driveway as a shortcut to turning around. The plugs had withstood the weight of a moving truck with 6 tires – multiple times!

Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013

Watershed Steward Class 7/CBLP

aligmilligan@gmail.com

Latin for Gardeners: August

Latin for Gardeners

August’s Native Maryland Plant

Asclepias syriaca L.

(as-KLEE-pee-as seer-ee-AY-kah)

Common Name: Common Milkweed

After reading Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, Flight Behavior last month – I can’t get the plight of monarch butterflies out of my mind; I thought it high time to feature a common plant in the genus Asclepias – one that monarchs simply can’t live without.

Tall, fragrant and robust, common milkweed is often found growing in sunny fields and along roadsides – thank goodness. Asclepias syriaca is just one of the critically important milkweed species used as a host for the monarch butterfly caterpillar. When in flower, its blooms provide many insects both nectar and pollen, but for the monarch caterpillar the plant provides much more than that - Asclepias is the only genus that will support the monarch as a caterpillar and guarantee its future survival.

Mid-August is when the last generation of eggs for the year are laid by the monarch, so it’s crucially important for the insect to locate milkweed during this time – even if it’s just along a busy road. It was along a highway that I found it also attracting traffic on a sizzling hot July afternoon. Who would have thought that a ‘weed’ could stop traffic? Well, that’s what happens when you plant Common Milkweed where people can marvel at its spectacular large blooms, teeming with life, without even leaving their cars.

A. syriaca is extremely valuable for many insects, it’s often used in restoration projects and in larger gardens where its tendency to spread is welcomed and appreciated. It’s able to spread quickly by rhizomes or by seeds, often to areas where it’s uninvited – one reason it’s not as frequently planted in home landscapes. Two other native Maryland milkweeds that are less aggressive are often preferred by gardeners: Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) and Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) – they will also attract and support the full lifecycle of a monarch, but they grow in different conditions which must be considered when planting them. NOTE: I’ve found numerous articles that suggest the monarch prefers Asclepias syriaca and Asclepias incarnata as a host plant – more monarch eggs are found on these species than other milkweeds.

After blooming and as fall approaches, it’s not uncommon to find milkweed aphids (introduced oleander aphids) or milkweed beetles on the plants – sometimes in large numbers. Their bright aposematic¹ coloring makes them easy to spot and is a warning to predators of their toxicity. These insects can be unsightly, but they generally don’t harm the plant or the monarch caterpillar and efforts to remove them will more often harm the pollinators that are visiting the plant. Interestingly, the aphids are asexual, they are born pregnant and can form large colonies amazingly fast.

As you prepare your next conservation landscaping project, consider how you can help conserve the monarch butterfly by adding Asclepias syriaca to your planting plan. Perhaps choose a highly visible sight so that others can share the joy and witness the amazing flight behavior of these incredible insects.

¹aposematic - the use of warning coloration to inform potential predators that an animal is poisonous, venomous, or otherwise dangerous.

NOTE: You can learn more and follow the monarch migration here: https://monarchjointventure.org/

Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013

Watershed Steward Class 7/CBLP

aligmilligan@gmail.com