Latin for Gardeners: December 2020

December’s Native Maryland Plant

All of them!

Hello Master Gardeners, Master Naturalists and Master Watershed Stewards!

I hope you are all well and are staying safe.  This year of coronavirus has been challenging in so many ways; it has limited our ability to work, socialize and educate the public, but we have adapted and learned new ways to communicate, learn, shop and work. With more time spent at home, many people turned to home gardening as a way to work off stress, enjoy the natural world, spend quality time with their children and in some cases add native plants to their landscapes.  I have spent a lot of my time gardening as well - and reading.  I recommend E. O. Wilson’s, ‘The Diversity of Life’ and Doug Tallamy’s ‘Nature’s Best Hope’.

For those of you who have been reading Latin for Gardeners, it’s now time to test your knowledge of the scientific names of the nine native plants that have been featured this year. It’s always best to use the Latin names of plants when you recommend them to friends and the public – there’s only one Latin name for a plant so it avoids confusion and ensures people select the right plant when shopping at nurseries.

As a reminder, the common names of the plants (in alphabetical order, not how they are shown below) are: Dense St. John’s Wort, Eastern White Pine, Green and Gold, Maple-leaved Viburnum, Marsh Marigold, Monkey Flower, Seersucker Sedge, Shrubby St. John’s Wort, Willow Oak.

The first group of photos shows the plants during their bloom time. The second group of photos shows them in their winter dress. Can you still recognize them?  Do you think you can tell a Dense St. John’s Wort from a Shrubby one? I’ve given you a few hints but don’t feel bad if you can’t place them all – Latin is not an easy language.  Good luck, or as they say in Latin, “Fortuna!”

Match the number of each plant to the letter of each plant in its winter form (answers at the bottom).

 ~ Alison Milligan – Mstr. Gardener/Mstr. Naturalist/Mstr. Watershed Steward

Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)

aligmilligan@gmail.com

Latin for Gardeners: November 2020

November’s Native Maryland Plant
Quercus phellos
(KWURK-us FELL-us) L.
Common Name: Willow Oak

As master gardeners, naturalists and watershed stewards we are often asked to recommend trees suitable for a yard, community planting or restoration project.  When this happens, we often turn to our Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping manual for guidance.  The list of native trees is diverse, but the number of native Quercus species listed is twice that of the second most populace species, Pinus.  It should come as no surprise then, that in the mid-Atlantic states much of our forest is defined by the Quercus (Oak) genus.

In fact, Quercus species are highly valued for the vast ecosystem services they provide and are considered ‘keystone’ species for the inherent value they bring to an environment.  Across the nation ‘Oaks are ranked either number one or number two in their support of the food web in 84% of all U.S. counties in which they occur.¹

I frequently recommend Oaks on projects because of their ecological value and because there is an oak to fit most any site condition. Quercus phellos is commonly planted as an ornamental tree; planted in a ‘good’ site it has moderate to rapid growth, it’s able to withstand sun and part-shade, is salt and wind-tolerant (once established) and has easily compostable willow-like leaves. Like all oaks, Quercus phellos is an excellent shade tree that casts a long shadow that can shade a home or paved area; it is a suitable street tree if there are no overhead wires.

When using trees in a landscape it is always important to discuss maintenance.  A tree needs its requisite sun, water, and room to grow, but it also needs to be protected from invasive species that may climb its trunk and smother its branches.   To thrive, routine maintenance should include identifying and removing invasive species from around its trunk and beneath its branches. 

If you want to increase biodiversity, help protect your watershed, and improve air quality, look for places where you can plant this keystone species - you should not have to go far. 

¹ Nature’s Best Hope, Doug Tallamy (Narango, Tallamy and Shropshire 2018)

~ Alison Milligan – Mstr. Gardener/Mstr. Naturalist/Mstr. Watershed Steward

Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)

aligmilligan@gmail.com

Latin for Gardeners: October 2020

October’s Native Maryland Plant
Mimulus ringens L.
(MIM-yoo-luss RIN-jens)
Common Name: Monkey Flower

Temperatures have dropped significantly since Mimulus ringens was in full bloom, yet a few hardy flowers still cling to its branches, inviting any late season pollinators that happen to be passing by.  This plant has been very productive in my yard, filling a persistently wet area while providing nourishment to many pollinators since late May.

In need of wetland plants, I selected monkey flower after reading that it was a host plant for the Common Buckeye butterfly – one of my favorites.  I also read that ‘older, post-hibernation larvae’¹ of the Baltimore Checkerspot will feed on it if it is planted near their primary host plant, Turtlehead (Chelone glabra). The Checkerspot has proven elusive in my garden despite the many Turtlehead plants I grow, but I remain hopeful that having Mimulus ringens sited nearby will further entice the state butterfly to consider my yard a worthy nursery.

Mimulus ringens is native to the wetlands of central and eastern North America.  Its stems emerge as early as February and by late May they’re surprisingly stiff, over 3’ tall and full of lavender blooms. This is a rhizomatic plant and its blooms grow opposite each other as a single pair on a long stalk that emerges from the leaf axil; they typically bloom on different days.  Its lance-shaped, serrated leaves are rotated 90 degrees from adjacent pairs.

I may never see a Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly in my garden, but I’ll continue to enjoy the Common Buckeye and take pleasure knowing that I’ve added a new host plant to support this local Lepidoptera.

¹ https://www.butterfliesofmassachusetts.net/baltimore-checkerspot.htm

² The angle between the upper side of the stem and a leaf, branch, or petiole.

~ Alison Milligan – Mstr. Gardener/Mstr. Naturalist/Mstr. Watershed Steward

Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)

aligmilligan@gmail.com

Latin for Gardeners: September

How Are You Holding Up?

When people visit my home, I often hear them say, “You have so many tall plants! How do you keep them from falling over?”  As a native plant enthusiast, I don’t limit myself to just short plants – instead, I strive for biodiversity and finding the right plant to fit a site;  frequently that means planting one of the excellent, very tall perennials that Maryland is known for.  Over the years I have had to get creative to find ways to keep my plants standing tall while withstanding increasingly extreme weather. September is the wettest month of the year in Maryland and as we move further into hurricane season, I need to anticipate storms that can wreak havoc on a garden. 

Like many of you, I do most of the cleanup of my garden in early spring – rather than cutting plants back after blooming, I keep the seed heads of most plants available for birds and to provide overwintering areas for insects and the like.  Below are a few of the techniques I use to hold up plants in my garden:

Providing support for tall plants in your yard is important but in this time of coronavirus the more important question is, “How are you holding up?”  I miss spending time with my gardening and Watershed Steward friends. I can only hope you are all staying safe and that we will soon be able to get together again. Hopefully, like my Joe-Pye Weed, you are staying strong and providing your own support to a friend or neighbor. In the meantime, I will imagine you all doing a bit of native plant gardening.

~ Alison Milligan – Mstr. Gardener/Mstr. Naturalist/Mstr. Watershed Steward

Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)

aligmilligan@gmail.com