Latin for Gardeners Special Edition Quiz: December 2022

Hello Master Gardeners, Naturalists and Watershed Stewards!

It’s been another busy year of planting and learning about the beauty and benefits of native plants.  I’ve learned a lot and I hope you have too.  Now it’s time to test your knowledge of the botanical names of the plants that have been featured in ‘Latin for Gardeners’. 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.

The first group of photos shows the plants in their winter dress with their botanical name listed. Can you still recognize them?  The second group shows them in spring or summer. Match the number of each plant in winter to the letter of them with their spring or summer bloom. 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!”

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

Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP), AA County Tree Trooper

aligmilligan@gmail.com

Sugg-Jeff-Tion: November 2022

Leaving the leaves…and stems

We are at peak leaf season and many of us know, or have at least heard, about leaving the leaves on our lawns and gardens to benefit the landscape. Leaves make a great natural mulch to suppress winter weeds and insulate the ground around plants to help them survive the winter, all while adding rich organic matter to improve the soil over time. Leaves can also be moved to areas of your yard where you’d like to convert more lawn area to native landscaping. Just pile them up and let nature do the work for you! Leaves also provide an important thermal refuge for many wildlife species over the winter.

Leaf litter is critical for many insect, reptile, amphibian, and small mammal species to complete their lifecycles. Many species of moth and butterfly, such as the Luna moth (Actias luna), overwinter in the leaf litter taking advantage of both the camouflage to avoid predation and the insulation to protect them from extreme temperature fluctuations. Hatchling box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) burry themselves under the leaf litter not only to hibernate, but spend much of their first few years of life using thick leaf litter as cover and places to find food. Ground-roosting bats such as the eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) use leaf litter to hibernate. Instead of caves and tree bark used by many species of bats to hibernate, the eastern red bat uses leaf litter to weather the long cold nights of winter.

Speaking of overwintering spots for wildlife, remember that as you prep your gardens for a long winter’s rest, be sure to leave as much cover for wildlife as possible. Seed heads and stems provide food and cover for overwintering birds. If you must cut them back, leave at least 8-12 inches of the stem available. Our native solitary bees use the hollow stems to overwinter and then lay eggs in the spring. Cutting them down too short could result in losing next year’s bees, butterflies, and other insects!

So leave the leaves and keep the stems as nature intended. Be-leaf me, your plants and wildlife will be tree-mendously grateful!

- Jeffrey Popp, Director of Restoration

Latin for Gardeners: November 2022

November’s Native Maryland Plant

Tsuga canadensis

(SOO-guh ka-na-DEN-sis)

Common Name: Eastern Hemlock

It’s November and soon most of the trees in our yards will be bare – their leaves blanketing the ground, providing precious habitat while they improve the soil and prevent erosion.  It’s this time of year when the evergreens in our landscapes can become prized possessions. In my yard, the Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock) is one such tree. It’s a needled evergreen tree in the Pinaceae (Pine) family, its feathery foliage is much softer than that of most conifers, and its dense, drooping branches are flexible and reach to the ground, making it an excellent border tree in a yard that has something to hide – in my case a fence. In Maryland, eastern hemlock is found most naturally growing in the mountain or piedmont regions, frequently alongside eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia).  It requires good drainage, acidic soil, and consistent moisture; it is not drought-tolerant.

Although I live in the coastal plain, I chose to plant a Tsuga canadensis on a north-facing slope in my yard, selecting the most ‘mountainous’ area I could find, where it’s out of direct sunlight and wind and where it partially hides the fence with my neighbor. I provide it fresh compost in the spring and when necessary, additional water. This specimen has tripled in size since I planted it, you could say it’s been thriving – until this year.

Tsuga canadensis is very susceptible to the Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA), a small invasive insect that is most recognizable by the white ‘woolly’ wax it leaves on the twigs and needles. HWA is threatening hemlock forests across the country and it’s why I never recommend planting hemlocks without providing information on HWA. When I was taking a photo of a Cardinalis cardinalis for the September edition of ‘Latin for Gardeners’, I noticed the white clusters on the plant through my camera lens, and I knew right away it was the HWA. I was a bit disheartened, but I knew I could seek treatment for the plant. I contacted an arborist to properly identify HWA and to provide it with the most appropriate, effective, and immediate treatment. The tree has already shown marked improvement – there are no visible signs of HWA.

Eastern hemlocks are important riparian trees with high wildlife value. If you choose to plant one in your yard you should monitor it so you can take swift action if you recognize HWA. In my yard, Tsuga canadensis is a tree worth saving.

NOTE: The common name "hemlock" was reportedly given because the crushed foliage smells like that of the poisonous herbaceous perennial herb hemlock which are native to Europe. No part of Tsuga canadensis is considered poisonous.

Fun Fact: Eastern Hemlock is the state tree of Pennsylvania.

Alison Milligan – MG/MN 2013

Watershed Steward Class 7/Tree Trooper

Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)

aligmilligan@gmail.com

Latin for Gardeners: October 2022

October’s Native Maryland Plant

Rosa palustris

(ROE-zuh pal-US-tris )

Common Name: Swamp Rose

Last year the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council (CCLC) declared October as riparian buffer month¹ - a month to “build awareness and familiarity of forested riparian buffers”, land features that are vital to the health of the Chesapeake Bay.  As such, I highlighted Salix nigra, a keystone tree often found on buffers, stabilizing embankments, and providing valuable shade and much-needed habitat.  This year I feature Rosa palustris, a tall, thorny shrub with pale pink blooms; it grows naturally in forested wetlands, along streambanks as well as along wet edges of a home landscape.

This native rose has unusual height, a lovely fragrance, and can be planted in moist-wet areas of a property; it tolerates poor drainage as well as minor flooding and has easily withstood the traffic, dog walkers (look at its thorns below) and swampy conditions at the end of my driveway. It’s an aggressive suckering shrub that quickly filled in an area where numerous other plants succumbed to these somewhat harsh conditions; its spreading behavior is kept in check by the road and the lawn that it borders. 

This rose is often found in Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) swamps, it does best in slightly acidic soil, and will bloom best in full to part-sun.  It is mainly pollinated by bumble bees but will be visited by many insects seeking pollen (no nectar). Its fleshy rose hips develop soon after the blooms fade and are eaten by bluebirds, northern cardinals, and cedar waxwings. If necessary, it can be pruned in early spring as new growth begins, allowing birds ample time to feast on its nutritious berries while still producing blooms.

Creating riparian buffers using native plants is just one way to improve the health of the Bay.  At times like this, when the Chesapeake Bay is suffering from intense human activity, we’d all do well to practice more beneficial behaviors and abide by something novelist George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) said, “It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses, we must plant more roses.”  In other words, the roses (or riparian buffers) won’t plant themselves – we must get busy and plant them if we are to realize their benefits. Let’s get busy Watershed Stewards! Find a place this month or next to plant Rosa palustris, Salix nigra, Taxodium distichum (on the Tree Trooper resilient species list), or many other excellent natives². - only then should we expect the health of our waterways to improve.

1 https://www.allianceforthebay.org/2021/10/celebrate-riparian-buffer-month/

2 http://ccrm.vims.edu/livingshorelines/documents/SaltTolerantPlants.pdf

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

Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP)/AA County Tree Trooper

aligmilligan@gmail.com