Wild Seeds

Summit of Borestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuary, Maine.  

I love native plants.   If you don't know that already, just get a really nice frying pan and bang it against your head a few times and see if that helps get the message though.  Oh my, did I just write that?  Sorry.  It is just really tough to watch the natural world get erased by the force of human disregard for nature:  big box stores and the finest retailers alike sell foreign plants to decorate lawns that are no better in ecological terms than your average parking lot; armies of landscape contractors use machines blow away leaves in the fall that would otherwise feed the soil and harbor eggs and larvae and bury the hew survivors with bark mulch made from the chipped and dyed remains of our forests.

Biddeford Pool, Maine. 

Nature is being systematically destroyed and your local garden center claiming to sell native plants is an accomplice.  Nursery plants are cloned from single individuals grown in some other environment.  Even in these green plant products, there is no genetic diversity; millennia of adaptation to our local soils and fauna are washed away; the shapes and sizes; the disease resistance.  Imagine how scary it would be if you went to bar and every man or woman looked like an identical twin.   If you were like me, you would run away.

Fortunately, there are many great organizations and companies that are doing what they can to slow this evil tide that is flooding over our land.  The Native Plant Trust (fka the New England Wildflower Society) sells plants and shrubs at the Garden in the Woods germinated from seeds collected from local populations.  The Wild Seed Project is Maine is another organization that sustainably collects local populations in Maine and sells them retail to people like me.  We need organizations like these that are local if we want our urban and suburban landscapes to sustain local populations of birds, butterflies for future generations.  We can't let ourselves be fooled by words like "native" that are misused for profit to sell genetically mutated cultivars on an unsuspecting, naive public.

One thing we can do on our own to help slow the colonization of our suburban landscape is identify and remember plants that we see in wild populations, collect their seeds in small quantities, and return them to our yards.  That is how natural natural selection is supposed to work: by seed dispersal; not by cutting off limbs and growing them in plastic bags and plastic pots.  To that end, here are some wild seeds I am trying to germinate this spring!  As always, I would gladly share any extra seedlings:

From Little Blue Job, Farmington, NH:  I collected seeds on thanksgiving day when I suddenly had the day free and no commitments.  Blue job is a fantastic park but if you ever go there, plan to spend your entire time on the little mountain to the north, known as "Little Blue Job".  It is my favorite outdoor place near the seacoast.  There is a small pond near the summit that salamanders and baby snapping turtles in the spring.  It is actively managed for wildlife, shrub habitat and open woodlands.  The geology is interesting and unlike anywhere else in the state.  Plus, it is only about a 30 minute drive from Portsmouth, assuming you don't get lost.

Spiraea alba (or maybe S. tomentosa), White Meadowsweet.   I think this is most likely the white meadowsweet (alba), a lovely plant in the rose family.  It is the host plant for the spring azure and n i n e t y f o u r other species of butterfly.  95 is an amazing number of species to support.  I am really looking forward to adding this to my garden maybe in front of the stone wall.  Go botany says:  "White meadowsweet does well in cottage gardens where it can grow in full sun yet have its feet wet or moist. Dense stands make an unusual hedge."  That sounds pretty nice!

Juniperus horizontalis or communis.  I am really not sure whether this is communis or horizontalis or even what I will do with this plant or where I will
put it.  But looking at it just made me realize that I do not have anything like it at my home and think that I should want to have it.  I may stick it inside my former chicken run and just let it grow slowly in the semi shade for a couple years before moving it to a garden I have no yet even thought of.   This is a host plant for the Olive Hairstreak which has only 2 host plants, one being the juniper and the other being the endangered atlantic white cedar.

Kalmia angustifolia, Sheep Laurel.  This is a lovely short shrub like plant that can be found in bogs or on rocky ledges on mountain tops.  It is a host plant for some 33 species of caterpillar near Portsmouth including the laurel sphinx.  It forms nice clumps of plants and its unusual leathery foliage provides interest even in winter, long after flowers have disappeared.  I collected these seeds on the east side of the pond where the salamanders and snapping turtles live on top of the mountain.  Of course they do!

Aronia melanocarpa, Black Chokeberry.  This is a lovely shrub that I alread have growing in my chicken run that I purchased at the FedCo Tree sale in Clinton Maine which is a really good event to put on your calendar if you

love native trees, shrubs, fruit trees, or just agricultural events in general.  The Black Chokeberry is a good plant for wildlife that has fruit for the birds in the winter.  I do not know much more about it beyond that except that there is much of it growing near the upper slopes of Little Blue Job.  This one may take time because I believe the seeds may take two seasons to germinate.  I could be mistaken.  I have put these in milk containers outside and I have also scattered some fruits in my new shade garden that I covered in leaf mold in the late fall.  It will be interesting to see how it develops.

From Lubberland Creek, Newmarket, NH:

Rosa virginiana, Virginia Rose.  The virginia rose is a beautiful by modest plant that is much hardier than the commercial roses we grow.  I don't have any pictures of its flowers in the summer, but this photograph shows its colorful foliage and fruits that would be attractive in any suburban landscape to both humans and wildlife.  It can be used to make jams or jellies and it reportedly has special value for making nests for bees according to the Ladybird Johnson wildflower web site.  I collected these seeds from upland areas along the edge of the salt marsh.

Mystery solidago, likely guess is Solidago sempervirens, Seaside goldenrod, or Solidago puberula, Downey Goldenrod.  Goldenrods are one of the 'farewell' species that bees and butterflies will visit even as the warmth of summer passes.  Many people look at goldrenrods with disdain, confusing them with the ragweed plant that causes allergic reactions to pollen.  This belief is unfounded.  Ragweed is a wind-pollinated plant in the genus ambrosia. Solidagos are all insect pollinated and do not cause allergic reactions.

According to the USDA/Ladybird Johnson wildflower web site, Seaside goldenrod develops galls that provide host sites for important wasp species and which feed chickadees and other songbirds during winter months.  Solidagos are hosts to many other species and also one of the main food sources for migrating monarchs. 

From Portsmouth, N.H: 

Symphostrychum novo angliae.  The New England Aster should need little introduction.  It is such a majestic, colorful plant when it blooms at the end of the growing season.  I collected these sticky seeds along the bike path adjacent to Interstate 95 a couple of blocks from my house.  J.R.R. Tolkien said in the Lord of the Rings that "... in every wood, in every spring, there is a different green."  I have often admired his observation.  I think that if he knew of the New England Aster, he would say that each plant and each season has a different purple!  Not as poetic perhaps, but I am very excited to grow these plants and replace some nursery plants that were overcome by wilt due to over watering my joe pye weeds that I mistakenly planted in full sun and in dry soils.

From Borestone, Maine:

Ilex mucronata, commonly known as mountain holly or catberry, is an amazing shrub that does very well in wet and exposed areas.  It comes from the genus Ilex which also includes the well known 'american holly' (Ilex Opaca) used in landscaping and 'winterberry' (Ilex verticillata) known for its bright red berries in the winter that feed cedar waxwings, northern cardinals and other birds that eat its red berries in the winter.*  Plants in the genus ilex are hosts to some 35 species found in and around Portsmouth, N.H., so they are all good choices.

The Native Plant Trust reports that mountain holly is a host plant to the Columbia Silk Moth caterpillar and is fine looking shrub in its own right.  Unlike its relatives, its fruits ripen in August as shown in these photos taken from Borestone Mountain Audubon Sanctuary which as fantastic a place to hike as can be found in New England.  It is a long drive for sure so it is often overlooked, but it rewards those who visit with its views, plant life, geology and a fantastic nature cabin and shop by a pond a short distance up the mountain.  (*  I often wonder, however, whether the visibility of winterberry in winter may be the result of birds eating it last.  Viburnum dentatum berries, for example, disappear as soon as they riped whereas the winterberry seems to last into February and March, which suggests to me that either it ripens late, or is less sought after by birds.)

From Bowerbank, Maine:

Aralia hispada, Bristly sarsaparilla.  I found these plants many miles down a logging road near Sebec Lake in Bowerbank, Maine.  I am unsure the reasons, whether to enhance wildlife or for some other purpose, but there were many small openings in the forest that had been cleared of trees resulting in a profusion of successional species such as fireweed as well as pearly everlastings, solidagos and countless other wildflowers.   It is reported to have medicinal properties though I cannot speak to or endorse what those might be.  I leave such things to others more knowledgeable or daring than me.  I cannot help but believe its berries, flowers, bright stems and foliage, would be a boon to any garden.  I look forward to watching this one.

From Biddeford Pool.

Viburnum dentatum, Arrowood.  Last but certainly not least is this shrub that is prolific in its value for wildlife.  Its common name comes from its use for arrow shafts but I don't recommend that you do that.  In mid June the creamy white flowers were swarming with small flies and insects of many kinds.  I watched it over the summer and collected its blue seeds in early September.

There are 7 species of viburnum in our area that are host plants for some 110 species of butterflies and moths which is really quite incredible.   This species is going to be a challenge for several reasons.  First it prefers rivers and wet areas that are going to be hard to replicate on my well drained lot. 

The Native Plant Trust reports that it will also grow in average soil moisture as well.  Second, its seeds cannot be allowed to dry and it may also require 2 cold seasons to germinate.  So it is going to require some patience.  Third and lastly, it is one of the viburnums most sensitive to the invasive viburnum leaf beetle which can defoliate the entire shrub.  Fingers crossed it will germinate for me and I will find a place for it.

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Wow.  It looks to be a busy spring!  Happy caterpillar clubbing friends!