Photo: Marie Viljoen
Photo: Marie Viljoen
Plants always pose these questions: what am I doing here, and how can you – or should you - use me?
What Belongs in the Woods
First up, the witch hazel. I am familiar with the late winter-blooming types. In the gardens I design, I always try to have some flowering interest throughout the year and witch hazel is a sure way to take care of three dull weeks of winter. Plus it looks spectacular in snow.
Born in America and known as common witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana is perfect for a last hurrah in the late-season garden. Not only is it politically correct (plant American!) but it is beautiful in terms of form, flower and leaf. It is hardy in Zones 4-9, though count on that changing, along with our climate. It wants slighty acidic soil and full sun to part shade.
What about the masses of beautifully orange barberries on the forest floor, hung with scarlet berries? Not good! They've escaped from gardens via birds and are taking over, edging out native plants, preventing the growth of an understorey in the woods and starting the nasty downward spiral to habitat loss for creatures furred, feathered and otherwise clad. Please do not bring Berberis thunbergii or B. vulgaris home with you from a nursery, if you find them. They have been classified a noxious weed in several states. More info on Page 2, in this story.
This blue-berried shrub was identified for me by some of my blog readers -- always a great source of information! It is Viburnum prunifolium or blackhaw. Any shrub that has beautiful blooms and bears edible fruit gets approval from me and this native has certainly made the cut. Holly, Wood and Vine will be planting it next year in a new park in Manhattan. Find more information about blackhaw.
Blue knapweed by a roadside caught my eye . A bee buzzed in its center. Pretty picture. Does it belong? No. Another invasive. "Heavy infestations of knotweed along river banks can result in the loss of wildlife habitat, decrease species diversity and reduce water carrying capacity in rivers," according to a study of invasives in the Catskills. So another to cross off my list. Can't have. Must destroy. Sad.
Finally, the winged euonymous or burning bush, in its scarlet glory (or pink, in shade). Another introduced species, it felt so at home here that it has invaded our woods, out-competing natives and speading like wild, ahem, fire.
I have used winged euonymous myself in a garden design and now regret it. Because this shrub is so prolific, we should reconsider its place in our gardens.
Doll's eyes – Actaea pachypoda- were new to me until this spring when I saw its deliciously scented white flowers in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's native garden. I knew I wanted to incorporate it into garden plantings.
Seeing them growing by a waterfall on Peekamoose Road was exciting, as I'd never seen the plant in the wild. It's on my list for next spring. Semi-shade, humus rich soil needed and hardy from Zones 4-9.
The pretty rosehips all over the hedgerows and woods belong to Rosa multiflora, the lovely little white rose that erupts in spring. It's bad. Do not encourage it and if you have it on your land, grit your teeth and remove. Dispersed by birds and spreading via its rooting and arched canes, it reproduces very easily and grows into thickets, again forcing out native plants. Plant an alternative that your birds will enjoy. More about that in another post.
Read this thoughtful essay on gardening with natives written in the 1990's by the owners of the Catskills Native Nursery, with a great deal of foresight.
ABOUT MARIE
Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)
These photographs are awesome! Thanks for sharing the beauty.
ReplyThanks, Pam...I hope you can get away to these woods yourself - they're worth it!