Botanically Speaking Aug 2011

www.bbgardens.org

At this Time of the Year, Cover Your Shoulders!

As I have matured as a gardener, I’ve experienced two phenomena that I share with many other native plant aficionados: relaxing my desire to have every plant in its place and

having the garden constantly filled with a riot of floral color. I find myself more intrigued by a garden’s serendipity in doing what it wants. I crave less formality and I revel in the countless textures and hues of green. I concentrate more on form and foliage, and their infinite variations, and I appreciate their multi-seasonal presence and beauty. (This is, perhaps, why ferns have become one of my favorite groups of plants.)

In spring, there is no shortage of showy and floriferous native plants to dazzle the eye and lift the spirits, but by late May, a period of time begins known in the horticultural world as the “shoulder season.” This starts as spring ephemerals go on summer vacation, well before the summer players have stepped onto stage. After winter, I consider this the most challenging time to bring floral color to the garden.

There are a number of plants that come to our aid in filling this niche, two plants - one woody and one herbaceous - are excellent choices and stars of the shoulder season.

The first, the herbaceous Stokesia laevis (Stoke’s aster, shown left) has flowers of light-blue/lavender, a color I’ve praised in past issues for its ability to glow in low light: shade, dawn or dusk. In the Kaul Wildflower Garden our focus on plant selection is slanted towards native plants of the southeast that are of known wild provenance. For that reason, we limit our use of cultivars (see Manion’s Musings below) to a select few that are particularly superior to the straight species (non-cultivars). Stokesia laevis ‘Peachie’s Pick’ llustrates this perfectly; it is less lax in stature than its native brethren (a nice way of saying it doesn’t flop over)!

Part of my maturation process articulated above includes not being as concerned when some plants don’t stand up straight.

continued on page 2.

enhanc ing l i f e w i th p lan t s

In ThIs Issue

Cover Your Shoulders!

UpcomingVolunteer Sessions

CNPS vs. CSNPC

Manion’s Musings

The Peanut Gallery

Pictured above, left to right:1. Chasmanthium latifolium, river oats

2. Carya sp., hickory3. Rhynchospora colorata, narrowleaf

whitetop sedge

BoTanIcally speakIngAugust 2011

Volume 2. Issue 6

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Cover Your Shoulders, continued.But in this shoulder season, when few plants are flowering, we selected this cultivar so that it would rise above the abundant foliage of surrounding plants, and fully catch the eye. Recently, this plant has been so dazzling that this fall I intend to expand some clumps of it to create a few glowing blue islands in a sea of green. Another plant to help cover the shoulder is a firecracker that usually blooms in time for Independence Day. The strong color of Rhododendron prunifolium (plumleaf azalea, shown right) stops people in their tracks with its varying shades of orange that range from nearly-red to nearly-salmon. We think of most of the native azaleas as being spring bloomers, but someone forgot to tell this species. Usually around the end of June and beginning of July, this deciduous shrub steps onto stage and can be seen from quite a distance. First collected by Roland M. Harper in the early 1900’s and cultivated first at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in 1918, its native distribution is confined to only eight counties in GA and four in AL. Though considered threatened in situ (its native habitat), it grows easily from seed and cuttings. We have several fine specimen at The Gardens, which exhibit its range of color variation.

August & September Volunteer Sessions*Thursday, August 11– Kaul Wildflower Garden

Tuesday, August 16 – Kaul Wildflower Garden

Thursday, August 18 – Barber Alabama Woodlands


Thursday, August 25 – Kaul Wildflower Garden


Thursday, September 1 – Kaul Wildflower Garden

Tuesday, September 6 – Kaul Wildflower Garden



Thursday, September 15 – Barber Alabama Woodlands





*all sessions – 9 a.m. to noon

For each session, we meet at the entrance to the garden in which we will be working. Please consider bringing something to drink and any favorite tools you like to use. Because we begin each session with an orientation, please attempt to arrive on time, allowing an extra ten minutes to park and get to the garden du jour. Shortly after the beginning of each session we may be difficult to find, unless you search the whole garden in which we are working. We cancel if there is a storm, not just mist or light rain; if you are unsure, give me a call on my mobile phone: 205.612.5285. (Please use only for this purpose.) You don’t have to commit to attending sessions on a regular basis - you can come whenever possible, but please let me know you plan to attend. There are some projects that are easier to manage with just one or two people. And you don’t need to know anything about horticulture!

Volunteering in The Gardens offers a myriad of opportunities, in addition to the altruistic aspect of supporting such an important community organization. Among them: learning about native plants and horticulture in general from someone who is knowledgeable and passionate about these topics, working alongside interesting people in a beautiful setting, getting good exercise while having fun and occasionally taking plants home!

Aesculus parviflora, bottlebrush buckeye

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ManIon’s MusIngs.

Cultivars - Just what are they?The term cultivar was coined in 1923 by Liberty Hyde Bailey of the Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University (Go Big Red!) and is an abbreviation of cultivated variety. The concept of cultivated varieties is by no means a modern one, indeed, Theophrastus (370–285 BCE), discussed it. Sensu stricto (plant geek-speak for “in the narrow sense”), cultivar is not a botanical designation, as are the designations of subspecies, varietas (variety) and forma (form), the last of which has fallen out of favor, but may still be found in some references or nursery catalogs. The great majority of our food crops are plant cultivars that were selected for any number of attributes, such as rapid growth, insect/disease tolerance, size

and durability for shipping.

Though there is nothing inherently wrong with cultivars, for the Kaul Wildflower Garden (KWG), we use them sparingly. Often cultivars are reproduced asexually (also referred to as vegetatively), meaning by methods other than growing from seed. Asexual propagation is, in essence, cloning - examples of which are growing from cuttings, grafts or tissue culture. In most cases, the origin of a cultivar is difficult to ascertain. For the KWG, we prefer plants of known wild provenance, specifically our state and surrounding regions. These plants evolved here and are generally better adapted to our conditions of climate, soil, micro- and macro-fauna, etc. The preservation of this unique and diverse germplasm (genetic makeup) has conservation value as well.

Theophrastus, “the father of botany”

Libert Hyde Bailey

CNPS vs. CSNPC - Too Many Abbreviations!If you have trouble keeping these abbreviations straight, you should see what we’ve been through!

CNPS: Certificate in Native Plant StudiesOur Certificate in Native Plant Studies series has sprouted beautifully and is growing like a weed…oops, I mean like an opportunistic native plant! My one-word reaction to the response to this program? WOW. The response has far exceeded our highest expectations, with all classes filling to maximum capacity and several having a waiting list. I am excited to share with you the fact that we will very soon be posting fifteen (!) more classes that will be offered between August 27, 2011 and June 2012. Some of these classes will be repeats of our core courses, and some will be new electives. A component of this new roster of classes is a two-day consolidated set of courses, convenient for participants that live at some distance or for those that are interested in achieving their certification at an accelerated rate. Participants can choose from two full-day core courses and four half-day electives - sign up for both days, one day or one class. We will also soon be posting information on available fieldtrips and volunteer opportunities. To learn more about the certificate series, download the brochure or register for classes, go to: www.bbgardens.org/plantstudies

Here are some of our new scheduled courses:Saturday, November 19, 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. (core) Ecology of Alabama Native Plants – Scot DuncanSaturday, January 14, 12:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. (elective) Visit www.bbgardens.org/plantstudiesWinter Identification of Native Woody Plants – Fred Spicer for a full listing of courses.Saturday, January 28, 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. (core)Conservation of Alabama Native Plants – Wayne Barger

CSNPC: Central South Native Plant ConferenceI urge you to sign up for this conference soon, as we are fully expecting it to fill early. Registration has opened and we are already getting good enrollment. To learn about the conference, read about plenary sessions, breakout sessions, fieldtrips and workshops, visit www.bbgardens.org/csnpc.

www.bbgardens.org

enhanc ing l i f e w i th p lan t s2612 Lane Park Road

Birmingham, Alabama 35223205.414.3950

John T. ManionKaul Wildflower Garden CuratorBirmingham Botanical Gardens205.414.3985 | [email protected]

Please forward this newsletter to any individuals or groups you think might be interested. Likewise, if you prefer not to receive it, simply let me know and I’ll remove your name. Thank you for your interest and support!

The peanuT galleryFrom time-to-time I will share websites or weblogs that I enjoy and think you may, also. Need I say that we in no way endorse any information presented or opinions expressed within?

Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens: http://nativeplantwildlifegarden.com/.

It is authored by a team of writers from various part of the country. By simply entering your email address on their site, you will receive a daily essay, most of which I have found entertaining and educational. I really enjoy, and adhere to, their philosophy articulated on the “About Us” page, which echoes this statement by Doug Tallamy, the keynote speaker at our Central South Native Plant Conference in November.

“Now, for the first time in its history, gardening has taken on a role that transcends the needs of the gardener. In this case, the ‘difference’ will be to the future of biodiversity, to the native plants and animals of North America and the ecosystems that sustain them.”

~Douglas Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home

Here are a couple of their recent essays that I enjoyed:

Every Square Inch – Part 1: Soils (http://nativeplantwildlifegarden.com/every-square-inch-part-1-soils)

Aiming for Complexity: The pendulum of home landscape fashion is starting to swing in a new direction.

(http://nativeplantwildlifegarden.com/aiming-for-complexity)

Here is another daily email that I have enjoyed for years: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/.

Botany Photo of the Day is produced by the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and Center for Plant Research. Its tagline is “In science, beauty. In beauty, science. Daily.” When you take a look, you will see how well that fits! You will see plants in ways you may never have before. Here are a couple of my favorite entries:

Magnolia tripetala (http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/2011/05/magnolia-tripetala.php)Spigelia marilandica (http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/2011/05/spigelia-marilandica.php)

Botanically Speaking Aug 2011

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