Our Walk In The Woods

Our day started this morning with a trip to the back meadow intending to clear a fallen section of a White Pine tree that was blocking part of the mowed meadow.  With that task completed, a short walk to check on our now officially wild Cardinal Flower seemed in order.  We have a survivor with no help from people.  An additional walk into the forest seemed like the only thing to do.  Glacier ground ridge rock in all sizes litters this forest floor.  Beauty is everywhere.  Plants here must be left alone since the stony soil prevents their removal.

This wild Jack In The Pulpit is close to the first Trillium that we have ever seen in this section of our woods.  A stately Red Trillium was a welcome surprise.  Invasive Garlic Mustard is far less welcome and we feel compelled to remove it whenever it is encountered.

Purple-pink winged flowers are what we wanted to see.  Little is written about Fringed Polygala and its culture is difficult.  These dainty plants are in the company of rather nasty neighbors and their long term survival here is in doubt.  The large oval leaves and the white cluster of flower buds mark the presence of Wild lily-of-the-valley.  It is a horribly invasive native and will choke out nearby plants.  Escaped pasture grass is also in the picture and it is unclear which will ultimately reign in this area.  What is apparent is that the polygala is being strangled here.

A long pry bar aided the removal of clumps of this ground.  This was no easy task as roots from nearby bushes helped to hold the soil in place.  Each  soil block was placed in a container of water.  Swishing around that mass aided in the gentle removal of all parts of the weeds.  Intact civilized plants was our goal.  We accept the possible outcome that nothing will survive the move but we cannot risk placing these invaders into our shade garden.

These Starflowers could survive their move since complete root masses remained with the rest of the transplant.  Delicate accurately describes every part of these plants.  Our hope is that enough of the plants remains functional enabling a return next year.  Their pointed white flowers are quite attractive and a sizable patch would be a welcome addition to our collection of native plants.
 

The outcome with the polygala is far less certain.  We had a past experience where several plants with horizontal roots were connected to a single deep taproot.  Despite our caution today, only plants with the horizontal root were removed.  The web of forest soil is so tight that deep clumps are impossible to remove.  We did our best and these plants have been added to the list of transplants that will receive water nearly every rainless day.  Any survivors here will be treasured while those left behind in the woods should persist for the time that we will remain here.