Cardinal Flower Adventures

"What the heck is pictured here?" would be an excellent question.  When this year's snow melted, we fashioned a cover to protect one dozen Cardinal Flower plants that had been in pots for nearly one year.  One of our larger wire cages was fitted with a heavy fabric cover.  Last night's strong wind caused the cage to fly or tumble for a considerable distance.  A crushing blow distorted the cage and tore the fabric.

This morning our herd of seven deer, that feel our land belongs to them, were troubled by the new location or shape of this object.  Several tentative approaches were closely followed by rapid retreats when the wind snapped the cover.  Since they are not impressed by us ,we took some delight in watching the deer approach and then shy away from the new threat.  A fair amount of time passed before the herd returned to grazing some distance away from the cage.  When the rain stops I will straighten the cage and return it to its assigned location.

These were the protected plants.  Each was given a one gallon pot last Spring.  They did flower and as expected new plants grew around the base of the dying stem.  Last Summer the deer herd walked among these plants several times.  Some stems were bent to the ground while others were broken.  No explanation can be found for the wide variation in present condition.  Some pots are filled with mostly green growth while others appear to hold mostly death.  Despite our many years of close attention to this native treasure, we still have huge gaps in our understanding of this plant.

Each Cardinal Flower plant produces several thousand seeds each year.  These seeds have picky requirements before they will sprout.  Their soil needs to be both warm and moist before any signs of growth appear.  When they finally make their June appearance other plants surround this new growth and many are inadvertently pulled as weeds.  This cluster of plants started out as a single plant from self planted seed.  Each plant generates up to six new plants around the dead stem as snowfall approaches.

This yearly cycle of death and new growth has continued here for several years with no interference from us.  Last year twelve flower bearing stalks marked this location of at least twelve distinct plants.  This mass of growth may consist of seventy-two or more individual plants now.  Seriously overcrowded last year, all flowering stalks were shorter than normal and few flowers appeared.  In nature this plant has survived for thousands of years with no help from man.  We continue to watch this group just to see if this plant survives overcrowding.  Tightly packed together, they have survived many frosts this year in much better condition than my pampered potted babies.

This is the method that we have used for years to guarantee the survival of Cardinal Flower somewhere in our gardens.  Just as soon as the frost releases the ground we pot up individual plants.  Their root system is extensive consisting of tightly intertwined long white roots.  Great but gentle pressure is required to pull the plants apart.  Crushed crowns result in dead plants.  Sharp eyes will find that some of these pots contain more than one plant but none show any dead plants.  The basal rosette of new growth has given way to the stems that will later bear bright red flowers.

Several of the coming nights may bring frost.  Our custom is to move this tray into the basement but we may leave one plant outside to see if these leaves are now frost tolerant.  Since this plant thrives in the nearby Adirondack Mountains that feature much colder nights than here, we try to discover just why ours fail.