Fringed Polygala At Last

Traditionally in this part of NYS, Fringed poylgala is associated with Mother's Day.  This year the weather has been beyond harsh resulting in delayed appearance of green growth.  Yesterday's generous rainfall instantly made a widespread difference.  Leaves and flowers appeared where previously there had been little growth.  Our previous check for these flower's appearance found nothing.  Thinking that the rain may have drawn these plants out sent us back to our woods.  Initially nothing was found.  The marking stick previously placed alongside of where this plant had grown pointed to nothing.  Nearby a recent fallen section of tree covered another known location for this plant.

Not ready to give up the search, a route was found around more fallen tree branches to an area where in year's past this plant had been seen.  Initially nothing was found.  Then one spot of the characteristic purple color became visible followed by seeing many more.

We had previously successfully transplanted Fringed polygala to our shade garden.  All went well for several years when other native plants moved in.  The broad green leaves, one holding a white flower bud, seen in this photo is Canada Mayflower.  A nearby section of forest contains only trees and this native invader.  There all other native plants have been crowded out.  That was the same fate of our transplants.  We never knowingly moved Canada Mayflower into our garden but it soon made its presence known.  We lost each and every Polygala to this brute.

 

This photo shows just how crowded woodland soil can become.  In the lower right corner next to a long brown stick, Polygala leaves fill a single vertical stem.  A similar plant is just behind the flowerless stem.  The nearby double flowers have bent their stem.  This is without a doubt a crowded neighborhood.

 

Little has been found about this plant and what we encounter is sometimes contradictory.  It is generally accepted that seed formation occurs in  never open flower just below the soil surface.  The function of these open flowers remains mostly unanswered.  Today an internet visit to Native Plant Trust Go Botany revealed twin seed pods positioned where the two horizontal flower petals can now be seen.  We will mark the location of this plant with a florescent red flag so that we can find it when its flowers are past.  The possibility of seeds is exciting.  We have vowed to never again dig this plant.  We discovered that each stem grows from a horizontal close to the surface root.  Nutrition is found by the vertical tap root of some size.  It that tap root is not intact, the transplant will die.  The possibility of seeds above ground is simply wonderful. 

In Search Of Wintergreen

Our source of arbutus plants sent word to us today announcing the blooming of her wintergreen.  Despite the recurring showers, we set off to the back woods to check on the status of our plants.  We found new plant growth proudly displaying its smaller reddish leaves but no flowers.  Where the mature leaves depart from the stem, red areas can easily be seen.  The tiny white bump there may be the start of the flowering stem.  We will watch to see if flowers soon appear there.  This is an incredibly busy time of year in the garden and we have frequently failed to take the time to look for wintergreen flowers.

This piece of wintergreen was an unexpected gift to us when we were uprooting arbutus.  Its need for acidic soil matches arbutus so we planted the wintergreen near out transplanted arbutus.  When moved each leaf junction consisted of just three leaves.  As our gaze moves along the stem from right to left, new growth is seen.  We expected nothing from the transplant since our past efforts always ended in failure.  This time the new growth looks promising.  This plant will get a wire cage to protect it from foragers as winter approaches.  We have seen arbutus and wintergreen growing side by side in the wild and would be thrilled if that can happen here.

The Canada mayflower has, as its name suggests, already flowered.  This native must be classed as invasive here.  Where these woods drop downhill to meet the road, Canada mayflower has nearly totally displaced all other native plants.  We have watched as it closed in on our rather sizable wintergreen plants but could do nothing to halt its advance.  For now both plants grow under the black birch trees but the wintergreen will soon be only a memory.  The photo shows that many of the seed bearing berries have already been eaten possibly by turkeys and grouse.  Those seeds have been scattered and more new mayflower plants will grow.

Wintergreen has long been a part of my life.  As a child those dark chocolate covered pink colored wintergreen cream patties were a favorite after school treat.  I remember reading of early pioneer women breaking out the wintergreen wine at a quilting bee.  Imagine the size of a wintergreen patch that would have been needed to gather enough leaves to make wine.  Try to imagine the taste of wintergreen wine.  I eat the berries while walking about during mild winter spells and that always makes me wonder about the wine.

These Indian pipes were an unexpected sight today.  They grow just across the lane just uphill from the wintergreen and Canada mayflower.  The purity of the color suggests that these are newly emerged.  They were an unexpected gift on this day with no wintergreen flowers.

Native Invaders

On May 12th we were enjoying the bizarrely structured flowers displayed by our transplanted fringed polygala.  Trout lily also intrigues us and at first we were pleased to see it growing with the polygala. Canada mayflower was also moving in and its numbers seemed excessive.  Polygala is an easily displaced plant and we reluctantly reached the conclusion that the invaders had to go.  Weeding here required the summoning of all the courage we could muster.  Wishing to avoid damaging the tender one we finally moved in with delicate force.

If John Burroughs had seen a trout lily in this configuration, he would have had no difficulty in seeing how this plant placed its bulb several inches deep into the soil.  Soon new bulbs would have formed at the tips of the white roots.  One plant would have become three in a single year.  Quickly the trout lily would have crowded out the polygala.

A firm but gentle tug removed many invaders with their roots intact.  The free hand was used to hold the surrounding soil and stems in place to limit the impact on the polygala.  Weeds whose roots broke off may return but so will the determined weeder.

The bright light green leaves are new polygala growth.  A generous soaking with a watering can followed the weeding.  The tilted new growth will have to right itself since no way to help in the tangle could be found.  An unbroken stem has a good chance to straighten itself.  We continue to water here frequently and the polygala is now showing more new growth.  Carefully tending native wild flowers seems to be filled with basic contradictions.  Polygala is disappearing from our woods and intervention to try to save it seemed to be the only course.  Two daughter plants have appeared near the transplant but we can find no information defining a preferred location where this treasure can make it on its own.  For now they will remain where they are presently growing.

Walking in Forbidden Woods

Down the road from us, there is a wooded area that we have driven by for more than fifty years.  Every spring I would try to see what was growing there, but wildflower identification at traffic speed is not among my talents.  The woods are on a curve, the shoulder is pretty much non-existent and the land is posted so we have never stopped.  We wondered if the landowner's described blue arbutus  might still be growing there. This spring we got permission from the landowner to walk in his woods.  We saw what my Mom always called Princess pine and Canada Mayflower but we found no arbutus of any color.

Partridgeberry seemed very happy there.  Close to home this native wildflower is rather common.  We still delight when we see its single red berry formed by two tiny white blossoms.  It continues to grow across a path in our woods that Ed frequently walks.  We have even seen it growing up an old decaying stump.

This Canada Mayflower is almost ready to open its tiny white flowers.  This plant is the source of most of the green seen from the road.

Starflower was the second most prevalent plant here.  It has beautiful  white star shaped flowers when its buds open.

Being a purple loving person I was delighted to find this lovely violet. In this woods it is a rare jewel.

I took a picture of both the flower and leaf in case I want to make a better identification later.  We had certain expectations about what we would find in these woods. We were surprised that there were no trout lilies.  They literally cover the ground at home.  It  seemed strange not to find them here.  It was fun to wander in the forbidden woods! Thanks to our neighbors for letting us do that.  We did discover that we have all of the wildflowers that grow there at home.  I guess we thought they had something we did not. Now we know the truth!