Edge Of The Woods

Our latest attempt to find a natural home for Cardinal Flower is pictured here.  Some weeds were cleared before the transplants were set one year ago.  Bags of fallen leaves taken from the front area of nearby village homes are in use to both smother weeds and rot down forming a more natural woodland soil.  We have come to understand that Cardinal Flower prefers both moist soil and shade.  Garden placement usually results in only one year's growth while we are looking for a place where this plant will return year after year with no more help from us.  Some of these plants wintered over here while many  more were set out this spring to empty the pots.  Except for the new plants, adding leaves was all that we did for these plants this year.

Our gravel bank hill rises to the south behind these flowers. The height of the hill and its trees keeps this area in shade most of early spring days.  Snow lingers longer here than any other location on our land offering protection when it is needed most.  The road to the gravel bank crosses in front of these plants trapping water runoff keeping this ground moist much of the time early in the year.  Moist and well drained ground results from the deep gravel deposit under this ground with water frequently running down hill to this spot.  We did not see any new plants from seed here but some time is needed for the rotting leaves to form more suitable soil.  We remain more than willing to wait since it appears that this location will help Cardinal Flower survive independently here.

Stepping away from our natural ground at the edge of the forest, twelve sizable pots each containing one overwintered plant were placed in a garden bed.  We expected to find up to six daughter plants in each pot come spring.  It would be a simple task to pull these pots next spring if protection from hard frosts became necessary.  Our plans were working well until the deer herd visited.  Two plants had their tops nipped off very early on.  Recently at least one of the deer walked across this area knocking over several soon to flower stems.  This pictured plant is sending up three or four daughter plants inside of the pot rim.  They appeared here much earlier than normal in response to the flattened stem.  That stem is sending up new stalks that look like they will flower.  If soil was placed along side of the now horizontal stem, roots would begin to grow.  We want the daughter plants already in pots for next year and are in no way prepared to deal with the excessive number of plants that with help would appear here.

This picture shows the entire planting.  Some plants remain as they were planted.  Some are sending up new vertical stems in response to earlier trimming by inexperienced fawns.  Others were recently knocked over and we will watch to see just how they will grow.  It will be interesting to see just what grows here next spring.

A More Natural Setting

Cardinal Flower is a native plant that does not grow freely in our area.  North or south of  the Southern Tier of New York, this plant flourishes but here it is rarely seen in the wild.  Despite the low chances of success, we continue to search for a wild location that will meet the needs of this treasure.  The time between initial snow melt and somewhat stable temperatures is when this plant dies out.  A naturally protected location is what we are searching for.

Here at the base of a north facing slope, snow melt comes later than nearby places.  Additionally, water drains down the hill and is trapped by the nearby road to our gravel bank.  Cardinal Flower needs generous amounts of moisture in addition to protection from early hard frosts.  Last year ten of our potted plants were set out in this wild ground.  A generous mulch of fallen tree leaves was placed to try to limit the growth of undesirable weeds.  All ten plants survived.

What actually survived was the new growth that appears in the fall as the flowering stem dies.  Under the best conditions, six new daughter plants will appear long before snow season.  These evergreen young plants will flower the following summer if all goes well.

This photo taken in August shows the beauty of Cardinal Flower.  A single blossom consists of three downward pointing petals with two additional ones spread upward looking like wings.  A white beard tops a tubular structure that leads to the ovary where seeds may form.  Hummingbirds find these flowers irresistible and visit them often even while we are working close by.  It is not uncommon for a hummingbird to momentarily hover close to Becky's face as if thanking her for providing these flowers.

Seeds formed and dropped last year will not germinate on this moist ground until the soil has warmed.  It may be as late as July before the from seed basal rosettes are seen.  They look much like the new growth seen in the first picture.  That is the form that they will take into winter.  If this year's new growth is killed by frost, there is still the possibility that from seed new plants will survive next winter.  Even with two different methods of providing for the next generation, this plant remains uncommon here.

These blades of green new growth may belong to another native treasure Blue Flag.  If that is the case these two plants will look good together.  It is possible that what is actually here may prove to be Yellow Flag.  If that is the case our removal efforts will focus on both the Yellow Flag and the Garlic Mustard.  Neither of these highly invasive aliens will be allowed to grow freely here.  In the long run both will likely survive but it will not be because we did not try to end them.