The Turk's Cap Volume 19, Number 2 Summer 2016 The Newsletter Of The Delaware Native Plant Society www. delawarena tiveplan ts. or£ Experiencing the 25th Anniversary Native Plants in the Landscape Conference At Millersville University by Rick Mickowski Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve is now the sponsoring organization for this annual conference. After wanting to attend for several years, I finally bit the bullet and spent my own funds to attend one of the day- long tours and the first day of the conference. There were a few other people from Delaware in attendance but not many including Lori Athey, the Backyard Habitat Coordinator for the Ashland Nature Center and Gregg Tepper, from the Southern Delaware Botanic Gardens at Pepper Creek. B Kelly Gutshall from Land Studies led the natural landscape and ecological restoration projects tour around northern Lancaster County. The Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council sponsored this tour. We stopped and visited several sites including Landis Homes retirement community in Lititz, PA; the Wilson farm; the Rock Lititz campus; New Street Ecological Park, Butterfly Acres, and the Warwick Township Municipal Campus. Each location featured ecological restoration projects featuring the use of native plants and landscaping. RMTll f l| * 77 ^ * ' a — ■ A - -* ’• • . k '} ^ -'."hCv ’• ^ K SuKSlsJt l i . -> iawr ETraXiMMlMMi ► WM ' i ff ; ' .« -V f git ». :■ . T.- s/ 1 ] js'k ,• a ■ " V, ’ A rain garden located behind some of the retirement housing Stream and floodplain restoration in the center of the community Mason bee house on pedestrian bridge The Turk's Cap, Volume 19, Number 2 Page 2 Message, from the. President After a cool and wet May, summer is fully embracing Delaware with the sun warming all parts of the state, from the Piedmont region in New Castle County to the Coastal Plain in Sussex County. Keep an eye out for all our beautiful flora and fauna coming to life in this productive time of year. The Delaware Native Plant Society is striving to make a difference in both the public and private sectors throughout Delaware. Last year, we contributed to the Meadow Project and their Hometown Habitat documentary that has now been released. As a result of our support, DNPS has been given a copy of this amazing film. It will be shown at our annual symposium later this year. The symposium will be held in October; keep an eye on DNPS emails and press releases for more information. In addition, DNPS is fostering discussion and spearheading future hands-on projects in the Lewes area. It is our hope that DNPS, working alongside other groups, can renovate the existing Native Plant Garden at the University of Delaware campus off Pilottown Road in Lewes. After many years of neglect, portions of the garden have become overgrown, weedy, and access is shaky. DNPS hopes to make improvements (with the assistance of members and others) to make this a glorious garden once again. Furthermore, we have been talking with other local organizations about incorporating native plant gardens throughout public spaces, specifically in the Lewes area. We have had positive feedback from all directions, and are looking forward to providing guidance, design assistance, and volunteers in the months and years to come. As always, thanks to all our members, and especially to those that volunteer their time and effort to make our organization a continued success. Eric W. Wahl "Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you." ~ Frank Lloyd Wright Native plant is a term to describe plants endemic (indigenous) or naturalized to a given area in geologic time. This includes plants that have developed, occur naturally, or existed for many years in an area (e.g. trees, flowers, grasses, and other plants). In North America a plant is often deemed native if it was present before colonization. Some native plants have adapted to a very limited, unusual environments or very harsh climates or exceptional soil conditions. Although some types of plants for these reasons exist only within a very limited range (endemism), others can live in diverse areas or by adaptation to different surroundings (indigenous plant). Questions or comments please contact Rick Mickowski, newsletter editor at rick. mickowski@state.de. us or at 302-832-3100 ext. 113. Member submissions encouraged! DNPS Officer Team 2014-2016 from left to right: Eric Wahl - President, Rick Mickowski - Vice President, Eric Zuelke - Treasurer, and Alison Long - Secretary The Turk's Cap, Volume 19, Number 2 Page 3 Native Plants in the Landscape Conference continued from Page 1 Common Milkweed and native tree seedlings growing on the Wilson Farm. The owner has planted thou- sands of trees to re-forest the fields. Newly seeded native plant warm season grass meadow at the New Street Ecological Park. Educational signage about native plants Bio-retention (bump-out) on Locust Street. Stream restoration at New Street Ecol. Park. Aquifer recharge area restoration at Butterfly Acres includ- ed native plant bio-swale seeding and 135 native trees. Several vendors were selling native plants. Visit us on Facebook Delaware Native Plant Society The Turk's Cap, Volume 19 Number 2 Page 4 Native Plant Highlight Boneset (Thoroughwort) EUPATORIUM PERFOLIATUM L Aster or Daisy family (asteracaeae) Boneset was and herbal medicine staple for Native Americans and early European settlers. Thanks to its distinctive leaves ; boneset can be told readily from other indigenous white-flowering members of the Eupatorium genus. Boneset grows in moist and wet habitats. Flower heads consist of small chalky white disk flowers (10-25 per head) which form fuzzy, flat-topped or multi-leveled terminal and upper axillary clusters up to several inches across. Leaves are opposite, simple, lanceolate, toothed, and sessile with at least some of the leaf bases so perfectly fused that the plant appears to pierce through one double leaf. When leaves are fused, the term is "connate"; when appearing to be pierced by the stem— "perfoliate". One botanical manual describes boneset's leaves as " connate-perfoliate ". Plant stalks are hairy. Habitat and range are moist or wet woods, meadows and thickets ; much of the eastern United States and Canada. Herbal Lore: According to Steven Foster and lame Duke (Peterson Field Guides' Field Guide to Medicinal Plants: Eastern and Central North America), boneset was a " common home remedy of 19th century America, extensively employed by American Indians and early settlers. Widely used, reportedly with success, during the flu epidemics in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Leaf tea once used to induce sweating in fevers, fly, and colds; also used for malaria, rheumatism, muscular pains, spasms, pneumonia, pleurisy, gout, etc. Leaves poultice onto tumors. West German research suggests non-specific immune system-stimulating properties, perhaps vindicating historical use in flu epidemics." However, Foster and Duke add the warning: "Emetic and laxative in large doses. May contain controversial and potentially liver-harming pyrrolizidine alkaloids." The her is extremely bitter to the taste, and therefore disliked by children, according to Alma R. Hutchens, who reports in her book Indian Herbalogy of North America: "in these cases a thick syrup of Boneset, ginger, and anise is used. . . For coughs". I report on the plant's herbal use for historical purposes only One should never harvest this native plant! Blooming time is July-October. "Wildflower in Focus" is adapted from An Illustrated Guide to Eastern Woodland Wildflowers and Trees: 350 Plants Observed at Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland. (Choukas- Bradley and Brown, paperback edition, 2008, University of Virginia Press). Article printed here courtesy of the Maryland Native Plant Society and author Melanie Choukas-Bradley. The Turk's Cap, Volume 19, Number 2 Page 5 CALENDAR OF EVENTS AUGUST-OCTOBER 2016 August 13 Longwood Gardens— Native Meadows from the Ground Up from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fee is $70.00. Go to www.longwoodgardens.org for more details. August 27 DNPS annual meeting/garden tour of Mt. Cuba Center. Officer elections will be held. August 17, 24, 31 Class Series at Mt. Cuba Center— Ecosystems and Plant Communities with Dot Abbott and Bill McAvoy. September 10 Class at Mt. Cuba Center— Propagating Native Ferns. September 10 Class at Mt. Cuba Center— Insects: Hunters, Gatherers, and Grazers with Faith Kuehn from DDA September 14 To October 19 September 17-18 Classes at Mt. Cuba Center— Native Plants of Fall. 6 Wednesday nights, fee is $185.00. Maryland Native Plant Society annual conference at University of Maryland, College Park. Theme: "Maryland's Forgotten Bogs and Pine Barrens". Go to their web page for more details/registration. September 24 National Estuaries Day and Native Plant Sale at the St. Jones Reserve in Dover. October 15 Blackbird Creek Fall Festival at the Blackbird Creek Reserve near Townsend, DE October 22 DNPS/Friends of Bombay Hook Garden Keepers Native Plant Symposium featuring the premiere of Hometown Habitat video followed by a short lecture and lunch. Time: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Registration flyer to come in September. Native Plant Resources Izel - An online Marketplace for Native Plants. Go to wwwizelplants.com. Mid-Atlantic Native Plant Farm in New Freedom, PA. A wholesale grower that will sell and ship to regular customers. Find them at www.midatlanticnatives.com. Adkins Aboretum native plant nursery in Maryland open Friday and Saturdays in September to mid- October from 9-4. Visit www.adkinsarboretum.org for more details. The Turk's Cap, Volume 19, Number 2 Page 6 Native Plant Resources DNPS member Quentin Schlieder had developed a native plant brochure for the Friends of Bombay Hook Garden Keepers. It is titled "50 Great (and neat) Native Plants for Delaware Gardens". You can view and access the document at www.FriendsofBombayHook.org/pdf/species. DNPS member David Smith has a wonderful native plant website with photographs at www.delawarewildflowers.org. The Xerces Society has just released a new book "Gardening for Butterflies". They introduce you to a variety of butterflies who need our help, and provides suggestions for native plants to attract them, habitat designs to help them thrive, and garden practices to accommodate all their stages of life. Go to www.Xerces.org for more information. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has a wonderful series of guide books. "Great Natives for Tough Places" was published in 2009. You can order from their website at www.bbg.org. Look under gardening resources. The new book by Larry Weaner and Thomas Christopher gives specific details and descriptions of how our landscapes can be a source of environmental change. Last month, the Delaware Center for Horticulture partnered with Constitution Yards Beer Garden to provide 22 native-themed plant containers to beautify the new Riverfront beer garden in Wilmington. In collaboration with The Nature Conservancy and Bank of America, volunteers planted and arranged the new containers for the beer garden, which opened in mid-June. Educational and interpretive goals of the plantings feature a variety of native plant cultivars, which were selected for their bright and bold flower colors, including Lonicera sempervirens 'Major Wheeler' (trumpet or coral honeysuckle), Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed), Coreopsis verticillata 'Zagreb' (whorled tickseed), and Echinacea Tomato Soup' (coneflower). Photos and article courtesy of TheDCH monthly e-news How our landscapes can be a source of environmental change -DOUO TALLAMY, BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN ALL-REGION GUIDES Great Natives for The Turk's Cap, Volume 19, Number 2 Page 7 Beach Plum Jelly Add one pound washed, ripe fruit to a large pot. Crush or prick with a fork. Add enough water to just cover the fruit, but the fruit should not float (approximately 8 cups of water). Cook over a low heat and then bring to a moderate boil for 15 to 20 minutes, until the fruit is soft and losing its color. Strain through one thickness of moistened cheesecloth or jelly bag. Return the strained pulp to the pot, add another 8 cups of water, and boil for about 10 minutes. Skim of any froth that forms. Strain again and save the juice. Mix the pulp and the juice, and concentrate by passing through four thicknesses of cheesecloth. Then add 6 cups of sugar and 2 ounces pectin and bring to boil again. Boil mixture 10-20 minutes. The mixture should thicken and is ready once it is thick enough so that two large drops forming on the back of a spoon meld or gel into one. Pour mixture into sterilized glass con- tainers. Yield is about 18 ounces of jelly for every pound of fruit. Beach Plum Cobbler Filling: 4 pounds beach plums, halved, pitted 1 cup sugar 2 Vi tablespoons cornstarch 1 tsp. vanilla extract Biscuits: 2 cups all-purpose flour 5 tablespoons sugar, divided 1 tablespoon baking powder Vi tsp. ground cinnamon, divided Vi cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into Vi inch 3 A cup plus 2 tablespoons whipping cream 1 large egg Vanilla ice cream For filling: Preheat oven to 400F. Toss plum, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla in large bowl to coat. Trans- fer to a 13x9x2 inch glass baking dish. Bake until thick and bubbling at the edges, about 30 minutes. For biscuits: Whisk flour, 3 tbsp. sugar, baking powder, salt and V 4 tsp. cinnamon in large bowl to blend. Add butter in with fingertips until coarse meal forms. Whisk % c. whipping cream and egg in small bowl to blend. Stir cream mixture into flour mixture just until blended. Gently knead in bowl until dough comes together, about 5 minutes. Remove beach plums from oven and stir gently. Break off golf ball size pieces of dough and arrange over hot plum mixture, spacing apart. Brush dough with remaining 2 tbsp. Cream. Mix remaining 2 tbsp sugar and V 4 tsp. cinnamon in small bowl. Sprinkle over dough. Bake cobbler until fruit is bubbling, biscuits are browned and tester inserted into center of biscuits comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve hot or warm with vanilla ice cream. Recipes and photo from Seaberry Farm in Federalsburg, MD. Website: www.seaberryfarm.com The Turk's Cap, Volume 19, Number 2 Page 8 Membership Application Member Information Name: Business Name or Organization: Delaware native Plant Society 0 Full-time Student $10.00 0 Individual $15.00 O Family or Household $18.00 O Contributing $50.00 O Business $100.00 O Lifetime $500.00 O Donations are also welcome $ Address: City and Zip Code: Telephone (home/work): Membership benefits include: Total Amount Enclosed: $ Make check payable to: DE Native Plant Society Delaware Native Plant Society P.O. Box 369 Dover, Delaware 19903