Spring Ephemerals

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Mertensia -- Virginia Bluebells

Just before the leaves of deciduous trees are at their fullest, the spring ephemerals bloom.  This group of woodland plants use the fact that the leaves of the deciduous trees are not shading the forest floor to grow and store food for next winter.  The plants grow quickly and bloom early just as the trees are starting to leaf out.

And then they disappear, leaves and all, sometime before the end of July. So if you're wanting to move or divide your ephemerals, do it before summer. I mark where they are so that I don't accidentally dig into them when I'm playing in the garden later in the season.

Mertensia -- Virginia Bluebells -- is one of the nicest ephemerals.  Have you ever seen a better blue?  Mertensia pops up even when there are morning frosts and bravely grows along with the Trilliums, a bushy, leafy plant making it hard to believe it's going to disappear in just a few weeks.

Two other ephemerals you might like are Dodecatheon and the fall-blooming Colchicums with their large, strap-like leaves.  Dodecatheon blooms just as the eaves are popping.  It's dainty blooms look like tiny badminton birds. Colchicum will put up a clump of strap-like leaves in the spring.  Those leaves will grow and reserve strength for most of the spring and then disappear before July.  The leaves will die down so completely that you'll forget about them and then be surprised in autumn when the flowers pop up -- no leaves, just flowers.
Spring ephemerals  - an early hint of the summer that is to follow.

The Whateveritis Has Started

It’s still cold and the garden appears dead – until you look closely.  Some of the tulips have poked their noses out.  Next door the snowdrops are already blooming. 

In the pond the marsh marigolds are beginning to leaf out and in the garden the rose stalks are starting to show green. 

It’s those small things that raise hope in the minds of gardeners – those things that prove that life is beginning despite the cold temperatures.

And, as the picture attests, the Whaterveritis has started. 

Buyer Beware

               Most of us concerned about the plight of bees are now conscientiously choosing plants for our gardens that are good for bees.  What we may not be aware of is that the very plants we are purchasing to help bees may have been treated with the same pesticides that have been killing or sickening bees worldwide – neonicotinoids.

               Neonicotinoids or neonics are a group of systemic pesticides that are used on crops to control insects.  When they are used as a seed coating or a drench, the insecticide enters the system of the plant and can be found in all parts of the plant – leaves, stem, flowers, fruit.  Insects feeding on any part of treated plants are affected. 

               The neonicotinoids widely used to prevent insect damage on crops have been recognized as dangerous to bees.  Although bees are not the targets, they are attracted to the flowers of crops that have been treated.  The bees ingest the neonics through nectar and take the pollen of the treated plants back to their hives to feed their young.  Large doses of the pesticide will kill bees outright, but even very small doses of neonics, can cause bees to become disoriented, to experience memory loss or to lose their foraging ability.  Honey bees are often unable to find their way back to the hive.

Those very same neonics that harm bees on crop plants may be present in the ornamental plants we purchase at nurseries and big box stores.  Studies of plant material from a variety of retail sources have revealed the presence of neonics in plants offered for sale.  Some growers use the pesticides on their ornamental stock as a control for insects just as farmers do on crops.  And we purchase those plants for our bee gardens!

To reduce the danger to bees, many countries have banned the use of neonicotinoids, but there is no legislation banning the use of neonics on garden plants in Canada or the USA.  The nurseries and plant producers, the sources of our plants, are free to use neonics on the plants they produce.  Of course, we wouldn’t choose plants for our bee gardens that contained harmful pesticides, but there is no way of knowing whether the plants we purchase have been treated with neonics or not. 

Here’s where you and I come into the picture.  

The Ontario Horticultural Association has acted.  OHA has written a letter to the main large box stores asking them to choose plants for sale that have not been treated with neonics and to label plants that have been treated.

You and I can act, too.  We can ask our plant sources whether neonics have been used on the plants, and we can choose not to buy plants that have been treated with neonics.  We can regulate the use of neonics with our purchasing decisions.  Buy only bee-friendly plants this spring.

Here are some sites you may want to visit for more information:

http://www.wired.com/2014/06/garden-center-neonicotinoids/

http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/comm/docs/Krischik-UofMN-PowerPoint.pdf

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/business/farming/scottish-study-claims-to-prove-pesticides-are-harming-bees-1.822577

http://www.xerces.org/neonicotinoids-and-bees/

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/07/neonicotinoids-affect-bees.aspx

http://www.planetexperts.com/study-confirms-neonicotinoid-insecticides-impair-bee-brains/#sthash.00JDwuH9.dpuf

In the Midst of Death

The sunlit fungus on the log in the picture is proof that the death of a plant gives opportunity for life.  

Sunlit Fungus on Log Fla 2015

Fungi are an interesting family of living things.  As a gardener, I have been most interested in one member of the family, mycorrhizal fungi.  These fungi form partnerships with plants.  The fungi side of the partnership is to increase the effectiveness of the root of the plant. The mycelium of the fungi provides the host plant with minerals and other nutrients from the surrounding soil, and the plant provides the fungus with food in the form of carbohydrates.  While vital to the good health of a plant, mycorrhizal fungi are not usually seen. 

The lovely fungus you can see on the log in the picture is a saprophytic fungi, a member of the largest group of fungi.  Saprophytic fungi feed on dead matter such as fallen trees and dead leaves.  These fungi produce enzymes that will rot (or digest) the cellulose and lignin of the host.  Eventually, through the work of these fungi, the log in the picture will disappear and its components will re-enter the food chain. 

A commonality in all fungi is that they are not green.  Fungi do not have chlorophyll cells and, therefore, cannot photosynthesize sunlight into energy.  They depend on the dead host for the sugars and starches they need to live. 

The fungi enter the body of the host through thread-like, tubular filaments called hyphae.  The tip of a hypha grows or elongates and may branch out to form a mat of hyphae called mycelium.  It is from the mycelium that the fruiting body of the fungus arises.

The fruiting part of the saprophytic fungi is the part we see.  Fruiting bodies come in a variety of shapes from lacy growths like the fungus in the picture to the mushrooms we love to eat.  It is the fruiting bodies that contain the spores by which the fungus multiplies.

The grey fruiting part of the fungus on the log is what attracted me.  In sunlight, it has a beauty that belies the fact that the fungus lives on death.