The arrival of autumn signals that the growing season has come to an end.
As the asters and goldenrods give us the last flower show of the year, and the rain hopefully gives us some fall color before winter sets in, I thought it fitting to share a little of what has been going (or ‘growing’ on if you’ll permit the pun) behind the scenes with the plant propagation program this year.
Volunteers and staff have been busy since February sowing seeds, transplanting seedlings, and upsizing thousands of plants for our sales and landscaping needs, but among other things, they have been tending to new seed production rows that were installed last fall and the results have been spectacular! Here are just a few of the species we are propagating out, with hopes to offer in the years to come.
Violet wood-sorrel (Oxalis violacea)
This springtime bloom is a less common relative of the weedier yellow wood sorrel, which any gardener in our region is sure to be quite familiar with. Unlike yellow wood sorrel, violet wood sorrel doesn’t spread as extensively. Instead, you’ll often find it flowering in dense colonies along the forest floor and along stream banks. Like other spring ephemerals, plants go dormant as the trees leaf out and summer heat sets in. Seeds have been tricky to collect in our row, so we have been slowly propagating it out through bulbs from potted plants as well.
Sweet goldenrod (Solidago odora)
Sweet goldenrod gets its name from the anise/licorice scent the leaves produce when crushed and has been historically used by native peoples to make tea. Its shorter growth and non-aggressive spread make it a great fall-blooming addition to any sunny or partly shaded garden.
Narrow-leaf Sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa)
Narrowleaf sundrops are in the primrose family. Much like the more common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis), it is a great plant for pollinators and is a host plant to several moth species, including the pearly wood nymph (Eudryas unio) a convincing bird-poop mimic. Unlike the biennial evening primrose whose flowers open at night, sundrops is a perennial whose flowers open during the day.
Largeflower valerian (Valeriana pauciflora)
This is an interesting species we are fortunate to have in a few spots at the Nature Center; unfortunately, the blooms appear to be a favorite of white-tailed deer and I’ll often see them bloom one day, only to find them gone the next. This of course makes seed collection, our preferred method of propagation, rather difficult. Luckily, our nursery is surrounded by deer fencing (but even that hasn’t stopped them on occasion) and our seed row flourished with blooms this year! It’s long, attractive tubular flowers provide food for bees, butterflies, moths, and potentially hummingbirds.
Golden ragwort (Packera urea)
An adaptable plant, golden ragwort grows best in consistently moist, organically rich soil. Here at the Nature Center, you can find it in small patches along the trails here and there, where it can be confused with its more common, smaller flowering relative roundleaf ragwort (Packera obovata). Under ideal conditions, like those found in a well-mulched garden bed or a nursery seed row, it spreads to form a dense ground cover. In the spring, stems shoot up from the dense leaves, covered in yellow daisy-like flowers that make this a great early blooming plant for pollinators.
Aromatic Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium)
If I were to recommend one aster that everyone should have in their garden, this is it. Aromatic aster is a full sun to part shade species, can tolerate a wide range of soils, and does very well in a garden setting. Its short, shrub-like shape stays shorter than 3 feet and in the fall, is covered in beautiful purple-blue flowers. While we don’t have any natural populations here at the Nature Center, in Ohio it can be found along rocky bluffs of the Ohio River as well as prairie remnants.
