Outdoors in May

Star Chickweed blooming in May Connecticut College woodland garden

Among the changing months, May stands the sweetest, and in fairest colors dressed.”

— James Thomson

For good or bad, nature has its own comprehensive coordination of flora and fauna, and all play the perfect instrument in the classical themes of nature. Mozart in his glory had nothing compared to nature and its symphony of birdsong, and Monet has an inferior palette to that which nature offers. In May, nature is at its beginning and its best is yet to come.

Red oak flowers

Pin cherry is a native small tree that occurs in sandy clearings, along shorelines of ponds and lakes, often with aspen and white birch. It has a straight trunk with shiny reddish-brown to grayish-brown bark with numerous horizontal lenticels. Another tree with interesting bark is the striped maple, Acer pennsylvanicum. This maple is aptly named for its colorful green and cream colored stripes on the trunks of younger trees.

Pin cherry bark

Bark of a young striped maple trunk

In mid- May I took a trip to New London to visit the Edgerton and Stengel woodland wildflower garden at Connecticut College. In May there are creeping phlox, tiarella, swamp azaleas, trilliums, shooting stars, star chickweed, Virginia bluebells and many other woodland plants in bloom. Pitcher plants in the bog were showing signs of flowering.

Pitcher plant ready to bloom

Before sunrise recently, there was a peculiar pink, upright band in the sky, which turned out to be one end of a rainbow. It lasted a good 20 minutes and was an interesting start to the day. Later a line of thunderheads moved in, but no rain was in the mix in our area. In the afternoon in mid-May It looked like a rainstorm was happening just across the Thames River in new London, but it was actually a fog bank rolling in along the eastern shore.

Pre-dawn rainbow

While birding for the Audubon spring census, my sister and I came across two species of rare violets classified in Connecticut as  rare and endangered species. Viola enduca, or hook-spurred violet was one of them. This purple-flowered violets bears a slight resemblance to a bearded iris in that its lower side petals are bearded. The second species was Viola renifolia, the kidney-leaved violet, which has a sweet white flower with deep purple striping.

Rare Viola anduca hook-spurred violet

Kidney-leaved violet

There are always interesting galls to be found, and a favorite of mine is the maple eyespot gall caused by a midge. Spiffy red and yellow spots are caused by a chemical response to the egg-laying of the female midge. Cedar-apple galls on cedar were also starting to open.

Maple eyespot gall

For some unknown reason there has been a strong attraction to bucket loaders for a lot of birds, this year. A mockingbird uses the backhoe on a farm for a fine perch to sing away on and at the golf course, a robin built her nest on ours. Every time the loader is used, the nest is taken off and placed in a safe spot nearby. After parking it for the day, the nest is returned, and the robin has resumed laying eggs. All seems well for the moment

Robin’s nest on back hoe

Mockingbird singing from atop a bucket loader

Turtles should be heading for the hills soon to lay eggs. They are surprisingly fast on land when given a reason to press on, especially in egg-laying season. Otherwise, they can be seen relaxing on logs and rocks in calm waters.

Painted turtle laying eggs

Painted turtles soaking in the rays

Trees and shrubs starting to bloom include Viburnum plicatum, Carolina allspice and Fraser magnolia, while horse chestnuts are ending bloom. Oaks are wreaking havoc as flowers have a load of pollen right now, but flowers should be falling soon.

Horsechestnut flowers

As May draws to a close, I am looking forward to more bee and insect activity, a profusion of new life in the form of baby birds and animals, and more color as wildflowers make their mark in the landscape. Altogether, they will become a natural symphony of coordination of sight and sound in their own special place on the earth. I intend to enjoy what remains of this spring. You never know what you will see or come across…

Pamm Cooper

 

Blue Skies and Sunshine

This past weekend was a gift of blue skies and sunshine too good to return or ignore. I took a walk to reacquaint myself with the land outside of home and office walls. Too often winter restricts outdoor activity for those afraid of ice, mud and other slippery surfaces. Plus I hate chapped lips and cold fingers. The past few days hinted spring is making her travel plans to include the Northeast as a destination. Photos snapped  below are reminders of the walk showing new life and signs from the previous season.

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)

Mullien, (Verbascum thapsus), is sporting new growth leaves from last year’s basal rosette of leaves. The plant is a biennial weed, common along roadsides and trail edges. Records show it was introduced in the 1700’s with settlers, probably brought as seed for use as a medicinal herb. In summer it will send up a tall spike of five-petaled, yellow flowers. The leaves are covered in soft hairs giving the grey-green coloring.

Saucer magnolia, (Magnolia x soulangeana), was spotted in a local yard with its buds swelling, another sure sign spring is on its way. The terminal bud contains the blossom. The smaller lateral buds are holding the leaves.  This photo clearly shows the bud scar where a leaf was attached to the branch last year. The raised bumps within the leaf scar are where the xylem and phloem connected to the leaf. Water and food is transported through the xylem phloem.

Japanese Stewartia, (Stewartiapseudocamellia) buds are also swelling and elongating. This non-native specimen tree was planted locally also. When old enough it will produce white camillia-like flowers in summer.

The bright sun reflected off the water of a small stream at the beginning of the trail. Green water plants were being tugged with the water’s flow.

Sedge was perking up, coming out of its dormancy. Sedges are identifiable by their sunken midrib sharp edges. Most of last year’s leaves will die back and rot away, providing nutrient release for this year’s foliage.

Patches of soft moss are coloring up a vibrant green throughout the forest, especially where the sun hit. Later in the season, after the tree leaf canopy blocks most light from them, the moss will slow down it growth. If a drought occurs, it will go dormant waiting out the time until it rains.

Here some moss grows on the roof protecting signage, which was mostly in the shade.

The patch of club moss is known as princess pine. It is neither a moss nor a pine. It is a plant in the group known as lycopodiums, is an ancient plant, dating from the Paleozoic era about 340 million years ago. It is very slow growing via a main runner which forks in two sending out more runners. Picking the shoots off runners very often decades of growth. It is not illegal to pick, as often thought, but it is highly discouraged by plant folks trying to maintain its presence in the ecosystem. They reproduce like ferns sending up candle-like projections as its fruiting structure containing the primitive plant’s spores.

Lichen was ever-present through the forest, indicating good air quality. Lichen will not grow in places with air pollution. Lichen is not harming any trees. It is not parasitic, only using the tree for structure. If you look around you will see it on fence posts and rocks proving it does not need a living plant to survive. Lichen is a combination of an algae and a fungus or or cyanobacteria living symbiotically, taking what it needs from each other and the air.

The aerial roots of this poison ivy vine are taking on a red color signifying its awakening. All parts of the poison ivy plant contain the oil urushiol which causes the allergic rash.

One leafless, many branched shrub was a favorite of praying mantids as I found two egg masses (ootheca) on its twigs. Each ootheca can contain several hundred eggs which will hatch in the late spring or summer, just in time to feast on other insect feeding on the shrub.

Another find on an oak twig is the spent gall. Oaks are host to many gall making insects A gall is a malformation of tissue caused by an insect injecting a chemical to make the oak tissue into a home and food for her young. Mostly galls are just cosmetic, not causing much harm. Some galls will kill twigs.

Here a young oak hangs on to its spent leaves produced last year. The leaves have died but do not fall and remain on the tree. The term for this retention of dead plant matter is marcescence. Is is most common on juvenile oak and beech trees.

Above is a young beech with bleached out leaves. It will drop these of last year once new green leaves begin to emerge.

The native mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), provides a rich green to the understory and trail edges. Late May will bring its flowers, especially in sunny spots.

Mountain laurel is commonly attacked by a several leaf spot diseases, especially in dense areas where there is little airflow. These diseases are usually not deadly, just unsightly. Most highly infected leaves will drop and new, clean leafs will be produced.

Trees marked with blue paint are part of the CT Forest and Park Association’s Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail System. They have 825 miles of maintained trails all across Connecticut and charted in the CT Walk Book and through a free interactive map APP for your phone. https://www.ctwoodlands.org/blue-blazed-hiking-trails

Happy hiking and walking in the woods.

by Carol Quish, all photos by CQuish, UConn

 

 

Things I See Outside This Week

The gorgeous flowers of the  horse chestnut are blooming this week. Aesculus hippocastanum is commonly called European Horsechestnut or Common Horsechestnut. The massive trees are fast growers and need plenty of room to spread out and reach high. Never plant one near or under power lines. The panicle flowers are normally white with parts of pink and yellow. There is another variety with pink flowers as shown below. Horsechestnut fruit is not edible for humans and are called conkers. The shiny nuts look nice displayed in a dish for nature lovers, just don’t try to crack and eat them!

Red Horsechestnut Flower

Luna moth sighting have been reported around the state this week. They are a strikingly large and beautiful, with only a brief seven days of life in its adult stage. They are nocturnal spending the night seeking a mate with females laying eggs for next year’s generation. Occasionally they will fly towards a light even landing on a screen door with lights on inside. Host trees providing leaves for caterpillars to eat are walnut, hickory, sweet gum, and paper birch.

Luna Moth

In the vegetable garden asparagus beetles are very active, feeding, mating and laying eggs. As can be seen in the lower photo, eggs are laid on on point sticking horizontally at a 90 degree angle to the stem and off of the flower bud stem. Crush all eggs by running you hand up and down each stalk. Catch adults beetles and crush or drop into a container of soapy water to rid them from the asparagus patch.

Asparagus Beetle

Asparagus Beetle Eggs

Another oddity was sent to my office this week. This is an Apple Oak Gall produce by a developing tiny, cynipid wasp. The adult female wasp injects the egg and a chemical into leaf tissue, causing the leaf to distort and makes a home and food for the newly hatched larva. Once the larva is big enough, it pupates inside the gall, only coming out once the gall is empty and dry. There are not enough wasp and galls to cause harm to the tree, so they are only considered cosmetic not a pest.

Apple Oak Gall

Another gall I found this week was the Wool Sower Gall on a white oak tree.  The gall is caused by secretions from the developing wasp larva, secretions of , (Callirhytis seminator). These galls and wasp damage are also not harmful to the tree. The wasps are not dangerous to humans as they do not sting.

Wool Sower Gall on white oak.

Other galls we have seen in past made by insects are the grape tube gallmaker galls on grape leaves, (Schizomyia viticola). Grape tube gallmaker is a species of mite that forms a gall on New World grape leaves. Larvae feed inside the tubes and are free from predators as they feed on the deformed plant tissue. Again only cosmetic to the plant.

Grape Tube Galls on grape leaf.

Finger galls form on a cherry leaf below. Eriophyid mites are the gall makers here. They are microscopic mites developing inside the raised, malformed tissue. Mites can be identified by the structures they create on their host plant.

Finger Galls on a cherry leaf.

Velvetleaf galls on sweet birch develop from the feeding of the  velvet eriophyid gall mite.  Reddish-patches are called an erinea, can also occur on silver maple. (JLaughman photo).

The soil bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, can cause galls, tumors in this case, on the crown, roots and sometimes branches of susceptible host plants. Euonymus is commonly infected. The bacterium can enter a plant via any tissue damage that normally happens during pruning or transplanting. Agrobacterium tumefaciens is also used as a tool in the laboratory in genetic engineering to introduce genes into plants in a natural way.

Crown Gall, Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

-Carol Quish

 

Native Persimmon, an Uncommon Fruit

Ripe native persimmon fruit, up close. ©Carol Quish Photo, UConn

When thinking of fruit trees, persimmon does not immediately come to mind. We often see the large fruit of Asian or Japanese persimmon, (Diospyros kaki), in the produce section of larger supermarkets or specialty markets which are imported and need much warmer weather for trees to grow than the northeast provides. We do however, have the native American persimmon tree, (Diospyros virginiana), which will, and does grow quite happily to zones 4 to 9, two zones colder than Connecticut. American persimmon is native to the entire eastern United States. The fruit is much smaller than the Asian persimmon, but is said to be richer in taste when fully ripe. Waiting for the full ripening without the fruit getting to the rotten stage takes daily checks. Fruit can be eaten fresh, dried or made into a pudding. Fruits are very soft which probably why no one markets them. They would be impossible to ship even very short distances.

Unripe fruit is very astringent. If you have ever tasted alum, the resulting dry pucker of the mouth is much the same. As children, we dared the unfamiliar to eat one tempting them with “it’s good, really”, then laughing at the poor soul who believed us. Thankfully we lived to tell about it and are all still friends or accepted family. The Native Americans called them ‘dry fruit’ in the Algonquian language.

Native persimmon prefers a site in full sun, as most fruit trees do for good fruit production. It is accepting of a wide range of soil types except being in a very wet root situation. Good drainage is best, though. Trees make a good shade tree with plenty of larger, elongated leaves. They grow up to 74 feet tall and about 30 feet wide. Persimmons are dioecious trees, meaning there are male and female trees. Male trees house flowers containing pollen, the male sex part, and female trees house flowers containing the ovaries which, if pollenated and fertilized will produce fruits. If you want fruit, buy a female tree or one that you see fruit on it already. For a good fruit set, plant both a male and female tree. Occasionally, some trees will produce both male and female flowers on the same plant and be self-pollinating, but this is not always reliable. Fruits often hang on the tree late into the fall, even after the leaves have dropped making a pretty show of orange colors against the darker grey branches. The bark of a mature tree is beautiful on its own; black and corky, and richly textured.

Persimmon bark, photo UConn Plant Database

Uncommon and native fruits are ripe to be had, just look in the woods and forests of different locations to see what you can find.

 

-Carol Quish

 

Horse Chestnut and Copper Beech, Two Favorite Trees.

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” -Greek Proverb

 

Two of my favorite shade trees are real beauties: Horse Chestnut and Copper Beech. Both trees are large, making a commanding presence in a landscape. You will need a fairly open spot not too close to the house to give each plenty of room. Planted on the south-west side of a home will provide cooling shade during the summer. Both are deciduous, shedding their leaves for the winter, allowing the sunlight to warm the house in the winter.

Horse Chestnut, (Aesculus hippocastanum), is a stately 50 to 75 feet tall and 40 to 70 feet wide at maturity. The large, palmate leaves have an opposite leaf arrangement, and are a pretty dark green. Soon after the leaves emerge the tree produces large, white panicles around mid-May. Panicles are made up of individual white, perfect flowers with a yellow blotch at the base. This yellow blotch changes to a pinky-red as the flower ages. The flowers are very showy, and I think, the best features of a magnificent tree. And the bees love it.

Horse chestnut is not a true chestnut as it is in a different genus. The nuts of Horse chestnuts are not edible due to their toxic levels of glycoside and saponin. The nuts are enclosed in a green, smoothed shell with some pointed warts. The American and Chinese chestnuts have spine covered shells. Nuts left on the ground through the will break dormancy in spring and start to grow mid-April. Dig the baby trees to move them where you would like them to grow.

 

Horse chestnuts in spring ready to germinate.

Copper Beech trees are not really a copper color. More of a mahogany, but that name was already taken! Whatever you call it, it is strikingly gorgeous. The Latin name is Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea’ group. There are quite a few named varieties of with the different shades of purple leaves. Popular ones are ‘cuprea’, ‘Brocklesby’ and Purpea Nana’. ‘Purpurea Pendula’ is a weeping cooper beech.

Copper Beech Flowers

Size varies with the many varieties. Some can reach 60 feet tall and 45 in width. Overall shape is an oval to more rounded with age. Flowers are small, not showy and a yellowy green in color. The male flowers hang down while the female flowers are held close to the twig. Flowers are wind pollinated. If female flowers do become fertilized, a spiny husk covering a triangular nut develops. Nuts are edible, but small. It will take ten years for trees to reach maturity before flower and nut production begins lightly and 30 years for a full harvest. It is best to purchase a balled and burlapped or potted tree to make sure the leaf color is to your liking. Seedlings can vary widely in their coloring.

-Carol Quish

 

Escaping Winter’s Cold

Rawlings Conservatory in Baltimore, MD

Winter finally hit us with measurable snow and cold, real cold that hurts breathing, skin and arthritic joints. Winter weather can also affect us psychologically, putting us in a ‘down’ mood. Well a cure can be had by visiting a warm, indoor plant growing facility. Nothing lifts my spirits more than basking among foliage and flowering plants, and soaking up the heat and sun. They can found locally just about wherever you live or seek them out when traveling. Plant conservatories are living museums of plant material on view, usually not for sale. Garden centers with heated greenhouses are a lovely substitute, and you might just find something to purchase and enjoy at home.

I visited Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens in Baltimore last weekend while visiting my daughter and new grandson. The baby seemed to enjoyed the outing, as much as a two month old can. He didn’t cry anyway, and he did watch the orange koi fish in the water feature. Rawlings was a great escape outing for the new mom.

Plants growing vertically to cover the wall.

Turtle and Koi fish make unusual playmates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rawlings Conservatory has five separate environments suitable to the corresponding plants they hold. The Mediterranean House, the Tropical House, the Desert House, the Orchid Room, and the Palm House all showcase plants from around the world.

The Mediterranean House held citrus trees of various types, lavender, rosemary and scented geraniums to name a few among the many plants in this glass house.

Rose scented geranium

Orange tree with fruit

I spotted insect feeding damage on an citrus leaf, but could not find the pest. Even well managed garden settings must deal with some offending creatures. After all, they are part of the environment, too.

Insect feeding damage on a citrus leaf.

The Tropical House held rain forest plants over our heads and below our feet.

Asparagus fern

Philodendron ‘Flame of Orange’

Bird of Paradise bloom

The Desert House contained cacti of many different species. Its  air was warm and dry, perfect for growing succulents.

Sedum growing between native rocks

Looks like a brain!

Spines are modified leaves.

Upward facing cupped leaves catch available dew and rainwater.

The Palm House contained plants typically collected during the Victorian era, 1838-1901. Some palm trees were very large with orchids growing up and into their canopy.

Sago Palm

The Orchid Room is filled with different types of orchids. The scent was incredible and intoxicating, radiating from the multitude of pots mounted on a metal grid walls to elevate and allow light exposure to the plants within this incredible room. I didn’t want to leave.

 

Find your own escape from the cold at indoor plant venues available around our State of Connecticut at the links below. Let us know in the comment section of ones you would like to share with other readers here.

UConn EEB Greenhouses – http://florawww.eeb.uconn.edu/visiting.html

CT Flower and Garden Show – Feb.18 though 21, 2016. http://www.ctflowershow.com/

Elizabeth Park in Hartford, http://elizabethparkct.org/greenhouses.html

 

-Carol Quish

 

 

 

 

 

The Unusual Yellowwood Tree

UConn Plant Database photo of young yellowwood tree.

Yellowwood in full bloom, photo from uky.edu

 

Trees with large, showy flowers always attract attention and a closer look. Yellowwood is one such tree not commonly seen here in Connecticut. I am lucky enough to work on the UConn Storrs campus where many more unusual trees are planted and growing well. Behind the W.B. Young Building which houses Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, on the lawn as you exit the south end of the parking lot, is a glorious Yellowwood tree displaying its large, white flowers hanging down like wisteria clusters. As the flowers age, the petals are gently dropped speckling the lawn and mulch white.

 

Yellowwood flower. C. Quish Photo

Cladrastis kentukea is the Latin name for Yellowwood, referring to its native range in the south-east portion of the United States, mainly Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina. It is hardy here in Connecticut, as the one planted on campus proves. Research shows it is hardy to zone 4. Locate in full sun and well-drained soil to ensure success with this tree.  It is also sometimes known as Virgilia. The common name of yellowwood comes from the color of the heartwood of the tree. It has a yellow hued wood used for decorative wood working and gun stocks. The color can be extracted from the root to be used as a dye.

V-shaped form and rounded crown of Yellowwood tree. Photo by C. Quish

Yellowwood is a medium-sized tree with a uniform, rounded shape suitable for use as a specimen planting or a lawn tree. It makes a great focal point providing great shape, a flowering period and superb interesting branch shape, and interesting bark. The bark is starts out with soft yellow/green twigs, which change to a reddish-brown and finally to a smooth grey to brown at maturity, It has a habit of setting horizontal branches below six feet adding to the structural interest of the tree when it is leafless. The leaves turn from green to clear yellow, orange and gold during the fall.

Yellowwood wood, UConn plant database

Fall color, UConn Plant database photo

Yellowwood bark, uconn database

-Carol Quish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hugelkultur: A New (Old) Way to Garden

Every once in a while, I come across some new way to garden I was unaware of before. At the Hartford Flower and Garden Show a visitor asked what I knew about Hugelkultur, and I had to tell him “Nothing, tell me what you know.” There is always something new to learn, research and read about in all endeavors, but I especially love new gardening ways and tips. He offered what he knew, and I promised to find out more and pass it on.

from http://www.permies.com.evohst.org

Hugelkultur is a German word meaning hill culture; the process of planting a garden or plants over or near buried  logs  decaying below the surface. While the logs are  composting below ground, they are holding moisture like a sponge which the plant roots can access. Nutrients are also released from the decaying wood and made available to surrounding plants. It is like planting your garden over your compost pile to feed the plants over a long period of time.

from permaculture.com.uk

 

This centuries’ old way to garden is making a comeback with permaculture enthusiasts. It is a self-sustaining  practice, replacing the nutrients which the gardeners remove when vegetables are removed from the garden. It is also thought of as forest gardening. Nobody fertilizes or feed the soil in the forests, but no one is removing the fallen leaves and dead wood; they just rot in place, helping the new seedlings to grow.

Nutrient cycle, from Oregon State University.

The size of the pile should be at least three feet wide and three feet deep or high. Piles can be made above ground is location is in a wet area, just cover the pile with soil several inches thick whether above or below ground. Over the  years, a depression will develop as the material below decomposes. More soil can be added to raise the level for easier gardening. The composting process gives off some heat which rises through the layers to benefit the plants above, perhaps allowing a little bit earlier planting in the spring and some frost protection in the fall.

black walnut fruit , hort.uconn.edu

black walnut leaf, hort.uconn.edu

One word of caution on the species of log used; do not use black walnut as this species of tree releases a toxic chemical called juglone which inhibits plant growth. Juglone is present and active even in dead wood. Other species of wood will not produce juglone. Soft woods such as pine will rot more quickly and hard woods will take longer. Wood will decay more slowly underground where there is less oxygen than it would if sitting on top of the ground and exposed. Be sure any wood used is dead to prevent sprouting from the wood used. Species of wood that works best are alders, apple, aspen, birch, cottonwood, maple, oak, poplar, willow.

When the hugelkultur system is first getting started, the soil microbes will be using nitrogen from the soil in order to do their work of breaking down the wood and organic matter. The microbes will eventually return the nitrogen plus more nitrogen from the wood, into the pile. Adding a sprinkling of blood meal to the pile will feed the fungi and bacteria doing the decomposition getting them off to a strong start.

-Carol Quish

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harvest Black Walnuts in Connecticut

This year the black walnut trees have produced a bumper crop of nuts. They can be seen hanging from the trees, still attached to their branches and on the ground, ready to be gathered. If you notice them on the road side, look up.

Black walnut hanging in tree. Photo Carol Quish

Black walnut leaves. Photo by Carol Quish

Black walnut bark for identification characteristic. Photo by Carol Quish

They almost look like green apples. Black walnuts have an outer husk surrounding the nut inside. The size of the nut and husk are about 2 inches in diameter and round.

Black walnuts in husks. The green ones have not had their husk rot off as much. Photo by Carol Quish

The husks need to be removed. Beware the juices in the husk will stain everything they touch, including your hands. I step on them while wearing old gardening boots to get at the shelled nut inside the husk. Use gloves to protect hands from staining. Once husks are removed, soak shelled nuts in a bucket of clean water, stirring occasionally. Drain and repeat. This step is best done outside, too, as the water will turn quite black. Discard any nuts that float, they could be bad or contain insects. Once water is mostly clear, the nuts will need to be cured by allowing them to dry and develop flavor. Spread them on a screen or open container, one layer deep, in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight. An unheated garage is perfect for this. Leave to cure for two weeks before cracking one to see if the nutmeat inside will break crisply. If moisture level is too high inside shell, they will mold once stored.

Black walnuts, hulled of husks, but still in shell. Ready for curing. Photo by Carol Quish

Once cured, store unshelled nuts in a a well-ventilated space of 60 degrees F or less. Mesh bags or wire basket will keep them well aerated. Humidity should be around 70%. Nuts can also be shelled and the meats kept in the freezer until needed.

Black walnut (Juglans nigra), produces a toxin called juglone in its roots and leaves. It is toxic to a lot of other plants to keep them from growing around the black walnut tree. Nature has evolved this quality as a defense mechanism to reduce competition for the tree. Most other plants will be able to grow and take up the nutrients and water within reach of the black walnut tree. Tomatoes are especially sensitive to juglone.  Best not to locate your vegetable garden within the root zone of black walnut.

-Carol Quish

 

Get a Look at Late Summer Tree Fruits

Most of us know the normal tree fruits we commonly eat this time of year; apple, peaches, plums, even the more unusual quince and pawpaw. Most trees produce seeds to reproduce. Some seeds are housed in unusual wrappings. Take a photo trip through this blog to view uncommon and perhaps under appreciated seed vessels of Connecticut trees.

Cornus kousa fruit 8-26-13, Pamm Cooper photo

Baldcypress cone. Taxodium distichum. Photo by Carol Quish

Horse Chestnut, Pamm Cooper photo

Magnolia Seed Pod, photo by Carol Quish

Paw Paw Fruit http://www.ars-grin.gov

-Carol Quish