Long Island Native Plant Sale, June 7&8, 14&15

2013-06-09: Updated from my visit on Saturday, 6/8.

• The Sale
• The Plants
• My Selections

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The Sale

This Friday and Saturday, June 7 and 8, and next week as well, June 14 and 15, is a rare opportunity to purchase local ecotypes - plants propagated from local wild populations - of plants native to Long Island. The sale is organized by the Long Island Native Plant Initiative (LINPI). Proceeds benefit LINPI.

It's gratifying to see this happening. I've lived most of my life on Long Island, including the 20+ years I've lived in Brooklyn which, after all, comprises the westernmost reaches of Long Island.

Note that the location of the sale is not at LINPI's headquarters. The sale is at the Greenhouse of the Eastern Campus of Suffolk County Community College, 121 Speonk-Riverhead Road, Riverhead NY 11901.

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The Plants

Asclepias incarnata, Swamp Milkweed, one of the species on sale.


These are species that were advertised to be in the sale. There were even more species available that were not listed in advance, nearly double this number available onsite, a diverse selection.

Botanical name	Common Name
Myrica pensylvanica	Northern Bayberry
Pinus rigida	Pitch Pine
Prunus serotinus	Black Cherry
Andropogon gerardii	Big Bluestem
Andropogon virginicus	Broome Sedge
Dichanthelium clandestinum	Deer Tongue
Eragrostis spectabilis	Purple Lovegrass
Panicum virgatum	Switchgrass
Schizachyrium scoparium	Little Bluestem
Sorghastrum nutans	Indian Grass
Tridens flavus	Purple Top/Grease Grass
Asclepias syriaca	Common Milk Weed
Asclepias tuberosa	Butterfly Weed
Asclepias incarnata	Swamp Milkweed
Baptisia tinctoria	False Indigo
Chrysopsis mariana	Maryland Goldenaster
Eupatorium fistulosum	Joe Pye weed
Eupatorium hyssopifolium	Hyssop-leaved Thoroughwort
Eupatorium serotinum	Late-flowering Thoroughwort
Euthamia caroliniana	Slender Goldentop
Euthamia gramnifolia	Grass-leaved Goldentop
Lespedeza capitata	Round-headed Bush Clover
Lespedeza hirta	Hairy Bush Clover
Lespedeza virginica	Slender Bush Clover
Opuntia humifusa	Eastern Prickly Pear
Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium	Sweet Everlasting
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium	Slender-leaved Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum virginianum	Virginia Mountain Mint
Rudbeckia hirta	Black Eyed Susan
Solidago nemoralis	Gray Goldenrod
Solidago juncea	Early Goldenrod
Symphyotrichum laeve	Smooth Blue Aster
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae	New England Aster
Symphyotrichum pilosum	Hairy White Field Aster
Vernonia noveboracensis	New York Ironweed

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My Selections

I picked up over a dozen different species, most of them second year seedlings in six-packs.

• Asclepias incarnata, Swamp Milkweed
• Asclepias tuberosa, Butterfly Weed
• Baptisia tinctoria, Wild Indigo
• Eragrostic spectabilis, Purple Lovegrass
• Ionactis linarifolius, Stiff Aster
• Lespedeza capitata, Roundhead Lespedeza
• Opuntia humifusa, Eastern Prickly-Pear
• Pycnanthemum tenuifolium, Narrow-Leaved Mountain-Mint
• Pycnanthemum virginianum, Virginia Mountain-Mint
• Schizachyrium scoparium, Little Bluestem
• Trichostema dichotomum, Forked Blue Curls
• Verbena hastata, Blue Vervain
• Viola lanceolata, Bog White Violet

Map of Level IV Ecoregions in and around New York City, including most of Long Island.

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Related Content

Flickr Photo Set
Native Plants

Links

Long Island Native Plant Initiative (LINPI): Plant Sale
Native Plant Sale, June 7,8; June 14, 15, 2013 (Facebook Event Page)
Google Map

Pycnanthemum muticum, Clustered Mountain-Mint in my garden, bejeweled with pollinators. Two other species are on sale.

Magicicada Brood II

UPDATED: Expanded and organized into topics.

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Contents

• Magicicada in Staten Island's Clove Lakes Park
• About Magicicada
• Related Content
• Links

Magicicada in Staten Island's Clove Lakes Park

Yesterday, Matthew Wills and I traveled to Staten Island in search of Magicicada, the periodical cicada, specifically, Brood II. We both had examined the online reports and articles; although the south shore of Staten Island is their stronghold, Cloves Lake Park - not that far from the ferry terminal - kept turning up as one of the places they'd been sighted. As a bonus, I had the car, and this park was closest to the Verrazano narrows bridge.

Matthew had some intel that they had been sighted in the northwest section of the park, so we started there. Finding none after scouring the narrow northern end of the park, we packed up and went to the southwestern edge, and parked along Royal Oak Road.

Jackpot!

Once Matthew and I found the evidence, it was hard to miss. The ground in many places had numerous exit holes. These are only six inches apart or so.


Closer to the bases of the trees, there were innumerable husks - shed nymphal exoskeletons - as well as disembodied parts of adults that had been eaten by their numerous predators.


We each collected samples at different locations. I'm hoping I can cobble together enough to identify at least one of the species.

Within a minute after we'd parked. Matthew found one nymph struggling through the long grass, the only live individual we found. We took turns posing with it. Here it is on Matthew's arm, obligingly depositing a generous drop of honeydew. (We didn't sample it.)


After our photo shoot, we placed it on the nearest tree, next to my parked car. As we left, we found it again on the tree, just a few feet above where we had placed it. Its appearance had already changed from just an hour or so earlier; it no longer appeared quite so fresh and juicy. It was working on its molt into an adult.


Their distribution was extremely localized. Even venturing away from the street along the margin of the park turned up relatively few husks, although they were abundant along the street trees. Matthew hypothesized, and I concur, that the paved areas of street and sidewalk create a micro-climate that warms the surrounding soil earlier than more shaded, unpaved areas. So what we found is just the advance guard. The deeper and wilder woods that comprise the southern end of Clove Lakes Park is ideal cicada territory. It's going to be quite a party.

Given the difficulty we had in finding them, I would recommend to other eco-tourists to wait until the warmer weather later this week, when they should emerge in even greater numbers. Once they begin sounding off - which could be as early as this weekend - they will be easy to locate. It would have saved us a lot of time if the little buggers had been announcing their presence!

About Magicicada

Magicicada spend most of their life underground, suckling on tree roots. Every 13 or 17 years - prime numbers - they emerge as nymphs, metamorphosize into adults and molt their nymphal exoskeletons, mate, and die. Hopefully, they emerge in numbers overwhelming to their predators, who gladly feast upon them.

There are seven identified species: three 17-year species and four 13-year species.

The years of emergence are not hard and fast. Some populations of Brood II emerged in 2009, four years "early" or 13 years, instead of 17 years, after they hatched and burrowed underground. Broods that emerge early or later, - almost always exactly four years off their normal cycle - are called stragglers. Because each species is typically tied to its 13- or 17-year cycle, straggling is believed to play a role in species formation.

Related Content

Flickr photo set: Clove Lakes Park, Staten Island

Magicicada Brood II emerges, 2009-06-04
(Magi)cicada Watch, 2008-05-21

Links

Cloves Lake Park, NYC Parks

The awesome Magicicada Mapping Project (magicicada.org):

• Brood II
• Frequently Asked Questions (about Magicicada)

My Plant Giveaway

2013-04-30 UPDATE: Full house! Sorry, but the response was enthusiastic. I already have all my availability booked for this weekend. If I have any time on subsequent weekends, I will post another update here.

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I'm reorganizing some of my planting areas this Spring. I have many overgrown perennials taking up too much space in my garden. I would love to share them with you.

I'll be working in the garden this weekend, weather permitting, from Saturday May 4 about 12 noon on, and Sunday May 5. I'm on Stratford Road in Beverley Square West (between Cortelyou and
Beverly Roads). Email me at xr...@gmail.com to set a time to stop by and we'll dig the plants fresh out of the ground for you.

If you don't know what will grow, tell me what you have to garden in and I'll give you something that will grow well for you. I have plants for sun, shade, or anything in between:

• Corydalis cheilanthifolia (ferny foliage, yellow flowers, blooming now)
• Hemerocallis, Daylilies (mostly the common orange H. fulva, but also some fragrant yellow ones)
• Iris siberica, Siberian Iris
• Bearded Iris, Purple-flowering, smell like grape jelly
• Hosta (plain green leaves, purple flowers)

I also have some native plants - my specialty - that have thrived enough for me to be able to give some away.

• Asarum canadense, Wild Ginger
• Helianthus, tall perennial sunflowers, including H. tuberosa, Jerusalem Artichoke
• Onoclea sensibilis, Sensitive Fern
• Phlox stolonifera, Creeping Phlox
• Pycnanthemum, Mountain-Mint, a great pollinator plant
• Viola, violets, both purple- and white-flowering

... and maybe others if we hunt around the grounds.

All of these are "outdoor" plants. They need the cold of Winter to rest each year. Some of them can be grown in containers; you don't need to have ground to garden!

Happy Gardening!

A Busy Flatbush Gardener's Weekend

I'll be out and about in the community at two events this weekend. Stop by and say hello! And maybe pick up some tips and plants while you're at it.

Saturday, April 21, 9:30-1:30
Sustainable Flatbush Church Garden - Earth Day Open House
Flatbush Reformed Church
2121 Kenmore Terrace, off East 21st Street, one block south of Church Avenue

View Larger Map

Sunday, April 20, 12-3pm
Great Flatbush Plant Swap 2013
Flatbush Food Coop
1415 Cortelyou Road, corner of Marlborough Road

View Larger Map

Related Content

Great Flatbush Plant Swap 2013, Sunday, 4/21, Noon-3pm

Links

Sustainable Flatbush: Save the date for our Earth Day Open House!

Great Flatbush Plant Swap 2013, Sunday, 4/21, Noon-3pm

This Sunday, April 21, from noon to 3pm, join your fellow green-thumbs, and brown-thumbs, for the 2013 Great Flatbush Plant Swap.

Got some extra seed-starts you don't need? Leftovers from dividing perennials? No place for that shrub you just dug out? Looking to start a new garden, and want some free plants? Looking to meet your gardening neighbors and pick up some tips?

Each year we've done this, we've re-distributed hundreds of plants. No plants? No problem: everyone can bring home a plant, even if you have none of your own to swap. You don't need to bring something to be able to take something away.

Co-sponsored by the Flatbush Food Co-op and Sustainable Flatbush, this is an opportunity to share or swap plants, meet your gardening neighbors, and get some free plants.

When: Sunday, April 21, 12noon-3pm, Rain or Shine
Where: Flatbush Food Co-op, 1415 Cortelyou Road, corner of Marlborough Road


Credit: Baly Cooley

Related Content

2011: Second Annual Great Flatbush Plant Swap
2010: The First Annual Great Flatbush Plant Swap, Saturday, April 24

Links

Off-topic: 20 Years

Today is the 20th anniversary of my sobriety. Sobriety, abstinence, and recovery are often conflated. They're not the same things.



I got sober because drinking was interfering with my recovery. I say "I got sober," not just "I stopped drinking." Abstinence was as necessary for my sobriety as sobriety was for my recovery, but I don't equate sobriety with abstinence. Today, I have the occasional glass of beer or wine with dinner. I am still sober.

I mark the beginning of my recovery in 1990, when I began individual counseling with a trauma specialist. Though I've lost track of the specific date, it's sometime in May, so I'm coming up on 23 years of recovery.

A few years in, I came to describe my recovery in three stages:

• I can't do it alone.
• I don't have to do it alone.
• I don't want to do it alone.

Simple as it seems, those who know me know that "doing it alone" is kind of my default mode. Getting to any willingness to let others in was a big deal. I can't even know all the people who supported me through all of this.



Recovery is not an event. It's a path. It took me a long time to find my way. I'm still in transit.

Related Content

Spot, 2008-02-23
On Activism, 2008-01-18
Gardeners for Recovery, 2007-09-11

Sekijoju, Acer buergerianum, by Stanley Chinn

Acer buergerianum, Bonsai, Root over rock style (Sekijoju), Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a photo by Flatbush Gardener on Flickr.

Atteva aurea, Ailanthus Webworm Moth

Atteva aurea, Ailanthus Webworm Moth, on Pycnanthemum, Mountain-Mint, in my garden last weekend. The intense colors are believed to be aposematic, a warning coloration to deter predators, probably because they would be distasteful.



The larvae - caterpillars - feed in communal aggregations, like tent caterpillars. Around the globe, caterpillars in the genus Atteva are known to feed on plants from at least a half-dozen plant families. But they favor plants in the Simaroubaceae, the Quassia Family.

The Quassia Family includes the infamous invasive tree, Ailanthus altissima, Tree-of-heaven, probably best known as "that tree what grew in Brooklyn." So, as Ailanthus has invaded here, Atteva aurea discovered a new suitable host. It's likely this has supported an increase in its numbers, and possibly its range, from its original native populations.

Taxonomic notes

Atteva is the sole genus in the subfamiuly Attevinae, the Tropical Ermine Moths, of the lovely-named family Yponomeutidae, the Ermine Moths. "Ermine" because the moths' coloration resembles that of the spotted forms of the coat of the Ermine, Mustela erminea. This is a photo of another Ermine Moth, Yponomeuta evonymella, showing the classic "ermine" pattern of that species. Image ©entomart, via Wikipedia/Wikimedia.


Per BugGuide, the family name, and the genus from which it arises, is likely a typographic error:

Family is named for genus Yponomeuta Latreille, 1796. That name was apparently a typographic error (!) for Hyponomeuta. That would be a combination of Greek prefix hypo under, plus nomeuta (unknown, perhaps from Greek pno air; breathing, plus meuta?)

The many ecotypes across the wide range of this species give rise to variations of color patterns. These variants have identified under many different specific epithets, and even other genera. (BugGuide notes: "This moth belongs to a species complex that was recently split"). Because of this, searching taxonomic-based resources, such as the Caterpillar Host Plants Database,  for this species may not identify all relevant records.

Related Content

Flickr photo set

Links

BugGuide
BAMONA
Wikipedia
HOSTS Database: Genus Atteva
The Plant List: Simaroubaceae
USDA Plants: Ailanthus altissima

Papilio polyxenes, Eastern Black Swallowtail

Update 2012-09-10: Only one caterpillar remains.

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The morning of the day we left on our last road trip - which led us to the Adirondack Hudson, among other places - I saw this in one of our vegetable beds:


This is a female Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly, Papilio polyxenes. I caught her at the moment she discovered our group of parsley plants (Petroselinum hortense, or P. crispum). She was laying eggs, carefully placing just one under separate leaves of two of the plants.

A Hudson River Riparian Plant Community

Part of the eastern bank of the Hudson River, just south of the Route 8 bridge at Riparius/Riverside in the Adirondacks of New York. A year ago, this was all underwater, inundated by flood waters from Hurricane Irene.