Hunter’s Moon Newsletter

Hi Plant People,

Happy Indigenous People’s Day! Time to give the land back.

I missed a month. My Harvest Moon newsletter is stuck in draft form. In my defense, I had just upended my entire family’s life and now have homework assignments and lectures to attend to. It’s a good life in Cambridge, in case you’ve been wondering.

As a result, I am thrilled to share this video that Harvard helped me create, distilling what I’m doing on the planet down to 60 seconds.

I still have plans to someday send out the missing newsletter! It has a new blog post and cool research. In the mean time, I hope you’re enjoying fall.

GARDEN NOTES

Autumn is one of the precious moments when we plant people are asked by literally everyone we know about the natural world. Fall color is a phenomenon that is apparent to, accessible to, and enjoyed by nearly everyone! We have the opportunity to bring people into relationship with trees, explain how chlorophyl production works, why trees are deciduous, and where those leaves go. And if we tell these stories right, the people we share them with will repeat them, radiating out a connection with nature like a ripple in a pond. So let’s prepare! And take the responsibility of sharing this knowledge seriously.

From my experience, the two best stories to tell are “carotenoids (yellowish) are always there, but hidden” and “anthocyanins (purplish) are sun block.” Teenagers especially, love them. Here are some resources to get you prepped: USDA, SUNY ESF, UNH.

RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT

• After years of work, Audubon Society and others have launched a new Bird Migration Explorer which allows us to visualize and follow along with birds on their epic journeys. It’s amazing. Read more about how to use it here.

• If you like bees and wasps, you probably already love Heather Holm and her work. Now she’s made a YouTube channel for all her invaluable videos.

• The Wild Seed Project has a new book out on Native Groundcovers for Northeast Landscapes.

• How late is too late to plant? A helpful guide from Izel Native Plants.

IN THE NEWS

• This utterly beautiful piece in the NYT profiles some of the most talented people I know: Ngoc Minh Ngo photographs a Dan Pearson garden cared for by James McGrath. Enjoy!

• Charlie Eiseman is a rockstar for those of us nerdy enough to research every strange leaf we find. Author of Tracks and Signs of Insects, he’s the national expert on leaf miners and galls. Thankfully, Margaret Roach interviewed Charlie for her podcast and NYT column, showing the world the beauty of leaves when insects use them.

• In 1888, the Atala butterfly was called “the most conspicuous insect” in South Florida, but by the 1950s, it was thought to be “probably extinct” due to over-harvesting of the butterfly’s host plant, Coontie. But in 1979, someone found a colony of both species on a Florida island and restoration efforts began. Thanks to researchers and ecologically minded gardeners like you, the butterfly is doing so well in Florida that people consider it a pest again!

• “Edwina von Gal thinks that grass lawns can become like cigarettes: something that was once in vogue and backed by a massive industry that can be rebranded as an unhealthy and costly symbol of American corporatism.” This NYT piece on clover lawns and shifting American landscape aesthetics is lovely. And congrats to Edwina and Ngoc Minh Ngo on winning LongHouse Awards!

• An abolitionist group in Minneapolis is giving way native Lupine seeds. They see Lupine as a first responder, a restorer, and a protector that will “help plant the seeds of a police-free future.”

• Dan Pearson profiles Bouteloua gracilis in his online journal Dig Delve, proving once again that North American native plants just the most chic.

• Cities can act as environmental filters for certain types of animals who prefer greener surroundings. BUT, cavity nesting bees and wasps are not among them. A study in Toronto found that these flying friends are just as happy in cities as elsewhere! Big news for urban bee folks.

• People are arguing for plant-consciousness again. There’s a new book on the topic called Plantae Sapiens. Psychology Today outlined the findings here.

• Pollinator diversity has once again been shown to be critical for crop production, wild plant reproduction, and human welfare. Managed bee colonies simply cannot preform all of these functions. The authors advocate for non-bee pollinators to be prioritized for conservation.

• “Silphion” is an ancient Libyan plant that used to be more valuable than silver. Julius Caesar reportedly kept 1,500 pounds of the plant's resin in the Roman treasury. People ate it, fed it to goats, made perfume from it and used it to cure goiter, toothaches, and tumors. It was an aphrodisiac and an abortifacient. It was so well loved that by the time Pliny the Elder got around to writing about it, there was a single stalk left, which was given to Nero around 50AD and the plant was never seen again. OR WAS IT??? Plant researchers speculate that the related Ferula drudeana, might be Silphion hiding in plane sight.

• I like to tie my newsletters into the rhythms of the moon. Apparently so do Mangrove forests. The moon’s orbit around the Earth tilts every 18.6 years, and that angle make for higher and lower tides. Mangroves respond to extreme tides by growing larger and expanding out with the cycles of the moon.

• Biodiversity and climate change both threaten life as we know it. Yet for some reason, climate change has captured the media and the public’s attention, while biodiversity declines and crashes remain rarely discussed. Here is a helpful paper explaining why and strategies to change the discourse. Related good news: the State Department just appointed a “special envoy for biodiversity and water resources” ahead of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity coming up in Montreal.

• Landscape stewardship is hard. Even advocating for ecological landcare is hard. I’ve had a bit of culture shock at Harvard, now that I’m out of my bubble, and am constantly met with well educated people who could care less if all the butterflies disappear. It’s good to strategize how to work with such people, but it’s also helpful to get support from each other. Prairie Ecologist, Chris Helzer has posted a pep-talk for us, comparing ecological restoration to rebuilding a city after a natural disaster. He writes, “when restoring both prairies and cities, the primary need is to reestablish functions and processes – transportation, communication, housing, etc. We’re trying to ensure that all members of the community can survive and thrive. The work starts by identifying what’s still functional and building from there; patching new networks together and making sure all crucial community roles are filled.” The analogy then moves into management and it’s worth a read.

• We need more than 100 genetically distinct individuals in order to preserve rare plants. Many botanical gardens take this job seriously, testing populations to assure they’re not collecting clonal offshoots, and estimating how much genetic diversity they have for each species collected. It’s important, because a new study shows that climate change and habitat destruction have caused the loss of more than TEN PERCENT of the world’s terrestrial diversity.

• Urban trees can mean be the difference between life and death. Researchers found that urban heat island effect was killing people. In the northeast, low-income regions were found to have an average of 15.2 % less tree cover and endured summer temperatures that were 2.7° hotter than high-income areas. These discrepancies are likely responsible for >35,000 deaths in the last 20 years.

• Amazing news! The right plantings can protect kids in road-adjacent playgrounds from air pollution. The study was conducted in the UK, but they found that North American native Thuja plicata was the best screening plant at trapping particulate matter on their tiny leaves. Texture is important. The waxy, smooth leaves of English Ivy was not as effective.

• The US EPA has refused to regulate pesticides that get applied directly to seeds. It’s a terrible ruling and likely corrupt, as ~70% of the world's seed companies are owned by the big pesticide manufacturers, which use seeds to promote their chemicals. When neonics, which have been shown to seriously harm and kill bees and songbirds, are applied to seeds, over 80% of the pesticides washes or is blown away, spreading to the surrounding environment. Want to help? Buy organic soy, corn, and sunflower products.

• The NYBG published two articles on the flowers of Hamlet’s Ophelia, detailing the meaning behind each species alongside herbarium specimens. (Here is the first, and here is the second.)

• OK! We are just going to do all the depressing stuff at once. More than half of the world’s palm trees are in danger of extinction. Mayflies, a critical bellwether of fresh water ecosystems, are in decline. And microplastics have been confirmed in the ephemeral pools of water captured by leaf axils.

• To help you recover, here is a lovely, animated poem by Wendell Berry, about what he did when he despaired for the future, entitled “The Peace of Wild Things.”

• And now for a burst of good news! The City of Oakland is returning 5 important acres of land over to Indigenous stewardship. A lagoon in Spain has been granted the legal status of personhood. And an 8 year old discovered found that seed-dispersing ants also disperse oak galls that look like seeds.

• A 64’ high, 18” DBH American Chestnut was found in a forest in Delaware! This is an important one for us, as it was the importing of exotic chestnuts for the horticulture trade that began the devastation. Thankfully, there are really beautiful efforts to replant the tree, as well as hybrids and other natives, in derelict coal mines across Appalachia.

• The spotted lantern fly has apparently spread to Saturday Night Live. A memorable quote, “I even look gorgeous dead, bitch.” Indeed they do.

• Wood has evolved thousands of times. It’s not a trait that simply proliferated through lineage, but seemingly a tactic that many plants can deploy over time to deal with certain environmental conditions. And apparently one of those conditions is drought. A new study on the evolution of woody plants on islands found that wood protects the root to shoot water transport system from desiccation better than herbaceous stems. They found that dry conditions, along with a lack of wood-eating herbivores, allows woody plants to emerge.

• Rewilding Magazine conducted an interview with conservation biologist Sheila Colla about her work and book, A Garden for the Rusty Patch Bumblebee, on how to care for managed land so that it supports at risk wildlife.

• A lovely piece on the Tufts Pollinator Initiative and how 600 square feet of wildflowers can support both pollinators and people. A good piece, along with the one above, to share with folks who aren’t already on board with this movement.

• After years of trials, England will ban garden peat in just 18th months. Ireland has a more fraught view of the regulations, as 1 in 7 households still burn peat for heat. Anne Proulx has written a book on the topic. If you are interested in finding a peat alternative, here is a marvelous resource from Margaret Roach.

• It’s tough being a pupa. You’re basically an immobile, protein filled snack for birds, rodents, and a variety of parasites. Researchers believe that those vulnerabilities are why the Silver Spotted Skipper, a butterfly that pupates in both summer and winter, has a much higher chance of survival during winter, when they’re nestle into the leaf litter. One more reason to leave the leaves.

• Have you ever found an acorn with a hole in it? Then you’ve also found arguably the cutest insect ever to evolve: the Acorn Weevil, who drill holes to lay eggs in acorns. Here is the cutest video of all time.

• And for those of you intrepid readers who made it this far, artist David Bowen hooked up a Philodendron to a robot arm wielding a machete. The robot reads the “resistance signals” across the plant’s leaves and translates that into swinging, jabbing, and slicing. Enjoy!

UPCOMING EVENTS

I am taking a break from public speaking until Spring 2023, but am excited for my line up thereafter! In the meantime, other cool events:

• U. Ohio’s Series, Pollinator Habitat 101: An Introduction and Refresher

  October 14 - November 11, 2022

  Virtual, free and open to the public

  University of Ohio does not put a lot of effort into promoting or glamorizing their webinar series. HOWEVER, do not be fooled. They are among the best and they’re starting a new one next week. What’s more, all prior webinars are available on their site. It’s amazing.

• The View from Federal Twist

  October 20, 2022

  Virtual and open to the public

  The Garden Conservancy is hosting naturalistic designer James Golden to speak about his visionary New Jersey garden, Federal Twist.

• Oberlander Prize Forum II: Landscape Activism

  October 27-28, 2022

  In person and open to the public

  I was honored to speak at the Cultural Landscape Foundation’s first Oberlander Prize Forum and so wish I could attend this second event focused on landscape activism. It promises to explore the depth, complexity, and entrepreneurship of activist practices in landscape architecture throughout the country.

www.rebeccamcmackin.com