Grow Like Wild # 21: Sturgeon Supermoon

Sturgeon SuperMoon Newsletter

Hi Plant People,

Happy Super Belated Sturgeon SuperMoon!

I promised a big surprise last month and I’m happy to report that I’ll be delivering an honest to goodness TED talk!!!

It will be at an event called TED Women in Atlanta this October. I am of course thrilled and so happy that so many people are interested in learning about ecological horticulture. It’s really a reflection of how widespread this movement has become, thanks to the work of so many of you.

Have you done a TED talk? Got any tips for me? I’d love to hear them.

GARDEN NOTES

So July was the hottest month on record. It’s a difficult time to be an Earthling and we’re all learning about what we can do to support each other and those in our care. To that end, we as gardeners can do quite a bit to care for the plants and animals on our land during these wild times.

Keeping plants alive during draught and in smoke-filled air is a difficult task. I wrote a blog post about watering plants in a draught last year, that organized various strategies. Essentially: don’t let soils go hydrophobic, water after it rains, water in the early mornings, water trees, soak then mulch, and if it gets really bad, consider a “draught ark.”

But of course, you can also stop watering altogether, like Sissinghurst did this summer. If they can get away with a brown garden, so can you.

Oregon gardener Julie Weiss, who’s seen landscapes endure massive wildfires, was kind enough to share some tips on caring for plants in smoke. She writes, “Fires make the air incredibly dry, so make sure to spray the foliage with water to give them some moisture. Watering deeply in the morning to really saturate the roots can also help.”

It might seem frivolous to care for gardens during a crisis, but keeping native plants alive keeps animals alive as well. And even a small amount of water can make a big difference. Cara Buckley wrote a great piece in the Times interviewing Kim Eierman about using bird baths to support wildlife, chipmunks and insects included, during draught. As for humans, remember to wear big hats and drink water. Stay safe!

RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT

Jenifer Jewell has written a book on seeds and I cannot wait to read it. The book explores the natural history of seeds as well as their role in culture and economy during this crazy era of big corn and soy. What We Sow comes out next month!
Do you know about BPlant.org? It’s a relatively new online plant website that is sort of similar to resources like BONAP and GoBotany, but focuses more on ecology. Here is a recent entry on Annual Fleabane, from which I learned that, despite feeding many a floral visitor, it only reproduces seed asexually. Here is their plant list so far.
Reposting Brooklyn Bridge Park’s horticulture resource page, as it seems many have trouble finding it. There are so many resources but my favorites are the weed database, the lepidopteran database, and native plants for urban conditions.
Did you know that when you take a picture of a pollinator for iNaturalist, it allows you to add in the flower that it’s visiting? Use the "Observations Fields" —> "Interaction"—> "visited flower of" feature on the site. Researchers and nerds like me will thank you!

IN THE NEWS

British gardeners continue to fight about rewilding and it’s hilarious fun from over here. Alan Tishmarsh even wrote to the House of Lords which, I don’t know what that means, but it seems like “speaking to the manager” of gardeners. So Alan / Garden Karen is arguing that rewilding is actually bad for biodiversity, in that he feels a “diversity” of exotic plants is better for wildlife than a rewilded landscape. It’s notable that the same argument has been presented by less reactionary British gardeners for some time. Enter, Isabella Tree, who literally wrote the book on rewilding. In her retort in the Guardian, she very patiently invites the “celebrities” to come experience the beauty of Knepp, her rewilded castle, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith and James Hitchmough. However, she seems to disavow the use of native plants, minimizing them and also highlighting the benefit of exotics. Gardens Illustrated’s whole issue this month was on wildness, featuring a piece arguing again for the ecological benefits of a purely aesthetic practice, and another (more appealing to me) piece that defines rewilding as “encouraging the return of native species.” Which is just so interesting: over here, planting native plants is the crux of ecological horticulture. My sense of UK rewilding is that they’re more focused on introducing large animals to create conditions favorable for wild plants to return, but that the act of planting native plants is more the job of restorationists. Do I have this right? If you have a theory as to why, I would love to hear it.
Toronto just opened a new public park with a GIANT RED HEART FOUNTAIN at it’s center. It’s called Love Park and I am hereby calling for more of this everywhere. (Thanks Cultural Landscape Foundation!)
Tovah Martin wrote about using native plants in hell strips for the Washington Post. Great species recommendations within, as well as some tips: get permission, don’t use seed, plant densely, water deeply and infrequently.
The tile for the “Most Metal Bird” has been unanimously awarded to a pair of Eurasian Magpies in Belgium, who used 50 meters of anti-bird spikes to make their nest. Magpies often use thorns to protect their nests from other birds, but in a city, it’s slim pickings and anti-bird spikes will do. Since beginning the study, researchers received reports of other Magpie nests with the spikes and even a Crow who combined them with anti-bird netting.
HGTV used data from the National Wildlife Federation to list the top three wildflowers purchased in each state. There are some repeat favorites like Liatris spicata and Lobelia cardinalis, as well as some total shockers: Idaho is Fleabane and Louisiana is Baccharis! Overall it’s cool to see people planting sunflowers in Arizona and and Salvia in Alabama, selecting plants that evolved on their land.
I honestly did not know how cool fruit explorers are. They traverse the forests and swamps of North America, looking for specimens to improve native and historic food cultivation. It’s important work because we’re losing genetics as we coat the earth in corn and soy. “People realize that they once had great things that reflected the taste of their place and that were marginalized by market forces.” A fun read.
And if you’re thinking of planting native fruit trees or shrubs, here is a great article by Margaret Roach in the Times, interviewing Michael Judd about growing PawPaws and companion plants. Judd also made an app that tells you which fruit cultivars work best in your region.
Modern agriculture has diverted so much irrigation water from the land to the sea that we have moved the North Pole almost 3 feet closer to Greenland. From 1993 through 2010, we shifted 2 trillion metric tons of water from land-based aquifers to the oceans. This runoff, nutrient soaked and wasteful, has risen the sea level an estimated 6 millimeters. Article here.
The New Yorker updated the Secret Language of Flowers for this modern world. Did you know that you can give a Snapdragon to say “thanks for connecting with me on Linkedin” or present a Columbine to let your loved ones know that their “Amazon package is out for delivery.”
A new millipede species was discovered in a public park in the middle of Los Angeles! Two naturalists were hunting for slugs when they found the tiny arthropod, about width of a pencil lead. We all know it but: urban parks are so important. Awesome photos here.
Cool: a new video game is set in Brooklyn Bridge Park! Lame: it's the sort of game that seems to be dragging our society towards abject destruction. Have you ever wanted to dress as a clown and murder a bunch of innocent people while stealing stuff? If so, I don't know man, maybe you should not be playing games that encourage your sick fantasies. Anyway, trailer here.
A new, sweeping study of bee genetics in time and space, has traced their evolution back 120 million years to the supercontinent, Gondwanaland. Results indicate that bees first evolved in the arid lands that eventually became Africa and South America. The study also shows how the spread and diversification of bees mirrors that of the Rosid clade of flowering plants (a lineage comprised of >25% of all flowering plants, including roses, legumes, oaks, maples, and many other trees). I love to think of these ancient plants and emerging bees, supporting each other as flowers took over the world.
Jared Barns treated us to a million photos of Dan Pearson’s gardens at Hillside, during his visit there last year. The gardens are of course extraordinarily complex and yet somehow comfy. Make sure to see the seriously adorable photos of Jared and Karen in the flowers!
New climate research in Science illustrates how warmer springs are leading to earlier leaf fall from trees. However, warmer falls lead to elongated “senescence periods” so leaves may be held even later than normal.
Gardens Illustrated featured a California garden by Terremoto that sought to prove that you don’t need lawn for kids.
More research shows that pests and diseases are jumping from honey bees to wild bees. A study out of Florida found that MORE THAN HALF of wild bees and wasps (53%) had honey bee-associated pathogens, likely spread by bees at flowers. I truly believe that there should be some sort of floral planting requirement before people are allowed to set up hives.
Way to make it to the end, my dears! A grand reward as usual: It’s been discovered that male moths collect and use cologne from plants and flowers just like you do, to make them more attractive. Many plants manufacturer the compound methyl salicylate, otherwise known as wintergreen. If you’ve ever crushed the leaves of Galutheria, you know that plants release the smell when injured, in an attempt to signal predators or parasitoides to come attack the herbivores eating their leaves. Male Tobacco Budworm Caterpillars sequester the compound and store it through metamorphosis and into their adult phase, but they can also take it up by drinking nectar as moths. And moth ladies love it! Males release the compound once they’re of an intimate distance to females by extending one of the strangest organs on the planet: a hair pencil (google at your own risk). Article here, and paper here.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Bergamo Landscape Festival
September 7 - 24. Bergamo, Italy
In person and open to the public
The good news: What a thrill to speak at this iconic gathering and among such incredible people: Peter Korn, Teresa Moller and Martin Rein-Cano among others. The bad news: I’ll be virtual! Oh it’s so sad. Some day Bergamo, some day!
Massachusetts Gardening Symposium
September 23. Waltham, MA
In person and open to the public
This will be a wonderful conference of ecologically-minded speakers (Nancy Lawson! Veronica Tyson-Strait!) And also, the only instance of an all-women lineup I’ve ever been on. A “womanel”? We’ve come a long way, baby.
Garden Futures Summit
September 28. Bronx NY
In person and open to the public
This is a conference of big questions: environment, community, and culture are themes for us to explore the future direction of garden movements. I plan to give a “state of ecological horticulture” rundown, and am really most excited about the conversations we will have. Other speakers include: Edwina von Gal, Abra Lee, Jenifer Jewell, Horatio Joyce, Jeff Lorenz, and many folks I’m excited to meet.
TED TALK!!!!!
October 11-13
In person & virtual, by application
I will implore the entire world to garden to support wildlife and each other.