Pink Moon Newsletter

Hi Plant People,

The Pink Moon is finally here! Flowers are blooming and will continue to bloom amidst the horrors of the day. And we should continue to garden. We must! It grounds us for the hard work ahead, but can also change the world in and of itself. Ecological gardening is a pathway for the sort of reconnection and belonging that can lead people into healthy relationships with each other and the world around them. It’s a long game, a first step that is far from the last, but I believe in this work to reorient people towards harmony and justice. That said… we can’t overthrow fascism with flowers alone. I hope you’re all protecting yourselves and the vulnerable members of your communities.

NEWS: I’m moving this party to Substack. Nothing will change! You don’t even have to do anything. But that platform will allow far more interaction with all 10k of you and I’m excited to try new things. Among them, I’ll be hosting a monthly “garden-side chat” where we can all get on zoom and talk about whatever. I also want to write more, so we shall see!

Here is a lecture entitled “Biodiversity for the Masses” that I gave at NDAL and the ELA last year. I never posted it publicly because it’s inside baseball - it’s meant for those of us who care deeply and think strategically about the ecological gardening movement itself. But some of the topics have become urgent, given the political climate, especially around how we talk about native plants and why it’s important to keep gardening now, when the world is on fire. Enjoy.

GARDEN NOTES

Many of you are in the midst of spring cutback and I am here to ask you if it’s really necessary? Certainly, often, yes, totally. But where we can, let’s just let plants do their thing. We have all shifted cutback to incorporate the nesting of solitary bees: carefully leaving cut stems with a pith of 1/8” or more up at least 12” high. This “stem stubble” is now common practice. But there are so many other animals who call stems their home. Moths, beetles, and gall flies are all oviposited into stems and grow up there, emerging to reproduce.

New research out of Toronto looks at the effects of meadow cutback on these other stem-dwellers and there is much we can pull into the garden. With the caveat that everything is species-dependent, and variation is the spice of life, researchers found that many animals who live in stems actually *appreciate* when those stems are cut, just not too small. Apparently nearly half of those tiny stem animals never make it out! It’s a common way for them to die. So researchers found more insects emerging from cut stems than from those left alone entirely. However, the ideal length of cut sections was 8”, which can be longer than many of us make in the garden. Stems cut back in 3” sections had far less insect emergence.

I take this to mean that we should make our usual “stem stubble" but then, when possible, collect the cut stems and leave them in piles, rather than chopping for compost. Those of us who love the “chop and drop” method, in which we cut stems into 4-6” sections and just leave them as mulch, might consider lengthening those sections, or focusing on grasses and the many plants with smaller piths. But the reality is that 4-6” sections were not tested and might be perfectly fine. And again, many animals preferred no cut back at all. It’s too soon to make a rule of thumb, so we should all just fall back on a diversity of tactics. Patchiness, in the ecological garden, is next to godliness.

REMEMBRANCE

The Godfather of Soil has left the building. Eric “T” Fleisher, a brilliant horticulturist, arborist, soil scientist, and dear friend passed away this winter, returning to the soil from whence he came. His life was too short but his influence on ecological horticulture and public parks was profound.

Many of us remember T at the helm of Battery Parks City Parks, where he pioneered organic park management. He showed the world that it was possible, even in NYC. His work led directly to projects like Brooklyn Bridge Park, but his real love was underground.

T was an early proponent of soil management through microbiology. He worked with others who mapped soil food webs in ways that could be orchestrated for specific soil needs. Basically, they’d assess microbial populations (nematodes, protozoa, bacteria, fungi, etc) and then use the behavior of each to cultivate the soil dynamics that landscapes require.

For example, we know that protozoa eat bacteria and then release plant-available nitrogen. So for a nitrogen-hungry crop like turf grass, T would look at soil under a microscope, determine that there was a certain amount of tiny guys who ate bacteria, and if there weren’t enough he’d add more, feed them, and make the soil more hospitable for them.

There were others doing this as well, but in the early 2000’s they sort of went off the rails, promising compost tea as a silver bullet for big ag to repair any trashed landscape and for homeowners to replace synthetics. This led to a lot of well earned skepticism about the efficacy of the process (packaged as a product), as well as turf companies selling expensive brown water to homeowners who saw no results from it.

T always brought the process back to the microscope, testing various nozzles to assure that they didn’t harm protozoa and fungi even after they’d been blasted out. He considered soil’s chemical and physical properties alongside biology, never siloing his practice. And that work, as well as his truly incredible results, allowed massive public parks like Battery Park City Parks and Brooklyn Bridge Park to manage our turf organically. Which then allowed us to shout organic turf management from the rooftops and encourage thousands and thousands of landscapes to move off of synthetics.

T’s influence cannot be overstated and I miss him dearly. He was a visionary, a passionate teacher, and a true friend. There will be a celebration of his life on his farm in NJ this June, and I’d love to see you there.

RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT

• In reading Doug Tallamy’s new book, How Can I Help?, I am stuck by the generosity of this man. He clearly considered every question ever posed to him, wrote a thoughtful reply, and then catalogued them all for the benefit of the rest of us. He’s the Bernie Sanders of ecological gardening, selflessly guiding this entire movement along. But it’s also a great book! With sections on ticks and why we shouldn’t cut down invasive Mulberries in the northeast. Doug and the book are profiled by the marvelous Margaret Roach in the NYT.

• FloraQuest - one of the best plant apps available - just released a new edition for Florida. I use the “Northern Tier” version but wherever you are, these apps are the complete package for serious people: they have visual and dichotomous keys, range maps, habitats, diagnostic photos and even work while offline. Thank you Alan Weakley!

• If you like trees and you like books, you will like these 5 minute tree book reviews in from the Tree Book Fan Page podcast. “Lapsed arborist,” bird-nerd Georgia Silvera Seamans and This Old Tree host Doug Still teamed up to inspire us to read more books. The stack on my nightstand is 2’ high, so what’s a few more?

• Did you know that there is a punk rock native plant movement in the Appalachian Mountains that is absolutely wonderful and they have a journal? Mergoat Mag describes themselves as chronicling “hillbilly ecologies after the apocalypse” and their most recent issue is entitled “Death to the American Lawn.”

IN THE NEWS

• Forget No Mow May. It’s time for Wiggly Mow Wednesday! Ok, I tried... New research out of Belgium has found that mowing fields in “meandering” patterns rather than straight lines can increase bees and butterflies by 35%! A full 50% for solitary bees! Of course it’s complicated to manage rotational mowing in the shape of giant amoebas, but the payoffs are worth it. A beer to anyone who can pull it off in a lawn.

• Are we all still arguing about Dandelions? Is that still a thing we all do? Native plant warrior Benjamin Vogt has been crusading against the myth that Dandelions provide anything more than starvation rations to early spring pollinators for ages. He put together a helpful list of alternate nectar and pollen sources, blooming at the same time or before these controversial and yet incredibly cheerful flowers. Even if you love Dandelions, maybe fit some of these around your house as well?

• We all know that leaving the leaves is important for insects but it’s another thing entirely to have data. A new study out of Maryland compared organic lawns and yards with leaves that were left and removed for 2 years. They found that removing leaves reduces butterflies and moths by 40%, beetles by 24% and spiders a whopping 67%! They also reported that we remove a full 37 tons of leaves each year. Imagine how may animals are within that! Bonkers. Article here.

• I’ve read that certain cultures believe that plants appear around you when you need them. So it makes sense then, that Broad Leafed Plantain and English Plantain have been shown to seriously diminish the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease! It’s a thrill, but don’t get too excited yet: the tests were done in a lab rather than on infected people, but hopefully this will lead to new treatments soon!! Paper here.

• I’m sure you saw the study last month that butterfly populations in North America were down 22%, but new research shows that 22% of pollinators broadly have an elevated risk of extinction. The paper breaks down factors affecting each group, so we can see that climate change is harder for butterflies while agriculture impacts bees the most. East coast wildlife is most impacted by development and agriculture, while west coast pollinators are more threatened with the effects of climate change. Time to ban neonics.

• Nectar is a witch’s brew filled with amino acids, addictive drugs, and of course, sugar. A wonderful field of study has emerged called floral nectar mycology, in which researchers assess the functions and impacts of “floricolous” yeasts. (new word alert! Floricolous means “to live in flowers.”💚) Bees and flies prefer nectar with yeasts and theories abound as to why: yeast make the nectar smell better, heat up, and even ferment into alcohols, which help pollinators stay healthy. I did a deep dive into the most common aromatic nectar yeast (because of course) and found that, lo and behold, beer nerds have isolated Metschnikowia reukaufii, brewed tons of beer with it, and you can literally buy it to brew your own. Sometimes people are cool.

• Urban trees, even small ones, can reduce water runoff by a whopping 25%! It’s mostly the leaves that do it, so seasonality matters. In big storm events, that effect drops to 13% at best, but still! Fantastic! Best practices and infiltration processes are all discussed in this new paper. They recommend diversified species of course.

• Ecocide is a war crime against the land. And it’s happening right now, in a shocking number of countries. Ukraine is planning to take Russia to the ICC over $85 billion in environmental destruction. They’ve bombed dams, contaminated croplands, and spread disease to wildlife. It’s horrific, and pales in comparison to the ecological damage in Palestine. Israel has bombed water infrastructure, destroyed half of arable land, killed 90% of cattle, and intentionally burned olive groves. The Palestinian Heirloom Seed Library is a beautiful effort to preserve seeds in diaspora: headquartered in the West Bank, run out of New York, but growing as food plants in California and around the world. As Israeli and US aggression spreads in the region, so does environmental destruction, now threatening Lebanon’s International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas seed bank. Seeds in this collection have had to move many times in recent decades, due to war and theft. Duplicates in the Svalbard vault, intended to be used only in doomsday scenarios, have had to be requested. Here is an incredible article on the collection and protection of this incredible seed collection in the midst of a war zone.

• Just a very pretty, super lovely 6 minute video on flower arranging as an art practice from the good folks at Floret.

• Gardenista and Perfect Earth Project interviewed a bunch of us design/ecology folks about helpful native plants to replace those that cause ecological harm. Lots of solid advice therein but I like to remind people that often, the reliance on invasive plants is due to poor design. Forgive me for quoting myself here: “We have not created proper spaces for plants to grow. We use Bradford pear not because it’s spectacularly beautiful, but because of the amount of abuse it can handle. And that is depressing.” Better tree pits for the masses!

• Honeybees are disappearing again. Yes, we would never prioritize them over native bees, but there are still many reasons to care. Diseases and pests from honeybees jump out to wild bees AND these are still animals with integrity, they should be happy and healthy. But they’re not. We may see the loss of 70% of US honeybees this year, the largest ever recorded, and a real threat to an industry responsible for 75% of fruits, nuts, and veggies. What can we do? Advocate for bans on agricultural insecticides, stock up on almonds, and maybe reconsider beekeeping.

• Nature published a wonky, high level assessment of the benefits and challenges of urban biodiversity recommending that greenspace be cross-disciplinary, incorporated into health, education, and transportation planning. No one seems to be taking that more seriously than Paris, who just launched a Biodiversity Plan that is truly, the best thing of all time. The plan includes mile-long hedges, a nature space by each school, entire neighborhoods that support hedgehogs, and then extensive monitoring and planning. Truly inspiring to see a city really go for it.

• Some gardens are more important than others. Prison gardens are among the most impactful of all. The New Garden Society in Boston is celebrating training more than 1,000 incarcerated students over a decade. The students grow herbs, eat peppers, and donate food to others. About half of them are there to learn the trade for when they’re released, while others just want to be outside or get their hands in the dirt. But regardless, gardening reduces recidivism and truly helps people. Here is an inspiring and fascinating interview with Director Erika Rumbley, starting at 22:00.

• Antenna, a free, digital, avant-garde plant-ish art journal dedicated an entire issue to gardening. Favorite pieces include an essay on how community gardens re-common land, an argument for the return of the victory garden, and a lovely portrait of the connections cultivated through queer gardening by the lovely Patrick Costillo.

• Way to make it to the end, intrepid readers! Here is your shocking reward: Arborists spend a considerable amount of effort trying to assure trees are not struck by lightening, but there’s a tree in Panama who seems to love it. The Almendro tree (Dipteryx oleifera) is a veritable lightening rod, growing taller and wider than surrounding trees and seemingly laughs in the face of even multiple strikes. But it’s not entirely masochism: when lightening hits the tree, it kills parasitic vines and knocks back any other trees growing close by. Researchers don’t yet know the tree’s protection mechanism, but theorize that the wood conducts electricity straight to the ground, or possibly the wide canopy shunts the lightening over to neighbors. Trees had a 48% higher chance of dying due to their simple misfortune of growing near an Almendero.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Earth Day Lecture for the High Line

  April 22

  Virtual and open to the public

  Join me at this fundraiser for the High Line! I’ll be giving a presentation on ecological strategies for public parks and home gardens, welcoming people interested in gardening, but possibly new to the practice.

• Earth, I Thank You: Ann Spencer Documentary Premier!

  May 4

  Free, in person and open to the public

  Ann Spencer was one of the great American Gardeners. Her sanctuary in Virginia was truly beautiful but the cultural significant of her work is unparalleled. The garden provided rest and respite to countless Black freedom fighters in the Jim Crow South from Langston Hughes to W.E.B. Du Bois. She provides a wonderful model for us to think about gardens now. This documentary on her and her work premieres at the Museum of African American History in DC and I’ll let you know when it’s more widely available.

• Flanders Nature Center, CT Fundraiser

  May 4th

  In person and open to the public

  If you’re around CT, please come join me at this luncheon fundraiser for the Nature Center that I grew up next to. I saw my first newt there, I learned about nests, I am so grateful to have a way to give back to them. It will be a lovely lunch and a special talk.

• Managing Invasives - Mindful Ecological Approaches

  May 7

  In person and open to the public

  Perfect Earth is hosting another full day symposium in Tarrytown, NY. I’ll be speaking on new approaches to managing plants that cause ecological damage, alongside researchers and practitioners who will teach on: managing Mugwort, woody plants, and asses how nurseries promote the spread of harmful plants.

• Thinking with Plants and Fungi Conference at the Harvard Divinity School

  May 15 - 17

  Hybrid and open to the public

  Truly honored to speak among such legends as Banu Subramaniam, Zoë Schlanger, and Merlin Sheldrake. I think I am going to speak on hope, but we shall see.

• Hardy Plant Society Garden Study Weekend

  June 27 - 30

  In person but sold out!

  I hope you already have your ticket for the Garden Study Weekend in Portland, OR. I’ll be speaking on ecological horticulture alongside Giacomo Guzon, Sean Hogan, and Marilee Hanks.

• AHS National Children & Youth Garden Symposium

  July 8 - 11

  In person and open to the public

  I’ll keynoting the national conference on gardening with kids this year. I’m going to speak about storytelling and specifically, native plant stories that resonate with children.

• Darrel Morrison teaching at The Clearing Folk School

  July 13 - 19

  Open to the public

  This may well be the last year that Darrel teaches his week-long workshop in Wisconsin. He really is an absolute master and if you do this work, you should go learn from him. It’s full, and worth figuring out how to get in.

www.rebeccamcmackin.com