![Eco-type, species, nativar: Nuances of native plants](https://lakevillejournal.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=52351968&width=1200&height=1600)
Dee Salomon
The plant sale that I wrote about in my last column, a joint effort of Lindera Nursery and Tiny Meadow Farm, was fantastic. I came home with pots of rattlesnake master, Eryngium yuccifolium, which I planted in the meadow with the hope that their tall glaucous leaves and round balls of white flower will punctuate the otherwise mostly grassy green expanse. For a shady spot left by transplanting a witch hazel, several pots of Jacob’s ladder, Polemonium reptans echo the tones of the violet and bluebells nearby.
I added two plants to the river path beds: Echinacea pallida — a restrained looking echinacea with thin pale pink petals that drape downward, and obedient plant, Physostegia virginiana, whose whitish- pink upward- growing flowers are reminiscent of snapdragons or lobelia. These should fill in alongside the existing penstemon, mountain mint and the low growing, shocking-pink Silene caroliniana that is flowering right now.
Not only are all the new acquisitions native, most of the plants are also local eco-types; the seed from which the plants were grown was came from plants grown locally. The thinking is that insects and birds are accustomed to the particular tastes, smells, shapes and colors of local plants and so, from the perspective of habitat preservation, they will have the best opportunity to succeed. Even humans, who are the most adaptable species, can relate to this notion: one person’s award-winning three-alarm chili is another person’s digestive nightmare.
On the other end of the native plant spectrum are the cultivars. These are versions of native plants, selected and bred because they have an appealing aesthetic or disease resistance that differs from the original species. Some cultivars are strains of native plants found in nature and are grown from seeds from these plants, others, mainly woody plants, are created by cloning using plant cuttings.
Also called nativars, they are most often what you will find in nurseries and garden centers when looking for native plants. A cultivar, native or not, will always have it’s specific name in quotation marks; this is the best clue to identify it as a cultivar. Producers are allowed to trademark cultivars of plants, such as ‘Balmy™ Purple’ Bee Balm which is one of the many nativars bred and sold under the American Meadows brand.
I succumbed to this mild-mannered marketing about ten years ago, well before I really paid attention to native plants, when purchasing a redbud nativar that has deep purple leaves, rather than the green leaves of the species. Even if the nursery had carried the species, I would have selected this one; I was seduced by its name, ‘Forest Pansy’, as well as the charming color and shape of its leaf.
What I did not know at the time, and wish I had, is that nativars with purple or red leaves are far less interesting as a food source to caterpillars than are the original green leaves of the straight species. The chlorophyl of the green leaves is replaced by anthocyanins, flavonoids that, while healthy, are ‘feeding deterrents’ according to Doug Tallamy who did the research with Mt. Cuba, a botanic garden and research center focused on native plants. Mt. Cuba’s research team looks at native species and their cultivars, assessing them over many years and then rates them for considerations including growth habits, hardiness and habitat benefits.
I spoke with Melissa Starkey, Ph.D., from Mt.Cuba who agreed that “there seems to be a lot of misinformation floating around that cultivars are ‘bad’ though in our research sometimes they are the winner for pollinators.”
What do we need to take into account when making a decision about a nativar, so that we end up with a plant that, in addition to being pleasing to us, is helpful to caterpillars, bees, other insects and birds? Apart from avoiding red and purple cultivars of green-leaved native species, Melissa advises that we be aware of nativars cultivated to have double or triple rows of petals. These plants, while more decorative forms of the original species, are far less attractive to pollinators. Some cultivars, such as mophead hydrangea, have mostly sterile flowers and therefore are of little use to bees and other pollinators. Lacecap hydrangea, such as Mt. Cuba’s highly rated ‘Haas Halo’, is a haven for pollinators.
To compensate for the three Ninebark ’Coppertina’ shrubs I had planted 8 years ago, Robin Zitter, the horticulturalist who helped me create the river path, wisely advised that I plant a few straight species alongside these deep coppery red-toned nativars. Robin sourced one plant and the others came from Earth Tones, a wonderful source for native plants in Woodbury.
Our sources for native plants have improved over the last few years and seeing examples of the beautiful native flowers, shrubs and trees has encouraged many to seek them out. We can aim for the local ecotype of a species when available to us and strive to plant native species first and nativars second.
Dee Salomon “ungardens” in Litchfield County.
Abstract art display in Wassaic for Upstate Art Weekend, July 18-21.
WASSAIC — Art enthusiasts from all over the country flocked to the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley to participate in Upstate Art Weekend, which ran from July 18 to July 21.
The event, which “celebrates the cultural vibrancy of Upstate New York”, included 145 different locations where visitors could enjoy and interact with art.
On Saturday, July 20, The Wassaic Project hosted numerous community events. Will Hutnick, the director of artistic programming, said “We’ve been a part of it since the beginning, this is the fifth year of UPAW.”
Most of the action was based at Maxon Mills, the seven-floor grain mill located in the heart of Wassaic. On exhibit was work from 30 artists, 18 of whom were past residents of The Wassaic Project. “Artists can come and do a residency here, meaning they live and work with one another for a couple months at a time,” Hutnick stated.
The first floor held work by Petra Szilagyi, who uses dirt and linseed oil to construct images of paranormal concepts, most of which include bats. They reflected that a recent trip to a fifth sense competition in Vietnam was the influence behind the exhibit.
Across the floor was Tiffany Smith’s interactive installation which incorporated plants and wicker chairs, all of which were objects associated with her Carribean upbringing. “The room being filled with plants is symbolic of hurricane prep which often included bringing the plants from outside into the house,” Smith said.
As visitors made their way up the narrow wooden stairs, music could be heard from behind the walls. The echoing music was Daniel Shieh’s installation, entitled Mother’s Anthem, which played a recording of the American Anthem in 30 languages. The languages ranged from Spanish and Italian to Navajo and Bengali.
Each floor was filled with artwork of all mediums, including painting, fibers, collage and photography. Rachel Bussières, who switched her concentration after watching the 2017 solar eclipse, uses varying light sources to produce lumen prints. During the wildfires, she recounted that she “made a new exposure each day to capture the changing air quality”.
Luciana Abait also incorporates the natural world into her pieces, instead using maps. An environmental activist originally from Argentina, Abait’s work highlights “environmental fragility, specifically the impacts it has on immigrants.” Her installation that is currently on display at Maxon Mills, takes the form of a mountain range built solely from maps of the US and Argentina.
Throughout the day, visitors could “Arm Wrestle 4 A Popsicle”. Winners had the choice of 3 playfully flavored trout-inspired popsicles - Nightcrawler, Power Bait, and Salmon Roe. Artist Katie Peck, who spent the day in costume as a rainbow trout, encouraged guests to step up and try their hand at an arm wrestle.
Shibori Indigo dyeing, group meditation, and dance workshops were open for community members of all ages as well.
While the daytime activities fostered appreciation of fixed art, a dance party until midnight at The Lantern Inn offered guests a space for performative art.
When describing the environment of The Wassaic Project, Smith emphasized, “It’s all community, it’s all love.”
A serene scene from the Amenia garden tour.
AMENIA — The much-anticipated annual Amenia Garden Tour drew a steady stream of visitors to admire five local gardens on Saturday, July 13, each one demonstrative of what a green thumb can do. An added advantage was the sense of community as neighbors and friends met along the way.
Each garden selected for the tour presented a different garden vibe. Phantom’s Rock, the garden of Wendy Goidel, offered a rocky terrain and a deep rock pool offering peaceful seclusion and anytime swims. Goidel graciously welcomed visitors and answered questions about the breathtaking setting.
Amenia Finance Director Charlie Miller welcomed visitors to his Bog Hollow Road garden in Wassaic, a manicured expansive yard with well-placed garden beds framing a far-reaching view. He said he plans carefully each winter for the next spring’s improvement.
The organic, environmentally responsible Maitri Farm was next, a lesson in coordinating agriculture with natural balance. The farm stand and a walk among the greenhouses brought visitors together.
Near the center of Amenia was the garden of Polly Pitts-Garvin, offering a chance to visit a robust vegetable garden with raised beds to be envious of and a remarkable absence of any insects or usual vegetable garden problems.
At Chez Cheese, the vast garden acreage surrounding the 1850s historic home of Joan Feeney and Bruce Phillips in Millerton, visitors could begin at refreshment stations where walking tour maps of the 15-acre property were available. There were streams and ponds with docks, and a dozen bridges arranged around the landscape. In the 19th-century, the property had been the home of the Wilson Cheese Factory, inspiring the name of the estate.
The Amenia Garden Tour was supported this year by Paley’s Garden Center in Sharon.
Gary Dodson working a tricky pool on the Schoharie Creek, hoping to lure something other than a rock bass from the depths.
PRATTSVILLE, N.Y. — The Schoharie Creek, a fabled Catskill trout stream, has suffered mightily in recent decades.
Between pressure from human development around the busy and popular Hunter Mountain ski area, serious flooding, and the fact that the stream’s east-west configuration means it gets the maximum amount of sunlight, the cool water required for trout habitat is simply not as available as in the old days.
This is not a new phenomenon. It does seem to be getting worse, though.
Gary Dodson and I convened where the creek makes its final run into the Schoharie reservoir, part of the New York City water supply system, on a semi-broiling Thursday afternoon, July 11.
The goal was simple. Catch smallmouth bass, which abound in the lower section of the river.
This was hot stuff — as in an 80-degree water temperature.
The air temperature was actually slightly less at 77.
After negotiating the intensely slippery rocks, festooned with treacherous algae, the first major pool presented several difficulties, with a back eddy competing with a main flow and several large trees draped about the whole thing.
I hit on the simplest strategy, which was to flip a weighted attractor fly called a Tequilley into the start of the eddy so it would proceed slowly but steadily into the maelstrom, sinking all the while.
This worked. A proper adult smallmouth, with bronze coloring and vertical stripes, took the thing.
The point-and-shoot camera finally died, however, and I was not going to try to fumble my phone out for a nice but routine fish photo.
Why not?
Because I guarantee the fish would have made a sudden, last-moment bolt for freedom, causing me to drop the device into the drink.
Gary moved downstream while I continued trying to annoy the residents of the pool, succeeding a couple of times with different colored Wooly Buggers.
Then we all got bored and I moved off, where Gary was catching rock bass and cussing them out for not being something else.
I have to admit, they are not the most compelling critters. Something about the red eyes.
This latest trip was dominated by extremely tedious and distasteful Harry Homeowner activities, but on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings I prowled Woodland Valley Creek. By “morning” I mean “dawn,” because that was when the water temps were down to a barely acceptable 64.
I made the acquaintance of several stocked browns and of a handful of their wild cousins. The wild fish are smaller and nimbler.
The successful ploy was an Adams wet fly, size 16, drifted behind something big, like a Parachute Adams or Stimulator.