https://wiki.bugwood.org/Phalaris_arundinacea there is a little more about RCG native vs. non-native. Seem to be native populations in NA at high latitudes.

Phragmites is very invasive in NJ. Every drainage basin they put in for these new developements and roadway projects is filled with phragmites or japanese knotweed after a few years.

That's good information about the Reed Canary Grass. It's kind of hard to believe that selective breeding caused it to become invasive, and the other theory is that it is native to North America, but it has mixed with European ecoptypes, but there is absolutely no way to tell them apart. Dr. Wilhelm who wrote my flora considers Phalaris arundinacea as an European introduction. I kind of believe it's not native also, by the way it's so aggressive. It's possible it was native to western NA, and became invasive when it was introduced to the zeasrltern half of the country. We don't have Japanese Knotweed around here. It's been very cold here.

Japanese Knotweed is present and very virulent in Minnesota and very difficult to eradicate. Cold has nothing to do with it. It's growing here very close to me. Temps were 0F this morning. Yeah.

RCG was deliberately introduced as a highway right of way grass in the 1920's/30's. It is every where and also extremely difficult to get rid of.. Way to go people of no common sense.

I know how you feel Dandy. Our European ancestors really did a great job of screwing up this continent. I don't recall ever seeing or hearing about Japanese Knotweed in my area, but I'm going to check on i nat to see where it's been observed in Illinois. Yes the CRG is hard to eradicate, and if using herbicides then get leach easily into water.

Love the pine tree picture! I think I managed to somehow kill all three of my Solidago flexicaulis plants. Who knew you can kill anything goldenrod? Still fighting what feels like miles of Canadian goldenrod roots. Not spending as much time working in the yard as I should. It’s been chilly, might even get a wintry mix on Wednesday morning. Plus there are dozens of Christmas cookies to bake :)

The zigzag goldenrod is not as robust as some of the other types. The one I planted in 2019 never got very large, but I ended this season planting at least 5 more so hopefully I'll still have some next year. I have been trying to make time to sow seeds, I did 10 pots today and put them out under the wire mesh. Got all the kids' presents wrapped and that stuff out of the way, should be able to get time to do some more sowing.

I was thinking the zig zag got 4 feet tall or more, but actually it maxes out at 3 feet. I still have a hard time IDing all the different goldenrods that I come across. Here's a species that looks a lot like flexicaulis.

https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/zz_goldenrod.htm

Skip, I thought I had collected seeds for Helianthus divaricatus, but someone told me that what I thought was H. divaricatus was really H. hirsutus. They are both hard to tell apart, but the hirsutus has rough feeling leaves. It looks like hirsutus doesn't range into New Jersey, but divaricatus does. The hirsutus might do well there though, because it's native to Pennsylvania. I still like the Helianthus salicifolius, but it's not native to my region. I sowed seeds for Helianthus occidentalis. It's common in my area, and I like it's look. Hoping that my Helianthus mollis bloom next year. They were small at the end of the season, but sunflowers can do strange things.

I don't recall seeing any invasive Japanese Knotweed around my area. The I nat observations in my county seem to be cultivated plants. I didn't realize it, but I was growing the variegated Japanese Knotweed as an ornamental for a few years. It never got agressive in my garden. I dug it out because I saw the light and wanted to grow all natives. Maybe the variegated form isn't as agressive.

I scattered all the Helianthus hirsutis seeds you sent last year over some soil I hoed. One of them came up for sure but didn't grow much, but it didn't die off either so it will probably grow back. I started some Helianthus divaricatus seeds from toadshade last year too, so I will have both growing with any luck. The Helianthus angustifolius did pretty well, I should be good with sunflowers.

That's cool that you already sowed divaricatus seed. When I went exploring down the road, past the barricade, where it's gone wild, there were a lot of hirsutus plants that were small, and they were growing in full sun. I planted it in a more shady spot and by spring of this year, the single plant had grown into a clump of maybe 8 or 9 stems. The angustifolius gets gigantic. I don't have anywhere to grow something that big. Wow, all those seeds and only 1 came up. Did anything else come up, or come back from the area you hoed? It's only 25 now and it was in the teens last night. My winter sown containers are probably frozen solid. I want to burn my back garden. I could probably get away with it. I've done worse already lol.

Minnesotan's version of nirvana:

Yeah I think the weather from the west is coming this way. It was 62 on Sunday, now it's hovering above freezing and there's a big storm on the way. Nothing much came up in the area I sowed. I dropped a lot of wood aster and partridge pea seeds in there too, just a bunch of weeds like purple deadnettle, mock strawberry, horse weed and path rush came up. I left the path rush.

That ice looks awefully shiny like it's melting

I sowed 10 more pots today. I accidentally knocked over one of the ones from yesterday and was cursing myself, but luckily the top inch of soil was frozen together and it spilled out from the rest of the pot as a chunk. The big silky dogwood seeds were still stuck in there, thank God it wasn't something with tiny seeds. I put out prairie lily, hypericum hypercoides, Solidago puberula, euphorbia corollata and other beauties today.

Shocker. I just found out that Cunila oreganoides makes ice sculptures, just like Frostweed.

https://www.facebook.com/1956768/posts/10113984558918640/

Darn, that Hypericum hypericoides is beautiful. One of my favorites. I have 1 prolificum and 2 kalmianum.

Monarch Butterfly news.

http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/agrawal/

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1138893139862742&id=100012262002934

I'm getting a cold front. But it always in the 50s, 40s, 60s, and sometimes 70s. And in the night its 40s, and 30s.

Took advantage of the snow storm and direct sowed the Thaspium trifoliatum, threw some of the seeds in a milk jug too just in case. Also sowed a whole 38 cell tray with Phlox maculata.

Haha, I've been doing quite a few 'just in case' sowing myself. I should start writing it all down, so I don't forget. Does the Thaspium need cold and moist treatment, CMS? I need to know just in case.I 🤐🤤😆 These carrot family species can be tricky.

The Thaspium packet says 120 days CMS, best sown outdoors in the fall, and seeds germinate on cool soil. Another source says 12weeks CMS then sow at 68°F. Probably depends on ecotype what temp it will germinate, so I'd go by the packet instructions.

120 days is a long time for CMS. How's your weather Skip? Are you getting hammered?

I'm right at the southern edge of the storm so it hasn't been too bad. I got 4" of snow and now it's turning over to sleet and rain. Couldn't ask for a better way to water the seeds in.

There are way more Illinois bog plants than I could possibly grow. Here's a few.

There are still many more species to go.

A nice clump of Carex

I love this moss, but it disappeared on me

Dandy, are you growing the Death Camas? Didn't you find it growing by the train tracks just a year or 2 ago? Do you know what Carex that is? I could find out with closer pictures.

Wow nice pictures. I would love to find some pine barrens death camas around here. Not that I could grow it on my lot, but worth it for pics. I think you can buy nursery propagated grass pinks online.

Skip, I know you love building things. This guy does it all.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1041975609573553&id=100012833718666

Yes that's an idea. I was thinking bird "bubbler" was next. Basically a stack of stones that sits on top of a buried water reservoir, water is pumped up through a pipe and spills down over the stones back into the reservoir. Kind of like a pondless water fall. Then again, still need to figure out a sand bed that blends in well.

Send a request, really. He has tons of DIY projects. I have frost.

I'm trying to start a new thread, but it won't let me, and I can't post pics either. Sounds like a gardenweb problem.

All the unplanted. The plastic bins are disintegrating. I have more pots of unplanted natives than I have new pots.

Did they not grow enough or did you just not get around to planting? I have to do some more sowing tonight. Finally got my indoor grow stuff setup neatly and working with the temp control and timer. The outlet timer I had didn't work and I kept leaving the lights on more than 24 hours.

98 percent of them had grown enough to be planted. I just couldn't get them all in the ground. I needed to dig new beds for them, and the weather was bad all year. Too hot, too cold, too wet.... and then the tornado happened. I'll soon be out of room, but I want to get more involved with restoration, so I'll keep winter sowing until whenever. I want to look into planting a native display garden on the park district greenhouse grounds, but there are also other options. I want to get a bud tender job for extra cash, right up my alley, right?

Yeah you can give a seed packet out with every purchase

Lots of catching up here. You are all getting so much done! Still cold here.

Not a bad idea Skip. Great pics Iris. Your ice ribbons are nicer then mine.

http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/agrawal/2020/12/15/announcing-listing-the-monarch-butterfly-under-the-endangered-species-act-no/

So the monarch isn't listed, which could be good because listing a species can limit how you can interact with the species.

I'm thinking about growing the Asclepias amplexicaulis in gritty mix. You think that would be a good or bad idea?

I think the gritty mix should work ok, Skip. The wild amplexicaulis that I saw in June were growing in sand. I have about 15 amplexicaulis seeds in moist paper towels in the fridge. I'm g oung to start them inside under lights, in a mix with some sand. I'll probably winter sow a few more just in case, and I have 40 seeds, so I'll save some reserved, in case I might need them.

https://mailchi.mp/izelplants/greenscapes-symposium-2021?e=1501fe65b9

Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays to one and all! Hoping this pic will warm you up a tad, Jay (51 and sunny here).

Happy holidays, appreciate the cheerful pics! Looking forward to spring.

Happy Holidays! It’s awfully cold here, Ha ha, I have been trying to identify our Christmas tree. That happens when I can’t do much outside :) Thinking we have a Balsam Fir this time around.

More winter sowing going on here. Things that were not even on my list are making it out there, stuff I found laying around... Wild blueberry today and pasture thistle seeds yesterday. Put out a 50 cell tray of Zizia aurea today too. I dunno, the promix I have says "not for use outdoors", so I mixed it 2 parts pro-mix, 5 parts pine bark fines, and added some controlled release fertilizer and put it outside under hardware cloth. I have two more species to sow soon because it says they do best sown outdoors in the fall, any other trays I'll artificially stratify, seed in the spring, and put out under greenhouse plastic with straight promix.

I had to go check and make sure my promix was ok for the outdoors. It was. I ran out of promix and miracle gro potting soil. I need to get another bag, and more of the taller white pots, for the indoor plants. Do you have any ferns Skip? I have a few kinds. I have to give mine supplemental water, because I don't any areas that stay consistently moist.

I don't have any ferns purposely. Those little Botrychium ferns show up on their own, and there was a fern growing out of a log at the back of the property. I planted bareroot hayscented ferns a few years back but they died out.

I started a new thread.

Happy New Year!