It was a lovely day at Burden to dig into the nitty gritty of the propagation program. There are still many details to be worked out but so far, so good. Those who attended: Kitty Bull, Britton Hailor, Paul Orr, Cyndi Levi, Julie Morgan, Tricia Hunt, Helen Peebles, Dick Erlicher, Joe Delotte, Julia Hawkins, James Henson, Allan Pringle, Dianna Moritz and Matthew Herron (that's me!).
The outline as it was discussed in the meeting is featured on our new Propagation Webpage (click here). We potted roughtly 20 flowering dogwoods, 10 mockernut hickories, 10 redbuds, and 7 black-eyed susans. While we intended to start our own work area on the research side of Burden, the Master Gardeners have been generous enough to allow us to use their work benches and tools, as long as we keep things clean and organized. Next work day will be June 21st from 4-6pm.
In other news, I've been continuing to explore and think about the Burden site and its potential for ecological restoration and native plant diversity. Some interesting specimens have been found out there and we'll have to continue exploring to understand what plant populations can be conserved, enhanced or, in some cases, restored.
This aquatic milkweed (Asclepias perennis) was purchased from Cleggs and planted in a low wet area in the restoration portion of woods at Burden. More of an experiment than anything else, my hopes are that we can get enough genetic diversity in this area to build a happy, reproducing population of native milkweed from which we might collect seeds. Hopefully they will also disperse naturally into the landscape and find its own niche in other parts of Baton Rouge. The closest known wild population is at Bluebonnet Swamp.
Burden also has some nice populations of wildflowers due to some areas that are being managed with low- or no-mow areas. Here you can see a profusion of Clasping Coneflower. We'll hopefully be collecting a few seeds from around the area when they are ready. This species is fairly agressive and easy to grow so would be good for a variety of settings and skill levels for native gardeners.
Dianna found an interesting legume which we debated over some. After reviewing some of the options in our area, I believe it Bigpod Sesbania (Sesbania herbacea). It loves wet areas and germinates readily on moist bare mineral soil, as can be found on swamp edges as the summer heat dries up shallow waters.
Later that day after on a hike, I found some obedient plant growing in a low-mow zone. A wild plant, for all I can tell. There is a known population at Bluebonnet also. Driving East towards Livingston Parish, they become more abundant on the roadsides, but it is not clear whether that is purely due to changing soils or due to change in management of roadsides. Baton Rouge may just be using more herbicides to manage roadsides than out in the country.
Well that is all folks! Stay tuned for more propagation reports and our next field trip we are planning for June.
Matthew
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