Nature Almanac for June 2022Donna L. Long

flowers_Sugar Snap Pea flower — Sugar Snap Pea flower.

Here in Philadelphia…

Nature Almanac June 2022 -June’s moon is the Strawberry Moon and the strawberries in my garden are beginning to ripen and turn red. The peas should be ready this month. Hopefully, I’ll dine on snow peas and sugar snap peas in stir-fries, salads, and straight off the vine.

Tiny brown ant in my garden. Unknown species. — Tiny brown ant (by my thumb) in my garden. Unknown species.

Tiny brown ants are everywhere in my garden. There seems to have been a population explosion. Ants are march along their trails some carry tiny balls of food(?) high over their little heads. I can’t tell what the food substance is they’re carrying. And they bite. They’re so tiny I can take a good photo of them.

May 15th, my area’s last frost date, saw an explosion of plant growth. As a gardener, no matter what seeds I germinated or plants I started, nothing makes plants grow like the Sun and Mother Earth.

Did You Know?

When plants project their seeds it’s called, ballistichory? Ballist in the word tells us that seed dispersal can be explosive! Watch the video to see more. Read more on ballistichory in this article from Oxford University entitled, Exploding Myths about Seed Dispersal on Oxford U.’s website.

Native Plant of the Month (NEW Feature!)

flowers_philadelphia_fleabane — Philadelphia Fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus) in my garden.

Philadelphia Fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus)

This indigenous native plant has a home in Philadelphia and is widespread across North America. It can be found in almost all the fifty states. It has been introduced to Eurasia and is considered a invasive species there.

Philadelphia Fleabane goes by many names, Common Fleabane, Daisy Fleabane, Skervish, frostroot, marsh fleabane, and poor robin’s plantain. In the British Isles it is know and robin’s plantain.

Philadelphia Fleabane has many medicinal uses. Indigenous peoples have long used it for headaches and epilepsy. The roots are used to treat colds and flu.

Description (from Wikipedia)

“Erigeron philadelphicus is a herbaceous plant with alternate, simple leaves, on hairy stems. The flower heads are borne in spring in arrays of as many as 35 heads. Each head may sometimes contain as many as 400 pink or white ray florets surrounding numerous yellow disc florets. The blooms are less than one inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. The stem is hairy with rough hairs. The middle to lower leaves are heart shaped, and the plant is about 0.5–2.5 ft (15–76 cm) tall. Its active growth period is from spring to summer (April to July). This plant grows on roadsides, in fields, in thickets, and in open woods.” (Wikipedia.com)

This plant voluntarily grows in my garden. I’ve seen it since I was a young amateur botanist and was curious to know more about it. For more information of Philadelphia Fleabane, the USDA Plant Database has a free downloadable pdf.

Corydalis spp an invasive species here in the Philly area.

Invasive Species of the Month (NEW Feature!)

Corydalis spp. I can’t identify the specific species.

I volunteer at my local environmental center maintaining a native plant rain garden. My native plant group and I have spent the the two springs pulling this biennial plant up by its’ roots. This month we spent the first few weeks removing Corydalis or snipping off the flowers before they set seed. There are many Corydalis species. Corydalis is related to native Bleeding Hearts are their relatives.

Last week I was determined to get rid as many of Corydalis as I could so I won’t have to weed it next year. This spring there was a lot less than last year.

The creepy thing about this invasive, spreading biennial species is the seed pods. At first I didn’t see them since the green pods perfectly match the foliage. But as I pulled up plants I kept getting hit in the face with something. It was like little fairies where throwing small objects at me for uprooting the plant.

I discovered the seed pods pop off and project themselves at least a foot into the air, hitting me in the face as I leaned down to remove the plant. I learned to grab the seed pods with both hands and quickly pull them off as they pop off into my hand. Talking about fighting back. No wonder this introduced plant is invasive. Creepy, creepy. And it makes a little noise when it shoots. Or was that my imagination? Any way it is a pretty little plant but once it takes a hold it may take you several years to eradicate it.

And for some reason I can never pronounce the name right. I keep saying CORD-DEE-AL-US. It’s kr·i·duh·luhs.