Exploration Archives

Creating Nature in Our Communities

“Imagine a therapy that had no known side effects, was readily available, and could improve your cognitive functioning at zero cost. Such a therapy has been known to philosophers, writers, and laypeople alike: interacting with nature. Many have suspected that nature can promote improved cognitive functioning and overall well-being, and these effects have recently been documented.” -Berman, Marc G, John Jonides, and Stephen Kaplan. 2008. “The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting With Nature” Psychological Science 19: 1207-1212 By now, most of us have heard about hospital patients with views of trees recovering faster than those with poor (or no) views from their rooms. These effects are not only very real, but they’re part of a rising tide of research that’s identifying the same pattern over and over: encounters with nature, even on a very small scale, can have significant benefits on our well-being. But those encounters are exceedingly fleeting or nonexistent for the growing numbers of people around the world who live and work in urban environments. We need to be more focused on the broader idea of bringing nature – including native plant communities and the beneficial wildlife they attract – into communities in as many ways as possible. Not just into our parks and green spaces, but into our schools, hospitals, mental health centers, offices, streetscapes, and commercial spaces. It’s not only important from a sustainability perspective, but also a human one, as researchers keep finding more and more mental and physical health benefits stemming from even brief encounters with nature. Just the Tip of the Iceberg: A meta-analysis of 143 studies found wide-ranging health benefits associated with green space exposure, including “statistically significant reductions in diastolic blood pressure, salivary cortisol and heart rate.” [see sources below] Populations that are exposed to the greenest and most natural environments have the “lowest levels of health inequality related to income deprivation.” Access to green spaces reduces stress and stress-related illness for urban dwellers “regardless of the informant’s age, sex and socio-economic status.” Interactions with nature “improves cognition and affect for individuals with depression.” “Children with ADHD who play regularly in green play settings have milder symptoms than children who play in built outdoor and indoor settings. This is true for all income groups and for both boys and girls.” Employees with views of nature from their workspaces had higher job satisfaction and lower stress and took fewer sick days than…

Ice Age Sand Dunes: Hidden Gems In the Pines

Tim Ifill

Walking down a dirt road through the pine barrens in Brendan Byrne State Forest, all of a sudden, the woods open up, and we’re standing in a sandy open area with virtually no vegetation.? People lucky enough to be familiar with the area know that “pine barrens” is a bit of a misnomer given the vibrant plant and animal communities that thrive there.? But my first impression of this clearing is that it’s, well, pretty barren. A small group of participants in the Rutgers Environmental Stewards Program is touring the pine barrens, and Emile DeVito, ecologist and Manager of Science and Stewardship for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation is our guide.? And we couldn’t ask for a more knowledgeable one. What we’re standing on, Dr. DeVito informs us, is a paleolithic sand dune, a remnant of the forces that shaped the landscape during the last ice age.? While the ice sheets themselves never reached this far south, the spot where we were standing was only about 70 miles from a wall of ice thousands of feet high.? Hurricane-force winds regularly scoured the sandy former sea floor that makes up southern New Jersey’s coastal plain.? Sand from wetlands was piled up into nearby dunes, many of which persist today. And sure enough, just a couple hundred yards from the dune area is a vernal pool.? Inundated in the winter and spring but mostly dry in the summer, it has no outlet or connection to nearby waterways, and therefore no fish.? So it makes an ideal breeding ground for frogs and toads.? I made a mental note to bring Mae to this spot in the spring to hear the frog symphony. As for the dune itself, despite appearances, it’s far from barren – in fact it’s a haven for several rare species.? In this particualr area, Dr. DeVito points out a population of Pickering’s Morning Glory (Stylisma pickeringii), one of the many rare species of plants that can be found in the pines.? There are only a handful of populations left, and off-road vehicles are a particular threat.? The plants were going dormant now, but we did see a number of seedpods, which will hopefully lead to new seedlings in the spring. Dr. DeVito also pointed out the den of a northern pine snake, another threatened species and an excellent burrower.? Growing up to five feet long, their coloring allows them to…

Mountain Laurelpalooza at Black Run Preserve

Tim Ifill

mountain laurel flower kalmia latifolia bloom

There’s a lot to love about Black Run Preserve, but maybe the best thing in my mind is how close it is to home. Most other Pine Barrens hikes are a 45-minute to an hour drive for us, but we can get to Black Run in under 25 minutes. (When you have a 2-year-old in the car, that extra 20 minutes can seem like an hour.) Visiting Black Run feels almost like you’re being transported.? You’re driving in the worst kind of Jersey suburban sprawl, then all of a sudden, right around Route 73, you cross from the inner to the outer coastal plain, and everything changes. The sandy, acidic soils give rise to a completely distinct plant community. Far from being barren, these woods are teeming with life?though it’s limited to a relatively small number of species that have co-evolved to thrive in these infertile landscapes. We’d never been to Black Run in the spring before, but after seeing the many mountain laurels (Kalmia latifolia) scattered throughout, we made a note to try to get back at the right time to see them in bloom. This past weekend was just about the peak. Warning: If you get bored easily by pictures of flowers, this may not be the post for you. Practicing more naturalistic, ecological landscaping at home makes any walk out into nature more interesting, because inspiration is everywhere. Though we haven’t had much success (any success) growing mountain laurel yet, seeing the way the shrubs mix with ferns and high bush blueberry helps give us a nice reference point when thinking about how to incorporate different types of plants in a (slightly more composed) way that mimics natural plant communities. Again, it’s amazing how different the landscape is from our own for how close it is.? Note the classic Pine Barrens sand. One highlight of our walk was getting to meet this Fowler’s toad.?A family was hiking a few hundred yards ahead of us, and their son very thoughtfully decided to bring the toad he caught back to show Mae.?She was very pleased, but a little nervous about touching it. There were also a lot of what looked like Spicebush Swallowtails (Papilio troilus) and other butterflies flitting about, but none of them stayed still long enough to get a picture. There are only about twenty species of tree that are native to the inhospitable soils of the…

Spring Blooms at Mt. Cuba Center

Tim Ifill

When we last made the trip to Mt. Cuba Center, northern Delaware’s native plant showcase, fall bloomers were making their last stand, and trees were shedding their leaves. It looked pretty different this time around; their woodland-dominated landscape was still bright and sunny in the last weeks before the trees leafed out.? So while most plants were just breaking their winter dormancy, it was a great time to see the spring ephemerals put on a show.? These are the plants that take advantage of the brief window in woodland areas between when the weather and soil warm up and the trees fully leaf out and cast shade over the ground. Trilliums (a.k.a. wake-robins or toadshades) are the classic example.? They appear in early spring on the forest floor, rapidly complete their full flowering cycle, and enter dormancy as their leaves, stems, and flowers wither away, leaving no trace by early summer. Mt. Cuba has a great selection of ephemerals.? Virginia bluebells, Quaker ladies (houstonia), bloodroots, and other species carpet the forest floors. Other spring flowering plants, like the woodland phlox species, foamflowers, and celandine poppies which were blooming in abundance this weekend, stick around after flowering, and their foliage provides a nice groundcover throughout the summer. It was also a great time to see other parts of the landscape waking up.? Fern fiddleheads were unrolling everywhere you looked, trees and shrubs were beginning to flower, and leaf buds were opening up. Mt. Cuba Center‘s gardens are open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 am ? 4 pm, April-November 19. We recommend bringing a picnic lunch if you’re headed out on a nice day. Mt. Cuba also offers classes year-round in ecological gardening, conservation, art and more.

Whitesbog Village: Blueberries, Beauty and Feminism

Lindsay Ifill

It’s going to be a cold week with Christmas festivities at the tail end, so I wanted to get outside yesterday despite the rain. We drove about 50 minutes to Whitesbog Village, and it was well-worth the distance and eventual “OMG we’re missing our toddler’s nap window! Now she’s literally pulling her hair out!” moment on the way home. Whitesbog, a registered national and state historic site, is part of Brendan T. Byrne State Forest. It features a “village” of beautiful old buildings and 3,000 acres of cranberry bogs, blueberry fields, reservoirs, sandy roads, woodlands, streams and trails. Not only that, it’s a site on New Jersey’s Women Heritage Trail due to the work of “Blueberry Queen” Elizabeth Coleman White. She’s the one who brought Jersey blueberries to the masses after extensive research for growth habits, taste, scent and texture. According to the Whitebog website, White also focused her research on the American holly (ilex opaca). “She even founded her own nursery business?Holly Haven, Inc.?and is credited with having helped to rescue the American holly from obscurity. She was even one of the first members of the Holly Society of America, founded in 1947.” Volunteers have worked hard for decades to restore and preserve Whitesbog Village, including White’s old house. It’s a gorgeous place to stroll along paths lined with mountain laurel and other native plants, view cranberry bogs, check out White’s original test garden and experience the beauty of the Pines. The Whitesbog General Store was closed yesterday morning, which was a bit of a bummer, because I was looking forward to picking up a few last-minute Christmas gifts. It’s typically open Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 4pm February through December, and carries blueberry and cranberry preserves, honey, candy, books on the Pine Barrens, and items handcrafted by locals. The store and other buildings within the village date back to the late 1800s and early 1900s. The largest building, which is basically rubble now, was the packing and storing facility that was damaged in two different fires. In the other adorable buildings, Whitesbog Preservation Trust tells the story of Whitesbog Village and holds events, such as art shows, festivals and a holiday craft fair. We knew we were in a good place when we walked up to find this awesome banner of a Jersey Devil playing banjo. Whitesbog regularly holds a Blueberry Music Jam, an acoustic jam…

Franklin Parker Preserve: A Pine Barrens Treasure

Lindsay Ifill

Cranberry Meadow at Franklin Parker Preserve

While the Pine Barrens are rightly known for their wild beauty, there’s not much virgin wilderness there. The Pine Barrens were the site of a great deal of early American industry (hence the profusion of ghost towns) and agriculture. We took a quick late-fall hike this morning in one such area, the Franklin Parker Preserve, which was a major cranberry growing operation in its past life.? You can still see the canals, raised levees, and even old railroad tracks, but the land is very much reverting to a natural state. The area we explored is now a mix of grassy wetlands and pitch pine forest. We started at the trail head across the road from Chatsworth Lake and followed the red trail west and then south, connecting with the green trail for a short 3-mile loop?the perfect hike to enjoy Tim’s birthday and still get home in time for Mae’s afternoon nap. The 16-square-mile preserve, New Jersey Conservation Foundation’s largest, is a beautiful, fascinating network of sandy trails, short bridges and roads through pitch pines, blueberry fields, swamps, lakes and tributaries of the Wading River. According to the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Franklin Parker Preserve is home to more than 50 rare, threatened or endangered species. The preserve is just over 30 miles from Collingswood, mostly down Route 70, which means it takes about 50 minutes. It’s worth every minute. We didn’t see all that much wildlife on this morning’s hike, save for a kingfisher and lots of dragonflies, but she loved all of the talk about the turtles and snakes that live there. One of the highlights was when a dragonfly kept flying around us and landing on her hat. I could keep telling you how wonderful the trails around Franklin Parker Preserve are, but some things are best said through photos. Enjoy.

A Late-November Trip to Rancocas Nature Center

Lindsay Ifill

A morning, or even just an hour, spent walking in a quiet, natural setting can do wonders to ease your mind, de-stress and keep things in perspective. That’s exactly what we did Sunday morning on the 3 miles of Rancocas Nature Center trails, which stretch across the wide range of habitats found within the 210-acre Rancocas State Park. It was a beautiful walk through meadows, wetlands, and pines, with lots of bridges and boardwalks for Mae to run on. (She’s got a thing with bridges.) We saw just one other person, a runner lucky and smart enough to opt for trails over pavement. It was downright peaceful for the Sunday after Thanksgiving, a couple days after Black Friday with the holiday craze in full swing. Most of the plants had already died back or turned to seed, but the area had not lost its allure. Seeing a field of flowers after their peak season is a reminder that the outdoors should be enjoyed and appreciated year-round. The browns, grays, and purples with pops of green is a palette I like, and somehow brings on an even deeper sense of calm than the colors of spring and summer. When we started down the trail from the main building, Mae spotted a goldenrod that had turned brown and gone to seed and said, “Flower!” I was impressed, because it didn’t look like the flowers we see in most of her books. Kids, man. They’re awesome. We got there before the building had opened, so we’ll have to return soon to check out the turtles and other wildlife on display. I guess it was about 10AM, and look at that light in the photo above. It was pretty much perfect, though I don’t doubt that an earlier or later walk would be just as good. I could feel the temperature drop as we walked from the sunny meadow into the pines, which made me wish again that our neighborhood was full of trees (ahem, summer utility bills), but Mae didn’t agree. That was the exact moment she wanted to take off her coat and run around. One of the other neat things about late-fall and winter hikes is that berries, evergreens, and mosses that might not be as visible at other times of the year burst through the many shades of brown. For gardeners, getting out in natural settings this time of the…

Visit a 600-Year-Old Tree in NJ Before it Falls

Lindsay Ifill

Take a look at this White Oak tree for proof that native trees should be prioritized over non-natives. At 600 years old, this tree’s life finally has come to an end. Meanwhile, those living in developments built in the ’70s are already losing the Bradford Pears lining the streets. We’re planning to make the hour-long trip up to Basking Ridge to see this beauty in real life before it’s cut down in the spring. It’s just too amazing to miss out on, especially because it’s here in our little state. That reminds me: If you ever need a reminder that us humans are just passing through and the longer-living species among us deserve more respect than we often give them, check out The Oldest Living Things in the World, a beautiful book by Rachel Sussman. I found it at Inkwood Books in Haddonfield. While up north checking out the oak tree, we’ll head over to Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. It’s an 8,000-acre refuge that includes a 3,660-acre Wilderness Area that became the first of its kind in 1966 within the Department of the Interior. It’s an example of what the hard work of some passionate environmentalists can accomplish, as it was local residents battled the Port Authority of NY and NJ in court to prevent them from turning it into a regional airport.

A Fall Visit to Mt. Cuba Center

Tim Ifill

We’re lucky to have so many public gardens in our area, and even luckier that several of them focus on showcasing native plants.? We recently got a chance to take a trip to one of these: Mt. Cuba Center in the rolling hills of northern Delaware (no, the state’s not entirely flat – there’s a tiny strip of the piedmont running through the northern tip). With about 50 acres of woodland, meadow, and wetland gardens, plus a rare all-native formal garden, it’s a great place to appreciate the versatility and beauty of natives.? We visited on its last weekend of the season at the end of October (it will be closed through the spring), but even though the biggest blooms of the summer had past, there was still plenty to see. One of the cool things they’ve been running for a few years is their trial garden, where they test different species and cultivars to see which are most suitable for gardens in the mid-Atlantic.? So far they’ve released thorough reports on asters, coneflowers, baptisia, coreopsis, and heuchera (though not all of them seem to be currently up on their new website).? I’m looking forward to the upcoming monarda and phlox reports. As part of Mt. Cuba’s mission, they try to show the versatility of native plants.? To that end, they’ve tried to combat the notion many gardeners have that natives only really work for naturalistic gardens.? They recently re-did the formal gardens directly next to the house with all native plants.? Personally, I’m more drawn to the naturalistic look (hence our decision not to name this blog Highly Cultivated Roots), but I thought they did a great job.? We didn’t get great pictures of the formal garden, but you can see some photos here on their virtual tour, and read more about how they created them here. They also offer a wide variety of classes and even a certificate program. We’re excited about heading back next year – if we’re lucky we’ll be able to swing a spring, summer, and fall visit to catch all of the plants at their best. One Save

A Morning Walk in Black Run Nature Preserve

wildroots

We often talk about how much we love where we live and how happy we are to be near to our families, but just wish that place also had more natural open space around it. “This town, but surrounded by mountains.” “This town and proximity to Philly, but IN the Pine Barrens.” “This house, but restored and sitting on a lake.” “All of our families within a 1-hour drive but in California.” “All of our families within a 1-hour drive but in Golden, Colorado.” “All of our families within a 1-hour drive but also near Zion National Park.” But then again, it’s all about finding beauty and happiness wherever you are, and so we make an effort to venture out to those still wild places closest to Collingswood. Today we made our first trip to Black Run Nature Preserve, just a 25-minute drive but a world away from the suburban sprawl that surrounds it. We’ll be heading back as much as possible, in all seasons. Black Run is 1,300 acres of preserved land in Evesham Township, between Marlton Lakes and Kings Grant. We can’t say it better than this, from the website: “It is an ecological wonder of Pine Barrens forest, wetlands, streams and old cranberry bogs, and hosts a variety of threatened and endangered plant and animal species.” On this particular trip, which as usual started WAY later than expected with Mae and Buddy in tow and lunchtime too close, we mostly stuck to the 5k trail. We had a bit of trouble / a total lack of patience with the interactive map on the website. What we really wanted was a good printed map and to NOT be on our phones, so we didn’t want to go too far off of the blue marker-lined trail. (Which were SO well kept, by the way.) Here are some photos from the walk: