woodland Archives - Wild Roots

Ice Age Sand Dunes: Hidden Gems In the Pines

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.

Winter Interest: Native Evergreen Plants for the Inner Coastal Plain

Lindsay Ifill

As I look outside our back window at the birds flocking to our feeder and bath and the never-ending construction site behind us, one thing is clear: We’re in dire need of more native evergreen plants that provide privacy and beauty for us, and food and shelter for wildlife that lasts through winter. The rhododendrons we planted a couple of years ago should eventually reach a point where they cover the fence in the corner (and more!), but there are only two of them toward one corner and lots of space leftover for a shrub and understory layers. We also planted some Christmas ferns, which seem happy back there. You’re probably thinking, “Arborvitae! Duh!,” but Tim seems to have been scarred for life after a long, hot summer spent planting arborvitaes along the perimeters shopping centers and people’s expansive lawns while landscaping in his 20s. Anyway, this isn’t a particularly wet area, so I’ll stick to evergreens that are more drought-tolerant for this post and save other great plants like inkberry (Ilex glabra) for a future rain garden post. My favorite resources for finding new plants? are JerseyYards.org and Wildflower.org, and this research required both because the Barnegat Bay Partnership’s database doesn’t include filtering by leaf retention? and Lady Bird Johnson WildFlower Center’s database doesn’t have more localized info. The area I’m focusing on now is a mostly shady spot when the oak tree has leaves, and sunny during all other months, so I kept those conditions in mind. Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) I want to plant some of this trailing shrub as a sort of groundcover border. We spotted some bearberry our in the wild recently, and both really liked it even though without its flowers or berries. I’d love to get some rocks to border the meadow, separating it from the evergreen area, and plant the bearberry so that it grows similarly to the photo. Birds and native bees love it, and it’s a host plant for butterfly and moth larvae, including Rocky Mountain Clearwing (Hemaris senta), Hoary Elfin (Callophrys polios), Freija Fritillary (Boloria freija), Brown Elfin (Callophrys augustinus), and Elf (Microtia elva). While it’s common in the Pine Barrens’ sandy soil, it also grows in loam and in rock gardens, so it should do well. Also, here’s a little fun fact for you: People smoked bearberry before tobacco was available. Characteristics: ?6-12 inches in height, spreads up to…

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…

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…

Native Landscaping: Designing a Jersey-Friendly Shade Garden

Lindsay Ifill

The goal: Plant a woodland shade garden that’s diverse, quick to spread, and well-suited to the sandy loam we have here in the Inner Coastal Plain. We don’t have all that many full-sun spots in our yard, but the area just behind our house barely gets even the tiniest glimmer of sun throughout the day, so this winter I’ll be working on a plan for a fern-heavy woodland understory shade garden. It’ll be an experiment, as always. The area doesn’t seem to drain quite as well as other parts of our yard, and gets more runoff from the house than others, but I’m not sure if it’s wet enough for some of the plants we’re considering. Here in Collingswood, we’re living in New Jersey’s Inner Coastal Plain region. One of the most awesome things about the great Garden State is that it’s both one of the smallest and the most ecologically diverse states. And though we typically choose to hike in or travel to regions other than our own, particularly the Pine Barrens within the Outer Coastal Plain, I feel pretty thankful for the nice soil we have here in the Inner Coastal Plain. What I don’t feel thankful for: It’s super built-out and our little part of the state has done pretty terribly when it comes to preserving the rare plants that once made it special. As I start my search using the JerseyYards.org plant database, I select “Sandy” and “Loam” and “Coastal Plain” region. It doesn’t support the level of detail I’m considering just yet, so I’ll just have to do a little more research to narrow down my list later. I’m also cross-checking all of the plants I like with the Native Plant Society of New Jersey’s Camden County Plants list, just to be extra sure they’re well-suited for our region. In order to avoid the common mistake of focusing on just one layer rather than the multi-layer approach that supports a healthy ecosystem, I’m going to look for some larger shrubs, flowers, ferns and groundcover. (Note: All of the descriptions in quotes below come from the JerseyYards.org database.) Working List of Plants for our Shade Garden: Summersweet (clethra alnifolia) / Shrub This will be the most upper layer given the proximity to our house and an existing small tree. I love that it’s a great shrub for birds, butterflies, hummingbirds and bees, but I am…

The Fleeting Moments of a Woodland Garden

Lindsay Ifill

We’re currently most inspired by woodland gardens, and working on plans that will bring some of what we love about forests to our small suburban backyard. One of the books I’ve been really enjoying lately is Rick Darke’s The American Woodland Garden: Capturing the Spirit of the Deciduous Forest. Darke is downright poetic both in how he writes, thinks and photographs. More later on the book itself and what we’re planting and where, but for now,? this: “To the uninitiated, the woodland garden might seem a place of darkness, but in truth, it can be among the most radiant landscapes on earth. One magical aspect of deciduous woodland plants is that their thin foliage is translucent, particularly in spring and fall, and capable of all manner of incandescent effects. “Many of the most beautifully lit moments in the woodland garden are indeed fleeting, and to welcome this is essential to understanding the nature of the garden’s beauty. It is neither fixed nor static but rather dynamic and flowing, built upon the constant flux and innumerable luminous phenomena that characterize the woods.” -Rick Darke in The American Woodland Garden