Bloodroot, hepatica, some trillium and bluebells are up here. The bloodroot and hepatica started to blossom yesterday.

This is a year to contemplate and reassess for me. As many of the trees and shrubs I've put in begin to mature I'm having a few thoughts about resiting one or two things. I have to move or more likely remove a few white cedar as my florida dogwoods mature. May have to resite my entire bog garden to a sunnier location. Additions will be one or two more Betula papyrifera to my existing "grove" and a shadblow I didn't get in last year... still "thinking" about siting for that one. May add one or two additional native azalea but will wait and see how my existing ones mature through the growing season.... maybe I'll just take some cuttings. All perennials this year will be from spreading/reseeding and starts from last years saved seed.

That's the very tentative plan.... unless I change my mind as I'm known to do.

I have some shrubs and saplings in an outdoor "cage" (to keep off deer) that I plan to transplant to permanent homes either this spring or fall. Most of my efforts this spring are going to focus on the continuing battle against invasives and some "engineering" issues on the land such as erosion, etc. Lesser Celandine is starting to become a big problem that I hope to beat back a little. Blood Root and Mayapple seem to be holding their own against the onslaught. I do plan to put down some native grass seed in some areas that need some cover. Creeping Red Fescue works o.k. here in downstate NY. Some bluebells are starting pop up now.

Had a location where a huge Evergreen Azalea was starting to die in sections, so I decided to pull it out and plant some Native Azaleas in that area. Have some R. prunifolium from LazyK and some Dodd hybrids(yellow/salmon center) that could go there. Haven't decided which one.
Recently obtained a few Puttyroot(Aplectrum hymale), Indian Cucumber Root and a very rare Native Asarum species. Where to plant?
Decisions, decisions, decisions! Seems to become more difficult each year, to find space for new additions.
Rb

I'm undertaking a massive naturalization project this year. Tearing out the whole back lawn & planting or seeding grasses, forbs, shrubs, & small trees, most at bare root or seedling stage. I'll build around what I already have, which includes a silver maple, a serviceberry (of course!), & a good many arborvitaes. There's also some exotic but harmless stuff (European holly, English yew) that the previous owner planted & I might tear out eventually, but not now.

I've been planning this for 2 years & am really looking forward to getting started. I've already ordered a bunch of plants and have winter-sown some of the forbs & subshrubs. Here is a list of the species I aim to plant or sow by this fall:

adiantum pedatum
andropogon gerardii
apios americana
aquilegia canadensis
aralia nudicaulis
asclepias tuberosa
athyrium filix-femina
carex hystericina
carex plantaginea
carex platyphylla
cornus florida
desmodium canadense
dicentra canadensis
Dicentra cucullaria
elymus canadensis
eupatorium purpureum
eurybia divaricata
gaultheria procumbens
geranium maculatum
hepatica nobilis var. obtusa
hibiscus moscheutos
ipomoea pandurata
kalmia latifolia
lespedeza capitata
liatris pycnostachya
lindera benzoin
lobelia siphilitica
maianthemum racemosum
monarda fistulosa
morella pensylvanica
ostrya virginiana
packera obovata
parthenocissus quinquefolia
penstemon hirsutus
phlox divaricata
Physocarpus opulifolius
podophyllum peltatum
polystichum acrostichoides
quercus rubra
rhododendron prinophyllum
rosa carolina
sanguinaria canadensis
schizachyrium scoparium
solidago odora
sorghastrum nutans
symphyotrichum novae-angliae
thalictrum dioicum
thelypteris noveboracensis
tiarella cordifolia
trillium grandiflorum
tsuga canadensis
viburnum lentago
viola labradorica
Viola Ãpalmata
viola pedata

These all sound like wonderful projects. I just thought I saw the faint flush of Skunk Cabbage (S.foetidus) coming up. And wonderful mosses and lichens just seem to glow against the brown-grey forest floor this time of yest.

I'd love to hear more -- I guess we can check in with each other in fall to see what we ended up actually doing!

Thanks for sharing.

" a very rare Native Asarum species."

RB, is it shuttleworthii? Hmmmm... if so maybe in a couple years you'll have enough to share.;o)

Kwoods.....
A. shuttleworthii, both varieties, especially, v. harperi(with the looong rhizomes) is very common in this area.
The one I obtained, is Asarum(Hexastylis, to the diehards) rhombiformis, found only in a small area(2 counties, I believe) in SW NC and one location in NW SC.
They aren't blooming yet, and I'm hopefull they have been identified correctly. Right now, I am somewhat suspicious that they aren't, because these have white veined patterned leaves and the photos of the Holotype(in lieu of an Isotype) I retrieved from the NC & SC Herbariums (they have no Holotypes, because pressing of the specimens, destroys important identifying features), shows unpatterned leaves.
Some of these have 2 petioles, with leaves, so, I am hopeful there will be a calyx emerge from those this spring and settle the question.
Wish me luck!
Rb

This Spring, I'll continue with the process of identifying the species growing here, eradicating the invasive plants, encouraging the existing native plants, and planting new natives. There were quite the minor infestations of invasives here, and last year was especially busy (and costly $$) removing invasives - mostly Acer platanoides (Norway maple), Celastrus orbiculatus (Oriental bittersweet), Frangula alnus (Glossy buckthorn), and several others.

This year the scales may be tipping - more towards planting natives and less removing invasives, because there are a lot less of them out there! Yeah!

I started winter-sowing seeds for the first time this winter, and plunged into researching, ordering, trading, and sowing seeds - mostly natives. So far I've sown 46 native species, and 10 cultivars of native species, as well as some non-invasive non-natives. A couple natives have sprouted already - Solidago speciosa and Gaillardia aristata! Still have native grasses as well as warm-season annuals and veggies left to sow.

I also ordered 50 more native shrub/tree seedlings from the New Hampshire Nursery, to add to the approx 75 small native shrubs and trees already in holding beds, most of which were from the NH Nursery last year.

Hopefully over time, I'll figure out where all this stuff is going to get planted, in some sort of cohesive landscape...:)

I do not envy you guys and your battles with the invasives! The only battle I keep repeating is my attempt to eradicate a Burning bush from my yard. I cut it down 2 years ago, and the darn thing keeps trying to return. I know I should kill off the stump, but I do not want to disturb the native plants that are established in that area. It also has babies that attempt to grow in different areas-it drives me nuts!

I learned about wintersowing last year and sowed 118 native plants (and some woodies, too) to plant out this spring. I eventually hope to have mostly natives in my yard (there are some non natives I enjoy). I also intend on eliminating my rose garden and replacing it with all natives this year-roses require way to much attention (the kind you spray). I will also try to eliminate as much turf grass as possible. That will definately get my neighbors talking!

Rhonda

I just purchased a home with zero landscaping. Actually, I asked for them not to do the usual bermuda lawn, exotic annual and boxwood shrubs. Instead, I have a whole acre of blank pallet, just red Oklahoma dirt waiting for me to play with. We move in at the end of May. I can't wait to get started!

My plans are very indefinite. I am a big advocate of native and edible landscaping, but love my ornamentals, too! I am trying to figure out a master plan to incorporate natives and ornamentals to complement each other but still keep things fairly simple and low-maintenance.

rbrady, the burning bush can be persistent but it will give up eventually. I have finished off some burning bush shrubs with cutting and girdling alone. You can make a fresh cut on the stump and paint on some herbicide to hasten it along. The burning bush babies probably germinated when all that new sunlight came in after cutting down the original and also because they just do. It appears from my casual observations that when you cut the main stem of burning bush it can also send up shoots laterally from the roots or the main stem. Keep plucking out the new ones and eventually it will be o.k.

Amelanchier and Terrene, I would like to hear how your new plantings succeeded, in particular the goldenrods, odora and speciosa, which I am thinking of growing this spring, either from a small plant or from seeds.

Thanks, Nancy