I think you'll also find that once the weather warms up there will be so many different sorts of native plants already there that it could take a couple of years to get to know them all. I've included a link that will give you an idea of what you may find. There are probably a lot of amazing things already growing there. Don't be surprised to find bloodroot and trilliums in the Spring. There will probably be some flowering trees. As you go into late May the plant growth will change so fast that every day the woods and fields will look really different than the day before and you'll probably feel like your eyes can't take in all of the new things to see fast enough. Flowering may taper down during the height of summer, but if things are slow you can always watch the hummingbirds as they discover your garden. You may have wild black raspberries and blackberries - possibly in tangles bigger than you can imagine. We used to have a five acre patch (on a 15 acre property) until we got goats. They were good while they lasted! :) Around September the purple and gold flowers explode and you may see many kinds of goldenrod growing next to expanses of Joe Pye weed and iron weed. As fall comes in you might find hazelnuts ripening and maybe a patch of pawpaws or a persimmon tree. Even though we were looking for pawpaw trees from the day we moved in, we didn't find our grove of them until our third year when I found a pawpaw on the ground. Even looking for them, I walked by our pawpaw patch every day for three years until I finally recognized it. There were just so many different kinds of plants to discover that some took quite a while to identify. I would think that as your landlord gets to know you and sees how you take care of the garden area he's already allowed, you'll have opportunities to expand it. You'll also learn which of the plants on his 60 acres are ones that he's most concerned about being messed with. Odds are that somewhere out there is a nice morel mushroom patch that's he'd really hate to have dug out and replaced with something else. Or a special elderberry bush or a great smelling honeysuckle spot. And there will probably also be spots he'd love to have cleaned up. We often refer to our daily hikes on the land as "going out to see the show" because there is just so much new to see each day. Too bad you're going to Greece and will have to miss a month of the show! Lynda Here is a link that might be useful: indiana wildflowers

Yes, it is a cranefly, and yes, many people would love to have it. Don't know where you are, but the NC Native Plant Society may have someone in your area who will come and get them. Email tom@ncwildflower.org and tell him where you are to see if anyone lives near you and would want them. I have many in my woods, and they do form colonies after a while. Similar is puttyroot (Aplectrum hyemale) with pleated leaf, no maroon, but the same "leaf in the winter, bloom stalk in the summer" growth habit, and IS considered somewhat rare ... also used by some wildcrafters as medicinal and edible plants. Guess this just goes to show you that a weed is just a plant with an unhappy owner.

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

I have a 1/4 mile road frontage and a septic field that I spray. We do have a lot of deer, but I don't have stilt grass on my deer trails. I think my stilt grass came from auto traffic...construction vehicles down my road. Since the construction is finished, I hope that over time, there will be very little stilt grass remaining. I am very careful when spraying the Roundup and spray on a calm day. I use a one-gallon sprayer and mix the concentrated Roundup with water. I only spray the leaves of the stilt grass. It grows in around the milkweed and other grasses. as long as you don't spray the "good" plants they are not affected. the area in the photo was covered with stilt grass 4 years ago. now you can see the brown dying stilt grass I sprayed a week ago and all the milkweed and native grasses that have filled in where the stilt grass was killed in prior years. my neighbor "went to town" with Round Up on one thistle plant on his side of the road and everything in a 3 ft diameter was killed. that's just awful. in my situation, I am probably doomed to fight it forever, since it is very prevalent in my entire development. the HOA used to spray extensively throughout, but stopped last year. My earlier post regarding the string trimmer use was on the common area trails that the HOA is no longer spraying. I like to hike the trails with my dogs, but the stilt grass is 2 feet high on them. I'm not ready to give up on them like the HOA is, but don't want to spray such a large area. So I hope the string trimmer will "do the trick". I would love to hear of anyone's experiences with string trimmers on trails. the doc I link to recommends cutting it right down to the dirt. I'm afraid it will be a huge task and the long grass will get bogged down on the trimmer line. I just hate to see an invasive taking over our entire development out here in Wild Wonderful West Virginia. This post was edited by jules8 on Fri, Aug 22, 14 at 19:29