I guess I will know in a few days whether I did the rong thing or not. Early this spring I did a burn through a fencerown that over the years had morphed from hazelnut bushes, trilliums and small saplings into a solid mat of multiflora and honeysuckle. When we first moved here I recall the man that hauled our water asking me if he could dig the goldenseal growing there in the shade, and at the time I didn't know what that even was so I said sure, go ahead. But, what plants he left were eventually swallowed up by the green wall of invasives and I hadn't thought much about it until the last few springs. I got to wondering ...if goldenseal and ginseng and other shady wood natives can survive so long until they are "set free" with fire, maybe there was still a bit of goldenseal there in that fencerow. I was right. Just yesterday I discovered the first new clumps, and I was thrilled to see this, but unfortunately it won't be long-lived. There was already a fresh carpet of young honeysuckle and maypop vines sprouted all around the young natives.

So I decided...dig a clump and set it in your deep shade bed near the house, maybe you can keep a bit free of the onslaught that way. I dug deeply and didn't sever any roots, but I know full well that this might be the wrong time of year to be doing this.

Anybody set me straight?? I did take a relatively small cluster and didn't get greedy in case I did screw things up in my haste.