A Challenge for You

Sarah Vining, one of our local earth stewards, has challenged us to take a nature walk finding the most interesting plant you can find, and submitting a picture of it with the name (if that can be found).

So here's Merikay's.  Already the rules are being broken as it is not a plant but a fungi: Laetiporus sulphureus. (If there's a mycologist who'd like to correct the ID, please do.). The bright orange color seems right for October. Saw this on a walk along the Seneca Greenway Trail.

If you have a photo to post, please send it to earthstewardshipeast@gmail.com.

Earth East - Our Beautiful Corner of Creation

Sunset flying over Chesapeake Bay tributaries - photo by Daniel Romney

Stewardship and Creation: Not a partisan football

" It is perhaps one of the more shameful aspects of our current age that things as patently universal as the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat have become partisan footballs tossed about in an effort to gain our political loyalty. Environmental stewardship is not an issue that has to be a battle between liberals and conservatives; it entails the best impulses of liberal generosity and conservative restraint. The profound contributions of various Christian ecotheologians over the past decades have provided an example of how to tap into the rich doctrines of the Bible to articulate an ethic with regard to the environment and without regard to partisan infighting."

George B. Handley, Terry B. Ball, and Steven L. Peck, eds., introduction to Stewardship and the Creation: LDS Perspectives on the Environment (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center), 2006.

Please Sign this Thank You Letter

LDS Earth Stewardship is collecting signatures on a Thank You letter to the First Presidency and Presiding Bishopric of the LDS Church for recent positive environmental efforts taken by the church.  Please go to http://ldsearthstewardship.org/2016/03/2888/ to read this letter and learn more.  Feel free to share this with LDS friends. 

Honeybees

Can you spot the queen bee?  Photo from montgomerycountybeekeepers.com

There is real concern over the long-term health of honeybees throughout the world.  Although honeybees are not native to North America, they are important as pollinators for many of our food crops (some estimates put our food crop dependency on honeybees to as high as 75 - 80%).  Over time I will post more information on the best current science relative to honeybees, Colony Collapse Disorder, and other challenges facing our bees.  But for today, I'd simply like to thank the dedicated volunteers of the Montgomery County Beekeepers.  Besides keeping bees they teach an annual course on beekeeping and sponsor events to give hands-on experience to newbees.  Jeff and I have been beekeeping for four years and still consider ourselves novices.  Today we met with other beekeepers to learn various ways to treat for Varroa mites. To learn more about beekeeping, contact your local bee keepers association.  

Honeybees are such fascinating creatures that caring for a hive can bring a greater sense of care for other creatures and our environment in general.  You are suddenly acutely aware that herbicides and pesticides you or your neighbors might use have a direct impact on the insects sharing your world.  You begin to observe other pollinators, distinguishing your honeybees from the native bees which also visit your garden.  You begin to perceive a whole new, vastly more diverse world of insects.  For example, the 7 species of honeybees (genus Apis mellifera) are only a small fraction of the more than 20,000 species of bees!

 While at the MC Beekeepers events someone asked me about Utah's symbolic association with the beehive.  I responded that though there are beekeepers in Utah, the symbol was chosen more as a representation of an ideal of community which the LDS Saints hoped to create -- where everyone worked together in community for the good of all.  Virtues such as industry, self-sacrifice, and cooperation are attributed to honeybees and pioneer Mormons alike.  Honeybees were first brought to the Utah Territory in 1848.  By 1872 there were about 2,000 beehives in Utah.  Some facts:  

• There are three types of bees in the hive – Queen, Worker and Drone.
• The queen may lay 600-800 or even 1,500 eggs each day during her 3 or 4 year lifetime. This daily egg production may equal her own weight. She is constantly fed and groomed by attendant worker bees.
• Honey bees fly at 15 miles per hour.
• Honey bees' wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.
• Honeybees are the only insect that produce food for humans.
• Honeybees will usually travel approximately 3 miles from their hive.
• Honeybees are the only bees that die after they sting.
• Honeybees have five eyes, 3 small ones on top of the head (ocelli which have a single lens like the human eye but can view UV light) and two big compound ones in front.  They also have hair on their eyes!  (See photo below)
• Bees communicate with each other by dancing and by using pheromones (scents).
• Honeybees never sleep!

 (utahcountybeekeepers.org)  

Bee's compound eye of many single eye units each of which sends it's view to the bee brain which combines the images.  Each hair aids in determining the flight speed and direction of the bee.  Photo:  keeping-honey-bees.com

 More facts:  Any worker bee larvae can become a queen if feed Royal Jelly.  (What I'd like to know -- how the nurse bees know the secret recipe to make this jelly!)  Workers create a new queen if they sense their queen is sick or missing.  They will often create several new queens with the strongest (often the first to emerge) decapitating her rivals as they emerge.  Males (drones) do no work except to mate a virgin queen.  Their sex organ is barbed and is pulled from their body causing death on mating.  Each hive has 25,000 - 60,000 bees, a small fraction of which are drones.  The drones are expelled from the hive in winter or when food is scarce.  The temperature near the queen is kept a steady 93 degrees no mater how hot or cold the exterior temperature.  If bees are sick or dying they will try to leave the hive -- thus prote cting the colony.  Bees are also clean -- among other things during the long cold periods in winter they will refrain from "going to the bathroom" until a warm day when they can finally leave the hive.  (Sometimes beekeepers will see yellow snow outside the hive on a warmish winter day.)  Imagine having that level of bladder control!

Best of all, for me anyway, they can create that marvelous elixir, honey.

Celebrating the 4th of July with freshly extracted honey.

Photos above at Brookside Gardens bee yard kept by volunteers with Montgomery County Beekeepers.

Mountain Mints, #1 for pollinators in Penn State Study

Short-toothed Mountain Mint, Pycnanthemum muticum

If you want continuous buzzing of pollinators in your garden, this is a plant to grow.  There are multiple species of mountain mint -- all native to North America.  Two which grow well here are P. muticum and P. virginicum.  The flowers are not showy by human standards but they apparently are for pollinators.  They prefer sun but in my garden thrive in part shade.  I've referenced a Penn State study below.  Their Center for Pollinator Research has lots of great information and links of interest to us in the mid-Atlantic region.  http://ento.psu.edu/pollinators  

Penn State Extension Study, 2013

Evaluated 88 herbaceous pollinator plants

Mountain Mint  Pycnanthemum muticum

#1 longevity - 10 weeks peak bloom

#1 pollinator diversity

#1 insect visitors – 78 in 2 min.

#1 bee and syrphid visits – 19 in 2 min.

Spotted Bee Balm (Monarda punctata)

Less commonly found in cultivated gardens than common bee balm, this native plant grows from eastern Canada to northeast Mexico.  If you can find it in a nursery or get a start from a friend, this is a worthy garden addition.  Its colors are more subdued than that of Monarda didyma but its interesting flower structure and pollinator pull make it worth growing.  Common names include spotted beebalm and horsemint. It is a thyme-scented plant with purple-spotted tubular yellow flowers. According to Wikipedia, the plant contains thymol, an antiseptic and fungicide. It was historically used to treat upset stomachs, colds, diarrhea, neuralgia and kidney disease.

Bee Balm - Funky native plant (Monarda didyma)

Monarda didyma in my garden.  Blooms profusely in summer. - always covered with native bees and other pollinators.

Before we leave National Pollinator Week, I'll try to post a few more pollinator friendly native plants.  One of my favorites is Monarda, commonly known as bee balm -- currently in full bloom.  The native bumblebees love this plant -- I also see the sphinx moth, hummingbirds, butterflies and others visitors.  Bee balm thrives and spreads in full sun, not surprising as it's in the mint family.  I love its funky flowers.  It is drought resistant and very easy to grow though can get mildew if it has poor air flow.  Hybrids occur naturally in a variety of colors and heights.  Monarda didyma (in photos from my garden) has red flowers but other species have pink and purple.   

Kayaking Cleanup

Some of the Earth Stewardship East crew and their haul from June 25 trash cleanup of the Potomac.

Thanks to Matt and Kolette Markoff for providing the watercraft for our June event at Riley's Lock.  What a beautiful natural resource, Seneca Creek and the Potomac River.  It was interesting to observe the contrast between the Maryland shoreline which is lined by native trees and lush undergrowth where there is an active volunteer base to keep the area clean.  The shoreline on the Virginia side has had its trees and undergrowth cleared away for the Trump golf course and we found a fair amount of trash along that water's edge.  We surprised some golfers who called down to ask if we'd brought Matt's war canoe (which sits 30) on our minivan!  The cool water, clear skies and low humidity made for a very pleasant morning.  Most of us got in the water to reach the trash but that was probably just an excuse to cool off.  Those who wanted to stayed for a picnic in the shady Calleva pavilion.  A few of us also walked over to the Seneca Mill ruins.  Special thanks also to Matt for loading the trash into his truck and hauling it out.   

A number of people who wanted to come but couldn't have contacted us.  We will try to schedule another event like this in the future.  In the meantime, you might follow the example of earth stewards Agnes and Terrel Hale who, having missed our event, chose to talk a walk on another section of the C&O canal and being good stewards, picked up trash along their walk.  If you can do your own individual or family trash pickup in a local natural area -- that's terrific.  Wouldn't mind hearing about it.

Photos above from Merikay Smith -- who admits she spent more time taking pictures than taking trash.

Photos above by Natalie Joanna Reineke and posted here with her permission.  Click to see more.

Woo-hoo, It's National Pollinator Week

It's wonderful the diversity of insects around us -- and the remarkable, intricate life cycles and impact of pollinators on our world.  Here's just a few photos of examples from my garden.

Pollinators and Natural Enemies

Did you know that over 1,000 different types (species) of insects reside on the average size home lot? Many of them are beneficial to us in that they pollinate our plants and prey on plant pests.  Most other insects are not directly beneficial to us, but serve as an important food source for other species.   For great photos, more information and links visit the University of Maryland page on pollinators.  

 http://extension.umd.edu/hgic/insects/pollinators-and-natural-enemies

Celebrate this week by spending 15 minutes outside on a walk to see pollinators.  Try to count how many different species you see in that time.  Maybe you'll even take a photo to share with us.  Email it to earthstewardshipeast@gmail.com.  Check out the photos and info on Monarch butterflies on our earlier post on native milkweeds.

Thanks to Terri Pitts for bringing this to our attention and sharing this dragonfly photo:

Heaven's Gift

After leaving Riley's Lock tonight this was the sky over the Seneca Greenway Trail.  Click on the photo to see a sequence of sky views.

Riley's Lock: Site of June 25 Kayaking / Trash Cleanup

Visited Riley's Lock after today's storm -- Seneca is running high but should be fine by Saturday's event.  Hope you'll join us.  10 AM with optional BYOP afterwards (bring your own picnic).  Kayaks will be provided thanks to Matt Markoff and Calleva.  Bring work gloves if you have them -- we'll also have some available.  

Grow It Eat It, Give It Away

Friend Beverly Moulton with her morning's pick of produce from the garden.

Super fresh, organic food that's home grown requiring almost no fossil fuels to grow or deliver to the table.  It takes time to learn how to create and care for a food garden and resources to make it a success.  In our case it's only since we got a good deer fence that we've really succeeded in our garden.  But it is so worth it.  One unexpected benefit of a garden -- even with picking and eating food from the garden every day there's still a huge surplus.  It's only June 20 but I've already had 24 friends come pick their fill from the garden.  And that's before the tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and other summer harvest starts. 

For new gardeners:  there's lots to learn but also many resources, including local Master Gardener demo gardens, classes, blogs, and fact sheets online.  (In Maryland we've got the Grow It, Eat It program.  For information on that and all other state Master Gardener programs see http://extension.umd.edu/mg.)  Find a neighbor or friend who gardens and offer to help in the garden in exchange for learning and sharing in the harvest.

Grow It Eat It - Master Gardener Demo Gardens

Herb garden at the Derwood Demo Garden

For inspiration and information on creating your own food garden visit the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden located at the Agricultural Farm History Park, Derwood, MD.  The garden is open to the public from dawn until dusk, 365 days a year for self-guided tours.  Created and cared for entirely by volunteers, this garden is a great place to get ideas.  The gardeners here try new techniques and plants year to year and are a wealth of knowledge.  This  year, for example, you can see an African keyhole garden -- perfect for urban limited space or building a garden over cement or other impervious surface.   

African keyhole garden made of compost bins linked by zip ties with a central area for composting to "feed" the garden.

Strawbale garden with pallets used for greater structural integrity.

The demo garden shows multiple techniques for gardening  in creative ways in sunny urban spaces where access to garden soil might be limited.  With strawbale gardening you can build the garden in any sunny spot, including the edge of a parking lot.  Talking with volunteers who have experience in these techniques can save you a year or two of trial/error.  Visit the garden on Tuesday mornings and you'll find volunteers there at work and willing to answer questions.

Even with no more than recycled containers you can create a patio or balcony garden.  Be sure the recycled containers are safe to use as food growing containers.

I was interested to see how they've given up tomato cages for bamboo poles and string with tomato plants in rows.  I can see that walking along and picking might be easier -- and the supplies to build the structure are a way to recycle the invasive bamboo found in most of our communities.  

 A printable map of the garden is available at http://mcmgdemogarden.com/

To schedule guided tours by a Master Gardener, call 301-590-9650 Monday – Friday, 9 am to 1 pm, March though October. This approximately quarter acre site contains 11 small gardens, each with a different theme.

General information about all of the state Master Gardener programs is available at:

http://extension.umd.edu/mg

Blue Dasher Dragonflies - male and female

I saw several of the blue dasher dragonflies today -- likely male as the female has different coloration.

The blue dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) is a common dragonfly of the skimmer family and widely distributed in the United States and Canada.   Mature males have a blue-white abdomen and thorax.  Although the species name longipennis means "long wings", the wings are not substantially longer than those of related species. Females do, however, have a short abdomen that makes the wings appear longer in comparison.  Juvenile males will show female coloration before they turn blue. Females are paired with yellow stripes on the dorsal side of the first 8 abdominal segments. Females are also reported to turn blue, but at a slower rate then the males.

As the blue dasher ages, the wings will wear and tear. Females will lay eggs in the aquatic vegetation. Their life span is usually a year.  These dragonflies primarily eat tiny flying insects and are important for mosquito control.

After a males and a female mate, the female flies singly, without the male attached, to lay her eggs by dipping the tip of her abdomen in the water while hovering above its surface.  The naiads live in submerged vegetation. They do not actively pursue prey but wait for it to pass by, a strategy which affords them protection from other predators. They will eat just about anything, but their favorite meals are mosquito larvae. (facts from Wikipedia)

Female laying her eggs on water on a lily pad.  Note the extra long wings (the species Latin name means long winged because of this attribute of the female).  When I saw her there were still fly-bys by several adult male blue dashers and what looked like a juvenile -- much smaller blue dasher. One benefit of paying more attention to the natural world around me.  I'm not sure I would have noticed this female otherwise. -- Merikay

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Spiderwort, native flower attracts pollinators in the morning then dissolves

Photo taken about 2 PM after flowers have dissolved for the day.

Tradescantia virginiana is native to our area.  Its flowers are blue, purple, or white.  Most of the spiderworts sold in nurseries are Tradescantia virginiana or hybrids.  There are 75 species of Tradescantia found from Canada to northern Argentina.

Tradescantia virginiana is a perennial. It likes most moist soils but can adapt to drier garden soils. It's described as growing in sun to shade -- in my experience they prefer some shade.  Morning sun is ideal as the flowers bloom in the morning then dissolve; each flower lasts just one morning.  In our area they bloom from spring through early summer.  More rain means more blooms -- it's been a good year for this plant.  Plants may be propagated from seed but they are more easily started from cuttings or divisions.  In my garden they are deer resistant.  

Spiderworts are so named because the angular leaf arrangement suggests a squatting spider. The genus is named after John Tradescant (1608-1662) who served as gardener to Charles 1 of England.  (info from Wikipedia and www.wildflowercenter.org.)

A Prayer for the Earth: Green Muslims and Dayspring

I represented Earth Stewardship East at an interfaith prayer service held June 12 at Dayspring, an ecumenical retreat center, and co-sponsored by Green Muslims.  We met at the old farmhouse and walked through a meadow in contemplative silence to a hill overlooking the lake as the sun began to set.  There was a wonderful breeze, sounds of meadowlarks and other birds as we stood together in a circle and listened to Emmalee Aman read from Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts in praise of Creation.  She asked us to focus on one aspect of Creation that has touched our soul and those who wanted shared.  Then we listened as Emmalee read a poetic prayer for the earth and we joined our voices to hers in a repeated refrain.  A joyfully sacred experience.  We returned at our leisure through the meadow in silence. 

Overnight at the C&O

I slept Saturday night at the C&O canal Pennyfield lockhouse.  Remember how hot that day was at 90 degrees.  Imagine my surprise to find that the thick stone walls of this 150+ year old home kept it perfectly cool inside.  We enjoyed the sound of rushing water, cooked outside in a firepit, and saw several great blue heron.  We walked by moonlight along the canal at night accompanied by a chorus of frogs, including the occasional bass call of bull frogs.  The sky was clear enough we could see the Big Dipper and other stars, a passing satellite, and a distinct shooting star.  The one negative, outhouses, was balanced by the chance to walk outside and watch the stars and twinkling fireflies.

What a great outing for a family -- experience something of life from the past.  Bring along bikes or kayaks and explore the water and trails of the C&O Canal.   For information on renting a lockhouse for a night call 301-745-8888 or visit www.CanalQuarters.org.

Invasive Plants: Mile-a-minute and Japanese Stiltgrass

INVASIVE PLANTS

Invasive species, habitat destruction and global climate change are leading causes of environmental degradation and loss of biological diversity worldwide.   The primary reason to know and control invasive species is their direct threat to native species.  Where invasive species take over native plants no longer thrive and the insects and animals which rely on these native plants are likewise lost.  On our blog we'll be highlighting particular invasive plants that are common in our area.  Pull them when you see them and share this information with your neighbors and friends.    Below are excellent resources for learning how to identify and remove invasive plants.

www.invasive.org
Photos and information on invasive plants, insects, animals, and diseases.

www.maipc.org
Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Council

www.extension.umd.edu/hgic/problems/invasive-plant-list     A compilation of multiple lists for Maryland and neighboring states highlighting currently problematic invasive species

Mile-a-Minute

I've just come in from pulling this plant on a neighboring property (my good deed of the day).  The name tells you why this is an invasive plant.  It may not grow a mile-a-minute but it seems to as on really good day it can grow 12+ inches, 30 feet in a month or so.  The good news.  It is an annual and has shallow roots, so if you get out there in early June and pull it as it gets started, it is relatively easy to control.  And it hasn't been growing in our area for long.  The bad news.  If you let it grow it will climb over everything else and take over.  It also sets seeds (~500 per plant) which are dispersed by wildlife, wind, rain, and lawnmowers.  Take a seemingly innocuous 5 plants growing 12 inches a day and multiply by 500 (if left alone) and a potential 2,500 new plants enter our ecosystem.  

Persicaria perfoliata is a synonym for Polygonum perfoliatum, with common names like mile-a-minute weed, devil's tail, giant climbing tearthumb,and Asiatic tearthumb. It is a trailing annual vine with barbed stems and triangular leaves. It is native to most of temperate and tropical eastern Asia, from eastern Russia in the north down to India in the south.

Water is an important mode of dispersal. Its fruits can remain buoyant for 7–9 days, an important advantage for dispersing seed long distances in stream and river environments. The long vines frequently hang over waterways, allowing fruits that detach to be carried away in the water current. During storm events the potential spread of this plant is greatly increased throughout watersheds.(info and photos from Wikipedia)

Introduced in the U.S. by a nursery in Pennsylvania about 55 years ago, it has since spread to cover ~300 mile radius and growing.  If we all pull together we can rid our area of this noxious, alien weed.  Please share this information with your neighbors.

Japanese Stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum

This invasive shows up almost everywhere in our area -- even on remote nature trails.  I've seen many yards where it has essentially replaced the turf grass.  The good news is that it is very easy to pull if you catch it when it first invades.

Japanese stiltgrass was introduced into the United States in Tennessee in 1919. It is currently established in 16 eastern states, from New York to Florida.  It can be found in full sun to deep shaded forest conditions.  Stiltgrass invades disturbed shaded areas, like floodplains that are prone to natural scouring, and areas subject to mowing, tilling and other soil-disturbing activities including white-tailed deer traffic. It spreads to form dense patches, displacing native wetland and forest vegetation as the patch expands. It is an annual grass resembling a small, delicate bamboo; mature plants grow to 2-3 ft. in height.  Spreads: by seed and by rooting at joints along the stem—a new plant can emerge from each node; a single plant can produce 100-1,000 seeds that remain viable in the soil for at least three years, ensuring its persistence; seed germinates readily following soil disturbance.  Because it is similar in appearance to several native grasses, it is important to know how to recognize and differentiate stiltgrass from look-alikes. Attention to new infestations should be a priority. Because it is shallow-rooted, stiltgrass may be pulled by hand at any time.  For extensive infestations, herbicides are the most practical and effective method currently.  (from www.maipc.org)

Baptisia and Bumblebee Pollinators

Baptisia is a genus in the legume family, Fabaceae. They are flowering herbaceous perennial plants with pea-like flowers, followed by pods, which are sometimes inflated. They are native to woodland and grassland in eastern and southern North America. 

There are two plants of the genus Baptisia common to North America, blue false indigo (B. australis) and wild white indigo (B. alba). These  5-petaled flowers feature a broad upper petal (known as a banner), two lower petals spread out to the side (wings) and two more petals fused together and curled around the flower’s reproductive parts (the keel). Most thrive in full sun and will form a large clump over time.  Choose your location well as they have a deep tap root and are not easily transplanted once established.  Besides the lovely blooms which attract pollinators, I like that they are deer resistant and have attractive foliage throughout the summer, even in drought.  Photo below shows two clumps initially planted as only a few spikes each but growing to cover about 4 feet across each over ~7 years.  Plant where they'll have space to spread.

 The common name for Baptisia australis, false indigo, refers to the fact that flowers were used to create a blue dye.  In my garden the blue Baptisia bloom first, in May, followed by the yellow in June.  They will tolerate some shade but bloom best in sun.

Due to their size and strength bumble bees are well adapted to access the nectar and pollen within these uniquely shaped flowers. Bumble bees grip the keel with their mid and hind legs, using the leverage produced to propel them forward into the heart of the flower where they can access nectar. This has the benefit (from the flowers’ perspective) of lowering the keel and exposing the bumble bees’ fuzzy abdomen to the pollen-covered anthers.

According to Justin Wheller of the Xerces Society, Baptisia plants produce their blooms on long stalks (known as racemes). Blooms mature from the bottom up. As the blooms mature, older flowers are more pistillate (female), producing more nectar than pollen. Bumble bees will approach the stalk and land on the lower flowers first — seeking higher nectar rewards. They will then work their way up, ending with the more pollen-rich staminate (male) flowers at the top. As they move to the next stalk, pollen attached from the staminate flowers of the previous stalk is then transferred to the pistillate flowers of the current stalk.

A bumble bee works its way up the blooms of Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis). Photo: Justin Wheeler, the Xerces Society