Sad to say that after six months, I have now finished up my CLM internship with the New England Wild Flower Society. I must say, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything, but I’m quite happy to be off the Boston roads! I’ve learned so much since starting this internship, most importantly I have gained so many skills in botany. I came to this internship being able to identify most common trees, and I left with the skills to use a dichotomous key to key out most plants, and the sight ability to identify many of the common native plants of the northeast. In addition to the skills, I’ve learned that I LOVE knowing what plants are around me. In addition to my new found love of botany, I have developed skills in group work, field knowledge, and interacting with landowners.

The fall brought a wonderful change to Boston (as it always does in New England), and I felt like I got an extended Fall, as we got the colors all the way from Maine to Connecticut and then I travelled to North Carolina and caught the colors there! The fall brought relief from the terrible hot weather we had this summer, bringing with it some rain too. We reached our goal of 200 collections and then some, ending with 305 collections for the year.

As I reflect on my time in Boston, I think about some of my favorite things. My favorite seed to collect was Ilex verticillata once the leaves fell, as the berries could simply be raked from the branches. My favorite day in the field was one day at Pachaug State Forest in Voluntown, CT. It was early November and just two of us were in the field that day, and the forest was simply beautiful! My favorite field site was private property on Cape Cod, MA that used to be cranberry bogs. My favorite activity we did as a group was one day when we had some extra time we adventured to Cape Cod National Seashore. I am so fortune to have explored coastal New England from Scarborough Maine to Hammonassett Beach, Madison, CT throughout this internship.

Looking towards the future, I will be attending the University of Connecticut as a graduate assistant in the Natural Resources Department. I look forward to learning more about management and building my skills towards a career in land management.

Below are some pictures from throughout my time in New England. 

My wonderful side-kick, Daisy, welcomed me home!

Thanks to NEWFS and CBG for everything.

–Julia Rogers, NEWFS, SOS-East

Last Friday we spent the day at Ponkapoag Bog, a lovely spot just 20 minutes from Boston. Friday was one of the first days where it finally felt like Fall. The wind was blowing just right, and the colors were beginning to change–all four of us were happy campers! The day just got better as Ponkapoag is a magical spot. This bog is located just off of Interstate 93, in fact we could hear the interstate all day, but it is home to many endangered species (17 according to Backpacker Magazine…).

Scheuchzeria palustris, Pod-grass. An endangered species in Massachusetts.

The bog itself is one of the only kind in Massachusetts–hence all the rare and endangered species. Virtually untouched, it is a peaceful oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of Boston-life. The bog transported me back to Maine, where such lovely hideaway spots are common. Not only was the setting lovely, but we spent the day collecting Eriophorum virginicum, or cottongrass. A gorgeous plant that looks like pillows atop stalks.

Eriorphorum virginicum, Cottongrass

Until next time,

Julia Rogers, SOS Intern, New England Wild Flower Society

Four years ago, when I went to Maine for college, I learned that blueberries could be divided into 2 different categories: high bush and low bush blueberries. Until that point, I never thought of it as such–they were just blueberries, a delicious treat! Yesterday, my understanding of blueberries was augmented further when I learned to identify six different species of blueberries–3 high bush blueberries, and 3 low blush blueberries. And, to complicate the matter more, the species of blueberries can hybridize!

Yesterday, we got to spend our day hiking a mountain, as opposed to our normal routine spent more along the coast or in fields. North Pack Monadnock is located at the end of the Wapack Trail in Greenfield, New Hampshire. In addition to getting to hike a mountain, we got to collect blueberries along the way. In other words, best day ever (and to add to it, the high temperature was only supposed to be 80 degrees!!)

View from the summit of North Pack Monadnock

To begin our day, we needed to ensure that we understood the difference between the species of blueberries. From a previous plant survey on the mountain, we knew that Common Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), Velvetleaf Blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides), Early Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium pallidum), and Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) are all found on the mountain. Vaccinium corymbosum is the only high bush blueberry on the list, making plants taller than about 3 feet pretty easy to identify.

Vaccinium corymbosum

However, this is not the case with low bush blueberries (the other 3 species mentioned). Vaccinium myrtilloides is the easiest to identify, as it is covered in fine hairs on both the twigs and the leaves, and feels very soft or velvety to the touch.

Vaccinium myrtilloides

Unfortunately, the ease of identification stops there. Vaccinium angustifolium and Vaccinium pallidum are very similar, and the best identifying feature according to the Flora Nova-Angliea is the width and length of the leaves. V. angustifolium has smaller, skinnier leaves for the most part. To our knowledge, we only found V. angustifolium. 

Vaccinium angustifolium

Fortunately for us, we had a species list to use to springboard our identification because in New England there are 3 species of high-bush blueberries, and 6 species of low-bush blueberries. The other species of blueberries don’t grow in the habitat where we spent our day, so thankfully really understanding those species can be saved for another day.

All in all, yesterday was a magical day spent in the woods, picking blueberries, meeting friendly dogs, and staying out of the sun!

Happy campers in the woods!

I can’t believe we are already halfway done with our internship! We have gotten to explore so many great places, and I have learned to identify so many plants. I look forward to collecting more seeds, hopefully seeing some rain, and getting to further my knowledge of plants as the internship continues!

–Julia Rogers, SOS Intern, New England Wild Flower Society

As an intern in the Boston area for Seeds of Success East, I help to collect seeds from Connecticut to Maine, mostly along the coast in an effort to help restoration projects following Hurricane Sandy. We started the job only 3 weeks ago, and since then we have practiced our plant identification skills, visited collection sites, and learned about the restoration projects who will use many of our seeds. This last part has been my favorite part–learning about the management strategies and seeing how our work will ultimately help the community.

Last week, we met with Kevin Lucey and Lenny Lord at Odiorne State Park in New Hampshire to learn about their restoration project. Odiorne State Park is a gorgeous park that was full of people even in the middle of the week.

One of the many gorgeous parts of the New Hampshire coast at Odiorne State Park

As gorgeous as this park is, it is unfortunately overrun by invasive plant species. Norway Maple (Acer platanoides), Beach Rose (Rosa rugosa), Phragmites, Pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium), and Oriental Bittersweet (Celastris orbiculatus) cover the park, out competing many of the native species. Fortunately, the park is working on eliminating the invasive species–a massive undertaking. In order to accomplish this goal, they are scarifying the soil, applying herbicide, and planting native plants. This project is incredible. This attempt to remove all of the invasive is on a very large scale–larger than I’ve ever seen, and it was so interesting to learn about the decisions behind the management of the park.

Another project that we are working with is at Sachuest National Wildlife Refuge in Rhode Island.

This refuge has seen a lot of damage to the coastline due to changes in sediment transport from development along the coast, storms, and other human influences. These changes lead to the erosion of salt marshes and degradation of important habitats for birds such as the Saltmarsh Sparrow. In order to combat the erosion of the salt marshes, Rhode Island is working to dredge off coast and supplement the sand on the salt marshes. Following the addition of sand to the salt marshes, they plant the area such that invasive don’t have a chance to establish. Last year, the SOS-E interns collected Spartina alterniflora and Distichlis spicata for this site. These seeds were grown out and planted this winter.

The pictures above show the over 20,000 plants that were planted from seeds collected by Seeds of Success Interns. The plants were planted in islands as there were not enough plants to cover the entire area, and the fencing is to prevent geese from damaging the plants.

Thus far, my job has been extremely rewarding, especially in regard to learning about these two projects. Being able to see the seeds collected by other SOS interns in action was so incredible. It makes me very excited to begin seed collecting such that we can help all of this restoration projects.

Plant identification along the coast at Odiorne State Park

Until next time,

Julia Rogers

Seeds of Success Intern, New England Wildflower Society