(Veggietales, anyone?)
It is definitely Fall here in New England, and each day is getting more and more beautiful with the changing foliage. The seeds are changing as well – we have entered into a season of finally being able to collect from the Asteraceae family – Goldenrods (Solidago spp.), Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), and soon the pretty flowers of the Asters will also be dispersing their fluffy seeds to the wind.
Scarborough Marsh in Maine a few weeks ago, sporting some beautiful Fall colors.
New York Aster (Symphiotrichum nova-belgii) in a salt marsh in Southern MA.
Last Friday, we went on an adventure to collect seeds on one of the Boston Harbor Islands, Thompson Island. The Island runs STEM education programs for children and has camp programs as well. Just a twenty minute ferry ride out of a port in South Boston and we arrived. We met with someone from the National Parks Service who showed us around the island. They are working on restoration projects around the island, and will be using plants from our seed collections to replace invasive plants with native ones.
Approaching Thompson Island! A very windy morning, but sitting on the top deck was so worth it for the view.
We began our day in one of the salt marshes, and migrated throughout some smaller microhabitats throughout the island. We found a small patch of Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) on the side of a hill, some blue vervain (Verbena hastata) and grass-leaved goldenrod (Euthamia graminifolia) sprinkled throughout a small meadow, and collected seed clusters from the staghorn sumac (Rhus hirta) along the paths (the trees we could reach anyway…). We also stopped to eat lunch on the beach facing Boston, and had a full view of the skyline.
There is something very serene about watching a bustling city from the shores of a quiet beach with your fellow hippies…
We then proceeded across the entire 170-acre island, looking for seeds along the way. Just as we were thinking we might have scoured the whole island, we decided to walk along the beach on the side facing the open ocean. Lo and behold, we found dozens of salt-marsh patches along the shore, filled with sea lavender (Limonium carolinianum), and finally in seed! We had been checking on this plant in so many of our sites, so it was very exciting to finally find somewhere it had ripe seed. This was our eighth collection for the day, almost breaking our nine-collection-in-a-day record. We had so many seeds that we had to put them all in a full-size trash bag to carry around the island. Quite a successful and beautiful day!
What the sea lavender looks like before it’s in seed – such a beautiful little plant! (Photo from gobotany.newenglandwild.org)
Cape Cod National Sea Shore a few weeks ago. Slightly unrelated, but the scenery was too dramatic not to post.
Krista Heilmann
Seeds of Success East
New England Wild Flower Society
Framingham, MA