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Ian Fairweather

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since Feb 23, 2023
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Nova Scotia, Zone 5B, on the Bay of Fundy
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Recent posts by Ian Fairweather

Sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)

Lucky to have added a pair of Sweet Pepperbushes to the spring/low lane. I don't think these plants I have here are descended from the population locally, as they're only found on three small lakes in the southwestern end of the mainland, perhaps propagated from seed from another east coast grower in the states but I'll have to find out more on that one.

Great COSEWIC assessment status report from 2014 here:

https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/species-risk-public-registry/cosewic-assessments-status-reports/sweet-pepperbush-2014.html

As it's a species Critically Imperilled (N1) in Canada, Nova Scotia. Loads of great information on the plant here in this landscape, and alludes to a variety of studies done with the plant from all over, great stuff!

A few notes I find particularly interesting:

"Sweet Pepperbush is one of many nationally rare, disjunct species of the Atlantic Coastal Plain in southern Nova Scotia. Outreach programs have resulted in fairly wide understanding and appreciation of this rare flora. Sweet Pepperbush is particularly appreciated by some landowners because of its showy flowers and strong, pleasant fragrance, characteristics that have made it a widely used ornamental species with many developed cultivars. Canadian populations are isolated from others by 200+ km and are the northernmost worldwide, suggesting potential significance to the species’ range-wide genetic diversity."

"The traditional view on migration of Sweet Pepperbush and other Atlantic Coastal Plain plant species into present-day Nova Scotia (Roland and Smith 1969) is that these plants reached Nova Scotia after having colonized (or having persisted throughout the period of glaciations on) land between present-day southern Nova Scotia and Massachusetts exposed by lower sea levels. This suggests a slow migration to Nova Scotia via shorter-distance dispersal events over thousands of years. A recent evaluation (Clayden et al. 2009) suggests this scenario may be unlikely for southern species like Sweet Pepperbush because offshore land is now known to have had high boreal or arctic climate, and to have been more limited in time and space than previously believed. Thus very long-distance dispersal (on the scale of 200 to 400+ km between southern Nova Scotia and New England) may be possible for Sweet Pepperbush over geological time."

Ice age Beauty or windswept paradise?!

Interspecific Interactions
Sweet Pepperbush is well known as an attractive plant for pollinating insects, especially bees (Taschereau 1986; COSEWIC 2001; Bhattacharya et al. 2003; Clemson Extension 2010; Missouri Botanical Garden 2013). The pollination biology of Sweet Pepperbush in New England was investigated in detail by Hemingson (1986). She collected insects from Sweet Pepperbush flowers, finding 140 species in the orders Hymenoptera (bees, wasps and ants – 58 species in 13 families), Coleoptera (beetles – 32 species in 12 families), Diptera (flies – 15 species in five families), Hemiptera (true bugs, treated in the broad sense here – 21 species of 9 families) and Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths – 14 species in 6 families). Hemingson (1986) found Black-headed Soldier Beetle (Cantharis nigriceps), Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) and Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) were the most abundant flower visitors. Her observations of insect behaviour and insect pollen loads led her to conclude that bumble bees (Bombus spp. sensu lato) were the main pollinators. Jordan and Hartman (1995) reported visits to the flowers from many species of bees, flies and beetles in New Jersey and butterflies are also reported as frequent visitors (Clemson Extension 2010; Missouri Botanical Garden 2013). Bees (species not noted) are abundant visitors to Canadian subpopulations of Sweet Pepperbush (Belliveau pers. comm. 2012; Hill pers. comm. 2012). Bhattacharya et al. (2003) investigated movement of bumble bees and carpenter bees (Bombus impatiens, B. affinis, and Xylocopaspecies) between patches of Sweet Pepperbush in Massachusetts. Only three of 113 bumble bees recaptured in five to six day studies moved away from the patches of Sweet Pepperbush (between 240 m2 and 820 m2 in size, all within a 150 m x 150 m area) at which they were originally captured. The site fidelity of these highly mobile generalist pollinators suggests high nectar and/or pollen rewards within pepperbush patches."

Bumbles love to stick around!
5 months ago
Frontgarden:

Happy to see as we begin year #4 The assorted golden-rods and asters of the front forest garden seem to be well on their way to converting much of the area from grasses to stalky perennial flower

This year I opted to cold-sow a bunch of joe-pye, blue vervain, swamp milkweed, echinacea, and have recently potted everything up. Some of the remaining grassy sections I've sown a three sisters type combination of corn & sunflowers, once those are coming stronger, i'll do squash, pole-beans, and then in the early Autumn, plant in the seedlings after they've had a chance to develop through the season.

Elderflower lane is taking well, I'm peppering in a few beaked hazelnuts there as well. Hooray!

Hoping to see many more of the  candelabra like flowers of the blue vervain compliment goldenrod during the height of Summer and honey flow.

The front pear guild #2 with sick tree that was girdled by a stake and zip-tie when we arrived, is leafing and flowering a little more each season. This one is bedded between berry lane more of a classic fruit tree/berry bush harvest area, and the next lane down being spring-fed assortment of native bushes, wildflowers, and trees -- now with hobblebush, rhodora, elderflower, comfrey, rhubarb, haskap, blueberry, alternate leaf dogwood, lingonberry, bunchberry, sheep laurel, mountain holly, tall meadow-rue, highbush cranberry, coastal sweet pepperbush, wild raisin, local ferns.

5 months ago

Nancy Reading wrote:I like the idea of elderberry lane! Mine actually set berries this year for the first time - not sure if it was the better weather we had in June, aor the different varieties coming to maturity. I let the birds have them - I tend to prefer to use the flowers anyhow.

I'm interested in the wild raisin viburnums. I think they may grow well here too - we are damp and acid although not particularly cold in winter or hot in summer. Obviously you find them worthwhile to transplant. My reading indicated that the fruit is sweet but more pip than fruit. How would you assess them?



Hi Nancy,

I see them in the forest in the regenerating areas, more than the old growth established zones, they do persist in quite shady areas in a lovely way, also compete/compliment with alders, chokecherries, willow, serviceberry, and I'm sure provide much needed bird forage when the going gets tough, but I do think you'd need to be pretty determined to harvest enough for substantial nourishment, I view them more like a snack perhaps :) Open to be proven wrong by these wonderful plants!
5 months ago
Spring 2024 update from over the North Mountain:

After a warm wet ending to Winter we have had a relatively dry Spring. We’re ahead on the trees leafing out, and apple blossoms, by a good 10-14 days, compared to normal and the feeling is compounded by a late start in 2023. Savouring the smells and textures remembering at the end of the day we only get to live through a handful of spring blooms, throughout a human lifetime..

I’ve been watering a lot of the brand new transplants, adding a few bushes and trees per week since late March. More to come on these

I’ve included a few photos from the hardwood stands, after going on at least 4 inspirational treks up the ridge this season. Ferns growing at the crook of on an old yellow birch, some rose twisted stalk, dutchman’s breeches, with red trilliums in the background. not pictured loads of toothwort, spring beauties, starflower, blue bead lily. All in all, i’m rooting for a little propagation station here at home to start more overstory sugar maple, yellow birch, and beech (problems with the later due to disease)

In the forest garden here at home some new-addition standouts for me this season are the rhodora, bunchberry, and the mountain holly’s beautifully delicate pin-like flowers that are just coming to an end.


5 months ago
Hi Folks!

As many of you in the northern hemisphere are likely doing, I've been contemplating the awakening of roots, soils, fungi, and all that are below the soil, ice, and frost.

If you're into the science, and research happening right now on mycorrhizal fungi, do take a look at this recently published study, having to do specifically with floral traits responses to AMF.

When you're out there this Springtime watching the pollinators drift from bloom to bloom, you may think back to that soil and those fungi being a part of the little big picture.

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.19625?fbclid=IwAR0oazPZyZaihaOTAEd5x7FXkHgvDe1V3ehEcT55FFVpb3WZ0Hsl6_qgyhA

Excerpt 1

Most plants form root hyphal relationships with mycorrhizal fungi, especially arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). These associations are known to positively impact plant biomass and competitive ability. However, less is known about how mycorrhizas impact other ecological interactions, such as those mediated by pollinators.
We performed a meta-regression of studies that manipulated AMF and measured traits related to pollination, including floral display size, rewards, visitation, and reproduction, extracting 63 studies with 423 effects.
On average, the presence of mycorrhizas was associated with positive effects on floral traits. Specifically, we found impacts of AMF on floral display size, pollinator visitation and reproduction, and a positive but nonsignificant impact on rewards. Studies manipulating mycorrhizas with fungicide tended to report contrasting results, possibly because fungicide destroys both beneficial and pathogenic microbes.
Our study highlights the potential for relationships with mycorrhizal fungi to play an important, yet underrecognized role in plant–pollinator interactions.

Excerpt 2

Overall, we found strong support for the hypothesis that the presence of AMF can positively impact floral display size. We also found support for effects of AMF on pollinator visitation and yield. The studies we extracted from our search cover a broad range of study objectives, methods (especially treatments), and plant/AMF taxonomic groups. This breadth of systems and approaches likely explains the high among-study heterogeneity we encountered.

Several key questions about the effects of AMF on pollinator-mediated interactions remain unanswered: (1) How widespread are they? (2) To what degree does the effect of AMF depend on the specific plant and AMF species involved? (3) How important are environmental drivers such as soil fertility and drought? And, more broadly, (4) what role do interactions with AMF play in plant demography and community assembly? To address the first and second questions, more studies examining the effects of AMF on floral traits across a variety of species, systems, and settings are needed. For example, a large number of the studies we extracted applied AMF from the family Glomeraceae (common in commercially available products). This concentration of studies examining the effects of species from a single order limits our ability to estimate whether, for example, other taxonomic groups of AMF are more or less potent drivers of floral traits. Conversely, the combination of AMF and plant species may be very important to the outcome (Stahlhut et al., 2023). Thus, studies that apply a commercial AMF product could be a poor approximation for outcomes in natural systems. For point (3), more studies that specifically examine the impacts of AMF on floral traits under different environmental conditions are needed. Finally, for (4), while some evidence exists to suggest that interactions with AMF can be potent drivers of pollinator-mediated community dynamics (e.g. Cahill et al., 2008), there is not currently sufficient information available to determine whether these effects are widespread. All of these questions require more study to adequately address them.

Our meta-analysis adds to a growing body of work connecting above- and belowground ecological interactions. While the effects of AMF on plant biomass are well-recognized, our results imply that a plant's interactions with its soil microbiome extend well beyond typical growth and biomass metrics and involve a broader set of critical aboveground interactions. The implications are potentially far-reaching – for example, if pollinator preference for floral traits such as specific floral pigments, VOCs, and/or floral display size are mediated by the plant's relationship(s) with mycorrhizal fungi, this suggests links between floral traits, pollinator-mediated fitness and the plant-AMF symbiosis. At the same time, we lack studies that connect AMF-associated changes in floral display size to changes in pollinator-mediated fitness across a variety of systems, approaches, and settings.



Cool!

8 months ago
Hi Judson,

Thanks for this post and for inspiring more ironwood curiosity!
Especially the focus on honey re medicinal and herbal values.


1 year ago
Elderberry lane going in at the far end of the front forest garden with both shoots, roots, and cuttings. Approximately 9 clumps. This has been on my mind for a couple years now, can't wait to watch this grow, there used to be another spruce tree growing in the approximate location and a big poplar, so soil is not bad!

Also harvested another box of green tomatoes from the back veg patch October29 before cool weather sets in this week, they were volunteers from the year before so a late growing season.Such warm Octobers of late.

Was reminded doing a little reading on my local biome that hop hornbeam (ironwood) is native to this range on the slopes in the mixed hardwoods, so I'm interested in adding a few around amidst border trees as things develop. I don't notice many around locally I wonder if most were cut down to make odds and ends? If you use them as a planting, what do you or your neighbouring wildlife and plants like about them? Also keen for many more shade-tolerant diversity to the spruce plantings along the road like fir, moosewood, the hornbeam more uncommon local shrubs and ferns, once you start you can't stop thinking about what else could add to the lush complexity..



1 year ago
Around here on North East Coast we get some heavy duty winds and snow off the bay. Folks have been planting spruce wind-breaks for years and closer to the water you get, even a staggered double row, I know one farmhouse down by the water where the house was actually floated through marriage by ship-builders in the 1800s and that one has 3 sides of spruce planted on three prevailing wind sides.. If you didn't want tall leggy trees you could top them earlier on to form more of a hedge, and it'll live a relatively long time. They're tough and they grow fast, don't prune the bottom branches if you can help it, (some people seem to like doing that to get around the tree easier) those will help a lot with snow load. They don't mind rocky soil and cling to the edges of cliffsides to boot! And you can get them cheap through county/state/provincial forestry suppliers etc. How far down is that first drop-off?
1 year ago

Approaching the end of October, now increasingly wet, windy, and some of the first evenings frost may be on the table. brought back a clump of what I think may be Mountain Holly? I'll watch and go back to a few places in Spring to see the flowers and then fruit in Summer to ID for sure. https://newfoundland-labradorflora.ca/flora/dview/?id=178.

I've planted a small young clump that ?mountain holly? I found partying it up with neighbours at the edge of a clearcut. It's going in a zone of new planting for the year in the wettest area of the forest garden alongside mountain ash, wild raisin, cranberries, rhodora, hazelnut, native roses, pitcher plants, (and hopefully later this Autumn, northern bayberry, and a new hedge of elderberry cuttings)

I was also lucky to score a little bundle of alder slash from local dept of transportation work to add a bit of twiggy mulch this season.

Went up the ridge two weeks ago to a spot where the last few years I've been eyeing up some sort of native elderberry, alongside tons of yellow birch (I think yellow?) saplings. Brought back a duo of those two to the forest garden, to add to the hedgerow alongside neighbouring pasture.



1 year ago

I would be very interested in knowing whether two very different trees can merge and share resources.


I'm also keen to learn more about how this could happen! Through time at least I have seen many mountain ash trees that send saplings vigorously through often dead but sometimes still living large trunked trees resulting in a bouquet like appearance of the ash tree. Around here they crawl and twist through the windfall from storms that acts a bit like a net of branches and trunks that lift deadfall off the ground. I also imagine the saplings have been planted by animals... the ravens / chipmunks / etc. Could they be the architects so to speak of intertwining? I'm sure in some of the best cases!

Only a few threads mention inosculation, but here is one well known phenomena of many that may contribute toward intertwining elements of trees in a non-grafted circumstance. A point I'd like to find out more about is how the root layer of trees are even more often inosculated compared to above ground growth.

Here's a link from University of New Hampshire Extension with a very brief introduction:
https://extension.unh.edu/blog/2022/02/inosculation-making-connections-woods



1 year ago