ILDFLOWER EWS ‘WGrowing Nature’s Garden’ N FEBRUARY 2018

©M.Parseyan Rose hips along Whitemud Creek, Rosa sp.

From your Publisher: Welcome to the Wildflower News for February. Hope you all enjoy our new feature showing off native wildflowers in local yards, and are thinking about what to integrate into yours! Spring will be here all too quickly. February always feels like the never ending middle of winter, but it’s a short month. Time to get planning before March, melting, and sunshine burst into our lives.

In This Issue:

Native Plants in Edmonton Gardens

Events • February 4 and 18 - Nature Alberta’s Hypothermic Half Marathon • February 26, Edmonton Nature Club Plant Study Group - The Two Floras of New Zealand: Natural “Bush” and the “Pakeha” Vegetation. • February 26 - Edmonton Horticulture Society talk, A Brief History of Edmonton's Soil • February 28 - Alberta Wilderness Association Edmonton Talk - Our Public Lands: A Treasure to Protect • March 17 - Alberta Native Plant Council’s Workshop and AGM • March - Seedy Saturday/Sundays

News • New nature sanctuary west of Edmonton to open in spring - Lu Carbyn Nature Sanctuary

Articles • Butterflies of Edmonton - Satyr Anglewing, Polygonia satyrus satyrus • Wildflower of the Month - Slender Blue Beardtongue, Penstemon procerus • Oleaster Family – Elaeagnaceae

LETTERS:

Another great issue.

After visiting a patch of “indian hemp” with Patsy I started youtube-ing dogbane family. Once fully down the rabbit hole I found a new form of meditation - making fibre for weaving and fibre for cordage. It is an easy thing to do with dogbane. I am also making paper with the bast (the phloem or stuff surrounding the stem of certain dicotyledonous plants). (WN note: referring to last month’s article, “The Dogbane and Milkweed Family – Apocynaceae” - by Patsy Cotterill.)

Raquel Feroe

Thank you for telling, and showing, us! This is so creative, we love it! Dogbane fibre Coltsfoot and swamp milkweed seeds were also added to the paper.

* * * * *

Native Plants in Local Gardens

From Marie Walker: I’d like people to know you can do a whole flower bed in natives.

My Native Garden in May, showing my whole front flower bed. It has Canada violet, geum, gaillardia, bedstraw, starwort, nodding onion, and penstemon; in the back is awned wheat grass, heart-leaved Alexandria, Nuttall’s sunflower, and pussytoes around the bird bath. West-facing, they get full sun but for shorter hours than you might expect. There are tall trees to the south so they don’t get full sun until noon to two o’clock depending on the month.

Pussytoes blooming in June, pink ones and white ones. Wild strawberries blooming in my garden. (The purple flowers by the rock are not native.)

Thank you for these, Marie. It’s wonderful that you’ve done an entire bed in locally native wildflowers (except for the purple guys!) and showcased them so beautifully. Would love to see photos of your bed later in the season! From Liz DeLeeuw: Here’s some photos from my east-facing, relatively sunny to part shade front yard. I live in the northwest part of town.

Left - Pussytoes, Antennaria spp. (native), holding its own with Pinks Dianthus (cultivar) and Alpine Aster, (cultivar) in background.

Centre - Giant hyssop, Agastache foeniculum (native), with Deadnettle groundcover (out of focus in background)

Right - Arctic Aster, Eurybia sibirica (native), with annual volunteer pink Bachelor's Button.

Left - Adelaide Hoodless rose, a hardy Parkland Series rose with Harebells, Campanula rotundifolia, (native). Right - Blanketflower, Gaillardia aristata (native), with garden variety Geraniums which I overwinter from cuttings every year and plant in amongst the perennials where there are open spaces.

Thanks for these Liz, that show how nicely our native wildflowers can fit in with horticultural plants.

WN: Keep sending us pics of your “natural” flower beds and yards that include some or a lot of local Edmonton native wildflowers. We love ‘em! Overviews of the beds, and close-ups of the flowers would be lovely, as would some info on whether the plants are in full sun, early morning sun, dappled sun, or full shade. Your general location in the city (i.e. SE, NW, Central, etc.) would be appreciated, as would letting us have permission to use the photos in future publications, slide presentations, our social media, etc. ENPG always indicates photographer, if known, for any photo we use. Send your photos to [email protected]

EVENTS - if you would like to post an event that involves native flowers, please email us at [email protected]

Sundays, February 4 and 18 - Nature Alberta is hosting its annual Hypothermic Half Marathon to raise money for core programs, and is seeking volunteers. It’s a great way to support Nature Alberta and a great opportunity to get outside, meet new people, enjoy the thrill of the race and cheer on participants. Volunteers also enjoy hot chocolate along the route and complimentary brunch at the Highlands Golf Club. To volunteer please contact: Brian Laver, Volunteer Coordinator E: [email protected] P: 780-717-5045

Interested in running the Hypo Half? Sign up today. Here are the links to the registration pages: Edmonton Hypothermic Half – February 4, 2018 Register Edmonton Hypothermic Half – February 18, 2018 Register Monday, February 26, Edmonton Nature Club Plant Study Group - The Two Floras of New Zealand: Natural “Bush” and the “Pakeha” Vegetation. Local botanist Patsy Cotterill will recall some of the native and introduced plants she met in the North and South Islands on a 6-week visit there in 2016, and refer to some of the country’s ecological problems. Time: 7:30 pm, doors at 7:00. Location: Room 8, 3rd floor of the J. Percy Page Centre - 11759 Groat Road. Park on the south side, go in the south door and sign in. Admission: Free, although membership in the Edmonton Nature Club is recommended.

Silver tree-fern, Cyathea dealbata, Common broom, Cytisus scoparius, North Island, New Zealand. a common introduced species of pasture in New Zealand.

Photos by Patsy Cotterill

Monday, February 26 - Edmonton Horticulture Society talk, A Brief History of Edmonton's Soil by Mark Stumpf-Allen. Over millions of years, erosion in the Rockies filled Glacial Lake Edmonton with a thick layer of fine clay sediment. In the five thousand years since the lake drained, Aspen Parkland has been turning it into deep, rich soil, but over the past century human activity has been turning it back into clay, to crack in the sun and harden into concrete. Know how the soil building process works so you can start building humus-rich topsoil. Mark Stumpf-Allen has made a life based on Edmonton’s soil. He grew up growing crops in the rich soils of Beverly and Ellerslie, and today has a large plot in Delton where he grows vegetables and Native plants. Time: 7:30 pm, doors at 6:45 pm. Location: Central Lions Senior Recreation Centre 11113 - 113 Street Admission: Free for members of EHS (show card at door); $10 for non-members

Wednesday, February 28 - Alberta Wilderness Association Edmonton Talk - Our Public Lands: A Treasure to Protect A video series from Alberta Wilderness Association. Time: Doors at 6:30pm; talk at 7:00pm Location: Jackson Power & Electric LTD., 9744 - 60 Ave, Edmonton Admission: $5.00 https://albertawilderness.ca/product/edmonton-talk-public-lands/

Saturday, March 17 - Alberta Native Plant Council’s Workshop And AGM - Celebrating their 30th Anniversary Year! Registration is now open. This year’s workshop is titled: Submerged: A look into Alberta’s Semi-aquatic and Riparian Zones. Some confirmed topics for this year’s program include: Riparian Restoration Aquatic and Riparian Invasives Beaver Impacts on Urban Forests Location: Devon Golf and Conference Centre, 1130 River Valley, Devon Alberta. Admission: Please view and/or download a registration form here To register online with a credit card or Paypal, please click here

Seedy Saturday/Sundays: Saturday, March 10 - 5th Annual Stony Plain Seedy Saturday Time: 10:00am – 3:00pm Location: 5411 51 St, Stony Plain Admission: Free Sunday, March 18 - Seedy Sunday Edmonton Time: 11:00am - 4:00pm Location: Central Lions Seniors' Recreation Centre, 11113 - 113 Street Admission: Free

Further details on the above next month.

NEWS... If you have a news item involving native plants that you would like posted, please email us at [email protected]

New nature sanctuary west of Edmonton to open in spring

Lu Carbyn, wildlife biologist at the University of Alberta, has donated a 155-acre parcel of land to the Edmonton and Area Land Trust. He says, “I have to protect this land.” Located west of Edmonton near Darwell, the property is an undisturbed quarter-section of wetland surrounded by boreal forest that hums with the songs of 95 bird species. After Carbyn purchased the land in 2014, he decided it should serve as a conservation area and a wildlife study area for students, clubs and other members of the public. In his honour, it has been named the Lu Carbyn Nature Sanctuary. Read more at http:// www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/conservation-wildlife-edmonton-lu-carbyn-1.4492527

Adapted from: North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society’s River Valley News

Butterflies of Edmonton - Satyr Anglewing, Polygonia satyrus satyrus by Trudy Haracsi

I wouldn’t do without my wonderful butterfly host plants, Stinging Nettles, Urtica dioica. Every year they bring me different varieties of butterflies. The nettle that is in full sun is the patch the butterflies prefer and I have at least five small patches that don't take over if you get the seeds off the plants in fall.

Summer 2017 - The Satyr Angelwing caterpillar is eating away in his neatly folded up leaf. The chrysalis.

Angelwing emerging from the chrysalis. Brand new butterfly off into the big, wide world!

Wildflower of the Month - Slender Blue Beardtongue, Penstemon procerus by Cherry Dodd

Last month Mary De Pauw sent in a beautiful photo of Slender Blue Beardtongue growing in her garden. I think Slender Blue Beardtongue was the first native flower that I fell in love with. It happened like this. After the forests at Little Mountain Natural Area were bulldozed and destroyed, there was only silence. No construction, no development - just an empty land. We went back 2 years later to see if any plants had survived, and I was astonished to see large patches of purple and blue covering the ground in the area where the young Aspen forest had once stood. The colour was due to masses of Slender Blue Beardtongue plants in full flower.

This species is a colonizer that likes disturbed land. The seeds must have been in the soil seed bank just waiting for their chance in the sun once again. What a magnificent sight! But when we went back the following week someone must have complained about the "weeds" because the whole area had been plowed. It was bare and brown with just a few scattered plants here and there sitting on top of the soil. We carried home as many as we could and I think that’s how the ENPG plant rescue program started.

Slender Blue Beardtongue is short,( 25 - 45 cm) with narrow leaves that are in opposite pairs, and it packs a lot of vibrant colour into a small space. The flower spikes are usually a two-tone combination of purple and blue, but you will often find other shades - electric blue, deep purple, light blue and rose. Occasionally you will even see some flowers that are so pale they appear white. Bees love the flowers. Each tiny flower has five stamens, including a special hairy one that hangs down, looking a bit like a narrow tongue, or a welcome mat for bees. It is this fuzzy "tongue" that gives the flower its common name “beardtongue".

In your garden, these flowers would look good in a rock garden or at the front of the border, or maybe bordering a path. They look wonderful with yellow-flowered Heart-leaved Alexanders planted behind them. Both Heart-leaved Alexanders and Slender Blue Beardtongue prefer to grow in damp meadows in the wild, so don't plant either of them in a very dry spot.

Bees enjoy the flowers. Close-up of single bloom.

Oleaster Family – Elaeagnaceae - by Patsy Cotterill

The Oleaster family comprises about 60 species of deciduous shrubs or small trees that are native to the Northern Hemisphere but also extend further south. They fall into three genera, Elaeagnus, Hippophae and Shepherdia, all of which are represented in Canada. Characteristically, their branches and leaves are densely covered in silvery or brown scales. Leaves are alternate or opposite, simple, and entire. The flowers are small, unisexual or bisexual, in clusters, with the flower parts in fours. There are four sepals, and stamens are four or eight. The flower parts typically surround the ovary forming a cup-like or tubular structure called the hypanthium, which can become fleshy in the one-seeded fruit, technically called a drupe.

Canada buffaloberry, Shepherdia canadensis, is a spreading shrub to 3 m tall, common in woods and woodland edges and shrubby meadows throughout Alberta. Its branches are brown-scurfy and its leaves, in opposite pairs, are elliptic to ovate, green above but paler with silvery or brown scales below. The flowers are numerous and small (4 mm across), yellow, with male (stamens only) and female (pistils only) on separate plants. They appear in early May and are among the earliest harbingers of spring in Edmonton. Flowers are pollinated mainly by flies but also by bees and bugs, with the staminate flowers offering both pollen and nectar, the pistillate flowers, which are a little smaller and less showy than the staminate, only nectar. The fruit is fleshy, about 4-6 m long, and ripens to a red colour in June or July. It is bitter but relished by native peoples as a dessert. The aboriginal name of soopolallie translates as soapberry and refers to the saponin compound that produces a foam when the fruit is mashed.

Canada buffaloberry is an excellent shrub for landscaping as it forms a rounded shape and does not become leggy. It is shade-intolerant and does well in open gardens. Because of its ability to fix nitrogen it does not require fertilizer. Germination of seeds is not always reliable, but once established as a small shrub, the plant’s growth is steady and it is disease-free.

Left: Canada buffaloberry in flower in a garden on 9 May 2017. Left centre: Staminate (male) flowers on Canada buffaloberry, 9 May 2017. Note the leaf buds, with unopened leaves in a “praying hands” position. Right centre: Pistillate (female) flowers on Canada buffaloberry, 9 May 2017, beginning to develop fruits. Note the scaly leaves just beginning to unfold. Right: Fruits on Canada buffaloberry, 1 July 2017

Thorny buffaloberry, Shepherdia argentea, is the sister species to Canada buffaloberry, but has a more restricted distribution, to southern Alberta, where it often occurs on shores and can form thickets. It is usually taller than Canada buffaloberry, with spiny, silvery branches and opposite, oblong-lanceolate, silver-grey leaves. It has been planted as a landscape shrub in Edmonton, and plants occasionally escape into the river valley. Because it is beyond its natural range in Edmonton I would not recommend planting it in native gardens.

Thorny buffaloberry in fruit, Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park, 19 September 2011

Silverberry or Wolf Willow, Elaeagnus commutata, is an upright shrub to 4 m tall, with rusty-brown, relatively unbranched stems. It spreads by rhizomes, often forming unmistakable colonies of grey-green shoots on embankments, waysides and shores. The alternate leaves are oblong to ovate and densely covered with white and brown scales. The tubular yellow flowers, with four flaring lobes, are yellow on the inside, silvery-grey on the outside and sweetly fragrant, to the point where wolf willow can be detected from a distance when in bloom in June. Flowers are bisexual, or have separate male and female flowers on the same plant. The fruit, about 1 cm long, is round, dry and mealy, and contains a single seed. Wolf willow has a wide distribution in the southern half of Alberta, but is also common around Edmonton, where two neighbourhoods bear its name. Its rhizomatous habit means it will have to be cut back in small gardens, but is suitable for acreages. Both the fruit and seed are edible, and provide good food for birds and other wildlife.

Left: Wolf willow in flower, 31 May 2006 Centre: Ripe fruit of wolf willow, Willmore Wilderness Park, 15 September 2012 Right: Wolf willow fruits, Terwillegar Park, 25 January 2015 Russian Olive, Elaeagnus angustifolia, a tree to 7 m tall, is closely related to wolf willow. While it can become naturalized, in the Edmonton area it seems to be confined to gardens, where its silver leaves and fragrant yellow flowers make it a valued ornamental. Note that “oleaster” means “olive-like”; the true wild olive, of Mediterranean regions, is Olea oleaster, in a different and unrelated family, Oleaceae, along with the cultivated olive, Olea europaea.

Sea Buckthorn, Hippophae rhamnoides, is our sole representative in the Hippophae genus. It is an introduced shrub or small tree, 2-5 m high, with grey, spiny branches. It is hardy and nitrogen-fixing, and has been widely planted in Edmonton, often as a boulevard shrub, but has escaped into the river valley. The alternate leaves are linear to linear- lanceolate, with silver-white scales on both surfaces. The yellow flowers are unisexual, with staminate and pistillate on separate plants, and have two sepals only. The fruits are yellow to orange, juicy, and persist through winter. Sea buckthorn is planted commercially for its fruits and for environmental improvement.

Left: Fruits of sea buckthorn, Grandview Park, 28 August 2009

Right: Fruits of sea buckthorn, river valley at Grandview Park, 28 August 2009

It should not be confused with common buckthorn, Rhamnus cathartica, which is in a separate (although related) family, Rhamnaceae. This is another introduced tree that is common in our river valley parks, with green, ovate leaves and black fruits.

Common buckthorn immature fruit, left, and bark, right.

All members of the Oleaster family described here can be found in Terwillegar Park, particularly close to the wetlands. They are worth examining, even in winter, when their tiny, brown, scaly winter buds, developed in tight clusters close to the branches, are particularly prominent.

References: Canadensys Vascan: http://data.canadensys.net/vascan/search Moss, E.H. 1983. Flora of Alberta. 2d ed. rev. by J.G. Packer. Toronto, University of Toronto Press. Wikipedia. Elaeagnaceae and species described above. Accessed January 2018.

All photos by Patsy Cotterill. A note from the Alberta Native Plant Council:

STEWARDSHIP ACTIVITIES AT NISKU PRAIRIE Nisku Prairie is a 31- acre remnant of aspen parkland protected as municipal reserve, and is located south of Edmonton. ANPC is a steward and each summer, there are a variety of activities including monitoring of sample plots and pulling weeds. CONTACT: [email protected], with ‘ANPC Volunteers’ in the subject line, for more details.

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Cherry Dodd, editor Judith Golub, publisher www.edmontonnativeplantgroup.org

© Vivianne Todd

Lady’s-slipper orchids, Cypripedium parviflorum