From the Mountain Greenhouse…

Kings Gap Environmental Education Center

Friends of Kings Gap’s 2021 Plant Sale

This year’s annual plant sale pick-up will be held on Saturday, May 15. COVID-19 protocols will be followed at plant pick-up. More details to follow.

The sale will operate much the same as last year with pre-ordering followed by a plant pick-up at the center. Online ordering will be available soon! Stand by for details.

What is a native Plant?

There is not one definition nor is there consenus on how you define a native plant but we will use the definition provided by the PA Native Plant Society:

A native plant is one that occurs naturally in a particular region, ecosystem, or habitat without direct or indirect human intervention. We consider the flora present at the time Europeans arrived in North America as the species native to the eastern United States. Native plants include all kinds of plants from mosses and ferns to wildflowers, shrubs, and trees.

Based on the definition which one of the following plants is native to Pennsylvania?

The correct answer is the (Eastern) Prickly Pear Cactus, Opuntia humifusa. It has been found in 14 counties of PA. I have seen a patch of it growing along the road in the sandy soils of the Michaux State Forest. The other five plants were introduced from Europe in the 1800’s and have become a naturalized plant.

A naturalized plant is a non-native plant that does not need human help to reproduce and maintain itself in an area where it is not native. Overtime it establishes itself as part of ecosystem to a point where it would difficult to imagine the area without them. Although some people would be happy not to have dandelions, they are by definition not native.

Some people will discover or cultivate a native wildflower that has a more desirable characteristic such as color, disease resistance, growth form, etc... These wildflowers are referred to as a cultivar which is a plant variety that has been produced in cultivation by selective breeding.

The plant Monarda didyma has been cultivated to produce the cultivar 'Jacob Cline' so it is written Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline' and is a common cultivar that we have been selling for many years. It is resistant to powdery mildew.

The native red beebalm or Oswego tea, monarda didyma, is prone to powdery mildew. Powdery mildew is a common fungal disease on bee balm. The good news is the plants will survive. Unfortunately, they look ugly by the end of the season but there some very non-toxic ways to treat powdery mildew.

The choice is yours. A true native that is prone to powdery mildew or a cultivar that is mildew resistant. Do the bees and hummingbirds really care?

Miriam Goldberger, owner of “The Wildflower Farm” www.wildflowerfarm.com, in her book taming wildflowers describes cultivars of native plants as “nativars” which I think is a more fitting name. In her book she also points out that we don’t really know if the bees and hummingbird care if it is a native or a nativar. Only observation and research will give us the true answer.

Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline' Jacob Cline Bee Balm

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Monarda didyma ‘Jacob Cline’ is a sturdy perennial wildflower that expands to form upright clumps. Plants bear deep green aromatic leaves on strong square stems. In summer, they are topped by large rounded clusters of red tubular flowers. Pollinators flock to the blooms in sunny or partially shaded settings with average or moist well drained soils.

HABITAT & HARDINESS: The parent species Monarda didyma occurs from Quebec, New Brunswick and Maine to north

Georgia and west to Ontario, Minnesota and Missouri. This is mainly a Northeastern species with the greatest distribution in montane habitats from Maine to Pennsylvania and south into the Appalachians.

This species is indigenous to wet meadows, moist open woods, woodland borders, and disturbed sites.

The cultivar ‘Jacob Cline’ is a tall vigorous mildew resistant selection with large flowers and a long bloom period. ‘Jacob Cline’ was discovered in Georgia. The variety was named for the son of Jean Cline, a Georgia plantsman and garden designer and introduced by Saul Nursery of Alpharetta, Georgia.

CULTURAL & MAINTENANCE NEEDS: Monarda didyma ‘Jacob Cline’ thrives in sun or part sun and moist acid humus rich soil. Plants tolerate clay, sand’ and wet soils.

This cultivar is resistant to powdery mildew and the aromatic foliage is unpalatable to deer, rabbits, and other herbivores.

LANDSCAPE USES: This is a good choice for a Wildlife Garden, Cut Flower Garden, or Meadow. Plants are also used to attract Hummingbirds, as Butterfly Nectar Plants or as part of a Grouping or Mass Planting. Monarda didyma ‘Jacob Cline’ has Showy Blooms and is appropriate for Cottage Gardens, Deer Resistant Plantings, Low Maintenance Plantings and Perennial Borders.

Next Week’s Topic: