The Final Pots

My plan was to plant the residents of my pots into more permanent locations.  The early onset of drought conditions made me change those plans, so any necessary transplanting will take place next spring.  This Small White Morning Glory is a native annual vine that I first discovered on the property last year.  I threw a few seeds into this pot and I think every one of them sprouted.  I have noticed no plants growing where they were found lst year.  As long as I continue to supply water, this mess of plants should give me a good supply of seeds.  I’ll spread some of the seeds in a couple of suitable locations around the yard to see if they can establish permanent populations.

My work with potted plants is being phased out until I can construct an enclosure that effectively keeps out the marauding wildlife.  Most of my pots are under attack by various local animals.  I also need to create some permanent beds in which to plant the mature plants.  I originally began with pots in an attempt to learn about germination habits of the local native plants.  In the process, I managed to accumulate several pots full of mature plants. 

Here’s one of the animal offenders.  Not only do the Cottontails sit in the pots nibbling the plants, they have gone so far as to dig their nests in the center of the pots.

Squirrels and Chipmunks keep the potting soil constantly stirred. 

I had some seeds left over from my Prairie Garden expansion, so I planted them in a couple of empty pots.  I planted two species per pot, each confined to their own half.  Unfortunately, before I got a screen cover on this pot, a squirrel dug into one side and mixed the seed.

The seeds I planted were all species that I hadn’t raised since I got my first digital camera.  I grew them now just so I could get a photo record of their young forms.  Prairie Dock grows just enough to get the cotyledons above ground. 

Development of the first true Prairie Dock leaf quickly follows emergence of the cotyledons.  The impressive growth is taking place below ground.  At this stage, the root has already exceeded a depth of 12 inches.

This is the seedling of Liatris aspera, Rough Blazing Star.  The cotyledons of this species also remain stalkless at ground level.  The first true leaf rises tall and thin.  Seedlings sometimes only produce the one leaf in their first growing season.

These False Aloe plants have been growing in their pot for several years.  One has managed to produce a flower stalk, but they are way too overcrowded to do well.  The problem with transplanting is going to be separating individual plants from the solid mass of roots in the bottom of the pot.  Plants that naturally put their roots deep into the soil just don’t respond well to confinement in pots.  I’m hoping that the creation of permanent growing beds will allow me to observe the natural progress of plant development that follows  the germination and early growth stages. 

Prairie Garden - Old Part - Early April

Growth in the Prairie Garden is proceeding at a rapid rate.  Plants are roughly a month ahead of where they were last year.  The old portion of the Prairie Garden was mowed the first week of February and we’ve had above normal temperatures during the two months since then.  Plants that take their growth cues from soil temperature have emerged at a time when the top growth is still at risk from damage by a frost or freeze.  I know from experience that some of these plants cannot handle freezing and there will be a die-back of top growth when we get a frost.

The most obvious plant in the Prairie Garden at this time is the Western Sunflower.  These plants often survive the winter as a cluster of green basal leaves, so it’s not surprising that they take off as soon as the spring temperatures allow. 

Western Sunflower is an aggressive plant and will soon spread to take over just about any area.  It does produce viable seed, but most of the rapid expansion is through far reaching rhizomes that produce new plants.  The result is a large colony of clones. 

The grasses are coming on very quickly.  I’m wondering if the grasses will give more competition to the early blooming flowers.  This is a clump of Side-oats Gramma, which normally stays very short until the mid-summer months.

The leaves of the False Aloe are rapidly elongating.  These plants will produce flower stalks this year if they are not knocked back by a freeze.  At this stage they are highly susceptible to damage by a hard frost.

Purple Coneflower plants are showing some luxurious growth.

My population of Wild Nodding Onion still hasn’t increased in number.  The only plants I have are those protected by the wire cage.  Most of the seed produced by these plants has been scattered back into the garden, but no more plants have emerged.  I don’t know if the seeds are failing to germinate or if predators are eating the plants as quickly as they develop. 

The first Prairie Garden bloom this year is the Hoary Puccoon.  This is an early plant that is pretty much on schedule, but it usually doesn’t have all of this competing growth to deal with.

These young plants remain unidentified at the moment.  I’ll keep a watch on them until they reach a stage where I can either run them through the keys or I recognize what they are.  It’s not unusual for me to be baffled by a young plant in its early stages of growth.  One reason for this garden is to allow me to watch things grow on a day-to-day basis, so that I’ll be able to identify a plant the minute it sticks leaves above the ground. 

False Aloe

This neat plant now blooming at Blue Jay Barrens is False Aloe, Agave virginica. Many texts now prefer the name Manfreda virginica, but my reference remains Gleason and Cronquist and they use Agave. That suits me since I prefer the name Agave. This photo shows the bloom. Those white stick-like structures are the anthers.

A cluster of flowers. The little white three-parted structure is the stigma.

The flower stalks can exceed three feet tall, but they are very hard to spot among the other prairie vegetation.

It becomes easier to see when the seed pods fully develop. I’ve read that the flower is pollinated by night flying insects. Blooming progresses from the lowest part of the stalk and moves slowly upward. Some years you’ll notice a gap of unfertilized flowers, which I presume means the pollinator was not active through the entire blooming season.

The best way to locate this plant is to look for the basal rosette of leaves in either the spring or the fall. The leaves are a somewhat demure version of the Yucca. In the spring, the leaves stand up and display a sharp looking point. Leaves in the fall appear to be more like limp leather.

These are some seedlings growing in a pot of nice soil. The seeds were sown in February and the plants are developing rapidly. These plants normally grow in dry shallow soil. Under normal conditions it would take a plant a couple of years to gain the size of these new seedlings. Growing wild plants in controlled conditions can give you a lot of insight into how the plant develops, but you have to remember that things can be much different in the wild.

The locals are always curious about what I’m up to. One of these standing nearby can certainly draw away the deer flies.