Hydrangea quercifolia

NativeSCAPE
Published by the Georgia Native Plant Society

July 2011
Volume XVII, Number 3

Mountain Road Rescue Site: Little Time, Many Plants

By Sheri George Page 3 Imagine a nearly 40-acre piece of property that is so rich with native plants that it could be rescued for years. Now imagine the same property, but instead of years, there were only weeks to save as many plants as possible.

Presidents Message Plant Rescue News Chapter News Upcoming GNPS Events Website Update Membership Renewal

2 11 12 13 14 15

Free Plants That Bite Back

By Ellen Honeycutt Page 4 People love to get free plants, and who would blame them? Some of these gifts are easily recognizable and dealt with in swift fashion. But sometimes you get something NEW, and ...

Newsletter Editor David Haimbach Newsletter staff: Ellen Honeycutt, Sharon Parry, and Lisa Betz, Proofreaders NativeSCAPE is published quarterly by the Georgia Native Plant Society. A subscription is included with membership in the GNPS. Copyright 2011 by the Georgia Native Plant Society. All rights reserved. Articles may not be reprinted without permission of the author.

Wildlife Food Habits and Favorite Native Plants

By Gail Farley Page 7 The ability of wildlife to adjust and adapt to altered landscapes and introduced foodstuffs has long been of interest to field naturalists. Gail Farley offers a brief history of field observations in the South.

A Lovely Case of Mistaken Identity

By Mary P. Tucker page 9 In a follow-up to an article on lilies in our April issue, resident sleuth Mary Tucker digs into the differences between two similar species to discover who she really brought home from a rescue years ago, with Ellen Honeycutt as Dr. Watson.

Georgia Native Plant Society P.O. Box 422085 Atlanta, GA 30342-2085 www.gnps.org 770-343-6000 GNPS Board of Directors President Ellen Honeycutt Vice President Jacqueline McRae Secretary Kimberly Ray Treasurer Paula Reith Members-at-Large: Charles Brown Susan Hanson Pat Smith Director of Communications David Haimbach Director of Conservation Marcia Winchester Director of Education Julie Newell Director of Membership Jane Trentin
About your membership in the Georgia Native Plant Society Your membership dues and donations help support our mission which is: To promote the stewardship and conservation of Georgias native plants and their habitats By sponsoring meetings, workshops, an annual symposium, grants, scholarships, the native plant rescue program, and this newsletter utilizing an all-volunteer staff of dedicated native plant enthusiasts. We look forward to and appreciate your continued support. Membership renewal forms for 2011 can now be completed online or by completing the form on the last page of this news letter.

NativeSCAPE July 2011

Presidents Message
By Ellen Honeycutt

Summer has arrived in a blast of heat and not nearly enough rain. Remember even native plants need regular water if you have planted them within the last year. Use mulch to retain moisture, water as needed, and observe all local water restrictions. Conserving water is still a good idea I dont think Ill ever shake the habit of catching water in a gallon jug while I wait for the hot water to arrive in the sink. Its second nature to me now. The 2011 Plant Sale was a success we sold over $23,000 worth of plants! So many people helped to make this possible from the Plant Sale committee, to the dozens of volunteers, to the members and nurseries that donated plants, and to the hundreds of customers that bought them all! Thank you all so much for demonstrating that the demand for native plants is stronger than ever. We have a few plants leftover, so look for announcements about plant sales at meetings and various events throughout the year. One place where well be selling plants is the Atlanta Audubon Societys Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Tour on September 10th. The tour is organized by our own Jacqueline McRae and features the gardens of two GNPS members in Marietta. As in previous years, one of the gardens will feature GNPS selling a variety of native plants that provide nectar or berries for birds. You will be sure to find Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) there; it is a spectacular fall blooming perennial and was recently featured in Charles Seabrooks Wild Georgia column in the paper. For more information on the Audubon tour, check out their recent newsletter:

http://www.atlantaaudubon.org/aaswww/newsletters/201107-08-AUD-VII-6.pdf
Our next Symposium is already lined up for February 11, 2012 at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta. I hope you will mark the date now and plan to come. If youd like to help with the arrangements, please let me know. Restoration and propagation activities will continue through the summer. Please check our calendar for dates and times and come help and learn at the same time. Remember that our calendar contains events (including events for kids) from other like-minded groups so check it often for updates. The Events of Interest link from our home page will take you to the right page. Late in July will be the 28th annual Cullowhee Native Plants Conference in Cullowhee, NC. For many years it has been a premier event for learning, networking, and even buying native plants. Last year I attended for the first time, and the experience was very inspirational. I encourage you to take a look at the program and consider attending:

http://www.wcu.edu/5033.asp.
GNPS members have been involved in the planning and implementation of this conference for many years. Our own Gil Nelson is Conference Chair this year. In addition, Marcia Winchester will be speaking this year on the GNPS Plant Rescue Program. Hope to see you at the July meeting or another event this summer. As always, help us spread the word about using native plants and conserving habitat. We can use more members and more voices!

NativeSCAPE July 2011

Mountain Road Rescue Site: Little Time, Many Plants
by Sheri George, Rescue Coordinator/Facilitator

GNPS rescue sites come in all shapes and sizes, with a variety of plant diversity, and the amount of time that we have to rescue plants from them varies. We have had one site for only a single day and we have had some for years. Recently we obtained permission to rescue a very rich site for only three weeks. This is a summary of our rescues there. Imagine a nearly 40-acre piece of property that is so rich with native plants that it could be rescued for years. Now imagine the same property, but instead of years, there were only weeks to save as many plants as possible before the bulldozers began work. What to do? Fortunately, GNPS has a rescue program whose mission is to relocate native plants that are in the direct path of development. After permission was received, a call for help was sent to the GNPS facilitators and membership to come and save some wonderful plants. In only 3 weeks, we conducted 15 rescues! 143 individuals participated, helped by 19 hard-working facilitators. We made sure to stay away from 9 acres of a beautiful stream the developer is preserving. The weather was hot and humid and at times there was rain and mud to deal with. We rescued thousands of plants; azaleas, ferns, shrubs and small trees were in abundance. Many of the 143 folks attended multiple rescues, so we had 224 attendees total. For 9 members, it was their first rescue. There were 11 guests, 4 of which have joined GNPS as a result. Plants went to individual homes as well as to the restoration projects at Heritage Park and Mary Scott Nature Preserve. Plants also went to the following community gardens: McFarlane Nature Park, East Cobb Parks Towhee Trail, Chattahoochee Nature Center, the Paces Mill Unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, the Cobb Master Gardener Rain Garden Project, and Mabry Park. Plants also went to the Stone Mountain Propagation Project to grow for future GNPS sales.

Word came from the developers that they have a delay, and GNPS has permission to rescue for an additional 3 weeks, so at the time this goes to press, more rescues are planned for July. Please go to the Rescue Page at gnps.org to sign up for Mountain Road rescues and check frequently for additional pop-up rescues. Many thanks to everyone who has helped to save the native plants from this special site in East Cobb. A special thanks to the facilitators who made the many rescues possible through their leadership and guidance. The Plant List for the Mountain Road rescue site includes: azaleas, cinnamon fern, lady fern, New York fern, royal fern, Christmas fern, jack-in-the-pulpit, yellow-star grass, green and gold, rattlesnake weed, spicebush, deciduous holly, whorled-leaf coreopsis, blueberry, wild hydrangea, big leaf magnolia, Solomon's plume, black-eyed Susan, Joe-Pye weed, Viburnum nudum, yellowroot, ginger, Iris verna, houstonia, pussy-toes, Solomon's seal, sweet shrub, pipsissewa, horse sugar, partridgeberry, Catesby trillium, turtlehead, featherbells, chokeberry, false aloe.

NativeSCAPE July 2011

Free Plants That Bite Back
Text and Photos by Ellen Honeycutt

People love to get free plants, and who would blame them? Mother Nature does her fair share of gifting us with free plants you would not believe how many maple seedlings I pull up every year! Some of these gifts are easily recognizable and dealt with in swift fashion. But sometimes you get something NEW, and the gardeners heart flutters in anticipation: Oh look, something has arrived! Ill bet its something GOOD. Well, I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but these days it is usually NOT something good. Thanks to wildlife, wind, and water (the 3 main agents of dispersal), there are plenty of bad things arriving on a regular basis. Some of these plants are so aggressive when mature that they will make you regret adopting them. Learn to recognize them early - before they bite the hand that feeds them! A plant that is appearing now is one that is frequently mistaken for Orange Cosmos, but its Ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia. Its winddispersed pollen is a major source of allergies in late summer/early fall, but seedlings are arriving now. Heres a picture of a seedling in my neighborhood.

Privet is a plant that is so ubiquitous that people think it is a native plant, but it is not. Ligustrum sinense was imported to the U.S. from China in the 1800s and now covers much of the wild roadsides. You Ligustrum sinense can find it as tiny new seedlings, young saplings, and even as multi-trunked trees in front yards. Some people just call it hedge because that is what it is often used for. Its ability to set large number of seeds allows it to seed into areas and take over, out-competing what would have naturally grown there. It is especially thuggish in wet areas, but it thrives in dry places too. Learn to identify it: note the oppositely arranged leaves, small white flowers, and dark blue berries on mature plants. Remove it as soon as you can. Here is a picture of it when it is just a seedling (and very easy to pull out). Notice the leaves are in pairs and are just a little "wavy" on the margins. Nandina domestica is a popular landscape plant that is often called Heavenly Bamboo. While this plant can sucker a bit locally, the real nuisance comes from birds eating the berries and spreading the plant to new locations. I have

Ambrosia artemisiifolia

How about a soft and delicate looking grass that looks so pretty in the shade? Microstegium vimineum is a deceptively meek looking plant that will be all over your shade garden within a year if you let it go to seed. Luckily it is easy to remove when it is young, and it is an annual so it wont grow back if you pull it. If you have too much already, use a weed whacker to keep it low until frost so that it cant bloom and make seed. Microstegium vimineum

Chinese Privet Seedling

Nandina domestica
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NativeSCAPE July 2011

Free Plants That Bite Back
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found it numerous times in the middle of my wooded area, and Ive seen it on the side of rural roads (please dont tell me that someone planted it there!). Here is one that frequently is mistaken for a holly, but Mahonia bealei is actually a member of the Barberry family. Long used by Southerners as a landscape plant (I was horrified to see Home Depot selling it recently), this plant also appears courtesy of the birds. I pull out several babies a year; it is easy to spot when I am close to the ground pulling out other weeds. Turn the leaf over and youll see that the back side of it is almost completely white. This is easy to pull out as a seedling.

Nandina flowers

Ailenthus altissima Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) lets give this a more realistic name, how about stinking sumac? This sneaky tree pops up in places and tries to convince people that its a Sumac (Rhus sp.) or a Walnut (Juglans sp.). It has started to invade my subdivision, and I have seen it pop up in at least 4 yards now, including mine! Look for the purplish color on the new leaves, the distinctive notch on the lower part of the leaflets, and the very stinky smell if you rub it or cut it.

Mahonia bealei Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) has the distinction of disturbing more habitat in the Southeastern U.S. than any other alien plant: of a million acres! Unlike Kudzu, honeysuckle is not so very noticeable, especially in small amounts. Ive been pulling it for years out of my property, and Im not done yet. It is no longer in the trees, its not anywhere it can flower and make fruit, but its covering a lot of ground Lonicera japonica still in the woods. Look for the yellow and white flowers, opposite leaves and sometimes the leaves have a bit of lobing as shown.

Ailenthus altissima seedling

Distinctive notch of leaflet Lobed leaves

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NativeSCAPE July 2011

Free Plants That Bite Back
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Elaeagnus pungens is often called Ugly Agnes due to its unkempt form. It throws out long whips that get tangled in other plants, allowing it to climb higher; Ive seen it grow 20 feet high in a Leyland cypress that was behind it. This is an evergreen shrub in the Atlanta area and the backs of the leaves are distinctively silver colored. Fall flowers and thorns are also characteristics of this plant.

and numerous, spreading by wind and water to adjacent properties. Bradford Pear (Pyrus calleryana Bradford) is more appropriately known as ornamental pear because its seedlings are not true to the parent (so they cant be Bradford). Formerly sterile parents are now cross-pollinating with Pyrus calleryana their cousins, creating thousands of viable fruit per tree. Seedlings are recognized by a noticeable notch on one of the leaves and reddish petioles (stems). Those that grow into trees are often thorny, which is the true nature of pears. Vacant lots and roadsides around Atlanta reveal the extent of these errant saplings when they bloom in the spring.

Elaeagnus pungens

Perilla frutescens Perilla frutescens is sometimes called Chinese basil, Shiso, or wild red basil. It makes a lot of seeds and spreads rapidly. If this appears in your yard, pull it quickly or at least make sure it does not go to seed. So if some new plant shows up in your yard, take the cautious approach and get it identified sooner rather than later. In the case of these plants (and a few others), you'll be glad you did.

Paulownia tomentosa Princess or Empress tree (Paulownia tomentosa) is no royalty in my book. This plant grows fast and tall, quickly shading out its new neighbors. Seeds are tiny

NativeSCAPE July 2011

Wildlife Food Habits and Favorite Native Plants
By Gail Farley

What do the following have in common? The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor. A patent is filed for the first roller coaster. Grover Cleveland becomes president of the United States. The Apache warrior, Geronimo, is fighting US troops. Louis Pasteur invents the rabies vaccine. The Georgia Institute of Technology (its future name) is established in Atlanta. The answer lies in the 19 th century the year 1885. The outer coastal plain along the Atlantic Ocean in 1885 was in many places a shadow of its former self. The long leaf pine was logged to near extinction. Forests that greeted the early colonists were cleared for homes, crops and pasture. Marshes and swamps were drained to increase acreage for agriculture. George Washington made a failed attempt to wrestle land from the Great Dismal Swamp located in Virginia and North Carolina. Watershed quality declined as soil erosion from farmlands clouded streams, rivers and bays. All the while, wildlife was pushed from their native homes and forced to find new food and cover. Flocks of wild turkey moved out as jays, crows and starlings moved in. Cultivated crops of corn, oats, barley and wheat proved a boon for wildlife. Cleared forests created edges where grass, perennials and shrubs could grow and provide wildlife with seeds, fruit, insects and cover. The Ivory-billed woodpecker and the passenger pigeon became extinct while other wildlife flourished and adapted to the ways of mankind. The ability of wildlife to adjust and adapt to altered landscapes and introduced foodstuffs had long been of interest to field naturalists. The famous author of Birds of America (1827-1838), John James Audubon, shot the birds he posed and painted. He studied their stomach contents and noted foods eaten as wild fruits and grains, weed seeds or insect and plant materials. With scalpel, tweezers, pencil and journal in hand, Audubon became an early practitioner of studying bird food habits in a laboratory. The traditional study of wildlife and food habits occurs in the field. The field naturalist needs a keen eye, patience and excellent record keeping skills. Henry David Thoreau is an early example. Weary after writing Walden, Thoreau embarked on a labor of love as he began to observe and record the goings-on of the native plants and wildlife near his home in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau writes of American chestnuts in fall 1850 that the chestnuts are rattling out. The jays scream and the red squirrels scold while you are clubbing and shaking the trees. He found 35 chestnuts a mouse had stored in its passageways. Thoreau noted the fall chestnut harvest of 1852 was more than the squirrels could consume. The queen of the eastern forests fell victim to Chestnut Blight in 1904. The American chestnut was all but a memory by 1950. Thanks to Thoreau and his writings in Wild Fruits, we can wonder what its like when the chestnuts are rattling out. In 1885 the study of wildlife and their food habits became a mandate of the US federal Department of Agriculture. Early research focused on wildlife food habits that can harm farmers fields. It evolved to study waterfowl, upland game birds, fur and game animals and other species. Fish and Wildlife Service record #1 was of a song sparrow shot in a marsh near Sing Sing, NY at 6pm on July 3, 1885. Its stomach contents were studied and recorded as 20% animal matter and 80% vegetable matter. Decades later, more than 250,000 records existed for birds plus thousands of records on mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

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NativeSCAPE July 2011

Wildlife Food Habits and Favorite Native Plants
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This vast reserve of federal food habits data, plus that gathered by state conservation and fish and game departments across decades, is the backbone of a unique book titled American Wildlife & Plants A guide to Wildlife Food Habits: the use of trees, shrubs, weeds and herbs by birds and mammals of the United States. This book was published in 1951 under the direction of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, at the Patuxent Research Refuge, Laurel, Maryland. The authors who took on the challenging task to organize, interpret and publish this data are biologist Alexander C. Martin, Consultant Herbert S. Zim and Arnold L. Nelson, director of the Patuxent Research Refuge, MD. This book answers questions such as What foods do the common goldfinch eat? and What foods do goldfinches prefer to eat? The answer is that ragweed year-round is 10-25% of the goldfinch diet; thistle and sweet gum are 10 -25% of its wintertime diet and shepherds-purse is 10-25% of its summertime diet. Goosefoot, sunflower, dandelion, velvet grass and alder are 2-5% of the goldfinch diet, depending on the time of year. The data also shows that summer, fall and winter seeds make-up 96%, 99% and 97%, respectively, of their diet. Its spring diet is 49% animal food (insects, etc.) and 51% plant food. This is outstanding information for anyone who wants to attract goldfinches to their landscape! The book also answers questions such as What wildlife utilize sweet gums for food and to what extent does wildlife prefer sweet gum for food. The answer is: Mallard ducks, bobwhite quail, Carolina chickadees, juncos, white-throated sparrows, towhees, Carolina wrens and the Eastern Chipmunk eat sweet gum seeds as - 2% of its diet; Goldfinches 5-10%, squirrels 2-5% and beaver (seeds and wood) 10-25% of their diet. The authors remark, this plant is used to only a small extent by wildlife. This is excellent information! It helps a landscaper decide whether or not to include a native sweet gum tree in a landscape design or restoration project. Duck hunters might be interested in the aquatic and marsh section where the food habits of specific water fowl are listed. Fur and game animals are listed with their food preference data. Cultivated plants such as corn, wheat and barley have their own sections with wildlife and food habit data. All this information can be used to invite wildlife home by planting favorite foods. This information should stand the test of time. Bird food habits and woody plant preferences should be about the same in 2011 as in 1951. The only difference might be that the number of invasive plants as a percentage of wildlife diet may have increased as invasives have secured a stronger hold on the native landscape. The chapter that brings closure to this article is titled wildlife plants ranked according to their value. Songbirds are the greatest part of each plant value but the ranks also consider water, marsh, shore and upland game birds, fur, game and small mammals and browsers. The plants are listed by common name. Field and lab limitations made it difficult to drill down past genus to identify plant species.

The woody native plants that rank from #1 - #20 for their wildlife value in the southeast region of the US (includes piedmont and coastal plain of Georgia) are in descending order: Oak, Pine, Blackberry, Wild Cherry, Greenbrier, Grape, Blueberry, Hickory, Black gum, Holly, Poison Ivy, Beech, Maple, Virginia-creeper, Persimmon, Wax myrtle, Dogwood, Mulberry and Tulip Tree.

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NativeSCAPE July 2011

A Lovely Case of Mistaken Identity
By Mary P. Tucker

In my garden is a native lily that I dug on a Georgia Native Plant Society plant rescue years ago when I had recently joined the GNPS. When I dug it, I assumed it was Carolina lily (Lilium michauxii), which is widely distributed throughout the Southeast. I dont remember exactly where I found it, but it was likely in Cherokee County where I most commonly went on rescues. It was a small plant and was growing in a shady woodland as I recall. So when I got it home, I thought Id replicate its growing conditions to try to keep it happy. Well, it sat there for several years and didnt do much of anything. In the meantime, I was learning more about native plants and realized that my lily needed more sun and more reliable moisture if it was going to thrive. I first moved it to a pot so I could keep an eye on it and water it adequately. It quickly increased in size and started blooming. Soon it was outgrowing its pot, so I planted it in the ground in a damp, sunny garden bed. It has done well every year since, and as I write this (in mid-June), the plant is about 7 feet tall and loaded with buds. Several years ago, Ellen Honeycutt and I got into a discussion about native lilies, and I began to wonder if my plant was indeed L. michauxii. Could it perhaps be Turkscap lily (L. superbum), a lily that is similar in many ways? Ellen had what she thought was L. michauxii in her garden, and our lilies differed somewhat. This prompted both of us to do some research on the two plants, and I want to share what we learned. There are many similarities between these two lily species. Both have nodding, orange-red flowers with strongly reflexed petals that are dotted with brown to purple spots. The stamens of both flowers extend well beyond the bloom and end in dark anthers. Blooms are borne in summer (generally July to August) and serve as nectar sources for butterflies and hummingbirds. Both plants have entire leaves that are borne in whorls on a single, unbranched, erect stem. The two species overlap in their ranges, with both occurring in Georgia. However, L. michauxii is the more southerly of the two species. Sources record this species throughout the Southeast from Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky south to Florida and west to Texas. It is found in locations from the Coastal Plain to the mountains. In contrast, L. superbum is found as far north as New Hampshire and New York and west to Missouri. Its range extends south into Florida, but it is mainly found in the uplands in the more southern states.

L. michauxii leaves Photo: Ellen Honeycutt

L. superbum leaves Photo: Mary Tucker

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NativeSCAPE July 2011

A Lovely Case of Mistaken Identity
By Mary P. Tucker (Continued from page 9)

In addition, the habitat of the two species varies somewhat, with L. superbum preferring moister conditions, such as damp meadows and wooded coves. L. michauxii is somewhat more tolerant of drier sites and summer heat and is often found along the edges of pine-oak woods. Height can be a distinguishing factor, provided the plants are mature enough. L. superbum is the taller of the two, potentially reaching 8 or more feet in height. In contrast, L. michauxii is usually no taller than 4 feet. L. superbum is also more floriferous, bearing a dozen or more flowers on each plant, compared to about a half dozen at most on L. michauxii. To make up for its relative scarcity of flowers, the blooms on L. michauxii are lightly fragrant. Some sources note that L. michauxii has flowers that tend toward being more orange than reddish, but the flower color of both species can be highly variable, so bloom color is not a reliable diagnostic marker. However, the petals of L. superbum are usually green at the base, giving the flower a dark, notably star-shaped center. The foliage, especially on mature plants, can be a distinguishing feature. L. superbum has narrow, acutely pointed, lanceolate leaves that are widest toward the middle. In contrast, L. michauxii typically bears thicker, fleshier leaves that are oblanceolate to obovate, meaning they are widest near the apex. In the nursery trade youll have better luck finding L. superbum for sale, but its possible that you could come across either of these native lilies on a GNPS plant rescue. However, if its a young specimen, you may have no idea which lily it is until you nurture it along for a few years. In any case, you really cant go wrong, for either of these lilies makes a lovely addition to the native plant garden.

L. michauxii flowers Photo: Ellen Honeycutt

Note the distinguishing green, star-shaped center of the L. superbum bloom. Photo: Mary Tucker

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NativeSCAPE July 2011

Native Plant Rescue News
By Lynn Almand

This is what it's all about... I did not have any trouble coming up with a topic for this month's article because of the plant rescue events in June. Yes, so far this is a grueling early summer with very little rain and excessive heat. We usually wind down the rescues with just a few in June as rescuers and facilitators are better off inside, and plants are better off just left in the woods until cooler weather when our rescues restart in September. A few June rescues was just not to be. Sheri George found out about some property in Cobb County with plans to clear the entire site in just three weeks. This was, sadly, an extremely rich site. However, the developer was willing to work with us and we were able to start quickly. If you looked at the rescue schedule during June, it changed continuously as Sheri asked facilitators to plan rescues at the site. And plan they did. You responded by signing up for these rescues and hauling hundreds and hundreds of plants out of the woods. Yes, they have to have special care during the summer, and many will be potted up for future planting when it is cooler, but to say they have a better chance for survival with your care than under the tracks of a big yellow machine is an understatement. A huge thank you to all involved. Saving native plants from imminent destruction is how the rescue program started and continues to be what this rescue business is all about. I'm sure most of you have heard how Jeane Reeves, our rescue program founder, witnessed a bulldozer push over a native azalea in full bloom. She started the rescue program by asking if she could dig some plants. Yes, we've added some policies and procedures over the years, but the program Jeane started is still going strong. One of the primary reasons for our continued success is members like Sheri George, our plant rescue coordinator and site procurement committee member. You will also recognize her name as the Plant Sale chair (along with Marcia Dworezsky). Let me tell you, she is one in a million, and when she found out about the Cobb county site, she dropped everything to be sure we got as many native plants out of there as possible. Sheri coordinates all our rescues and is single-handedly responsible for coordinating all the June 'emergency' rescues at the Cobb County site. She lives and breathes natives, has boundless energy, and always has a big smile on her face. When she is not out on a rescue, she is busy in her greenhouse propagating plants for the plant sale, volunteering at McFarlane Nature Center, master gardener projects, or other Cobb county parks. She lives in Cobb County with her husband of many talents, Lee. (If you could see some of the things he has created for her in their garden, you would know why I said that about him.) At July's Cullowhee Native Plant Conference in Cullowhee, North Carolina, Marcia Winchester, our director of conservation, will give a talk on the Ethics of Plant Rescues. She will talk about why it is ethical to dig plants to save them and how we in GNPS make it successful. Other native plant society members and native plant lovers attend this conference. Many GNPS members attend, and Marcia cannot wait to 'spread the word' to other attendees. I hope you will be there too. Hope to see you on a rescue in September. We do not plan rescues for July and August--it is just too hot for people and plants! Remember, never dig native plants on public property, or on private property without the permission of the owner, and ONLY if the plants will be lost to development. Join a GNPS rescue instead and help us save the plants legally with other people who love native plants.

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NativeSCAPE July 2011

Chapter News
By Flo Hayes, President, West Georgia Chapter

WGC-GNPS members have been busy over the last few months. We have completed the construction of the native plant demo bed, but are still busy filling the bed with plants. As you all know, that will be an ongoing project for the rest of the year. This bed is located in the Carroll County Master Gardener (CCMG) demonstration area. We were invited to join the CCMG members in hosting an Open House the evening of June 14, 2011. Gina Strickland presented a demonstration on using native plants in containers. Her presentation was a hit and several people stayed to discuss native plants and GNPS membership.

Of course, we continue to have workdays in the Buffalo Creek area. We had a family call us to come rescue some Lady's slippers (Cypripedium acaule) ahead of a planned use of poison in that area to Gina Strickland demonstrates planting in containers. kill off poison ivy. Mike Strickland, Carol Hight and Flo Hayes dug Photo Credit: Mike Strickland several plants and moved them to an area along Buffalo Creek. On recent work days we have placed plants from other rescues. While the weather is so hot we all have pots of plants waiting for their home in the Buffalo Creek area. We continue to pull privet and honeysuckle.

Thanks to a grant request written and submitted by Marc LaFountain to the CCMG, we will soon begin installation of information signs in the Buffalo Creek area. The CCMG organization has been very supportive of our efforts to restore the nature trail.

We were invited to present a program on using native plant material to make dyes at the Newnan Girl Scout Badge camp. Chapter Past President, Gina Strickland, prepared a demonstration on how to make dyes with native plant material, which included jars of dye solutions and materials such as cotton and linen dyed with the solutions. Ginny McGee and Flo Hayes presented this demonstration to the campers. Ginny also displayed her spinning wheel and samples of wool-to-knitted garments for the children to see. Ginny even took the time to show some of the children how to knit. It was wonderful to see the children (some boys attended) with excited looks and hear thoughtful questions about native plants and dyes.

Ken Gohring discusses native azaleas. Photo Credit: Mike Strickland

At our recent public meeting on June 21st, speaker Ken Gohring talked about native azaleas and showed such beautiful slides. The compliments continue to pour in about the program and several people mentioned that they are looking forward to additional programs.

To learn more about the West Georgia Chapter and our programs and projects, please visit WWW.wgawildflowers.org.

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NativeSCAPE July 2011

Upcoming Events
July 12th (Tuesday): GNPS July Meeting
Our next meeting is coming up on this Tuesday, July 12th. The meeting will be at Atlanta Botanical Garden in Day Hall, starting at 7:30 pm (but please come a little early to socialize and have some light refreshments). We will have plants to sell so bring your checkbook! We've had a change in speaker since we originally scheduled this meeting, but I think you will find this speaker very informative: Exploring Our Role and Connections to the Global Ecology - Rick Huffman, Founder of Earth Design, and Founder of the South Carolina Native Plant Society, will present "Exploring Our Role and Connections to the Global Ecology: Sustainability Through Landscapes and Applied Ecology". He will explore our role in nature and how we can learn from natural plant communities to reconnect and restore ecological integrity in our landscapes. Sustainable landscape applications such as rain gardens, green roof gardens, bio-swales, and successional landscapes meet today's challenges, while bringing a renewed excitement and sense of wonder to communities, corporate campuses, public parks, museums, and our home landscapes. Our carpool incentive is still in effect - come as a carpool and receive a $3 voucher (approximately 2 hours worth) for your parking. If you don't have another member to carpool with, consider inviting a friend to come with you - we love to meet new people. Come a little early and walk around the Garden before the meeting - admission to the Garden is free when you attend a GNPS meeting (just tell them you are there for our meeting). Need help finding a carpool? Email Carol Brantley for assistance: cbatl@att.net .

September 13th (Tuesday): GNPS September Meeting

September Meeting - Tuesday, September 13. Mary Woehrel will be speaking on the Mushrooms of Georgia. More specific information to follow soon.

Please refer to our website for current information on project workdays and times. Thank you!

Wildlife Food Habitats and Favorite Native Plants

(continued from page 8)

When cross-referenced with Douglas W. Tallamys List of Woody Plants Ranked by Ability to Support Lepidoptera (butterfly) Species (Bringing Nature Home, 2007) the following are truly dual-purpose, highly beneficial native plants: Oak, Wild Cherry, Blueberry, Maple, Pine, Hickory and Beech. In all categories, the mighty oak comes out on top. The U.S. Forest Service Silviculture Manual honors the White Oak, Quercus alba, as an outstanding tree of all trees. Welcome back native wildlife into your landscape by planting white oak trees. Many years may pass before acorns appear. In the meantime, the oak graces the land with its arboreal beauty and provides shelter and nest sites. Wild turkeys may not find their way back home, but others will. Woodpeckers, titmouse, nuthatch, brown thrasher, towhee, raccoon and gray squirrel will relish the oaks. Whether planting an oak tree or wild cherry, blueberry, maple, pine, hickory, beech or others, plant natives and wildlife WILL come home.

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NativeSCAPE July 2011

Website Update
By Mike Strickland

By now most of you have noticed that the website looks a little different. For a long time now, rearranging the navigation menu has been in the works and a new arrangement was finally worked out. The new menu will all fit in almost any size browser window, so it was set up to stay put, instead of scrolling out of the window, as the old one did. This is but one of the changes that has occurred to your website. There have been a number of changes, that, although not apparent to visitors, makes it easier to maintain the site. These changes are important, since they allow more content without significantly increasing maintenance time. Those who have visited the Bloom Charts lately may have noticed that there is now only one link on the navigation menu and the other charts are available via links on the bloom chart page. You also may have noticed that the chart that comes up, when you click the link, is related to the season - at least somewhat. Since there are only charts for spring, summer and fall, the year is split in thirds instead of quarters. There are also some educational items that have been added. The clickable thumbnails, at the top of the homepage, will display information about the plant. This project is not complete, so some plants still do not have information, but it was decided to go ahead and display what we have. A Glossary page has been added. You can access this page via the Resources link on the navigation menu, and also, via the terms on the Warm Season Grasses page that are clickable. In the future, other pages may have links added so that terms can be 'looked up' in the glossary as well. If you have suggestions for other pages that could use links into the glossary, please feel free to send the information to me via the webmaster email address on the About Us page. Last and this one is for fun, too a trivia box has been added to the Announcements page. This box will have a different piece of trivia each time you visit the page. I am working on increasing the number of trivia items, so that repetition will be minimized. Those of us on the Website Committee hope that you find the changes and additions to the website to be useful, fun and educational.

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Georgia Native Plant Society Membership & Renewal

Memberships are effective for one calendar year, beginning January 1st. Hydrangea quercifolia

Choose membership level: (Select one) ___Individual/Family ($20) ___Full-Time Student ($15) ___Lifetime Individual/Family ($250) ___Senior, 55 and older ($15) ___Corporate/Commercial/Educational ($50)

Affiliation: ___No Chapter Affiliation ___West Georgia Chapter

___Check here if in addition to my membership renewal, I have included ______ to be distributed as follows: ___Education ___Jeane Reeves Memorial Grants and Scholarship Program Total Enclosed: ____________ ___Conservation/Propagation/Restoration ___Unrestricted Check # _______________

Trade Name (if applicable):

_______________________________________________________________________

First Name: ______________________ Middle Initial: ____ Last Name: __________________________________ If Family, list additional names: ____________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________________________________________________ Home Phone: ___________________________________ Work Phone: ____________________________________ Email Address: ___________________________________________________________________________________ (Email address is required if you wish to receive the Listserv and/or Electronic Newsletter.)

___ Check here if you prefer NOT to receive emails from our list server which contain information about meetings, plant rescues, work parties and other items of interest to the membership.

The full-color newsletter will be sent electronically. If you require a print version, which will be black and white, check here: ___

Please mail completed renewal form to the following address: GNPS, PO Box 422085, Atlanta, GA 30342-2085