Action against invasives never ends. Put your feet up and choose from the following resources to boost your long-term game. They have been purposely chosen because they address plants in our region. Search for them on your own or use the links at GranbyInvasivePlants.weebly.com
Books
Connecticut Native Plant and Sustainable Landscaping Guide, UConn Extension, 2021.
Massively useful and little known, this free guide’s 44 pages are packed with specific plant lists—wet places, salty spots, groundcovers, lawn alternatives, plants easy to grow from seed, cover and pasture plants, and reclamation areas. Authors include key members of the state’s hub of invasive plant knowledge, the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG).
Nature’s Best Hope by Dr. Doug Tallamy.
Professor of Entomology and Wildlife Biology at University of Delaware, Tallamy is a key contributor to the explosive leap in public understanding of the impact of humans on the natural world and how we can repair the damage we cause. His funky video presentations (including through the Granby Public Library in 2021) and informal Instagram posts are accessible and full of insights. He co-launched HomegrownNationalPark.org, an innovative, practical way to aggregate and accelerate individual backyard efforts to replace invasive plants with natives that feed the bugs that feed the birds and so on.
Northeast Native Plant Primer, Uli Lorimer, Native Plant Trust, 2022.
A great resource of 235 plants (trees, grasses, shrubs, vines, ferns and wildflowers), many not well-known, with planting guidance. One could quibble with details—not showing more than one image of a plant, choice of one vs. another—but it’s an outstanding tool for the public at a pivotal time.
Native Trees of Connecticut, John Ehrenreich, 2022.
It’s a handy book with good illustrations and helpful guidance on identifying trees, with some stories and lore. BUT its definition of native as a tree that has been “present for over a century or naturalized in the state or nearby” is careless and dangerous. It includes the so-called Tree of Heaven—an invasive curse upon the land that hosts another invader: spotted lanternfly.
Catalogues
Ernst Seeds is a tremendous resource for converting invasive-choked wastelands to native plant lands. The online catalogue features step-by-step strategies and products, especially for large-scale transformations.
Fedco is the most useful catalogue ever. Tiny type, flimsy newsprint, old-timey line drawings, not a speck of color, nary a photo … but hundreds of pages packed with plant and growing wisdom. A Maine consumer/worker-owned co-op, Fedco has been serving the organic growing community for nearly half a century and ships thousands of affordable, high-quality bare-rooted trees, shrubs and perennials every spring. There’s a Trees catalogue, one for Seeds and Supplies, and one for Bulbs. All are incredibly beautiful and informative, far beyond the narrow needs of commerce. Fedco has a fine website also but the printed catalogue is a true world treasure.
Samadgardensinitiative.
Sarah Rose and Azeem Kareem in Windsor offer completely accessible home gardening and small-scale farming advice for those who want a more self-sufficient life. Their roots include the Holcomb Farm CSA. They often post short videos on seed-saving, soil preparation, windowsill germinating and the like.
Northeastnativeplants.
A couple of times a week Michelle Poudrette puts out glorious pictures and informal personal commentary about plants we all know and love—and plants so rare almost no one ever sees, such as whorled pogonia and lance-leaved twisted stalk. Most posts are from Connecticut’s northeast quiet corner, but her native range is the multi-state northeast, from the Sound to the north woods.
Pollinatorpathwaystamford.
Its occasional posts are all about groups of people—students, retirees, experts, newbies—getting together to gradually replace invasive-infested and abandoned areas with sustainable native plantings at scale.iveplanttrust. The Native Plant Trust has been around since 1900 and is the authoritative source on native plants in northeast states. It includes Garden in the Woods in Framingham, Mass., Nasami Farm in Whately, Mass. and GoBotany reference webpage. Its posts range from internship and training opportunities to classes and planting insights to deep dives into specific plants. A national treasure.
Invasive Action this month
In winter it’s easier to target leafless invaders like autumn/Russian olive, bittersweet, multiflora rose, barberry, and euonymus. If they are too big to yank out by the roots, carefully cut-and-paint mature stumps with herbicides—it’s amazing but many plants do take up enough systemic poison in the winter to maim or end their vitality.
Granby residents tackle large projects together on regular second-Saturday mornings. Send a note at GranbyInvasivePlants.weebly.com to find out more.
And …
This is the 26th column published in The Granby Drummer since the Granby Conservation Commission began the campaign in 2019. As the Drummer leadership shifts, we want to recognize and appreciate the extraordinary role Drummer volunteers play in making our town a great place to live. It has been a pleasure to work with the generous and super hard-working volunteers there, and we look forward to many more years of collaboration.
