Native Plant of the Week: Thimbleweed ~ Anemone cylindrica

Other Common Name: Candle Anemone

Thimbleweed is fairly common in our area in Central Minnesota. I often see it in old fields in dry, well drained soil and on the sunny edges of woodlands.

Right now, the seed heads look like tufts of cotton as the fluffy white material surrounding the seeds is breaking away from the center cone. This is actually one of the most attractive or showy features of this native forb, when planted in a mass these late fall seed heads can provide a lot of interest in the fall garden.

Thimble Anemone has white to light green, five petaled flowers like other native Anemones, but the flowers aren't as big in diameter as the Canada Anemone (Anemone canadensis) for example. The green center cone sticking up above the upward curving petals gives this Anemone a unique look. In Central Minnesota, the flowers open from early to late June.

Thimble Anemone has leaves that are similar in appearance to Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) with a lobed palmate shape.

Image Credit: S & A Wasowski
Image Source

The leaves turn anywhere from a bright orange to red to burgundy in color in late fall when the fluffy seeds are developing.

The leaves are arranged in a whorled pattern midway up the stem along with some long stemmed basal leaves and the occasional opposite pair on the upper part of the stem. (MinnesotaWildflowers.info)

Thimble Anemone is native to much of North America, except for the southern most U.S. States and northern Canadian territories.

Fall leaf color

Bare root plants and seeds are available for sale at Prairie Moon Nursery. It is listed as easy to grow from seed in their catalog.

Invasive Buckthorn and Native Look-Alikes

European Buckthorn (green) in late fall

We have two types of invasive Buckthorn in Minnesota. The first (most common) is European Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) and the second is Glossy Buckthorn (Frangula alnus). There are several native trees and shrubs that often get confused with these Buckthorns.

European Buckthorn Leaf

Both of these invasives were introduced as horticultural ornamentals mainly for use as hedging. "European or Common Buckthorn and Glossy Buckthorn or Alder Buckthorn are listed as restricted noxious weeds in Minnesota. It is illegal to import, sell, or transplant buckthorn in Minnesota." (Source: MN DNR)

For comparison purposes, I will highlight leaf shape, color and arrangement, bud, bark, flower and fruit for these Buckthorns and their native look alikes.

LEAF

European Buckthorn Leaf

European Buckthorn ~ Rhamnus cathartica

Shape: Elliptical, often with pronouced point
Edge: Serrated
Leaf Arrangement on Branch:
Varies from opposite to subopposite to alternate
Leaf Stem (Petiole): Hairy
Venation: Parallel curving to leaf point/end, 3-4 veins per leaf half
Color: Dark Green above, light green below
Fall Color: Dark Green
Distinguishing Feature of Leaf: Inconsistent leaf arrangement on branch

Glossy Buckthorn Leaf

Glossy Buckthorn ~ Frangula alnus

Shape: Elliptical, often coming to point

Edge: Smooth

Leaf Arrangement on Branch:

Alternate

Leaf Stem (Petiole): Hairy, reddish-pink

Venation: Parallel curving to leaf point/end, 6-9 veins per leaf half

Color: Dark Green & Glossy above, light green below
Fall Color: Yellow

Distinguishing Feature of Leaf: Non-serrated leaf edge

Native Chokecherry Leaf

Choke Cherry ~ Prunus virginiana

Often Confused with Glossy Buckthorn

Shape: Elliptical, often wider on top half of leaf

Edge: Serrated

Leaf Arrangement on Branch: 

Alternate

Leaf Stem (Petiole): Sometimes hairy

Venation: Parallel tilting upwards to edge, then rounding to a close to vein above

Color: Dark Green above, light green below and hairy
Fall Color: Bright yellow to orange to peachy

Native Black Chokeberry leaf (above)
Red Fall Color (below)

Black Chokeberry ~ Aronia melanocarpa

Often Confused with European Buckthorn

Shape: Elliptical to oblong

Edge: Serrated

Leaf Arrangement on Branch: 

Alternate

Leaf Stem (Petiole): Short, often reddish-pink at base

Venation: Parallel curving towards leaf point/tip

Color: Dark Green above, light green below
Fall Color: Yellow to orange to bright red
Distinguishing Feature: Black 'hair-like' glands on the middle (center) vein

Glands on Center Vein Black Chokeberry

 BUD

European Buckthorn Bud With 'Thorn'
Dark Brown Scales

European Buckthorn Bud 'Hooves' Arrangement
Dark Brown Scales

Glossy Buckthorn Bud
Reddish color, hairy

Choke Cherry Bud
Light Brown Scales, single bud

Chokeberry Bud
Red, pointed

 BARK

0.5" Diameter European Buckthorn
Smooth Gray Bark with White lenticels
Image Source: Chris Evans, Invasive.org 

6" Diameter European Buckthorn
with peeling light brown bark

Black Cherry Bark
Often confused with European Buckthorn

Black Cherry (yellow ribbon) and
European Buckthorn (blue ribbon)

Orange Inner Bark on European Buckthorn
Image Source: Chris Evans, Invasive.org

Choke Cherry Bark
Dark Brown with light brown streaks

1" Diameter Glossy Buckthorn Bark
Light Gray with Yellow-white lenticels

FLOWER

Glossy Buckthorn Flowers

European Buckthorn Flowers
Image Source: Chris Evans, Invasive.org 

Black Chokeberry Flower

Choke Cherry Flower

FRUIT

Black Chokeberry
Unripened Fruit

European Buckthorn
Blue-black ripe Fruit

Black Chokeberry Fruit

Glossy Buckthorn Fruit

Choke Cherry Fruit

A Few Late Fall Photos

Red Maple Leaves

Tall Grass Prairie & Aspens

Northern Leopard Frog

Native Plant of the Week: Ironwood ~ Ostrya virginiana

Ironwood ~ Ostrya virginiana
Other Common Name: Hop Hornbeam

The Ironwood trees are becoming more apparent in Minnesota woods right now as most trees have shed their leaves, Ironwoods tend to hold onto their leaves much longer into the winter months. These dark brown leaves provide some nice interest in the woodland landscape in the winter.

We have planted several Ironwood trees in our yard, many in the backyard where we reclaimed the lawn and have started to turn it back into a woodland. This area is very dry and shaded and they're doing really well.

Ironwoods are a very adaptable tree. They typically grow as an understory tree and can tolerate a lot of shade. They are fairly slow growing, can reach 50 feet in height but a more typical size is 25-35 feet.

This summer was the first summer in the 4 years since we converted the lawn where we started to get Ironwood seedlings coming up.

We have several mature Ironwoods over the backyard fence and now that we have a better growing medium built up (leaf litter & humus) seedlings are starting to germinate.

Ironwoods have very attractive hop-like papery seed pods that form in mid to late June after flowering. The male catkin flowers elongate in May and are quite conspicuous hanging downwards from the branches. The female flowers are more hidden and not as noticeable.

These papery seed pods dry and turn from creamy white in color to a light brown later in the season. The seeds drop in the fall and winter months.

Ironwood gets its common name from its tough wood that is very hard to saw. The bark is another nice feature which is coarse with flat raised strips.

Ironwood is by no mean a straight upright tree. Its main leader will often take a few twists and turns as it grows upwards. The branching is very flat or horizontal which gives it an overall unique form in the woods or landscape.

If you have some openings in your shaded landscape for Ironwood I would highly recommend this native tree. It makes a great replacement to the invasive European Buckthorn.

Ironwood is native to Eastern North America, from Saskatchewan south to Texas and eastwards.

Leave the leaves

It's that time of year where the neighborhood is busy raking and blowing leaves to get them off their lawn.

My City had a great article in their latest newsletter encouraging residents to utilize 'nature's mulch' rather than putting it to the curb.

In our yard, we let the leaves lie where they land (other than on walkways where they're put into the adjoining garden). We do have a small amount of lawn left and these leaves are collected and used on the steeper slopes where exposed soil is susceptible to erosion.

I found this amazing Fawn Sphinx Moth Caterpillar (Sphinx kalmiae) last week, and like many moth and other insect species it will overwinter under leaves.

Ever wondered where on earth in a surburban setting of all lawn can these insects find a warm and protected enough place to survive Minnesota's winters?

Some insects will find winter homes in hollow plant stems and plant debris, rotting wood logs left on the ground or standing but under leaves are one of the most commonly listed places in my field guides.

For this reason, we don't cut down any of our native perennials or grasses until late spring after most insects have emerged. Besides, it creates very nice winter interest having the skeletons of last year's landscape stick up through the snow.

We have salvaged many old logs from our neighbor's property (with their permission) because they were to be hauled away during their property construction. We have used them throughout the yard as nurse logs, planting shrubs and perennials around them. These plants always seem to do significantly better than ones further away from the nurse log.  The nurse log provides the soil with valuable nutrients and helps hold moisture which the growing plants love.

This spring, I looked outside into the backyard and we had a Pileated Woodpecker pecking away at one of the first nurse logs we laid in the yard 4 years ago. It probably took some time, but the log most likely has many types of insects in it now that attract the woodpeckers. We now have enough of a shrub and herbaceous layer around the log too that makes me believe that the Pileated felt comfortable enough to settle in for a while and peck at the log.

That's Invasive? Amur Maple ~ Acer ginnala

Native to: Asia

Best Method of Removal: Cut and treat stumps with glyphosate

Interim Measures: Cut back after flowering to prevent seed formation

Native Alternatives: Alternate Leaved Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia), Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), Serviceberries (Amelanchier species)

Cultivars Sold in the Nursery Trade: Red Fruit, Bailey Compact, Flame, Compactum and Durand Dwarf

This shrub/small tree is very common in our neighborhood where homeowners have planted it in their landscape. One of the reasons for its popularity is its bright red fall color. It is however invasive in several midwest and east coast States. In the Midwest, the Wisconsin and Minnesota DNR list it as invasive. Even so, it is still abundantly sold at local nurseries.

Several of these woody exotics are cropping up at my local park as illustrated in the second photo. They are taking advantage of more open or sparsely wooded spots near the restored prairie. Amur maple produces a lot of seeds (the characteristic maple seeds or samaras) that can 'helicopter' away a good distance from the parent plant. "It displaces native shrubs and understory trees in open woods, and shades out native grasses and herbaceous plants in savanna habitat". (Minnesota DNR)

Paul Wray, Iowa State University

The leaves are similar to a Silver Maple and sharply toothed. They emerge a dark glossy green with red petioles then turn bright yellow to red in late fall.

Amur Maple grows up to 20 feet in height when mature. It is usually multi-stemmed and has smooth light gray bark. It flowers in the spring, yellowish-white fragrant flowers that then develop into samaras.

Paul Wray, Iowa State University