The seedlings I so carefully planted last week, pots and all, in my clever attempt to save shelf space for my propagating efforts, has attracted some fauna. Likely a raccoon has been digging up the pots and turning out all the seedlings. I can’t be sure as to why, but there might be worms around because I’ve been watering the seedlings once in a while. Whatever creature is digging them up just grabs a couple of the pots each night and leaves them lying empty on their sides where once there was a precious seedling. So, when I say, “If you plant it, they will come,” I imagine there will be other surprising ways this manifests–I certainly wasn’t expecting raccoons to dig up my potted seedlings. Good to know the bandits are around, though.
Years ago, one of my first attempts to go native was to nurture a little cherry seedling that popped up in our yard. It turned out to be a native bitter cherry, Prunus emarginata. I had read that it would top out around 20 feet, so we planted it next to the driveway. I had read an inaccurate article because P. emarginata do not stop growing at 20 feet. So, it climbed up to 35 feet and appeared to want to keep growing. Later, I read that they grow to 45 feet tall and are not long-lived and tend to topple easily in storms–not the perfect tree to have next to the driveway where vehicles are parked. I have seen these trees in natural areas and they seem much taller and bigger than online sources suggest.
Our bitter cherry tree was already suckering rambunctiously throughout our yard, including under the driveway and coming up on the other side! It was beautiful, though, with cinnamon bark and bright, healthy foliage, with noticeable white spring flowers. I never saw cherries on our tree–maybe the birds got them all. We decided it had to go to prevent more suckers and a tree on top of our house, our car, or our trailer. So, we paid a guy to cut the tree down and we kept the wood and took it up to our cabin for firewood.
Now that I have read a lot more about growing natives, I discovered that I can keep trees like this small and they will still benefit wildlife. And lucky for me, there are still a bunch of suckers from that first tree around the garden. I let them grow a bit and then prune them off so they become low, leafy shrubs.
I haven’t seen a lot of food web activity on these plants, but I’m optimistic that keeping them around is making a difference.
As I worked around the garden this weekend, I noticed two Western tiger swallowtail butterflies, at least three cabbage white butterflies, and this giant beauty, an eight spotted skimmer dragonfly that landed near the front porch and patiently allowed me to get close enough for some photos.
