OUR TOWN IS APPLYING FOR A CONNECTICUT RECREATIONAL TRAILS PROGRAM GRANT!

The Invasive Species Working Group will be meeting on Wednesday November 19th at 3:00PM, at the Scotland Public Library, to discuss developing a grant application to the state.  All are invited to attend.  We’d love for you to contribute your ideas!

The Connecticut DEEP has made grant money available for towns to design, develop and maintain recreational trails.  The grant money can also be used for equipment, amenities and educational outreach, as well as future maintenance. Our town has decided to focus on the boardwalk and trail through the wooded area between the Scotland Public Library and the firehouse and community room, and to connect the trail to the Scotland Elementary School property.  We held an event several months ago where some of us volunteered to begin clearing an area along the path that had become overgrown with invasive plants.  That event drew attention to the potential that area has for improvement and the town's board of selectmen agreed to move forward with the project if we get the grant.  The grant application is complicated, but we have experienced grant writers working on the project. 

State grants help equalize opportunities and amenities for small towns like ours that don’t have the resources of larger, wealthier towns like the New York suburbs and shoreline communities, so it’s important that we take advantage of these opportunities. The town of Scotland could never pay for a project like this on its own.  This is a matching grant, which means we need to contribute 20% of the cost, but don’t worry, this will not have any effect on your property taxes!  We can use volunteer hours toward the 20% match at a rate of $34.79 per hour per volunteer.  We can also use any hours on the project spent by the department of public works at their pay scale.  Any monetary donations, should we be that fortunate, would of course also count.

The trail has the potential to provide an educational opportunity for our children in the Scotland Elementary School, and Parish Hill too for that matter.   For example, perhaps we might provide the elementary school with raised beds and covers making small greenhouse structures so the students can grow some native species to plant along the trail.  We plan to increase public awareness about invasive plants and native plants as well among all ages.  Also in our plans is the repair of sections of the boardwalk, which has the engraved names of present and past Scotland residents.  

The grant money can provide for continued maintenance so the boardwalk will not fall into disrepair again and we can continue to keep out the invasive species.  The grant can pay for the cost to hire a consultant to help us plan and design the path and plantings.  We can add benches along the trail as well as signage pointing out various native plants.  With the grant money, we plan to hire a company that is licensed and has the ability to really tackle the invasive species that have taken over in areas along the trail.  Come to the November 19th meeting and bring your ideas!

 Skunk Cabbage AKA Syplocarpus fotidus

Last night as I lay awake, I wondered if I might have actually heard the world crumbling, I quickly realized I was probably just hearing a collective snore from man and dog.  Lying there I began to think of this blog, and then I thought of skunk cabbage, because well why not.  There’s a quirky plant that doesn’t ever get enough recognition.  I always thought this plant was native to Connecticut, but it is not.  It is native to eastern North America though and thought to have naturalized in Connecticut during colonial times.  Unfortunately, at this point it is naturalized to the point that it is considered potentially invasive.  Either way, it is a fascinating plant.  It is first to emerge proud and erect every spring appearing almost as though it could be carnivorous.  It probably deserves a better common name than skunk cabbage for its efforts. 

The plant has an interesting growth habit.  The tiny flowers of each individual plant are both male and female.  They are contained within a leafy purple and green sheath, botanically termed a spathe.  The spathes contain a spadix which is a spongy like growth that holds the cluster of tiny flowers. Both the spadix and flowers are capable of chemically producing heat which allows them, as they emerge from the earth to burn through the remaining snow cover during late winter and early spring.  The off-putting carrion like scent wafting from the opened flowers is spread further aloft by the heat produced.  The fetid unpleasant scent, hence, the Latin portion of the name fotidus, attracts flies and beetles seeking the cozy warmth and possibility of a tempting a meal.  Unfortunately for them, the reverse can perhaps hold true, as the flies and beetles may actually become the meal for opportunistic spiders who are known to spin their webs near the entrance to those flowers.  

After the flowers begin to die back clusters of heart shaped leaves emerge from the ground.  It is at this time large patches of skunk cabbage can be easily seen growing along the forest floor resembling a field of green Hosta.  As the flowers become pollinated, they produce a strange looking connected fruit which resembles a miniature pineapple.  In Latin syplocarpus means connected fruit which is the first part of the Latin name for this plant.  Each cluster of fruit contains approximately 50 seeds.  The seeds fall into the swampy earth and germinate or are carried away by birds or small mammals.  As the plant goes through repeated growing cycles.  The stems get sucked deeper into the swampy earth and the roots become extremely difficult to remove. 

Hungry bears emerging in early spring will forage and consume the young leaves. They are one of few animals that will consume this plant as the leaves produce a burning sensation in the mouth and throat.  This is caused by the calcium oxalate contained in them.  In Native American culture this plant was used for food and medicinal purposes.  I would not recommend consuming it though as preparation of this plant is lengthy, and there are far better alternatives to forage both in the forest and in the supermarket.

 Bloodroot AKA Sanguinaria canadensis

This is one of the first flowers to bloom in my yard in the spring.  The plant grows in a woodland setting and though it is fairly common it always seems a bit of a surprise to see it.  The low growing plant has relatively large flowers with eight to twelve white petals and bright yellow stamens in the center.  The flowers first arise securely wrapped in a broad leaf.  

Bloodroot contains a red sap most concentrated in its rhizome. The sap is what gives the plant both its common name bloodroot, and its Latin name Sanguinaria. Sanguinarius means bloody in Latin.  The plant has had traditional uses in Native American medicine.  The red sap contains a high concentration of alkaloyds.  These have been studied and explored for use in modern medicine as well however to date nothing has been medically approved from those substances.  In fact, the sap is quite powerful and dangerous as it causes skin necrosis so don't mess with it!  

The flowers are beautiful, and their pollen attracts certain bees. The foliage is exotic looking especially when fully opened.  It opens fully after the flower fades.  The plant then goes dormant toward the middle of summer. Bloodroot has an interesting way of spreading called Myrmecochory.  The seeds contain an attached fleshy portion called an eliasome.  Ants transport the seed to their nests where they consume the eliasome then discard the remainder of the seed to their little "ant compost piles".  The seed is protected there in that rich soil until it germinates the following spring.  There is a cultivated double form of this flower that is especially prized, and though it is very beautiful, I am satisfied enough with the single version. It is one of the first signs of spring!

NATIVE PLANT GERANIUM MACULATUM

I have not covered all of Connecticut's invasive plants yet, even so I think it may be time to change the focus to some native plants; plants we can keep an eye out for and possibly help to protect by removing encroaching invasives. 

There are so many beautiful native plants it is a bit difficult to find a starting place! I think the best method for making that decision is to follow the months of the calendar, so I will start with some of the first flowers we are likely to encounter when the spring season is once again upon us. Writing about these plants will also help me keep the grueling winter months that lie ahead in perspective.  Keep in mind it is not legal to remove these plants or their seeds from the wild without a permit. Here is a link that explains why. https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/ethics/index.shtml .  

It is still entirely possible to grow native plants though, as there are nurseries that have procured these plants legally.  They propagate them and offer them for sale.  Here is a link that includes a list of native plants and suppliers.  This 2025 list was compiled by UCONN.  2025 Connecticut Native Tree, Shrub, and Perennial Availability List

The first plant that comes to my mind is wild geranium or Geranium maculatum.  It is a very ornamental native perennial plant that grows prolifically all over our town during the first spring months and even into early summer.  It is a plant so attractive that you would think had been cultivated, and there are slightly fancier cultivars of it, but in its unadulterated form it is a native plant. It is native not only to Connecticut but also to many states in eastern North America.  Here in Scotland, it is often found adorning woodland edges where there is rich humus type soil, and shade or dappled sunlight.  Wild geranium is a low growing plant with deeply divided leaves. When in bloom it is covered in pink flowers, followed of course by abundant seed pods.  Though left to its own devices, the plant often frequents semi-shaded spots it will also tolerate a location that receives full sun so long as the soil remains moist.  The flowers are host to a multitude of bee and beetle pollinators. These insects in turn provide food for mourning doves, robins, juncos, and even quail.  Deer will occasionally browse the foliage, and chipmunks have been known to fill their cheeks with the seeds. So, this pretty little native plant feeds a good size crowd!

Wild geranium behaves well in a garden.  It spreads, though gradually, via its rhizomes.  Of course, it also spreads by seed.  The seeds are contained within a sharp beak shaped pod.  The seed pods give the plant another of its common names crane's bill geranium.  The cleverly designed seedpod has the capability of catapulting the ripened seed a good distance eventually creating another stand of the plant.

 

Dame's Rocket AKA Hesperis matronalis

The more I add entries to this blog, the more I realize I may not be the right person to be writing it!  I'm afraid I have a fondness for a several of these plants presently considered invasive.  I'll explain.  We've owned several period homes over the years, and when we moved to each one, I searched each property for any remnants of garden plants that may have been planted and survived over the centuries.  For years I have been poring through antique garden catalogs from the 19th century, as well as any gardening books, both old and new, that referred to plants grown in past centuries for both their ornamental appeal as well as their food value. I still remember sitting in front of a fire one winter about twenty-five years ago perusing a seed catalogue from a Union, Connecticut company called Select Seeds.  It was a modern-day catalogue that offered a variety of seeds for antique ornamental plants.  Next to each antique plant represented, there was a little blurb about the plant's history.  Because of its fragrance, abundant showy flowers in shades of lavender to white, and its early history of arrival on our shores, Dame's rocket is one of the seed packets I selected.  Truthfully, I'm surprised the plant was not already growing on that 18th century property as the plant was imported by Europeans arriving on our soil way back in the 17th century.  It has naturalized on my present property.  I did not plant it here.  It is a possibility that it has been growing here since our present house was built in the last quarter of the 1700's.

Hesperis matronalis is a plant with about a million different common names, Dame's Rocket is the one most commonly used in the U.S.  It is a biannual plant said to be native to southern Europe with a range from Spain to Turkey.  It is now naturalized through much of Europe, the US and Canada.  The word Dame's was likely taken from Damascus, a Syrian city near Turkey, and rocket from the French word roquette a referral to the plant being in the cabbage or Brassicaceae family. The Hesperis portion of the Latin name is a reference to the plant's fragrance which becomes stronger in the evening. Hespera is the Greek word for evening.  Dame's rocket is in the mustard family, another cruciferous vegetable like broccoli.  Many parts of Hesperis matronalis are considered edible. Here is a link to a site called Forager Chef should that aspect of this plant be of interest to you https://foragerchef.com/dames-rocket-hesperis-matronalis/ 

This plant has had ample time in its over three hundred years presence on our shores to escape gardens and disrupt native plant growth.  It has naturalized in many areas.  It is a biannual meaning the first year it grows as a rosette of foliage.  It is early to emerge and the reddish color of its foliage upon emergence provides the plant with protection from the cold.  In its second year of growth the plant produces flowers and seeds.  Its growth very early in the season allows it to crowd out native species.  As with garlic mustard, it is a highly prolific seeder.  A single plant is capable of producing 20,000 seeds!  In Connecticut this plant is considered invasive, and it has been banned.  It is presently not legal to sell or to transport this plant.  It is considered invasive in other states as well.  The seeds for Dame's rocket may well be contained in some wildflower seed mixes, so take care not to inadvertently introduce this plant to your landscape in that manner.

The plant is easy to spot in the months of May and June when it is in bloom.  Be careful not to confuse it with native phlox which it resembles.  By observing the details, it is easy to distinguish them from each other. Dame's rocket has four flower petals versus phlox which has five petals.  When observing the foliage on dame's rocket, you will notice the lance shaped leaves grow in alternating fashion along the stem versus phlox which leaves grow in opposition or directly across from one another along the stem. Another non-native plant it resembles is Lunaria annua which is commonly called honesty, silver dollar, or money plant.  Lunaria annua has heart shaped leaved versus the lanceolate formed ones found on dame's rocket.   Lunaria annua also has those silvery round flat seed pods sometimes used in flower arrangements.  It too is a plant in the mustard family.  Lunaria annua is not considered invasive in Connecticut.

HOW TO REMOVE

Hesperis matronalis is easy to pull out by the root especially after a good soaking rain.  It is best to bag the pulled plants in a large heavy duty trash bag and bring the bagged plants to the landfill where they will be burned.  Do not compost them as they will grow in your compost pile and spread from there.  A follow-up pulling will likely be necessary the next several years, but over time the plant will disappear from your landscape.  This same method of removal works for garlic mustard. 

Should you choose to use an herbicide, it would be best to use a selective herbicide that will not harm grasses.  Apply it later in the fall months.  A late in the season application will help prevent the spraying of desirable native plants most of which die back before dame's rocket.

 

Yellow flag iris AKA Iris pseudacorus

Yellow flag iris is native to Europe, Western Asia and Northwest Africa.  It was brought to the United States, as an ornamental plant, during the second half of the 1800's. Soon after its introduction the plant began to escape cultivation.  It was a desirable ornamental loaded with cheery bright yellow flowers that that unfurl in late spring. It is also a very hardy plant with a tough fibrous almost woody rhizomatous root system. The plant spreads vigorously from the root as well as from the multitudes of disk-shaped seeds contained within its numerous seed pods.  In the right conditions, especially in a wet bog like setting, the plant can reach a height of four to five feet.  

When I first saw this plant on the Connecticut Invasive plant list, I was in denial.  I maintain an island of flowers along a roadside.  When I began planting the island with flowers some 20 years ago, I wanted to plant a variety of hardy perennial plants that I thought would be impervious to salt, sand, full sun, and capable of survival being watered solely by rainfall, rather harsh growing conditions.  This pretty flowering plant was already growing and thriving on my property, and it seemed to fit the bill, so it is one that I choose to plant in that garden.  Fortunately, perhaps due to the fact the irises are growing in an island surrounded by asphalt, they do not appear to have escaped.  I will mention here that it is not legal to sell this plant in Connecticut, however this plant is still available for purchase online.  There are many other options.  Do not add this plant to your landscape!

Yellow flag iris can often be found naturalized growing in wetland settings, along brooks and streams or in marshes.  In a brook setting you can easily imagine the numerous seeds and seed pods floating down stream where they eventually germinate and create more colonies. Colonies of this plant can alter the flow of water and cause flooding.  In addition, invasive non-native plants have the ability to crowd out native plants that wildlife depends upon to thrive.  In the case of yellow flag iris, the entire plant is poisonous as a food source for animals. Perhaps another reason it remains presently contained within my island of flowers. Soon I will be attempting its removal from that garden, though I will miss its bright sunny presence next spring. I am certain I can find other non-invasive irises to plant in its place. 

HOW TO REMOVE 

For small infestations hand digging with a good strong sharp shovel is best.  The fibrous roots need to be removed in their entirety to prevent regrowth.  Gloves are recommended for handling the roots as resin contained within them can cause skin irritation.  Do NOT use livestock to graze on this plant as it is poisonous for them as a food source.  

If the plant is growing in a pond, First remove and bag any seed pods, then cut the plants at their base below the water line.  Do not compost the seed pods!  That will just spread the plant!  Another method is to cover the colony with a PVC pond liner or heavy tarp being sure to eliminate any air pockets.  Extend the cover a foot beyond the colony.  Bury the edges of the covering and weigh it down securely. It is said that the PVC pond liner can inhibit gas exchange and kill the colony in as little as four to six months.  You will need to monitor the area afterward to be certain there is no post emergence.  

If the plant is growing on dry land, and you want to try an herbicide, a novel method for application on this plant is called wick wiping.  It involves securing a sponge with an elastic band to each end of a pair of kitchen tongs.  Since iris is a monocot like grass is, you need to select a non-specific herbicide that kills grasses as well as broad leaved plants.  Glyphosate is one that is recommended.  You then dip the sponges in the diluted herbicide and wipe the leaves with the sponges on the tongs.  This method cleverly prevents any overspray.

If there is a large colony growing in a wetland or pond setting, there are several water specific herbicides available that are said not to harm wildlife.  You will first need to check to see if a permit is required for their application.

                                   Wineberry AKA Rubus phoenicolasius 

Wineberry is a plant native to China, Japan and Korea.  It was introduced to the U.S. in the 1890's as a breeding stock for raspberries. It is still being used in the United States for that purpose today, though great care is now taken to contain it.  Since its introduction it has spread vigorously throughout the U.S. beginning its spread in the Appalachian Mountains and continuing to spread from there.  At this point wineberry is considered invasive in many states including Connecticut.  The plant grows rapidly forming dense thickets, crowding out native species and filling disturbed areas, preventing other native plants and trees from gaining a foothold. So many ash and oak and hemlock trees have died and fallen throughout our forests in the last several years.  Their loss has left areas of the forest floor open to the sun. Wineberry, barberry, winged euonymus and other invasive shrubs and plants are more than happy to fill those sunny vacancies.  Once they do, the dense shady areas they create can deter those trees from germinating and repopulating our forests. 

Wineberry is related to roses, and of course raspberries.  It is in the Rosaceae family.  When you pick a raspberry or a wineberry, you may think of it as a single fruit, but it is actually a cluster of small fruits, each with its own seed inside capable of germination. The botanical term for this type of fruit is aggregate fruit.  Wineberry is capable of propagating not only by its numerous seeds, which are often distributed throughout the landscape by birds and animals. but as with many other invasive shrubs, it is also capable of spreading through vegetative propagation, when tips of canes that have fallen to the ground take root. In addition, it spreads by shoots coming up from lateral growing roots.  With all those methods of propagation, you can see how this shrub can readily form a thicket. 

Here are some distinguishing characteristics that should help to identify wineberry from native varieties of raspberries.  When you examine the cane of a wineberry, you will notice several longer stiff prickles along the cane along with multitudes of fine long red hairs that make the canes appear red from a distance.  The leaves of wineberry are white on the underside and feel a bit waxy.  They appear on the branches as three heart shaped leaflets growing in alternate fashion along the cane.  As is true of many varieties of raspberries, the first-year canes, called primocanes, grow tall and straight and do not bear flowers or fruit.  The second year those canes, now called flora-canes, form side shoots and those side shoots bear flowers followed by fruit.  The small flowers grow in clusters.  Each five petaled flower is pink to purplish red.  The fruit forms within a distinctive sticky calyx that is covered in fine hairs which exude a sticky fluid.  Because of its sticky nature, the calyx will sometimes have small insects stuck to it.  When the fruit is fully ripe, it is red and also a bit sticky.  When picked, the fruit is hollow on the underside just like a raspberry.  After the fruit is plucked from its hull, the hull left behind on the plant is yellow versus the whiter color hull on a raspberry.  The taste of the fruit is said to be similar to that of a red raspberry but with slightly tarter flavor. Wineberries are perfectly edible and fine for making pie, and jam or, as the name suggests, wine.  

I have yet to encounter this plant or taste its fruit, but I've always found that once you learn about something it is then you begin to notice it, and in some instances, it may have been right under your nose all along.  I was somewhat familiar with this plant from a Facebook post from a group covering native and non-native plant identification.  Now that I have learned even more about this plant, I will definitely be keeping an eye out for it and hope you will too. It is entirely possible that wineberry is yet another invasive plant presently growing somewhere in our town.  We do not want to encourage its growth!

HOW TO REMOVE

Small colonies can be dug out fairly easily as the root system is not terribly tenacious.  Cutting back the foliage repeatedly will also eventually deplete the root system of nutrients eventually killing the plant.  If it has already formed a large hedge or thicket, you may want to consider a foliar spray with an herbicide.  Keep in mind foliar herbicides should be applied late in the growing season when the plant is sending nutrients from its foliage back to the root system.  Though you might believe the best time to try to eradicate a plant with a foliar herbicide is in the spring, when the plant is first emerging, and still small, it is at that point that the nutrients are traveling in the opposite direction from the roots to the leaves making the herbicide relatively ineffective.  It is in the late summer when the process reverses and nutrients are being passed from the crown of the plant back to the roots for winter storage that a foliar spray should be applied because the plant is in the growing stage where it will carry the herbicide to its roots where it can effectively work to kill the plant.