Berks County Plant list now on Nativeplanthighlights.org

Mike has put up on the Native Plant Highlights Web site PDF versions of plant lists for Berks County PA. The three versions of the file are sorted by Scientific Family, by Common name and by scientific name with native species first. If you have comments or suggestions about the lists you can comment here or on the list page.

First seed collecting date of the Fall

The beginning of Seed collecting season is here for 2011!

Where: Union Twp Recreation Area in the meadow plantings.
            At the new parking lot off Rte. 724 behind Tim's Ugly Mug Bar.
            This lot is accessed from Campbell Ford Road which is also the access to the bar's parking lot.

When: Saturday October 8 at @ 2:00 pm to 4:30 or so. (Rain Date: Sunday October 9th at 2 pm, watch this web site for announcements.

Bring: Hand Clippers, paper bags, insect repellant

We expect to collect seed of Monarda fistulosa (Lavender Bee Balm), Sorgastrum nutans (Indian Grass) , Pycnanthemum species (Mountain Mints), Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Milkweed), plus any other native plants we find in seed.

Contact Mke (mslater at voicenet dot com) with questions or you put you question in a comment for this post.

Berks Native Plant Seed Bank Kick-off Program and planning meeting

When:   Wednesday September 21, 2011 at  7:00 pm

 Where:  Nolde Forest Environmental Ed. Center  McConnell Hall

A short Program by Mike Slater on Collecting seed of native meadow plants and growing them for restoration planting . Followed by planning of seed collecting expeditions, seed sorting/cleaning gatherings, planting of seedlings, and seed sowing activities.

We want to broaden our distribution of seed to include private land owners who want quantities of native plant seed, of know local ecotype, in their landscaping as wee as continue to support local public areas in their efforts to increase native plant communities. Local areas we have worked with include, The Berks County Conservancy, The Union Twp. Recreation Area and a little bit at French Creek State Park.

Native Plant Highlight (A new Feature)

Native plants and the insects associated with them are my passion. In order to share some of my love and fascination with native plants, I am beginning to assemble information and my pictures on native plants that my wife Jan and I feel more people in our area would enjoy growing in their gardens or habitat restorations. I want the information to be widely available so this blog and web site are where it is going to be. We are growing most of these plants and trying to make them available through local native plant nurseries, local volunteer native plant sales, and Natural history club native plant exchanges. So I hope this will whet the appetites of plants people so when they see our little plant puppies at a sale or exchange they will recognize their potential and desirability and take them home!

I am always learning about native plants which are unfamiliar to me. I know other people interested in native plants have the same experience all the time. Or sometimes I get the opportunity to grow a native I was interested in but didn't have a way to get seed or a plant to grow. I especially like to know the provenance of the plants I am growing, Pennsylvania or Mid-Atlantic States origin is preferable to me since that is where we live, garden and work on habitat restoration. I wasn't always this picky but under the influence of a number of fellow native plant enthusiasts I have been focusing on natives of known geographic and habitat origin.

If anyone has any requests, suggestions or comments, please leave them in the comments section of any post.

Mike Slater

 Coreopsis tripteris Tall Coreopsis, will be the first one. It will be up soon.