March 1.1 Acre Project: Invasive plants

Apr 29, 2013 by shannon

March was all about invasive plants in my mind. Looking at the photographs, you will see how many invasive species gain their advantage by budding, sprouting and blossoming earlier than most of the native plants. In March there were few signs of the native spring ephemerals, but many active invasives.

Many problem invasive species such as Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora), Wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius) and Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) are spiny brambles and are thus nearly impossible to be eaten by hungry deer. On the other hand, invasives such as Lesser Celandine and Garlic Mustard are edible by humans! But they flower and seed so readily that even a Borough-wide feast might not even knock out these plants.

March began the display of how different trees bud out. You’ll see a sampling of some of our native trees in bud as they reach for the skies. Also, I had never noticed American Hornbeam in the 1.1 Acre before. I’ve seen it in other areas of the park, but had no idea it was right there!

You can also visit the entire Friends of Glen Providence Park’s Flickr Gallery, where you can read informative descriptions with the photographs, and even view them as a full screen slide show!

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December 2020 update: We will be updating our website to enable our Flickr galleries to again display here. Until then, you can view our March 1.1 Acre photos on Flickr.

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