Post-burn planting

We generally wait until we have burned a unit before we plant it. This ensures that the area is bare and the seeds will reach the soil.

Yesterday, a fine sunny day, we planted purple milkweed, New Jersey tea, needle grass, and prairie dropseed, among others.

The photo shows Kathie's technique for planting prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) on the south-facing slope. She uses a bread knife to make a slice in the soil, lift it up, and slide a few seeds in with her other hand. This is a backbreaking, time-consuming way, but works.



We already have scattered prairie dropseed growing on this slope, including some remnant plants that were there before we started restoration. But more of this fine conservative plant won't hurt.

Among others I planted purple milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens) seeds. We had a reasonable number of seeds from scattered pods. As I discussed in my paper in the September 2009 issue of Ecological Restoration (downloadable from this web site), I have never seen a purple milkweed plant that I knew came from seed I planted. So this year, I set up a careful experiment to follow the results of planting. In each selected planting site, I pounded in a wooden stake with a unique number. Then I planted the seeds in four quadrats around each stake. I selected eight separate sites to plant.

It may take several years (if ever) to get visible plants, but I will know that if I see plants here they came from seed.

We had a good crop of New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus) seeds this year, from a number of plants that are now flourishing in Unit 11C. The seeds of this species germinate better if they receive a heat treatment. Before leaving home, we dumped the seeds in boiling water for about 10 seconds, then quickly cooled them. At the Conservancy, we mixed the seeds with sawdust. I planted these primarily in savanna areas, since this seems to be where they grow the best. (We have never had a New Jersey tea plant develop in any of our planted prairies, but we have good plants scattered throughout the savannas.)

Our seed source for New Jersey tea is a native population found along a north-facing section of County Highway F.