7/23/11 BEARS, BERRIES AND TWO INVASIVE PLANTS

A MULBERRY LEFT BY MR. BEAR

BIRD'S FOOT TREFOIL

CROWN VETCH

LITTLE GREEN APPLE

Sunday, 8:00 AM.  59 degrees, wind WSW, light. Humidity is low. The sky is partly cloudy and that is what the barometer predicts as well. 
    Local raspberries are ripe and very good, as are the sour cherries, mainly the Montmorrency.  Sweet cherries are still being harvested by our only local grower, Apple Hill Orchard.  Strawberries are about done.  The bear is getting most of the mulberries in the woods across the street, I am afraid, I may get enough for breakfast or a pie, that’s about it. They have to be picked when fully ripe or they are no good. Green apples are about the size of ping pong balls.
    Bird's’foot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus, is a forage plant much grown in Wisconsin and it has escaped and is on the state’s invasive plant list.  It is common along roadsides and in lawns, as it can withstand close mowing.  It is a legume that enriches the soil, we will never get rid of it and it is rather pretty, so I can’t get all that excited about eradicating it, except perhaps in the lawn if it becomes rampant.
    Crown Vetch, Coronilla varia, is another legume and also quite attractive in flower, was very popular in highway planting and erosion control in the ‘60’s and 70’s, but it is far too aggressive and has become a noxious garden weed  This plant  should be controlled if possible, but by the most environmentally responsible means (pull it).
    Most invasive plants were originally introduced and planted for a good purpose; erosion control, fodder, attractive appearance.  Then, when the plants fill their intended role, perhaps too well, we try to eradicate them and it is usually too late.  Mostly it is not the plant that is the problem, it is man.