"Who cooks for you?"

Monday morning. I rush the kids to school, rush to work, rush to prepare for an afternoon

class. Realizing that the children’s garden is in dire need of watering, I hop back in my car to drive the short distance between the Visitor’s Center and the nursery, not wanting to waste precious time in walking.

After looping the hose over the garden fence, the unmistakable “Who cooks for you?” call of a barred owl stops me in my tracks. Moments later, a return call follows from deeper in the meadow. Back and forth, the series of hoots continues, punctuated by howls, screeches, and trills. Suddenly, time is less important. I cross the gravel road, peer through a grove of wild cherries, and am rewarded by the hunched silhouette of a large barred owl on a nearby branch.

In our fast-paced world of cars and highways, offices and e-mails, conference calls and computer screens, there exists an alternate reality. A parallel world of owls and foxes, of meadow mice and crickets. Slogging through the daily to-do list sometimes makes me lose sight of this world, even though it’s at the very essence of my job as an environmental educator.

The owls have quieted, moved away. Despite their departure, the day is changed, is full of promise. I latch the garden gate behind me.

by Jenny Houghton

Youth Program Coordinator

          

A new view

The Arboretum Visitor's Center's beloved wetland bridge has had a face lift. Work began in mid-December to replace the degraded pressure treated decking (installed in 1984 with a projected lifespan of 15 years) with Trex, a recycled plastic and wood product that simulates real wood. The new decking has a life expectancy of 40 years and none of the bad impacts of toxic preservatives. George Johnson, a Queen Anne's County native and owner of Big Island Ventures, who knows the waterways of these parts having made his livelihood building piers, was responsible for the deck's restoration.

Once the new deck was installed, Maryland Fabricators of Millington began screwing 20-foot panels of metal railings to the deck. The railings are designed to protect even the tiniest of visitors from making a miscalculation and slipping through the railings, but at the same time they are almost transparent when compared to the clunky wood railings they replace. For those who are familiar with crossing the bridge to reach the Visitor's Center, you may step onto the bridge and be taken aback by the open view provided by the new railings. The first morning I stepped onto the bridge after the new railings were placed, it felt dangerous to be surrounded by this new experience, this new wide open view.

On Friday, Big Island Ventures completed the work by adding a wood cap to the metal railing, as if to finish the beautiful package with a bow.

The bridge restoration is part of The Campaign to Build a Green Legacy, a capital campaign underway to enhance the Arboretum grounds and expand the Visitor's Center. For additional information about the Arboretum's expansion plans, contact Kate Rattie, Director of Advancement and Planning, at krattie@adkinsarboretum.org or 410.634.2847, ext. 33.
 

Come for a bridge walk! Spring peepers will soon be serenading you.

by Ellie Altman
Executive Director

A very cool experience

I am a little sad because the Arboretum's Beginning Drawing class has come to an end. After five Mondays spent with Lee D'Zmura and about a dozen classmates learning how to draw, I must now practice these new skills on my own. I'll just have to encourage myself by remembering how we sketched our way through each lesson, looking over each other's shoulders and marveling at the different ways everyone drew the same objects.

Michelle's light-handed shading created beautiful soft edges on her clay pot, Nancy's way of capturing the light bouncing off the skin of her apple, the perfect shadows of Walter's cylinder, all inspired me to look more carefully at the world around me. This class changed the way I see everything. A leaf lying on the driveway draws me in to observe its position, depth, and reflection of light. Wow...did I just say that? On a Sunday drive, I recall the images we created on paper with telephone poles and roads "converging" at a point. So, no more Mondays classes for now, but I'll sing up for Lee's Nature Journaling with Spring Ephemerals class in April. Very cool!

by Meg Gallagher

Advancement Assistant 

Early birds

March 20 may be the official start of spring, but some early birds are already gearing up for egg-laying season. Bluebirds are among the first to build neat, cup-like nests of fine grass and pine needles for their powder-blue eggs. Different species of birds build different types of nests: for example, house sparrow nests are a jumble of odds and ends (I can relate), made up of coarse grass, cloth, white feathers, and twigs. Their speckled eggs are creamy, white, or gray. Black-capped chickadees build downy nests of soft plant fibers, moss, and fur where they will lay white eggs with brown speckles.

Children can help birds gather nest materials by hanging colored yarn, ribbon, or even hair cuttings from low tree branches. It's always fun to spy a personalized nest in the backyard. Children can also try to build their own nests from grass and twigs; doing so provides instant insight into why robins line their nests with sticky mud.

For a different spin on Easter egg dyeing, mix up a batch of natural hues. Onion skins produce a lovely orange, and pomegranate juice a purple-scarlet hue. Click here for directions on how to brew natural dyes.

What to do when your child finds a baby bird on the ground? Make sure the family dog (or cat) is safely inside, and then let nature be. Mother birds are likely nearby and will continue to care for fallen fledglings.

Chocolate bird nests are an annual spring treat for the Arboretum's preschoolers. To make your own, mix two cups of either unsweetened shredded wheat cereal or chow mein noodles with one cup of melted butterscotch chips and one cup of melted chocolate chips. Let children shape the gooey mixture into nests (plastic gloves advised!) and fill cooled nests with a few malted eggs.

And finally, since birds and worms go hand in hand, be sure to hand your child a shovel on the next warm day. There's nothing like a little worm digging to get one in the spring spirit. 

Registration is now open for Adkins Arboretum's spring preschool and homeschool classes, as well as for summer nature camps. Click here for more information.

by Jenny Houghton

Youth Program Coordinator

Soup 'n Walk, February 23, 2013

The sun and the snow were not visible today, but we had a lovely mystical walk in the mist. The greens we searched for were very special. There were 15 guests and 5 volunteers on the walk, and the temperature was in the 40s with no wind. We saw many shades of green and blue on the tree trunks in the form of lichen. The mosses along the trail and Blockston Branch were lovely even in the absence of sunlight. Obviously they had been soaking up the sun on other sunny days. These moss plants with no vascular system tend to do well in the summer months. Some of the mossy paths cushioned our footsteps, and we enjoyed the silence. Blockston Branch's flowing water had many lovely circles from the raindrops hitting the surface.

The grasses in the meadow held droplets of water that glistened in the mist. More droplets were visible at eye level in the woods on the slender twigs of the ironwood trees. At the first bridge, we enjoyed spotting the purple and green skunk cabbage buds. Some green leaves were starting to appear. The skunk cabbage and the netted chain fern, which are visible in late spring, are earmarks of healthy wetlands. At the Visitor's Center, we had the projector set up to show a continuous loop of skunk cabbage blooms that Lynn L. and I had paired with some beautiful poetry about skunk cabbage.

Some commented on the number of trees that were down, and a few trunks that had been uprooted gave us a view of how shallow these root systems are of even very large trees in the wetlands. Nature was treating us to her artwork. There were green holly leaves, green stems of hearts-a-bursting, and green thorny stems of greenbrier. Green leaves of the cranefly orchid with the purple undersides were also visible. All of this green represents chlorophyll that is active during the winter months when the trees are barren of leaves.

Further along the very mossy side trail were lots of green ebony spleenwort. The rain was getting a little more noticeable now, so we started walking a little faster in anticipation of hot soup and a dry, beautifully decorated lunch room. There was lots of tree bark that we could identify, and the black fungus on the black cherry was also evident.

The luncheon featured Caldo Verde (green) soup with kale, roasted vegetables with red beets (as purple as the skunk cabbage and underside of the cranefly orchid leaf). We had  quinoa salad with green broccoli and red peppers and finally an almond cupcake with lemon frosting decorated with a green lime slice. We discussed the recipes and the valuable nutrients in the ingredients. Our volunteers were most helpful. They included Mickey B. (decorator), Alice M., Ruth M., Pat B., Shirley B., Zaida W., Mary A. H., and Mary J. K. Many thanks were heard from the guests, and we are looking forward to the next Soup 'n Walk on March 23, which will include one- and two-hour walks to see the first of our ephemerals. We hope to see many of you. My thanks to all the volunteers and staff who make this event so worthwhile.

by Julianna Pax

Arboretum docent

Uncommon knowledge

Having recently attended a Maryland Bee and Wasp workshop at the 2013 Maryland Environmental and Outdoor Educator conference, I came to the conclusion that the nest I identified in a previous post as a paper wasp nest might actually be the nest of a bald-faced hornet. If any of my readers can make a positive identification, please let me know!

Other facts I learned at the MAEOE conference:

• In their fall migration, monarchs will travel 1,000 to 3,000 miles.
• Hydraulic fracturing, also known as "fracking," is the second driver of climate change in our country.
• The United States produces 300 million tons of dry animal waste annually as compared to 7 million tons of dry human waste.
• The order Hymenoptera, which includes wasps, bees, sawflies, horntails, and ants, is the second largest order of insects and makes up half the biomass of insects in the world.
• 75% of flowering plants depend on animal pollinators.
• 30% of amphibians and 21% of reptiles are threatened globally due to habitat loss, climate change, pollution, invasive species, pathogens, and commercial harvest.
• The call of a pickerel frog sounds like an old man snoring.

As of 2010, scientists have described over 1.7 million of the world's species of animals plants, and algae. While the enormous variety of life on our plant poses a huge learning curve for environmental educators, it's also what makes the job so inspiring.

by Jenny Houghton

Youth Program Coordinator

photo of pickerel frog courtesy of Scott A. Smith

Discovering Native Landscapes—A Fresh Look

"Getting Down" by Diane Savoie of Columbia, MD

"Beach Grass" by Fran Saunders of Cambridge, MD

"Am Lotus" by Karen Amelia Brown of Westminster, MD

Saturday afternoon, 50 and counting gathered in the Visitor's Center gallery to celebrate the works of 21 artists selected to exhibit in Adkins Arboretum's 2013 annual art competition. This is the fourteenth year since artist Marion Price took the helm as the Arboretum volunteer art curator to arrange for this show heralding interest among artists from Philadelphia to Salisbury, Western Maryland to Lewes, and many points in between. The theme, Discovering the Native Landscapes of Maryland's Eastern Shore, is interpreted through seed pods and expansive landscapes, as well as fish and prey, quilting, mosaics, and our beloved trees, fields, and water. An eclectic collection? Maybe, but not the motivating factor. Juror (and Washington College Adjunct Professor of Art) Alex Castro's modus operandi in selecting the show was "fresh," and he succeeded. As the artists attending Saturday's reception shared the path to creating their work, whether printmaking, photography, carving, or painting, it was a spontaneous unfolding and discovery that resulted in the "fresh" that Castro was looking to recognize. 

For those of us who have attended the annual show's reception for more than a decade, we noticed new patterns at this reception. The guests were glued to the walls, and sometimes with their noses almost touching the art; they examined each piece of work with awe, fascination, and curiosity. 

The show is on view through March 29. Call 410.634.2847, ext. 0 for gallery hours, and click here to learn about upcoming shows.

by Ellie Altman

Executive Director

Wild, wild weather

Last Friday afternoon, Dan Satterfield, the weatherman for WBOC (the Salisbury, Maryland, CBS affiliate) was reporting live from Adkins Arboretum. And this time he was reporting on climate, i.e., climate change, not the daily weather forecast. Satterfield readily admits to having been a weather (meteorology) geek since fifth grade. His enthusiasm for the science of meteorology has not waned in his decades of reporting weather patterns. He is a passionate guy, but most importantly a scientist who has dedicated his life to reporting accurate science—the tried, the true, the tested, the known and verified facts. His work has taken him to the South Pole and the Arctic.

This 45-minute presentation filled with facts and figures, as well as plenty of humor, was persuasive. Satterfield acknowledges that he is working in a part of the country with many climate skeptics, but he is not deterred in bringing his message that climate change is real and that burning fossil fuels is the most significant culprit, the one piece of the puzzle that humans can control and should control by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. This sage weatherman revealed the depth and breadth of his knowledge by deftly answering numerous questions from the audience. And as if his carriage was about to turn into a pumpkin, he quickly headed out the door to be on the road in time to report the evening's weather at WBOC.

Dr. Darrin Lowery will speak at Adkins Arboretum from 1 to 2 p.m. on Friday, March 15 about how archaeology and geology reveal weather patterns. To learn more about climate and weather forecasting, click here to register for Dr. Lowery's talk.

by Ellie Altman
Executive Director

Nature in focus

On a nature walk today, a fourth grade homeschool student stopped to examine beads of water clinging to a bare winter branch. "That's so cool," he said. "I've only seen that in photos before, never in real life."

In a recent presentation, I shared this quote from Randy White of the White Hutchinson Leisure and Learning Group: "As virtual is replacing the real, TV documentaries are conditioning children to think that nature is exotic...in faraway places that they will never experience. Children are losing the understanding that nature exists in their own backyards, which further disconnects them from knowledge and appreciation of the natural world."

Thank goodness for places like Adkins Arboretum, where the natural world continues to amaze.

by Jenny Houghton
Youth Program Coordinator

photo by Michelle Dolan Lawrence

Among the winter branches

At the entrance to the Arboretum's woodland paths, bare winter branches reveal a silvery paper wasp nest. Paper wasps gather fibers from dead plant stems and wood, mixing them with their saliva to construct water-resistant nests. Cells are used for brood rearing. Unlike more aggressive yellow jackets or hornets, paper wasps generally only attack when threatened. They are extremely beneficial in their natural habitat, providing biological pest control welcomed by many gardeners.

The paper wasp nest pictured here hangs from a Liquidambar styraciflua, or sweetgum, tree. The resin of this tree was traditionally chewed by Native Americans, giving rise to its common name. Sweetgums are also known as red gums, gumtrees, alligator-wood, and star-leaved gum. They grow in wet, acidic soil and are recognizable by their five-pointed star-shaped leaves, as well as by their prickly ball-like fruit. Each capsule of the fruit contains two sees. Sweetgum seeds are a favorite of birds and small mammals, such as squirrels and chipmunks.

by Jenny Houghton
Youth Program Coordinator

The winter workout

Why people pay good money to belong to a gym is a mystery to me. Parenting provides all the aerobic exercise I can handle. Take my recent snowy "vacation" morning:

8 a.m.: Chase dog down main street after youngest child leaves the gate unlatched (again).

8:45 a.m.: Struggle through Olympic effort to clothe children in snowsuits, mittens, hats, scarves, coats, and boots.

9:15 a.m.: Walk to sledding hill, pulling sled and pushing stroller (everyone on the block knows I'm Nature Girl—can't be seen increasing carbon footprint by driving 3/4 mile).

10:45 a.m.: Hurtle downhill into marsh on purple sled with toddler. Climb up big hill. Repeat 100 times.

11:30 a.m.: Walk home, uphill all the way, pushing stroller and pulling sled with frostbitten kindergartner on board. Distance seems to have doubled.

Noon: Collapse in sodden heap by door, covering ears to the plaintive cry of "What's for lunch?"

See what I mean about aerobic exercise? And thanks to winter's chilly temperatures, outdoor play means calories are burned at breakneck speed. No gym membership required. There are so many fun ways to explore nature in winter. You and your child can draw snowy pictures with a stick, look for birds' nests among bare branches, search for animal tracks in slushy mud, or use a camera to capture icicles and cool winter light. Running will keep little ones warm, and huddling near a thicket will demonstrate how animals shelter from the cold.

Even if braving cold weather is not your style, it's still possible to engage your children in wintry play. A bowl of ice cubes provides much entertainment and a science lesson: Why is the ice getting wet? Can you see through ice? Does ice have a smell? A taste? What color is ice? Freezing chunks of fruit in ice cubes provides insight into what it's like for animals to find food in winter. Frozen berries are more difficult to smell than fresh, have less taste, and are difficult to eat. This is one reason squirrels bury nuts in the fall: buried nuts taste better than ice-glazed nuts.

Need a discliplined approach to getting outside? Sign up your preschooler or homeschooler for a winter nature class at the Arboretum. Programs begin the first week of February. Click here for more information and to register. Fresh air and exercise are guaranteed, with nary a sweaty rowing machine in sight.

By Jenny Houghton

Youth Program Coordinator

Bringing nature home

A growing number of people believe that we should only be planting and using native species in our gardens. All non-native plants should be considered aliens and are to be avoided. Follow that premise, and you will build a much better viewing garden and a habitat for wildlife.

I recently had the opportunity to read a book by Douglas Tallamy titled Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants (updated and expanded). I found a chapter called "Making It Happen" particularly interesting. In this chapter, Tallamy explains how it takes a paradigm shift to go from today's garden to one filled with natives.

So, what will it cost, you might ask. Well, it doesn't mean that you have to adopt a slash-and-burn policy toward your beautiful garden filled with aliens. You can follow the rules of attrition. As aliens die, you should replace them with natives that come closest to what you want, considering habit, size, texture, and fall and flower color. Or you can redesign small patches at a time. Even better would be to create brand new plantings. We all know how to create a three-dimension garden by planting tall plants in the back, short in the front, etc. But remember that you are building to create habitat, not only a pretty garden. One of the things you will need is mulch. The perfect mulch is leaf litter. It not only acts as a sponge, preventing runoff, but it slowly releases moisture to a garden. It's free fertilizer, free weed control, and free soil amendments. Many wildflowers, such as trout lily and pink and yellow lady slipper, will only grow in soil with lots of humus, making leaf litter a perfect addition to soil where you want them to grow.

Garden design can also help to fight global warming. Hacking away at forest to plant large lawns is a poor way to reduce carbon dioxide. Trees are carbon sinks, using carbon from the atmosphere to build their tissue, and they keep that carbon locked up until they die. Then add the costs of mowing, and the benefit of rethinking the lawn mentality becomes even more obvious.

Choose trees wisely. It is best to plant species that grow in your area. Some native trees are hard to transplant but are easy to grow from seed. Use plant diversity-creating vertical structures, such as trees, shrubs, and understory plants. It's a good way to start. Then supply as many natives as you can, such as viburnums, red and black chokeberries, and native azaleas.

There's no getting around the fact that removing invasive species is hard, hands-on work. Often natives will grow up where you remove non-natives. Since squirrels and blue jays like to bury seeds, sometimes all you have to do is clear a patch of bare soil where you want native species such as beech, oak, and hickory to germinate. Of course, you will have to weed out the invasives as they appear. Mulching will minimize germination by alien species. At home, we have decided to allow a section of about a half acre of lawn to go unmown and return to meadow. A recent visitor to the Arboretum told me that she did this and had several very desirable trees grow. I can't wait to see what grows in that area at my house.

As a new garden season approaches, do you find yourself unsure of what you should plant? In Appendix One, you will find suggestions for native landscaping plants by region. Our region starts on page 294. I found this to be a very informative book and a great resource for anyone who is planning a garden or is just interested in native species. Several copies are available for purchase in the Arboretum's Sweet Bay gift shop. Come on out for a walk and pick up your copy!

by Diana Beall

Administrative Assistant

Nature, Nurture, Nutrition

A single red berry clings tenuously to a slender twig, providing a bright shot of color in the winter landscape. Bare branches reach toward the sky, and evergreen leaves and needles take center stage without deciduous leaves to steal their thunder. The distinctive honk of the Canada goose flies crisply through the air. Walking in the winter forest is truly a treat for the senses.

Jump at the chance to feed ALL your senses when the Arboretum hosts the year's first Soup 'n Walk program on Saturday, February 18. Led by a docent naturalist, you'll venture into the forest in search of plants that seek the warmth of the winter sun. While searching for mosses, magnolia and holly leaves, cranefly orchids, and other green plants, you'll work up an appetite for the delicious lunch and brief nutrition lesson that follow.

Do you know that you can arrange for a Soup 'n Walk program for your group of 15 or more? Contact Ginna Tiernan at gtiernan@adkinsarboretum.org or 410.634.2847, ext. 27.

The Soup 'n Walk program is an Arboretum favorite, so register now for this weekend to guarantee a spot. It's the perfect opportunity to feed yourself, body and soul.

by Jodie Littleton
Communications Consultant

Raise your mug to Adkins Arboretum!

Now you can start your day thinking of Adkins Arboretum even before you visit! Paul Aspell has created an assortment of mugs with the Adkins Arboretum signature tulip poplar leaf logo. These beautiful hand-crafted mugs will be available for purchase at the Arboretum gift store beginning tomorrow, February 3.

Beginning March 2, you can join Paul at the Arboretum for Nature-Inspired Clayworks to create your own nature-inspired ceramics using hand building techniques. 

Paul is known for his combination of hand-built forms with thrown elements. He incorporates elements of the Eastern Shore into his pottery, as demonstrated by his washes and glazes and his use of shells and old bricks to leave imprints in the clay. He holds a master’s degree in ceramics and has taught art in public and private high schools in New Jersey. His work is featured in the Arboretum gift shop.

by Ginna Tiernan
Adult Program Coordinator

Vote for a Turkey!

I often see bald eagles while driving to and from work. While spotting our national emblem sitting in a cornfield always gives me a thrill, I have to admit that eagles do not top my list of favorite birds. Could have something to do with the fact that the ones I see are usually gnawing on a mangled carcass. 

No, if I had been around when our forefathers were choosing the country’s emblem, I would have stood firmly in the wild turkey camp. I believe that turkeys, though not very attractive (a trait shared by many of our former presidents), are far more American than the regal eagle. Consider this: the male turkey’s head can turn a shade of blue, while his wattle can quickly switch from red to white. Red, white, and blue…need I say more?

              

In these trying economic times, our great nation is surely in need of inspiration. Again, America need look no further than Meleagris gallopavo. When necessary, the wild turkey can sprint up to 18 miles per hour—faster than an Olympic runner. And despite its rotund appearance, the turkey is a good flyer, shooting straight up to the sky helicopter-style (I kid you not) and clocking nearly 55 miles per hour. With the turkey for a model, our sluggish economy would speed to recovery in no time.

              

So the next time you are feeling particularly patriotic, visit the Arboretum. There, along scenic woodland paths, you might just spot the noble bird that fed the pilgrims. And exactly what was the bald eagle doing when the early settlers were starving in the wilderness? You have but to refer to the first paragraph for your answer.

by Jenny Houghton

Youth Program Coordinator 

                

              

The Art of Volunteering

For more than a decade, visitors have marveled at the art created in the Arboretum forest by Howard and Mary McCoy. Composed primarily of elements found naturally in the landscape, and drawing attention to the inextricable connection between nature and art, the artists’ work is in harmony with the Arboretum’s conservation mission. 

Few may know, though, of this husband-and-wife team’s work behind the scenes. From coordinating invitational shows to hanging countless exhibits to arranging the annual Art Competition, they are the very lifeblood of the Arboretum’s thriving arts program.

Introduced to the Arboretum by Marion Price, the late artist and gallery owner who initiated the Arboretum’s art program, Mary and Howard exhibited their first Arboretum show in 1999. They brought the idea of outdoor art to the Arboretum, creating installations in the forest and meadows and curating an every-other-year outdoor sculpture invitational that draws artists from around the country. The McCoys also serve on (and Mary chairs) the Arboretum Art Committee, the panel that selects artists for future exhibits.

“Talented artists in their own right, Howard and Mary have been involved in curating the Arboretum’s art exhibits for more than a decade and have been involved in attracting more than 100 of our region’s most creative artists to exhibit at the Arboretum,” says Executive Director Ellie Altman. “They are a constant at the Arboretum. Without them, the art program would not exist.”

As the Arboretum values Howard and Mary’s involvement in the art program, so do the artists benefit from the opportunity to work and create at the Arboretum. “We get to work outside and have the freedom to do what we want,” says Mary. “We can go out into the woods and experiment. Over the years we have gotten to know the forest and many individual trees. The Arboretum gives us the chance not only to bring art to people but to interact with other artists who exhibit at the Arboretum. We’ve made some wonderful friendships that way.”

“Working in the woods has been a golden opportunity for us,” says Howard. He tells of his interest in the evolution and deterioration of subject matter and how that interest led him from working with industrial materials to working in and of nature. “One of the things that fascinates us is how nature reclaims our sculptures. You see the cycles of nature, and we like how the sculptures change as nature changes.”

This natural progression is one of the reasons the McCoys created their most recent sculpture installation (Second Sitings, June–September 2011) entirely with materials found at the Arboretum. “Creating with materials on the site and of the site makes people stop and consider what is natural and what is art,” says Mary.

“One thing that we really enjoy is when people tell us the thing they found interesting about an area where we do a sculpture at the Arboretum,” adds Howard. “It gives them the opportunity to pay closer attention to what’s going on in that area around the sculpture. That resonates for us, to have that response. It’s really quite wonderful.”

And so are the McCoys. Their creativity, their vision, and their kind and gentle nature make them assets to the Arboretum community. This lovely couple has truly mastered the art of volunteering.

Howard and Mary McCoy live near Centreville in a house designed in the 1930s by Mary’s grandmother on the banks of the Chester River. They will be honored at the Arboretum’s annual Volunteer Recognition Brunch on January 21.

Winter Wonderings and Wanderings

What is there to look at in the winter at Adkins Arboretum? I hear that a lot, but I love winter interest in the garden and at the Arboretum, and maybe we just have to look a little harder to find that winter beauty.

The majestic structure of the deciduous trees allows a clear view of songbirds and even a few raptors. You may find splashes of color from berry-producing shrubs in the woodland. In winter, there is a visibility of the wetland only seen at this time of year. 

This morning, I had the most beautiful surprise as I walked on the bridge. To my surprise, a graceful great blue heron flew under me and through the wetland. A little snow dusting on the trails would be the only additional component to a walk in the woods on a winter’s day.

by Robyn Affron
Master Gardener, Certified Professional Horticulturist, and Arboretum Receptionist

What Crossed my Desk Today

This very rainy and cool Monday kept me at my desk all day except to jump up occasionally to be sure I could still touch my toes. Mondays seem to bring a flurry across my desk—mostly my cyber desk, messages that fall out of cyberspace and land in my Inbox. Here are two of today’s cyber news that merit sharing:

1. In 2010, Congress directed the Council on Environmental Quality and the Interior Department to prepare a strategy for addressing climate change impacts on fish, wildlife and plants. The draft plan is now available and is open for public comment until March 5, 2012: http://www.wildlifeadaptationstrategy.gov.

2. Not to be missed—the Annapolis Horticulture Society is promoting a special two-day garden excursion to the Shenandoah Valley, April 14-15 at a great price. The tour includes attending a one-day conference, Tomorrow’s Landscapes, at Shenandoah University (www.tomorrowslandscapes.com). Contact the Annapolis Horticulture Society for details and to register: http://www.annapolishorticulture.org/events.html.  

By Ellie Altman

Executive Director

Photo taken on a rainy day at Adkins Arboretum by Charles Riter, Easton, Maryland’s Tidewater Camera Club

Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns Grow...

The word "mighty" is nearly always used to describe the oak tree, and with good reason. It's a dignified tree with a long romantic, economic, and ecological history—all arising from that little acorn. Selecting the white oak (Quercus alba) as the Arboretum's 2012 Native Tree of the Year was a natural choice, as it is already revered as the official state tree of Maryland. Reaching up to 100 feet high and thriving in a wide range of soils, the white oak is a symbol of strength and longevity.

You can read all about the mighty Quercus alba by clicking here, but here are a few facts to tide you over:

• Maryland's Eastern Shore boasts the largest stand of white oaks. 
• White oak acorns feed many animals, and the genus supports hundreds of butterfly and moth species (thus feeding a huge bird population). 
• Ships, furniture, and baskets have a long history of being made from oak. 
• Native Americans processed the acorns of white oak to make a flour for eating. 
• You can purchase your own white oak at the Adkins Arboretum Native Plant Nursery!

by Joanne Healey
Adkins Arboretum Nursery Manager

Foxy Lady

The benefits are great for those of us willing to leave the comforts of home and hot chocolate on a snowy day. Beyond the enjoyment of sledding and snowball fights, there’s always the potential to gain a rare glimpse into the habits of the wild creatures living among us--through their tracks.

 A few years ago, my daughter and I ventured to the Arboretum after an unusually heavy January snowstorm, wading through knee-deep snow to follow a trail of fox tracks. As we walked, a story unraveled before us of a lone fox stopping at the wetland for a drink, tangling with a rabbit, ducking under a log, and finally returning to its den in the middle of Nancy’s Meadow. Though I’ve taught many lessons about animal tracks, it wasn’t until that wintry afternoon that I really earned my “track detective” badge.

 The den we discovered belonged to a red fox, Vulpes vulpes. Red foxes are relatively small members of the canine family, averaging only eleven to thirteen pounds. They enjoy a varied diet, dining on frogs, snakes, mice, berries, rabbits, fruit, birds, eggs, and beetles, to name a few. The fox’s reputation for cleverness might rise from its habit of storing excess food under leaves, in snow, or in the ground. Foxes generally have separate dens for shelter, breeding, and resting. They live in family groups, with an average litter size of four to six kits.

This year’s snowfall has been minimal to non-existent. But as temperatures drop later in the week, I’ll be dusting off my track detective badge just in case.

by Jenny Houghton,Youth Program Coordinator
Drawing by Barbara Bryan