Mulberry Woods Native Plant Nursery Newsletter
December 2010
Volume 1, Number 3.
Partridge Berry, Partridges, and a Best Ever Recipe for Dirt
Gentle Readers,
Winter is here, and the time for evergreens. While little will be blooming for the next two months but the odd witch hazel, there are many native plants that provide visual interest in the winter. Botanist William Bartram first noticed oak leaf hydrangea because of the exfoliating bark, not the blooms or leaves. Alabama croton leaves will remain yellow, silver, and orange for some time to come. And little two inch tall partridge berry (Mitchella repens) is as green and red as it gets all winter long, providing outdoor holiday decoration on its own, a miniature holly and ivy effect combined into one plant.
Partridge berry is sometimes listed as a perennial and sometimes as a vine, but technically it is a shrub (woody plant) or even more technically, a subshrub (note: we sell it as a perennial: http://mulberrywoodsnursery.com/?page_id=1296). In the garden it is best thought of as a ground cover, and one of the few evergreens that will grow and bloom in partial and even deep shade. With that said, my most robust plant is in my rock garden in a location that gets at least four hours of sun a day. It has made a solid mat of green leaves that resembles a living carpet, but through which grows a large plant of green gentian (Gentiana villosa).
Most garden writers list partridge berry as a plant that needs constant moisture, but my wild plants have increased considerably during the past few drought years, even on dry west facing slopes. The deciding factor seems to be the depth of humus that the plants grow in, with the more humus, the merrier the partridge berry. Apparently powder dry humus is completely different from powder dry soil.
And do partridges eat the red berries? Ruffed grouse certainly do up in the high Appalachians, but all our bobwhite quail, the native partridge, have disappeared. I heard our last quail singing here about three years ago. Bobwhites are #1 on the Audubon Society's list of disappearing birds, with an 82% population decline in the last forty years. The culprit is the old "habitat destruction" combination of industrial agriculture and suburban sprawl. Or think of it as native plants=native wildlife, and herbicide treated row crops and lawns=english sparrows and plastic flamingos.
Production Notes
Our seed page is up! Check it out at http://mulberrywoodsnursery.com/?page_id=1149. When the green gentian seeds are good and ripe and listed we will have a dozen species, including several that to my knowledge have not been sold commercially before.
And since everyone likes recipes for Xmas, I am giving away my favorite dirt/potting soil recipe. This is a loose adaptation of Sam Jones' recipe from the exceptional book Gardening with Native Wildflowers. Jones is an emeritus Professor at UGA and owner of Piccadilly Farm nursery in Bishop, GA. I have provided a link to his book's home page on Amazon at http://mulberrywoodsnursery.com. Anyway, back to the real dirt:
1 Part Wood's Soil (the more humus content the better)
1 Part Sand
1 Part Perlite
6 Parts Ground Bark
Mix in a wheel barrow. Add slow release fertilizer and ground limestone. Mix again and place in a 350 degree oven (don't do that last one). Instead, throw it into a pot with a plant, water, and enjoy. Come to think of it, without dirt we wouldn't need any other recipes, because we wouldn't have anything to eat.
An Incredibly Strange but Disturbingly True Hunting Story
The Incredibly Strange Gardening Story is on Xmas holiday this month, so we have hired a hunting story as a temp worker. The gentleman who told me this story swears it is true, and it is almost too strange to be fiction.
My friend TL, a lifelong hunter, had a business customer of his who wanted to treat him to a December quail hunting trip as a Christmas present. Due to a shortage of wild quail (see above), the customer decided to economize and booked a trip to a quail hunting "plantation" in south Alabama which featured a "canned hunt" for pen raised birds that are released just before the sports arrive to shoot them. By the time TL found out the horrible truth it was too late to back out.
Arriving at the "plantation" TL noted that it was in fact a pine plantation planted in long rows of yellow pine--not natural quail habitat. After it was explained to him that the quail might be a little disoriented--the birds were turned upside down and shaken to confuse them enough so that they didn't run away--the hunt began.
And in no time their dog was on the point! The birds were flushed but only a few managed to become airborne, and none more than about three feet high. TL didn't shoot while his companions blasted away: he just watched instead. One pitiful little bird ran right toward him, TL said, and sought refuge by hiding under the bird dog.
TL said it was the first hunt in memory where he was unable to shoot a single partridge. And on top of that, there wasn't a single pear tree in sight.
The Fine Print
All newsletters will also be posted and archived on our blog for those who wish to add a public comment. Anyone irritated, annoyed, or in any way flummoxed by this newsletter should email me, Jeff Cupp, through the website http://mulberrywoodsnursery.com and be forever removed from this mailing list.
