Richford Seed Collecting Trip. On Friday we headed up to Krissy's neck of the woods in Richford, New York to collect Danthonia spicata, or Poverty Oatgrass seed which grows along the old roads of an abandoned seed potato farm with the Natural Areas Crew. Here we are gearing up for our expedition.

Here's a shot of Zeb and Kelsey collecting seed along the road bed.

It was a really nice day, partly cloudy, mid-seventies, lots of blackberries to eat along the way. This shot should give you some idea of how nice the trip was.

We had views "out to Pennsylvania" apparently.

And took our mid-morning repast at the side of a delightful former irrigation pond left over from the potato farming days.

Here's what all the fuss was about, Danthonia spicata - Poverty oatgrass. This fantastic little native is drought tolerant to the extreme, clear thrive in rocky soils and is used in the native lawn display becuase of its naturally low growth habit. when used at a lawn grass it only needs mowing about once a year. all in all an excellent little plant.

But not he only exciting plant we found that day, Polygala sanguinea - Field Milkwort was found in fairly large concentrations in certain spots. A relatively overlooked plant it's beauty and poor soil tolerance may lead to its increased horicultural use in the future. Add to the its use a native nectary and the liklyhood looks even better.

Also on this site I saw one of my all-time favorite plants Spiraea tomentosa, or Steeplebush. This showy sub-shrub has not gained much traction in the nursery trade, passed over time and again for the over-used, over-varietized, increasingly invasive Spiraea japonica - Japanese Spiraea. With more interesting flower shape, and a greater tolerance for soil moisture extremes (as well as fuzzy orange leaf undersides) I think its high time the nursery trade gave this beautiful, versatile native its due.