Over the rest of the week I assisted Krissy in leading a tour of the garden, got to check out the views along our stretch of Fall Creek, met some of the locals (Labidomera clivicollis - Swamp Milkweed Beetle although this guy was on Ascelpias tuberosa not incarnata), and go to check out Mundy's stock of new plants in the greenhouse. Passing through I noticed these lovely Passiflora's in bloom and it got me excited to try our native Passiflora incarnata or lutea in the Mundy Wild Flower Garden (MWFG).

Now for my first day in Mundy! I was introduced to the pernicious (yet beautiful) invasive weed Hesperis matronalis or Dame's Rocket. This plant was popular with gardeners in the 19th century, yet fell out of favor. Despite its lack of popularity it found the Northeast to be a fine habitat and has continued to proliferate and become a problem as is edges native plants out of prime habitat. It is often mistaken for Phlox an unrelated but relatively similar plant, however Hesperis, being a mustard, has four petals per bloom whereas Phlox has five. I also learned about many native plants in the garden. Pictured are: Geranium maculatum the native Wild Geranium, Tiarella cordifolia or Foamflower, and Packera (formerly Senecio) aurea. Tiarella makes and excellent groundcover in full to partial shade while geranium can handle full sun to shade as long as it receives adequate water. Like Tiarella Packera makes an excellent ground cover but looks best after its spent flowering heads are removed and the large, dark green basal leaves are allowed to remain an unbroken carpet.

Also on our second day we saw the Andy Goldworthy installation at Plantations. It consists of three granite boulders planted with Quercus prinoides the Dwarf Chestnut Oak. Unfortunately this wonderful tree has been severely attacked by Lymantria dispar - Gypsy Moth Caterpillars.

On day two we took a walk with Irene Lekstutis the Plantations Landscape Designer and checked out some of the arboretum. First we see one of the new entrance donor gardens in bloom. A shot of the path is followed by Iris sibirica - Siberian Iris, a Baptisia sp. - Wild Indigo, and a Magnolia acuminata hybrid - Cucumber Magnolia.

Finally I found this amazing specimen from the genus Lixus (probably certainly in the subfamily of Lixinae). It is a weevil which means it feeds on plant parts of some kind. This fellow crash landed on my neck and then was kind enough to allow his Durante-esque photo to be taken repeatedly. What a class act!

Also as part of our introduction to Plantations we took a tour of some of the Natural Areas (some of which I will be working on) with Robert Wesley the expert in-house Botanist for Plantation and a new personal hero of mine. Here he is showing us a spectacular specimen of Prunus serotina the Black Cherry. These trees are the second most valued of the Eastern timber crops and so generally they do not survive as long as this one has as they are cut down and sold. Also we found a rather interesting specimen of what I believe was Polyporus squamosus the Dryad's Saddle or Pheasant's Back Fungus. Edible when very young and tender this fungus becomes unpalatably leathery and tough once they reach maturity.

Plantations Begin

My first day at my Cornell Plantations Summer Internship. I'll be working in the Mundy Wildflower Garden which focuses on native plants, a passion of mine. The first few days were generally devoted to familiarizing the interns with the Plantations at large. Due to my interest in native plants imagine my excitement when I discovered this dwarf cultivar of Penstemon hirsutus 'Pygmaeus' the Dwarf Hairy Penstemon in the alpine garden collection! Also I have a shot of the straight species for comparison which we grow in the wildflower garden.