Visit any bogs this fall?

I was out to Brown's lake bog this past week and WOW what colors. The Pitcher plants Sarracenia purpurea were a wonderful shade of red/burgandy. the Poison sumac a brilliant fire engine red, and several species of Sphagnum (a botany professor friend said there were a number of species of Sphagnum in that bog)were also a nice shade of a deep reddish purple, not to mention all of the cranberries that were ripe.

So again I ask, Has anyone else visited any bogs this fall? If not please do, the colors are great, the humidity is low and the bugs aren't bad either!!

where are the bogs in ohio? belinda

Hello There!
Just yesterday I was corresponding back and forth with a woman up at Whitewater. She has offered to accompany to a small bog to point out to me all the CPs growing there. I forgot the name of the bog however it is a demostration project and was a natural community. I'm going with her. It's just a matter of when.

Here's a link to what's around me-
http://www.wiscwetlands.org/

A little bit further away in Illinois is the Volo Bog State Park. That is a big wow!
http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/education/INTERPRT/volo/VOLOBOG.HTM

I'm looking at participating in one of their classes next spring. I have been to this bog before and it is phenomenal.

Daylilly

The largest concentrations of bogs are in Summit and Portage counties, however they are all over the state and seems to me there is one not too far from your area. Unfortunately unless you know the right people you can't get into some of them because they are state nature preserves with VERY limited access. ODNR sells a book that lists and discusses the plants and animals in the state reserves, it is reasonably priced. I wish I could give you a link, I just don't have it at the moment!

Equilibrium,

I understand you have some rather rare bog plants yourself (Hee Hee!). I was gonna take some pics of my poison sumac (determined it is a male, no seeds) 'cause it had glorious color, but the leaves fell off in the wind we had. I hope we have a sunny day so I can take some photos of my golden larch to show off! I won't be out bogging again 'til spring :~(

Had, my friend, had! That was pre squirrel invasion. We are now talking post squirrel invasion. Basically, the only plants left standing are the gifts from you as they were large enough to withstand repeated attacks. This is being taken care of this weekend when the entire bog gets fenced in compete with a mesh over the top of the enclosure. That will be the last time the squirrels get to my bog. I was so disgusted I almost went out there and went postal on them. The squirrels are lucky I do not know how to use a machine gun. Incidnetally, I do not have even one calopogan left thanks to the squirrels.

I still contend you are nuts for growing poison sumac no matter how beautiful it is. That stuff scares me! You have to post photos of the golden larch. That's a way cool plant.

Aah, the wrath of the Squirrels! I know it all too well! If anything I sent you was destroyed let me know there are always more divisions in my bog. The best way to prevent rodent damage is to get something growing on the soil surface so they're not tempted by the soft bare peat.

Yes, thank you for noticing I AM nuts! I had never realized that the genus Toxicodendron (the poison sumac/ivy family) is dioecious, male and female on different plants...I have a male by chance. I'd considered planting a hedge of it along the back of the property to discourage trespassers but have decided to plant Japanese bitter lemon (Poncirus trifoliata) instead. I know it's non-native but it is also not at all invasive (it never reseeds unless you actually save and grow the seeds). It has 3 inch thorns that will discourage anyone!

Here's a photo I took this AM, in the lower right corner is the "weedy" bog where the Cyp. candidum grows, on the far right you can see a bit of my bamboo garden (it's contained). the big dirt area is the water feature to be. upper pond, stream area, and lower pond with the golden larch to the left. I'm already planning for Spring and the completion of the water feature!

Hello! Well, I took care of their happy squirrel butts! My husband fenced in the entire area with metal stakes and chicken wire and topped it off with fruit tree bird netting pulled taught. So far I have enjoyed NOT having to go out and get all depressed by finding what was dug up and left to dry out. I was seriously ready to dispatch a few gray squirrels and donate them to the raptor rehab center. Saved by the bell!

My S. minor that you sent to me is still standing. That was the plant that I was most worried about. They did nail the S. flavas pretty good but then again their current appearance may be attributed to natural die back at this time of year. They do need a dormancy. I had tried to get clubmoss growing on the surface but didn't quite make it. Something was eating that and I have no idea what ate it. I never saw the squirrels actually eat anything. The stray cats were [deleted] in there but I never saw them eat anything either. Rabbits? Do rabbits like club moss? Anyway, if you get anymore anythings in the tall pitcher family from your customers that you can't find a place for... do send them my way as I am loving these plants. They are absolutely the most spectacular plants I own out of everything on this property. Gosh those sarrs are the most awesome.

Hey, backing up to the post before your last... "I understand you have some rather rare bog plants yourself (Hee Hee!)." Just so you know, I got rid of all the buckthorn seedlings that sprouted in there this weekend. They are no more! Snap crackle pop and up in flames they went. Bad buckthorn! Very bad buckthorn

Ohhhh Bogman! I found somebody more psycho than you! I actually met somebody who is growing water hemlock. I have to admit I thought poison sumac was beyond a stretch UNTIL I heard that one. Who in their right mind would want that! I gotta get you two together so you can compare notes. I just read the latter part of your post! Bamboo! Lemme at it! I'll take care of that for you poste haste! Time to run and duck for cover from Bogman before I end up in his cyber sights!

Cyp candidum! Oh palleeeeease do not rub it in to me!

I am absolutely loving the shape and location of that new pond! You have such a flair for landscape design. I'm thinking by this time next year you'll be in need of one of those 12 step pond programs. Do you have any pond books?

E, You make me laugh! It is possible that rabbits may eat clubmosses. They completely ate my Ephedra plants (boy did I have high bunnies!). I'm also glad you excluded the cats, their potty habits would quickly ruin you bogs lack of nutrient.

As far as the buckthorn, I've given up on that for the moment, as I was out working in my woods and noted that one of my neighbors has planted a row of the nasty stuff along the property line and has NO INTENTION of removing it. I've also noted that the deer are so desparate and overcrowded that they are even eating the Rhamnus. And you know what they say: "One mans weed is another mans treasure" (or something like that) so water hemlock does have a nice flower and if you don't have children no harm done, right?

As for the pond (YOY!) the system is gonna run me about $2000 on top of the $1400 I've already spent on the rock to go around and in the ponds. I've already began amassing plants to go around it. My German neighbors hate it already and the wife keeps complaining about the removal of lawn. "Oh, green grass is so beautiful" she says. Since she likes manicured grass, I've decided that very tall (giant reed grass, and other non-invasive grasses) are to be the new privacy screen between us. she wants grass? I'll give her grass!

Finally, the Cyp. candidums. My botanist friend (and supplier of rare Sarracenias etc.) has given me a nice lot of C. candidum seed to work with. He is also providing me with some culture medium that he prepared and is pushing me to get back into flasking. I'm hoping this winter will be a good time to start that back up. I had intended to add a photo but for some reason I couldn't get it to load onto DG. The seed sat in flask on a shelf for 3 years. Then once they germinated they grew to a nice size in only about 6 months. We've been trying to figure out how to get quicker germination. I don't have a problem leaving a small bottle sitting on a shelf but he is a bit impatient! and yes I think in spring I may well have some other interesting things to share, especially once your critter problems are under control.

I have no idea what ate the club moss. I am admittedly clueless but that is a state of existence that I have grown accustomed to.

Now about that buckthorn that is on the feds hit list... a little spritz of BrushBGon should take care of that. Here a spritz, there a spritz, everywhere a spritz spritz! Tra la la la la la la la la la! They say a full moon is around the corner. All the better to see them with my dear! In all seriousness, my grilfriend is having a similar problem with a neighbor. She is literally removing hundreds of seedlings every year and she is about fit to be tied. Not much you can do if people don't respect you.

Um, regarding the pond... get a hold of DG member Oconus privately is about all I can say. He'll bail your happy butt out of that fiscal nightmare and quite well I might add. Also too, you really need to take a look at Harbor Freight pumps. I don't have a link off hand but he will.

Now what's this I hear about flasks??? Please flask on! Could ya try to flask some Cypripedium kentuckiense as well as the C. candidum and I'm thinking no shelf would be complete without a flask of C. formosanum and well then C. reginae forma albolabium but I'm quite sure there are others!

You mean I'm not alone is doing biotech for myself? How nice. I had about given up on finding someone else. What kind of culture medium do you use? I was trying some stuff from Carolina Bio but couldn't get past contamination. Kitchen Culture wasn't very informative. Can you suggest some reading for a non science minded novice? Affordable books are few and far between and my budget isn't very big. What auxins or cytokinnins do you use? Is there some sort of dormancy issue that would account for the shelf time or is there another way to give them a jumpstart? Jessamine

E,

It's difficult to start seed I don't have! I've grown C. formosanum (even won an award at a show with it) and promptly killed it after flowering...touchy! Unfortunately I have way too much seed that does need attention, in fact I collected seed from my C. pubescens just this afternoon. I know I could get at least the kentuckiense seed from the Orchid seedbank, but with 7 or 8 other Cyps to flask already as well as a load of other native orchids, what can I say, I'll start with what I have on hand!

Jessamine,

Here's a great book on Orchid seed germination technique: Asymbiotic Technique of Orchid Seed Germination, The cost of the book is $45 and it is great. I learned flasking from working for an orchid grower some 25 years ago. Here's also a fantastic place the Orchid Seedbank Project that offers seed, carries the book and has links to a multitude of sources for anything to do with Orchids and flasking. http://members.cox.net/ahicks51/osp/

With a small budget, start out with a homemade glove box. I have one that I made in an afternoon. I recently acquired a sterile hood (a discard from a local college). The glove box virtually eliminates contamination.

I use pre made media, I just don't like all the hassles of measuring minute amounts of chemicals when there are perfectly good medias readily available and reasonably priced. And as far as the dormancy issues. The science and art of native orchid flasking is still in their early stages for many species. It has been said that the best way to get over dormancy issues is to either use the greenpod technique or soak the seed in the 10% clorox solution for a long time (up to an hour, as opposed to the standard 10 minutes) By all means let me know if I can be of further help!

Fred

Hey Fred, thank you for the Information. It's a good thing we are heading into winter so I will have time to do the subject justice. I am slowing down and can't do a book a night anymore but this appears to be more than a passing fancy with me. Jessamine