Beth Girdler

Her previous columns are archived HERE.

BETH GIRDLER

Cold-weather plant watching

A change in the weather last night and everything is sporting a thin blanket of fluffy snow. Did you look out the window and think of heating bills, winter driving, shoveling and Christmas shopping?

At this time of year, the idea of settling in for a long winter inside, keeping warm and dreaming of spring sounds good. But there is still so very much to see outdoors.

Pull on your boots, coat and mitts. Venture into the cold. Without the distractions of blooming flowers, buzzing insects, and singing birds, we can now focus on the more subtle aspects of nature observation.

Winter colours are painted from a different pallet than the brilliant hues of summer and fall. I love the many shades of ocher, umber, sepia, and sienna that you can see in the dried grasses and stems of last year's plants. Place among these the deep rose of red-osier dogwood branches, behind them the deep blue-green of a stand of spruce or white pine, then add dark blue-bottomed clouds with a touch of golden sunlight breaking through and, voila! You have a masterpiece worth more than the price of admission.

While you are walking amid this splendor, take time to notice the colour and variety of the seeds that are now ripe and awaiting dispersal.

Many plants have feathery filaments attached to their seeds that catch the wind and carry their genetic material up and away from the parent plant, an ingenious strategy to reduce competition between plants of the same species. Late afternoon, backlit by the sinking sun, the powder puff seeds of asters, goldenrod and milkweed are a visual delight. Virgin's bower Clematis virginiana, our native clematis, is also known as "old man's beard". This is the time to go out and discover why.

If you come upon a wand of common mullein, Verbascum thapsus, often 8 feet tall or more, give it a shake. You will learn why this remarkable alien (brought from Europe for its medicinal properties) wins a spot on the list of invasive North American plants.

A single plant can produce 100,000 to 180,000 tiny seeds.

Even more amazing is the fact that these seeds can remain viable for over 100 years! Hmmm, a seed I dislodge now may sprout well after my great, great grandchildren are born. Oh, to ponder the significance of one tiny seed!

Mullein seeds are held in little capsules along the stalk, giving the appearance of a cane covered in barnacles. The seeds are flung to the ground whenever the plant is bumped or blown.

I once watched a red-breasted nuthatch, head down on a mullein, probing each seed "barnacle" with its upturned bill. I thought it might be eating seeds until I read that each mullein plant is actually a veritable insect apartment building in the winter, housing up to 300 individuals, larvae and adults, per stock. Apparently, the nuthatch was aware of this fact before I was!

All of these wonders and many more are there to behold as part of an ever-changing tapestry of winter wildlife. Look for the subtleties enjoy the muted colours, and you will enjoy winter as much as any other seas

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