Our February 2021 Newsletter is here with articles on winter, a poem, even Shakespeare and more! NPSNJ_Newsletter_2021_February.

After multiple attempts, and a hiatus of 9 years, finally, here it is! Thanks to all the contributors and to Susan Haake who persisted and did a great job getting it together. NPSNJ_Newsletter_2020_August It is chock full of goodies.

Because of COVID-19, we are unable to physically meet, so we have been promoting webinars.

 Click here for Mike Van Clef 5/18/2022 webinar recording on "Native Plants and the Invasive Plants They Replace"

 Click here for Kate Brandes 4/27/2022 webinar recording on "Native Plants for the Small Yard" Included is her booklist for children, teens and adults

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Recordings from the 2022 Annual Meeting March 5:

 Click here for Doug Tallamy 3/5/2022 webinar recording on "The Nature of Oaks"

 Click here for Jay Kelly 3/5/2022 webinar recording on "Addressing the Impacts of Overabundant Deer and Invasive Plant Species in Northern New Jersey: Strategies for Forest Restoration"

 Click here for Don Torino 3/5/2022 webinar recording on "Creating a Certified Wildlife Garden"

 Click here for Rebecca McMackin 3/5/2022 webinar recording on "Brooklyn Bridge Park Lessons (so far!) in Constructed Ecology"

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 Click here for Joe Alvarez 2/16/2022 webinar recording on "An Introduction to Xeriscape Gardening"

 Click here for Steve Kutos 2/9/2022 webinar recording on "Partners for Life: Fungi & Plants"

 Click here for Bobbie J. Herbs & Randi V. Wilfert Eckel 1/18/2022 webinar recording on "Backyard Transformation in Just 3 years: Re-creating Nature"

 Click here for Becky Laboy 1/12/2022 webinar recording on "Unique Plants and Wildflowers of Barrens and Bogs"

 Click here for Becky Laboy 12/7/2021 webinar recording on "Meet and explore Jersey Friendly Yards. Learn how to attract and sustain natural habitat for bees, butterflies and birds!"

 Click here for Charlotte Lorick 11/23/2021 webinar recording on "Milkweed to Meadowlarks: How Private Land Stewards can Lead the Way in Biodiversity Conservation"

 Click here for Mary Anne Borge 11/9/2021 webinar recording on "Plant Ecology: Why Are Plants Important? "

 Click here for James Boyer 11/6/2021 webinar recording on "The Dawn of Ecosystems"

 Click here for Joan Maloof 11/6/2021 webinar recording on "Recognizing and Protecting Ancient Forests"

 Click here for Nancy Slowik 11/6/2021 webinar recording on "Basic Plant ID"

 Click here for Mary Reynolds 10/19/2021 webinar recording on "We are the Ark - Acts of Restorative Kindness to the Earth"

 Click here for Tom Knezick & Fran Cchismar 9/22/2021 webinar recording on "Bring on the Bugs! The Importance of Native Plants & How to get your Neighbors Onboard"

 Click here for Rachel Mackow 6/16/2021 webinar recording on "Native Plants For Moths"

 Click here for Sara Webb 5/17/2021 webinar recording on "The Diverse Forests of New Jersey: Ecology, Threats, and Restoration"

 Click here for Mary Anne Borge 5/5/2021 webinar recording on "Spreading the Word Beyond the Choir"

 Click here for Deb Ellis 4/21/2021 webinar recording on "Bloodroot, Bluebells and Butterflies: Spring Beauties for Biodiversity"

 Click here for Lucia Ruggerio 4/19/2021 webinar recording on "Rain Gardens: Can You Dig It?"

 Click here for Dennis Hillerud 3/30/2021 webinar recording on "Native Gardening for Beginners"

 Click here for Marilyn Sobel 3/15/2021 webinar recording on "Plants of the Pine Barrens"

 Click here for Elaine Silverstein 3/10/2021 webinar recording on "Sustainability in the Home Garden"

 Click here for Leslie Sauer 3/6/2021 webinar recording on "Nurturing Nature During Climate Change"

 Click here for Elaine Silverstein 3/6/2021 webinar recording on "Designing and Planting with Native Plants: Creating a Native Plant Garden"

 Click here for Dan Duran 2/15/2021 webinar recording on "We can't see the woods for the trees: To save biodiversity we must change our views on forests"

 Click here for Joe Alvarez 1/27/2021 webinar recording on "Winter Botany 101"

 Click here for Carolyn Summers 11/18/2020 webinar recording on "Native Plants for 21st Century Gardens: Ending Invasive Exotic Landscape Clutter"

 Click here for Joseph Russell 11/16/2020 webinar recording on "Using Plant Habitat Preferences To Your Advantage"

 Click here for David Hughes 10/21/2020 webinar recording on "Designing Tidy Native Gardens"

We have the recording from Mike Van Clef's webinar on "Deer Resistant Native Plants for Your Garden" Click here 

We have recordings from two of our webinars from Becky Laboy

Jesse Connor's (our Southeast Chapter co-leader) and the Galloway Township EC has produced an informative video on invasives plants. Twelve Tenacious Invasives - Invasive Plants.

Four videos of Jesse Connor's (our Southeast Chapter co-leader) beautiful woodland garden discussing groundcover, self seeders, viburnums, and others. Home Native Landscaping.

Video tour of "Woodland Wildflwers" at the NJ Botanical Garden, Skylands by Native Plant Channel. It presents suggestions for shaded areas. A plant list also provided. Native Woodland Wildflowers.

Here are few short clips of some visitors to our summer garden. Not deer, but butterfiles and a hummingbird moth. It was fun to watch as they flitter from flower to flower collecting nectar. Visitors to Our Garden  

Essex Chapter Native Garden Tour: Native Garden Tour   On July 20, 2019 the Essex Chapter held a garden tour of seven public and private gardens.

NJ Native Plants & Polinator: slide show   New Jersey flowering plants and their insect pollinators .

These are alphabetically ordered by category.

Bergamot, Wild:Click Here What native plant is used for butterfly kisses and for tea? Wild Bergamot, Monarda fistulosa

Goldenrod, Wreath:Click Here All goldenrods have their virtues, but for many gardeners wreath goldenrod takes the gold.

Meadow Rue, Tall: Light An' Fluffy Tall meadow rue Thalictrum pubescens can get tall if given the right conditions which are moist soil, full sun, and slightly acid rich soil.

Milkweed, Swamp: Swamp Milkweed  Would you like to save the world or at least a part of it?

Myxomycetes: Overlooked Native Plants  The Myxomycetes or acellular slime molds can only be considered to be plants if one uses a very inclusive definition.

Native Gardens: Creating a Native Garden in the Home Landscape  In recent years there has been a positive trend towards using native plants in home landscape design.

Native Gardens: The Case for Native Plants 

Seeds: Collecting Native Plant Seeds  When it comes to collecting wildflower seeds, timing is everything.

Trillium, White: Trillium grandiflorum  There are hundreds of trillium species around the world. NJ has 4 native species.

Violet: 2018 Plant of the Year: Viola sororia  The diminutive flowers of this lovely wildflower can be found everywhere in New Jersey, and well beyond.

Conservation / Ecology Articles:

Deer: Effects of overabundant deer and other factors in northern New Jersey  
- This is a scholarly article documenting the regional changes to forest understories since the mid-twentieth century by Jay F. Kelly Ph.D., Raritan Valley Community College
- He looks at changes in species and size of woody plants and the impact of deer on them. Other factors are studied also, however, deer is the overwhelming factor. He compares old data, current data and data from deer exclosures.
- From the abstract: "Because deer strongly reduce tree recruitment, shift species composition, and reduce understory cover across large spatial scales, they represent a significant concern for forest managers and an issue that should be effectively addressed."
- Average deer population in NJ in 1998 was 38 deer per sq. mi. When deer population is higher than 10 deer per sq. mi. then deer impact becomes evident. The highest regional densities of 75 per sq. mi. occurred in northern-central New Jersey. Update: in 2019, the average count was 120-140 deer per sq. mi. in many areas (Ryck Suydam, president of the New Jersey Farm Bureau, April 2019).

Hemlock: Another Tree In Peril  Our native Eastern or Canadian hemlock is in trouble and as usual people are to blame.

Highways: Highway Beautification Not Just About Aesthetics.   In an ecological version of roadside assistance, the South Jersey Transportation Authority, which runs the Atlantic City Expressway, recently planted 35 linear acres of native wildflowers along the highway.

Invasive Plants:
What Are Invasive Plant Species, Anyway?   WHY do we need a definition because we nationally need to "pull together" and one accepted definition would allow us to do that smoothly?

Invasive Plant Species   Don't plant these invasive plants and be a part of the big problem.

Ponds:
Pond Planting for Habitat and The Pond Edge  The pond edge is a narrow band that, with proper planning, can be quite valuable to a land manager.

Restoring Balance and Beauty to your Pond with Native Aquatic Plants  Maintaining dense vegetation around a pond has a beneficial impact on water quality.

Rain Gardens: Rain Garden Manual   Help protect our State's precious water resources and add to the health and diversity of our native habitats and landscapes.

Salt Marshes: Salt Marshes   They are the wetlands between the ocean beaches and the freshwater rivers.

Threatened Plants:  NJDEP: Special Plants of New Jersey  Description of NJDEP's creation of list of plants of special concern. Includes the link to the listing.

Threatened Plants:
 NJDEP: Status & Trends  Reports status and trends in plant species rarity statewide.

Amaranthus pumilus (Seabeach Amaranth) Rare Beach Plant Nearly Doubled   NJDEP biologists have documented a nearly doubling of the state's population of a rare beach plant, demonstrating the resilience of nature.

Corema conradii (broom crowberry)   NJDEP restores habitat  )  Much work has been done to restore habitat in the East Plains Natural Area in Ocean County's Stafford Forge WMA to boost populations of the state-endangered broom crowberry, a rare plant found only intermittently in the Northeastern U.S. and maritime Canada.

Dichanthelium hirstii 2019 Plant of the year: Hirst's panic grasss   Dichanthelium hirstii is a species of grass that is known from only three sites in New Jersey, one site in Delaware, two sites in North Carolina and one site in Georgia.

Gentiana autumnalis Pine Barren Gentian   2021 Plant of the year - category 'Special & Rare Plants of NJ'. Pine barren gentian contrasts with the expected colors of fall, blooming from September to early November in New Jersey.

Isotria medeoloides (Small Whorled Pogonia) Globally Rare Orchid Found in Stokes State Forest   Biologists with NJDEP have confirmed a new occurrence of a globally rare orchid, the small whorled pogonia, within Sussex County's Stokes State Forest.

Bluet: Houstonia caerulea  Small pale blue low growing flowers blooming in the spring.

Bog Asphodel: Narthecium americanum  This pinebaren plant with yellow flowers in a vertical cluster is endangered both in NJ and globally.

Broom Crowberry: Corema conradii  This rare pinebaren low growing bush has tiny inconspicuous separate male and female flowers.

Geranium, Wild: Geranium maculatum  The flowers are lavender-pink and about 1 to 1.5 inches wide. The 5 petals have radiating streaks which guide insects to the nectar.

Oak, Black: Quercus velutina  A Close up look at a black oak leaf to see the stellate hairs. The species 'velutina' means velvety- soft hairs.

Spicebush: Lindera benzoin  Spicebush is a native deciduous shrub that is about 5-15 ft. tall. The plant blooms in early spring before the leaves emerge.

Turkeybeard: Xerophyllum asphodeloides   You can't miss it when it is flowering. It has a showy white cluster of flowers on top of a single tall stalk. In New Jersey it is found in the Pine Barren

Below are a variety of links to sites offering diverse and valuable information on native plants. 

Pine Barrens Links:

The pine barrens of New Jersey is an unique invaluable habitat. Discover all about this unique set of ecosystems by clicking the links below. 

Gardens & Arboreta Links:

General Links:

Almost every state has a native plant society. They are not included here.