Before acorns are formed, catkins must do the work of gene exchange.

Rain, wind, and waterfowl also play key rolls in my collection schedule. If I wait one day too long after a good wind to go to a site to collect, I may have given the whole crop to the geese.

Different species of oaks have very different sizes and shapes of acorns, all beautiful in my opinion, but requiring some creative collection techniques. Raking and scooping has been a standby for years, as has stooping and picking, but as the human seed collectors age and the number of acorns needed has increased, we have strived to become less labor intensive and more efficient. Enter ‘The Nut Wizard”! This simple and ingenious gadget was discovered on the Internet by Kelsay a few years ago and has become as indispensable as bags, buckets and bug spray to my seed collecting kit.

Rolling this magical basket across the ground rather than stooping or crawling has been a boon for my knees and back and the amount of time it saves back at the nursery is amazing. No more hours of separating the trash from the acorns that we raked up.

Here you see the progression from acorn to seedling.

So now we have acorns, lots and lots of acorns: acorns from the white oak group and acorns from the red oak group all having slightly different quirks and requirements. When to stratify? How to stratify? They all need some treatment to break their dormancy so they will germinate for the next spring. This is where the learning curve never ends. As a rule, the red oak group is like the teachers pet; obedient, well behaved and polite- they do as they’re told and wait their turn. I plant them into our wooden seed flats as soon as I collect them, tag the flat, stack them on a pallet and leave them outside under the shade of the Hackberry until it’s time to spend the winter in the seed house. No back talk, I like that about them.

But every group has the troublemakers, class clowns, and bullies. I am not sure which category the white oak group should be slotted into, I think it depends a lot on the type of weather we have in the fall. They tend to want to poke their radicles out before we even plant them and stick their nosy heads out of the soil if the weather stays a little too warm.

Here is a close-up of a germinating acorn. This one is producing more than one stem and will need to be clipped.

This pushy personality makes it challenging to store them over the winter without smashing their little heads between the flats. Ideally, we want cold nights and cool days all through fall with a good freeze by early November and then nights that stay below freezing until early spring. If only I could put in a request for that every year and it would come true! But I need a challenge and job security—if it was easy and predictable, anyone could do it. So I have tried a lot of experiments. Some ideas came from Connor of course, with his decades of experience you would think he would have the exact recipe all figured out, but the perfect answer one year is not the perfect answer the next. Refrigerate? Store outside longer? Stack right away, don’t stack until the Sandhill Cranes arrive and the mice move in the seed house? We have tried them all with some great successes and total failures. It’s an ongoing dilemma, if I ever figure it out I will probably quit and go into another field because then this job would get boring!

So winter starts and all our oaks, white and red, get stacked into their acorn condos and go into the seed house to hopefully sleep off their attitude for spring germination.

—LLV.

Check back later for the next chapter: Out of the Seed House into the Greenhouse.

A number of years ago we got to the point that all we did was assist others in the pursuit of knowledge and we thought why can’t we do that here. So we started actually tracking some of the little experiments we do around here. Most of our studies are centered around the improvement of our product and to see how our plants respond to different kinds environments. Some of them are very exacting, many are anecdotal, but all of them are informative. We encourage this kind of activity by all who work and shop here and from time to time we even have them do a write up so we can share a good idea or an interesting topic. The following is a trapping love story by one of our former interns, Laura Schwer. She outlines an often overlooked, but hugely important, part of the habitat here at the nursery. We pride ourselves on keeping as close to nature as possible and she gives a peek at part of that directive here:

Many of my fellow nature lovers seem to have so many amazing stories of observing countless numbers of magnificent animals in the wild. From spotting a bald eagle perched stoically on a branch overlooking a river bend to watching a red fox romp playfully through a flowering meadow. I, on the other hand, have always found myself looking in the exact wrong direction at the exact wrong time. Despite my amazing luck, my love of these sly creatures has never dwindled, and I pursued a college degree studying Fish and Wildlife Conservation. During my junior year, I pleasantly discovered that since these animals have decided not to present themselves to me on their own, I can now take measures into my own hands having been taught how to properly trap and handle small mammals. I instantly fell in love with small mammal trapping and the rest is history.

Small mammals play an important role in promoting healthy, balanced ecosystems by performing a variety of ecosystem services. These services include preying on insects, consuming and dispersing seed, cycling nutrients, improving soil structure by constructing burrows, and most importantly by being a vital food source for many predatory birds, reptiles, and other mammals. Some of these animals have developed a “bad rap” in and around homes and on farms. However, research has shown that in most cases small mammals are actually more beneficial than harmful in crop fields due to the ecosystem services they provide. Small mammals, particularly mice species, have been known to cause damage in open grain storages and in buildings. In most cases, the culprit to blame is the house mouse, Mus musculus, an invasive species originally from Asia that is now common and abundant worldwide. You can even see them at your local pet store!

One strategy to prevent small mammal damage is implementing sustainable management practices that encourage a diverse environment. Increasing habitat diversity and minimizing disturbance increases the number of niches available for wildlife, thus increasing the diversity of wildlife that inhabits the area. You may be thinking… how does increasing wildlife diversity actually decrease your risk of wildlife damage? Increasing diversity allows a balance between predator and prey populations. Prey populations, small mammals in this case, are kept “in check” when predators are present, and thus decreases your risk of damage. When predators are absent, prey populations can sky-rocket and cause plant and property damage. This is also true with insect populations. Diverse, minimally disturbed environments are great habitats for both beneficial and potentially nuisance insects. Beneficial insects prey on the nuisance insects decreasing the risk of plant damage.

Possibility Place Nursery has kept this concept in mind from the very beginning and has developed their management strategies around this concept. For instance, Possibility Place Nursery has not used insecticide, miticide, or fungicide sprays for the past 15 years, which can all negatively affect insect, small mammal, and other wildlife populations. To confirm that Possibility Place Nursery’s management strategies are allowing greater wildlife diversity, we have been investigating the wildlife populations throughout the nursery (which is where my small mammal trapping expertise comes into play!).

During August and September of 2011, I set Sherman Live Traps at strategic locations throughout the nursery to determine what small mammal species are present. To my great pleasure, I trapped five small mammal species and a larger, unexpected capture. During one August morning, I was checking the traps set in a row of trees near one of the nursery ponds. As usual, one of the traps had a closed door signifying a successful night. As I approached the trap, I heard a noise louder than a typical mouse squeak and my curiosity grew. As soon as I picked up the trap, I knew this was no ordinary mouse as the trap weighed at least a pound and gave off a pungent odor. Cautiously, (trying to avoid being sprayed by a skunk!) I peaked inside the trap to see what was inside. To my relief, I saw a bare tail through the small crack, which in my experience means a baby opossum’s curiosity got the better of itself. I did not feel rushed to ready my camera, since opossums are slow to run and typically crouch in place hissing at my “fearsome” self. I found a stick and cautiously unlock the back door to release the captive. Awestricken, I watched as a small mink slowly poked its head out of the semi-opened trap door to see if the coast was clear. Thoughts rushed through my mind—“HOLY COW!”—“That’s no opossum!”—“Get the camera?!?”—“Close the door?!?” Meanwhile, after standing frozen in time, I finally grabbed my camera, prepared to take a picture, pressed down on the trigger … and the mink quickly scurried two feet out of the trap, stopped, looked around, and promptly spun 180 degrees and dashed right towards me… of course being my fearless, outdoorsy self I took my amazing award-winning photo of my surprise visitor… …Unfortunately, I snapped the photo at the exact time the mink decided to run directly at me, which (now with illustrated proof!) shows that I am not as fearless as I may seem to be. (For the record, minks do not have hairless tails. I was just fortunate to see the exact half inch of tail that must have gotten caught in the trap door and removed the hair.)

The American Mink (Mustela vison) are predators that feed on small to medium-sized mammals, crayfish, frogs, snakes, and birds. They inhabit areas near water that usually have wooded areas nearby, which perfectly describes the habitat I trapped the mink at Possibility Place Nursery. Another predator that I captured was the northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda). Northern short-tailed shrews primarily consume insects, worms, snails, sowbugs, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, and other invertebrates, but they will also consume salamanders, ground-nesting birds, and mice with the help of their poisonous saliva that subdues larger prey. Seeds, fruits, roots, nuts, and acorns also make up a fraction of their diet. Northern short-tailed shrews inhabit hardwood and pine forests, borders of ponds, grasslands, brush land, fencerows, weed fields, and dense pasture. They prefer moist areas with dense vegetation and a deep litter layer in order to construct elaborate runways and burrow systems to safely navigate the habitat in search of food.

The less ferocious small mammals captured were the meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), prairie deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), and house mouse (Mus musculus). Meadow voles are herbivores that eat a variety of plant material, bark, roots, tubers, and seeds. Meadow voles inhabit roadside ditches, fencerows, damp meadows, orchards, prairies, and other habitats with dense vegetation. Meadow voles also construct runways used for protection from predators and safe access to food. White-footed mice are opportunistic omnivores consuming a variety of foods including insects, seeds, nuts, fruit, and green vegetation. White-footed mice do not construct runways, but move in a ricochetal pattern with short hops and constant change of direction. White-footed mice occupy a variety of habitats, including deciduous and mixed forests, hedgerows, brushy areas, croplands, and residential buildings in wooded areas. They prefer habitats with vertical diversity, like wooded areas, that allows easy access to travel on and off the ground. Prairie deer mice are also opportunistic omnivores that forage on the ground and consume mainly seeds, insects, fruit, and subterranean fungi. Prairie deer mice do not rely on herbaceous ground cover for protection, but rather construct extensive burrow systems to seek cover. Unlike white-footed mice, prairie deer mice are mainly terrestrial, running and hopping across the ground instead of climbing. Prairie deer mice are considered habitat generalists occupying a variety of habitats, like croplands, grasslands, weed fields, and fence rows. House mice, mentioned previously, is an introduced species originally from Asia that is now widespread and abundant around the world. House mice are opportunistic species that take advantage of any resource available. They consume grain, seeds, corn, wheat, soybeans, insects, anthropogenic products, and basically anything they can find. They occupy disturbed areas, such as croplands, roadsides, and buildings, and tend to avoid less disturbed habitats, like grasslands and woodlands. They are mainly terrestrial, but they will climb if necessary.

Population abundance patterns vary among the different species. Prairie deer mice and white-footed mice populations exhibit seasonal fluctuations, while meadow voles undergo seasonal and multi-year population cycles. Mice populations are low in the spring and steadily increase during the summer with peak population abundance in the fall. The fluctuations are caused by the differences between birth and death rates. Vole populations experience a cyclical abundance pattern with some seasonal changes similar to mice populations. Vole populations peak every two to five years followed by a population crash. Northern short-tailed shrew populations do not undergo predictable fluctuation patterns, but remain at low, uniform numbers year long.

The diversity of mammal species captured at Possibility Place Nursery demonstrates that the management decisions they have taken in order to create a healthy and balanced ecosystem has been successful. Even though the specific population numbers are not known as a result of this study, the presence of multiple predator and prey species inhabiting the area shows that Possibility Place Nursery has successfully created an environment that is diverse and rich in resources allowing granivores, herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores to all occupy and communally live in the same location.

Laura Schwer

A Waved Sphinx Moth in the hand is worth 50 in the woods.

I love to run around in the dark with a flash light seeking the source of noises or to sit next to a fire and just watch for life. One step on the path to nirvana as far as I’m concerned. Over the past decade I’ve gotten a little more interested in the “things” that are actually in the night that surrounds me. So, I have gotten a small group of friends to lend me a hand and start to catalog the animals and insects that share our nursery with us and are usually unseen. We have started to live trap for mammals and night light for insects. The latter of those two is what I’m going to talk about today.

A few weeks ago I was talking to my friend George about putting up a bright light and seeing what shows up. George is an entomologist and gets giddy every time you have a bug to show him. We talked about the insects. Who’d have guessed that. The more we talked about them though the more curious we both got about what was actually here because we don’t spray pesticides here. So we set a date for a night lighting.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the practice of back-lighting/black lighting, it is just like it sounds. You take a VERY bright light or the black light that you’ve shelved since college and place it behind a big white sheet or other like surface and turn them on. The effect is that a beacon is shown into the night and that any bug within sight of it will be drawn in. In some case, George tells me, as far as half a mile is not unheard of. These lights are then left up from dusk ‘til the wee hours of the morning, because different insects come out at different times based on conditions, site, time of year and their own needs. Much like people. I have done this kind of thing before but never here at the farm and we were a little excited at the prospect of seeing some of the winged beauties I find the caterpillars for all the time.

Really Big Toe Biter

When the date arrived we put a cooler of . . .ah, assorted juices and other flavored beverages together and set up our lights, sheets and other equipment for the nights activities. About a half hour after night fall the visitations started. I will admit that we were keyed in on moths and other like insects, so did not collect the hundreds of beetles and other species that showed up. Trust me when I say this the activity was impressive. We had several species of sphinx moths, some very colorful little buggers, a couple of curiously shaped moths (one looked like a plane) and some truly big bugs.

Over the course of several hours we noted over 100 species of creepy-crawlies, of which we got 40 species of moth. Not a bad haul for a very causal survey. The species list of the moths that we got are listed below; sorry, you’ll have to google for pictures because we had only a cell phone camera. We were encouraged  enough by the results that we are planning to do a more thorough survey for this fall and then again for late next spring and summer. We’ve been bitten by the bug so to speak.

Black lighting for moths is a activity that is one of those things that can leave a lasting impression on those who take part in it. You’ll see things you rarely find in daylight, which can give you a bigger picture of the way you share your yard/farm/vacant lot with a larger world. It is also a great way to get kids to check nature out. They get to stay up late, see “ugly bugs” and tell their friends that they got to touch them. Gross! Plus all you need to do this is have a bright flash light, a white sheet and a curious nature. Your yard might surprise you with a odd beauty you may never have guessed would be there.

Moth List

• Smerinthus jamaicensis (Twin-spotted Sphinx)
• Leuconycta diphteroides (Green Leuconycta Moth)
• Tarachidia erastrioides (Small Bird-dropping Moth)
• Hypoprepia fucosa (Painted Lichen Moth)
• Isia (Pyrrharctia) Isabella (Banded Woollybear)
• Agrotis ipsilon (Ipsilon Dart Moth)
• Ogdoconta cinereola (Common Pinkband Moth)
• Rivula propinqualis (Yellow Snout-moth)
• Allagrapha aerea (Copper Looper Moth)
• Bomolocha abalienalis (White-lined Hypena)
• Lithacodia carneola (Pink-Barred Lithacodia)
• Desmia funeralis (Grape Leaffolder)
• Spragueia leo (Common Spragueia)
• Leucania linita (Leucania linita)
• Xanthotype urticaria (False Crocus Geometer)
• Halysidota tessellaris (Banded Tussock Moth)
• Idia lubricalis (Glossy Black Idia Moth)
• Bomolocha madefactalis (Gray-eyed Bomolocha)
• Schinia thoreaui (Thoreau’s Flower Moth)
• Catocala grynea (Woody Underwing)
• Plathypena scabra (Green Cloverworm Moth)
• Palpita magniferalis (Splendid Palpita Snout Moth)
• Lithacodia muscosula (Large Mossy Lithacodia)
• Elaphria unio (Pearly Wood-nymph)
• Thioptera nigrofimbria (Black-bordered Lemon Moth)
• Phalaenostola larentioides (Black-banded Owlet Moth)
• Sitochroa palealis (Sitochroa palealis) introduced from Europe
• Zanclognatha pedipilalis (Grayish Zanclognatha)
• Xanthorhoe ferrugata (Dark-barred Twin-spot)
• Ceratomia undulosa (Waved Sphinx)
• Homophoberia apicosa (Black Wedge-spot Moth)
• Pseudaletia unipuncta (Armyworm Moth)
• Trichoplusia ni (Cabbage Looper)
• Palthis angulalis (Dark-spotted Palthis)
• Spodoptera ornithogalli (Yellowstriped Armyworm)
• Ochropleura implecta (Flame-shouldered Dart Moth)
• Diacme elealis (Paler Diacme Moth)
• Parapoynx badiusalis (Chestnut-marked Pondweed Moth)
• Pyrausta (Cindaphia) bicoloralis (Pyrausta (Cindaphia) bicoloralis)
• Apamea amputatrix (Yellow-Headed Cutworm)

"Before" on the left (April 6, 2010) and "After" on the right (July 26, 2011).

When Ron & Sharon Reum showed up at the nursery in March of 2010 they were only looking for a handful of trees and shrubs and maybe a couple of flowers. What followed over the next 14 months I cannot characterize as anything other than a mild addiction to planting natives and affecting a massive change in their yard. They have worked harder than most in their attempts to change a landscape that was installed 15 years before they moved in. It has been an amazing transformation and I would like to share their story with you.

I first visited the Reums’ home in Kankakee County on the 6th of April 2010 and was not all that surprised at what I found there. It was a standard urban yard that had been dropped from space on a home that had been built in a former corn field. Nothing out of the ordinary. I told them that I almost didn’t make it up the drive because the landscape was so boring it nearly put me to sleep. They informed me that that’s why I was there. It seemed that they wanted something different than what was so common in their neighborhood and, after looking at what we had to offer, we might be able to help.

Before: The Reum's home as it was on April 6, 2010.

After walking the yard and looking at all the things they wanted to address we started to identify the things that needed to be be done first so as to get the project rolling and start getting the plants in the ground. Ultimately, we all agreed that the large horse-shoe shaped bed in front of the house was the place to make the first big splash. It was far too timid an entry into a home as large as this and made the home look like a bulldozer about to push it under. It had to go.

Before I tell you how we handled the horse-shoe there is a little background information about the Reums that you should know. Ron is one of those people that gets dedicated to a project and sees it through with singleminded determination. He often tells me that he’s done planting for the year only to call me two weeks later to move on to the next spot. Often to the consternation of his wife, though she seems to enjoy the progress. So, the results that they can get will tend to be a gold standard rather that what is typical. Plantings that usually need three years to establish they have gotten done in just less than two. Their dedication to the project and energy in carrying out the plans they have for their yard can impart an enthusiasm that is contagious. Unless, of course, if you’re their neighbors and like the coma inducing landscapes that were likely overpaid for.

After: the Reum's home on July 26, 2011.

Make no mistake, what the Reums did and are doing to their yard takes a bit of bravery. Everything from learning about the natives they’re planting to dealing with neighbors who are or are not understanding. The range of things to learn and do may seem overwhelming, but they’re not. The Reums are proof of that. What most people are scared of when starting to plant with natives is the perception that it will look weedy, but as you’ll see in a bit it is far from the truth.

After we had agreed that the horse-shoe drive was the place to start we set about making preparations for its installation. We stood in the middle of the bed and I told him that all the yews that lined the drive had to go. They both gave me the look of “do we have to kill them?”. I told them that they did not have to but that they and all the other collected foliage producers had to be removed to make room for what we had planned. And remove it they did.

In one of the most thorough workings over of a bed I have ever seen, Ron had the plants removed and then inspected the soil. He did not like the look of it so he replaced that as well. Then he replaced a large part of the irrigation system so the bed got better coverage than the grass. Something I wish more people would do instead of wasting money and water on grass. He then installed a lighting system to light up the trees and grasses to show them off. Then topped it all off with very fancy wood-chips. In other words they went all out.

Ron's Plant Prisons

We then set about planting the bed with a large collection of trees, shrubs and prairie herbs. (I don’t have the room to run a complete list here but if you’d like to know what went in to the bed let me know.) The planting of this bed finished in late Spring of 2010. It immediately took off. The plants doubled and tripled in size before the end of the year and the trees were green and beautiful. Now, in a normal story this is where the conflict arises for the heroes to battle and boy did we ever end up with a conflict. I can only describe them as nuclear deer and rabbit banditos. Being 100 yards from a state park that no longer has a proper predator/prey ratio can open up gardens that are near these areas to devastation. Within days of the planting these four-legged lawn mowers attacked the bed like the huns sweeping in from the plains. At first they tried shooing them away, which worked like you’d expect. It didn’t. Then the fun began.

If ever there was a home to test deer repellant products, the Reums live in it. They have tried it all. Pheromone stakes that shock, liquid fence, soap, industrial strength liquids and sprays, coyote urine, spraying them with a hose and borrowing my two dogs for a couple of hours ever so often to run patrols. Not one of these really worked to keep them off the plants. So we fell back to something that worked for us here at the nursery and on many job sites we planted on. Fencing.

Fencing

Now as I’ve said before Ron is very dedicated to making this a success so when I told him he had to fence the plants to keep the deer and rabbits out he may have put a fence up that resembled that of a stockade only without the razor wire. A plant prison if you will. But it worked and worked well. The deer could no longer attack the trees and shrubs and they responded by putting on nearly two feet of new growth that first year. The rabbits remain a problem but they have not been able to keep pace with the growth of the plants. In about two seasons they should be able to remove the fence and not worry too much about the deer.

When it comes to pests of the four legged and, in some cases, the two legged varieties your best defense will always be a fence. It will keep out the most determined intruder that have wire cutters and keep your plants from most harm. Spray chemicals if you must or try fancy do-dads but none will work as well on deer or rabbits as fencing, just ask the Reums. In most cases the fencing is only needed for the first two or three seasons so the plants can get established and to grow the trees so that the crown growth is above browse height.

After we got the drive planted and the plants thriving Ron called me (after he told me it would be some time before he was ready to do more of this) and told me he wanted to plant a drainage area and grassy one acre parcel he had just acquired to the south of his home. After walking it and making a quick plan for controlled madness to create a screen of herbaceous plants mixed with shrubs and trees to give it a more natural look, they set about getting this area ready. Now unlike the drive all he needed to do was to spray the area to kill the grass to make it ready to plant. He did this and in a preemptive move also put up a 6 foot plant prison to be sure the deer and rabbits could not get to the plants yet to be there. A short time later over 800 plugs, 25 shrubs and 10 trees where planted along this 250 foot long swale. In these pictures (see small insets above) you can see that the plants are doing very well, in fact, they have lost only 10 or so plugs as far as we can tell. Remarkable really and a testament to their loving care.

Fencing

Shortly after the plants went in, Ron and I had a conversation about the planting. I was concerned that there might be some blow back from the neighbors that he had planted in one of the main drainages of the sub-division and that they might complain and we discussed what he should tell them to assuage their fears. Not two days later a IDNR (Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources) truck rolled up to the planting and parked. Ron tells me that he saw them and approached for a conversation and asked them what the trouble was. They told him that there had been a call from one or a couple of his neighbors that this crazy guy was planting in a waterway and that it was going to cause flooding. He asked if they saw a problem and they said no, that it was nice to see someone planting natives in proper locations to reduce erosion and improve habitat and they were only there so that they could say they looked at the site if someone called again. Have a nice day.

Liatris pycnostachya grows to 6-7 feet tall!

Well, that must have really pumped Ron and Sharon up because I got another call from them. They wanted to get started on planting oak groves in a couple of spots around the open area they had just bought. Two new groups of oak trees are now on site along with a small grove of cypress and one of american linden. All of these groupings have their accompanying shrubs and perennials. The Reums have done a terrific job the whole way through and have not stopped planting yet. I’m getting a call about once every two weeks for more plants and they seem to be gearing up for a big push to finish the main parts of the yard this fall. If it is done with the kind of skill they have developed over the past two years then it should be nothing but a success. It should be the envy of all native junkies. They report to me often about the cool new butterflies, of which Sharon has started a collection of photos, and birds that have started visiting their yard with more regularity. They are and should be very proud of the way the plants have responded to their care. I mean they got Liatris pycnostachya to 6-7 foot in a year and a half! Not to mention the growth of the grasses and other plants. I can honestly say that I have never seen prairie plants respond like this in such a short time. The next step for them is to get a water source in, get their garden listed as habitat and get a plaque for their hard work.

Here are a couple of pictures from around the Reum yard. This is going to be one of those gardens that will really make people slow down as they pass to take a good look.

Close-up of Reums' Native Landscaping in Kankakee County, Illinois.

Close-up of a visiting butterfly in the Reums' native landscaping.

Close-up of Reums' Native Landscaping in Kankakee County, Illinois.