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Thistles, etc.

I'd like to respond to the "raasch" of letters from J. A.  in 
Madison (please pardon the pun).

The arboretum at Madison should indeed be a good place to get answers 
to some of your questions about native plantings, so get in touch if 
you haven't already. They may even offer classes in prairie and 
savanna planting.

Poison ivy is native, but is usually a sign of past diturbance 
(soil compaction and resultant impeded drainage?) in an upland site, 
as in relatively undisturbed terrain, it is more typical of 
floodplains. 

I agree with the comments already made about thistles, 
except for the one referring to them as hideous, though 
admittedly they can be painful to encounter and rather frightening 
when very abundant. In fact, I have resorted to mowingeven the native 
field thistle in certain young plantings where they have shown up in 
great abundance. Mowing just as they begin to flower really sets them 
back, and they are much reduced the next season, still more so the 
folllowing ones. Indeed, it seems generally a good practice, 
supported by abundant anecdote and some good science, to mow new 
prairie plantings for the first couple of seasons, and to mow problem 
areas as needed thereafter, to suppress early successional (weedier) 
native and non-native elements. 

As for planting bur oaks and the forbs you mentioned ... plant your 
potted forbs in early September. Put them in Labor Day weekend and 
keep watered till the the hard frosts come, and most of them 
should come back just fine in spring (you always lose some 
transplants, no matter when you plant). My experience is that woody 
plants transplant best just as they are breaking dormancy (bud barely 
opening, or a couple of weeks on either side, but I know people who 
swear by fall plantings. However, the proponent of this idea live in 
Missouri, where the fall is much longer and milder than that of 
Wisconsin.

What do our more northern parcticipants have to say about these 
planting times?


James C. Trager
Shaw Arboretum
P.O. Box 38
Gray Summit MO 63039
PH# 314-451-3512
FAX 314-451-5583
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