Meadow Sightings

It's a beautiful thing to see a managed meadow in full bloom! I've seen two recently, and wanted to share some pictures.

First up: Angelica Park in the city of Reading. This is a real "wow", especially if you haven't been there recently. As most locals know, the dam that held the small lake there broke in 2001, resulting in the loss of the lake and a messy build-up of sediment that covered the once-beautiful area. Fast forward 8 years, and Angelica Park is now an Environmental Education Center for the city of Reading. An environmental education building is planned to occupy the footprint of the old boat house (right: a view from the boat house). But for now, what's there is Angelica Creek, a small fishing pond, and an expansive "floodplain meadow", with meandering trails throughout. A trail from Angelica Park to the Ken-Grill Recreation Center has recently been completed, as well. Apparently, it goes right by the house where I grew up in Kenhorst (the bronze marker hasn't gone up yet). Read more info. on a proposed Angelica Greenway all the way to Nolde Forest here.

At the beginning of July, here's what that meadow looked like up close - and believe me, the pictures aren't doing this justice:



Above: Yellow Heliopsis and Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) - the Vervain is the purplish wash that you can see in the pictures. The lower picture is what the individual plants look like up close.

Below: Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) is in the foreground, along with more yellow Heliopsis to the right.


Wouldn't this be a great place to take the family on a sunny Sunday afternoon?

Next up - a meadow in someone's front yard. Now, this is not just any old 'someone' - it's the front yard of Mike and Jan Slater, area botanical experts and enthusiasts and part of the founding group of the Berks Native Seed Bank Project. Jan also works at Sugarbush, and going to her house and seeing her garden confirmed my initial suspicion that she is just working at the nursery for entertainment purposes. But, no matter - we benefit from her expertise, even if she is light years ahead. Again - the pictures aren't doing this justice....


Above: the main front yard planting is, as of mid-July, between 2-15 ft. tall. It is mowed down completely every March. Too many species are planted here to name, but it includes lots of Helianthus, Joe-Pye (Eupatorium species), Cup Plant (Silphium species), goldenrod (Solidago species) and grasses.



Above: a rain garden captures water running off from the driveway with a mixture of species adapted to moist conditions: Common and Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca and incarnata), Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), Pink Tickseed (Coreopsis rosea), Joe-Pye (Eupatorium species), and more. Below right: a gorgeous planting of Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) - the strain they raise has distinctly reddish tones. Asclepias is the family that hosts Monarch butterflies.

This may not be what every homeowner dreams of doing to their front yard, but there's no question about the ecological benefits of this type of planting. Mike was walking around with a pair of binoculars around his neck, which came in helpful throughout our walk as he stopped to identify the different kinds of birds that called his front yard "home". He also sighted numerous species of butterflies, and talk about mowing the wild violets centered around whether or not the chrysalis' had been abandoned yet. Clearly, nature was thriving here - as is also apparent in the managed meadow at Angelica Park.

This blog entry is getting long, but in brief: good management and species diversity are important components of meadows, whether they are in public parks or your own back (or front!) yard.

The only reason there is not more invasive purple loosestrife than Blue Vervain at Angelica is because the purple loosestrife is managed aggressively - and even with those controls, there are still many plants there. And the miscanthus grass that Mike and Jan planted in their front yard meadow many years ago - one of the few non-native species included there - is being slowly replaced by them with native species, as it threatens to take over more than its share of space in the yard.

Species diversity also ensures that many different types of birds, butterflies, and other wildlife may find habitat that suits them perfectly - and provides food, shelter, and breeding grounds throughout the seasons.

Here's a good article on meadows that came out recently in the Hardy Plant Society newsletter - with some familiar names!