Progress on My Wetland - December 14, 2019

December 14, 2019

Another angle, same day

My created wetland, which I have written about before in previous posts, continues to develop and mature though it is now getting ready to rest for winter. Over the summer, it withstood heavy rains that sometimes exceeded 5 inches per event and it has, at times, gone several weeks without rain at all - just like a natural wetland does. The pond liner, buried several feet beneath the center of this creation helps keep the moisture near the surface and the downspout, directed into it from the roof captures as much of the rainwater as possible and sends it where it needs to go. It continues to work exceedingly well. The center has filled in with water hyssop (Bacopa monnieri) as I intended. These plants originated from my former home before the move. I simply pulled up about a half dozen sprigs by hand, kept the roots moist and stuck them in the ground up here. I did not treat them gently. It is an exceedingly tough plant. Over the past 6 months, it has spread throughout the open-soil portion of the wetland and now creeps up over the sides and into the leaf litter that surrounds it. It looks rather "ratty" as it has fed a great many dozen white peacock caterpillars as well. 
My wetland milkweeds (A. incarnata and A. perennis)  have gone deciduous as they should have. The monarch caterpillars that they fed this past summer have also moved on. The eastern black swallowtails have also left despite the fact that my water dropwort (Tiedemannia filiformis) is still green. The foliage is never the part that first entices these butterflies to lay eggs anyway. It's the developing flower heads and they have long since gone to seed.
Over this past year, I have only lost one species of plant. The cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) slowly declined and finally expired in late summer. I was not too surprised by this as it is a very fussy plant in this part of the world. It was worth the try, however, as few wildflowers match its beauty and its ability to lure hummingbirds. I do not plan to try it again - at least not in this setting. I have a new milkweed to put in its place for after months of trying various stratification methods, the 8 seeds of few-flowered milkweed (Asclepias lanceolata) that I was fortunate enough to collect on one of my outings have finally germinated. If all goes well, it will be exciting to add another milkweed to this wetland community I've created.
I've only added one new species since my first planting - an Indian plantain (Arnoglossum ovatum var. lanceolata) that I grew from seed I collected over the summer. You can see the long elliptical leaves in the front of the wetland in the top photo. I originally added about six tiny seedlings that had barely more than 3-4 leaves and all of them have prospered. Their flowers should lure pollinators next summer.

Close-up of Arnoglossum 

The plants I've added around the perimeter have also done very well. These are not connected hydrologically to the wetland so the soil stays rather mesic. I've tried to make it as moist and fertile as possible by adding a deep layer of leaf mulch, however. There are 8 native pink azaleas (Rhododendron canescens) on the north side and 3 Alabama azaleas (R. alabamensis) to the south. I am eagerly awaiting their spring bloom as all of them have flower buds. The various ferns I've added to this area also have generally fared well, though the 2 Christmas ferns (Polystichum acrostichoides) have struggled because they get too sun.  If I have to replace them, I will add them elsewhere.
Winter should be a period of rest for plants as well as all of us. I appreciate the quiet time and I'm spending it sowing wildflower seed and hoping for a spring filled with new blooms and foliage.