Plant Spotlight – Native Wild Plums

By |2026-03-13T02:58:50-04:00January 31st, 2026|Flora|

By Jean Cavanaugh(A Wild Plum from this past August) Another of the native shrubs we have planted at Crossing Hedgerows is the Wild Plum. At one time, native plums were one of the most established wild food crops of Native Americans. According to the book, Native Plant Agriculture, by Indigenous Plants, Native Plums are more energy dense than any domesticated fruit you'd find in the grocery store and is only rivaled by other wild fruits such as serviceberries, ...

Hazelnuts

By |2026-03-18T18:41:48-04:00January 31st, 2026|Flora|

Look carefully for the nuts inside the "wrappers"   The photos I'm sharing today are from a hazelnut harvest we did last February. This is the time of year when they're ready, but in our experience you can collect them anytime you get around to it, as long as the squirrels don't beat you to it.         Our hazelnuts are the wild, native variety which are smaller than cultivars, but their taste ...

Autumn Olives

By |2026-03-12T23:37:48-04:00January 31st, 2026|Flora|

The fragrance of the Autumn Olive flowers in the springtime is fabulous. It's such a joy to walk back towards the woods and be greeted with their sweet smell rich in the air.  The blossoms are now beginning to fade away, but they have been a great source of pollen and nectar for the pollinator insects. Their speckled leaves are now coming in fully, and when fall rolls around, they will produce their yummy speckled berries (which ...

Spicebush

By |2026-03-12T23:27:47-04:00January 31st, 2026|Fauna, Flora|

One of the main understory shrubs in the woodlands area of the Sanctuary is Spicebush. The photos in this post are ones that Brennah has taken across the seasons showing the blossoms, berries, and fall foliage. She has even captured a shot of the Spicebush Butterfly (which I didn't realize was a thing, but she had identified long ago).I happened upon an excellent description of Spicebush this morning on the Indigenous Landscapes site which I will share ...

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