Cape Fear’s Going Green • 2015 Native Plant Festival Handout

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Cape Fear’s

Going Green

your guide to local eco-friendly resources

2015 Native Plant Festival WWW.GOINGGREENPUBLICATIONS.COM

October 2015

Volume 7 Issue 2

from the Editor

North Carolina

Native Plant Society Our mission is to promote the enjoyment and conservation of North Carolina’s native plants and their habitats through education, cultivation, and advocacy. www.ncwildflower.org Southeast Coast Chapter

We are pleased to bring you this special collection of JOGPSNBUJPO PO OBUJWF QMBOUT JO IPOPS PG 8JMNJOHUPO T öSTU BOOVBM /BUJWF 1MBOU 'FTUJWBM 8F IPQF ZPV FOKPZ UIJT ZFBS T GFTUJWBM BOE discover some new plants you might like to incorporate into your own yard. * N FOUFSUBJOFE CZ UIF DBUFSQJMMBST BUUSBDUFE UP NZ ZBSE * WF MFU UIF QBTTJPOøPXFS WJOF UBLF PWFS B GFODF BOE OPX FOKPZ TFFJOH the orange Gulf fritillary butterflies that emerge.

❧❧❧

— Valerie L. Robertson Editor

On the Cover

Cary Paynter

Top left: A fritillary visits a Vernonia noveboracensis (New York ironweed) in bloom. It can be recognized as a member of the Composite family by its inflorescences, which appear to be a single flower but are actually a collection of flowers merged into a single head. Despite its common name, its range extends as far south as Florida. photo by Cary Paynter

NEW HANOVER COUNTY

NCSU Extension Service and Arboretum The North Carolina State University Extension Service gives our county’s residents easy access to the resources and expertise of NC State University and NC A&T State University. Through educational programs, publications, and events, Extension Service Agents deliver unbiased, research-based information to New Hanover County citizens.

MASTER GARDENERS The New Hanover County Master Gardener Volunteer Association has more than 300 members who volunteer thousands of hours each year, providing information to the community and helping make the Arboretum gardens beautiful.

Master Gardeners answer questions in the Plant Clinic and on the clinic’s hotline; provide gardening education to groups through the Speakers Bureau; help maintain the demonstration gardens by planting, weeding, mulching and pruning; and hold major plant sales that help fund educational projects at the Arboretum. The association also has monthly meetings with educational speakers.

The Plant Clinic provides accurate, research-based information to consumers on topics including how to select the right plants for your site, how to identify weeds, insects, and plant diseases, and how to avoid overuse of garden chemicals. In 2013 the Plant Clinic served more than 6,000 people.

The clinic can be reached by calling 910-798-7679 or 910-798-7680, or by visiting the office in the Hutaff Building of the Arboretum, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Master Gardeners also provide seasonal plant clinics at the farmers’ markets in downtown Wilmington and at Carolina Beach.

Cooperative Extension and Arboretum: 6206 Oleander Drive, Wilmington, NC 28403 • arboretum.nhcgov.com • 910-798-7660

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Native Plant Festival 2015

Lower right: Monarda punctata (spotted horsemint), grown from seed the photographer collected roadside in her neighborhood. photo by Lara Berkeley Note: Ms. Paynter and Ms. Berkley are co-chairs of our local Southeast Coast Chapter of the NC Native Plant Society, which early in October offered a class in identifying Composites—also known as Asteraceae—such as sunflowers, daisies and black-eyed Susans.

Cape Fear’s Going Green is a quarterly publication promoting eco-friendly resources and lifestyles in the Lower Cape Fear River Basin.

Publisher & Editor in Chief: Valerie Robertson Sister City: Eugene, Oregon (Voted “Greenest City” 2006 by The Green Guide) Eugene Contributing Editor: Mary Robertson Advisors & Editorial Contributors: Carol Bales, Lara Berkley, Susanne Brander, Bonni Cutler, Melanie Doyle, Charlotte Glen, Cary Paynter, Justine Roach, Charley Winterbauer, Sabrina Woofter.

Cape Fear’s Going Green Going Green Publications 1 0 #PY t 8JMNJOHUPO /$ (910) 547-4390 www.goinggreenpublications.com Cape Fear’s Going Green is available by subscription or on our Web site.

Print copies are available at more than 140 area eco-friendly businesses and locations, including: "SCPSFUVN /FX )BOPWFS $PVOUZ &YUFOTJPO 4FSWJDF "VOU ,FSSZ T 1FU 4UPQ "[BMFB $PJO -BVOESZ -PWFZ T .BSLFU 0ME #PPLT PO Front Street, Pomegranate Books, Progressive Gardens, Re-eco %FTJHO 5JEBM $SFFL $P PQ 6/$8 8)23 4IFMUPO )FSC 'BSN Uprising, the YMCA, and the YWCA. Editorial: If you have story ideas or calendar items to suggest, email us at editor@goinggreenpublications.com, or call (910) 547-4390.

Advertising information: Email ads@goinggreenpublications.com.

Cape Fear’s Going Green is distributed free through Brunswick, Columbus, /FX )BOPWFS 0OTMPX BOE 1FOEFS DPVOUJFT *G ZPV IBWF B CVTJOFTT BOE would like to receive multiple copies for the public, please contact us.

The views and opinions expressed in articles in this magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of this publication.

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www.goinggreenpublications.com 10 www.goinggreenpublications.com

Native Plant Festival 2015

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(continued from page 3)

Spring 2014 Spring 2014 4 Spring Native 2014Plant Festival 2015

Charlotte Glen was the Horticulture Agent for NC Cooperative Extension – Pender County when she submitted this article for the Spring 2014 Cape Fear’s Going Green.

Cape Fear’s Going Green 11 Cape Fear’s Going Green 11 www.goinggreenpublications.com Cape Fear’s Going Green 11

native plants

Let’s Go Native Wilmington—

Appreciating and Using Native Coastal North Carolina Plants

by Carol Bales What would you like to know about the plants that grow naturally in our area? Come join us at the Arboretum for Wilmington’s first Native Plant Festival, a fun, free celebration of native plants. Enjoy gardens, presentations by local gardening experts, a seed swap and native plant information booths. Lots of children’s activities are planned: a scavenger hunt, hands-on learning centers, and games on the lawn.

Bring the whole family for this October 17 event celebrating native plants.

What are the advantages of using native plants in our gardens? Many! They have evolved to endure the hot humid weather and sandy salty soils of Coastal NC. When our tulips, pansies, daffodils, and other spring beauties begin to droop and wither, the native flowers and shrubs are just starting to show off their colors. They require no fertilizer, insecticides, herbicides, or extra water to grow. The fruiting plants such as paw paw, native persimmons, blueberries, blackberries, and Muscadine grapes grow well and require little more than ensuring proper soil pH and harvesting the fruit before the critters get to it.

Native herbs are so useful. Native American people who lived in the Wilmington area taught settlers to use these herbs to ward off diseases, cure infections, and promote health. Some of the better known native herbs include passion vine, milkweed, dandelion, arugula, bee balm, and poke weed.

Native coastal NC trees survive better than non-natives during thunderstorms,

Greenspots North Carolina

Native Plant Society

Come for a nature walk www.ncwildflower.org Southeast Coast Chapter

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high winds, floods and drought. Long leaf pine trees for example, flex with the wind, survive forest fires, and thrive with the salty air and soil combined with strong sunshine.

Other native trees that thrive here include river birch, red maple, post oak, fringe trees, and Eastern redbud.

Bees, butterflies, moths, bats, purple finches and hummingbirds all provide pollination. Although they collect pollen and nectar from non-natives and native plants, they prefer native plants over our imported exotics. Did you know that North Carolina has more beekeepers than any other North American state? Beekeepers encourage use of native plants to attract these colorful and active insects and birds. Many non-native plants grown by the nursery business have been treated by insecticides called neonicotinoids. These chemicals do protect the plants from insect infestations, but unfortunately, seem to damage the honeybees and

native bees as well. Before using nursery grown plants, ask if the plants have been treated with “neo-nics” and if so, try to find some that are insecticide free.

Plan to come to the Arboretum on October 17, 2015 and discover the beauty of native plants for yourself!

This article originally appeared in the StarNews. Carol Bales is an avid gardener and seed saver, and grows several kinds of milkweed in her own yard.

Some useful websites about native plants of Coastal North Carolina: http://www.plantnative.org http://www.ncsugarden.com www.fws.gov/raleigh/pdfs/ NativePlantsCoastalNC.pdf www.ncwildflower.org ncbg.unc.edu › Plants & Gardening

Cape Fear Audubon Society Can help you Go Green % " " # " ! & ! "

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“It is now within the power of individual gardeners to do something that we all dream of doing: to “make a difference”... to the future of biodiversity, to the native plants and animals of North America and the ecosystems that sustain them.”

—Douglas Tallamy Bringing Nature Home Native Plant Festival 2015

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environmental science

The Case Against Pesticides

by S. M. Brander If you were asked to come up with a list of things that are poisonous, that list might include things like arsenic, rattlesnake venom, and maybe anthrax. Luckily most of us rarely encounter any of these. However, we rarely think about our daily exposure to small amounts of poison, such as the pesticides and herbicides that are sprayed

initially foresee. It’s a bit like taking a drug that you haven’t been prescribed.

Recent research has shown that commonly used pesticides and herbicides such as glyphosate (i.e. Roundup®), pyrethroids (i.e. Talstar®, Biomist®), carbaryl (i.e. Sevin®), and neonicotinoids (i.e. Gaucho®) are toxic both to humans and ecosystems.

Neonicotinoids and pyrethroids appear

“Someday we shall look back on this dark era of agriculture and shake our heads. How could we have ever believed that it was a good idea to grow our food with poisons?”

– Jane Goodall on the produce we eat, in our homes, and on our backyards. Most of us think that if we aren’t immediately sickened by something, that it isn’t harmful. It turns out, however, that many of the seemingly harmless chemicals we use to control insects can also affect us.

The reason for this is that we are more like insects than we think, at least when you shrink things down to the level of the cell. All complex living things, insects included, are made up of them, and we all evolved from common ancestors so our cells are similar. The way a pesticide works is to interfere with the way a cell functions.

If an insect stops moving upon being sprayed, it may be because the chemical blocked channels in its cells, for example, causing paralysis. Although humans don’t become paralyzed when exposed to pesticides, some of the same channels or other proteins in our very own cells can be affected, causing changes our nervous or endocrine systems. Furthermore, sometimes pesticides (and herbicides) interact with parts of the cell that scientists don’t

Some Local Sources of Organic Produce Indigo Farms, Calabash, NC http://www.indigofarmsmarket.com/ Black River Organic Farm, Sampson Co., NC http://blackriverorganicfarm.com/ Vollmer Farm, Bunn, NC http://www.vollmerfarm.com/

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Native Plant Festival 2015

to affect the developing nervous system (particularly in fetuses and young children), and both glyphosate and carbaryl are suspected carcinogens. Exposure to multiple pesticides at once compounds the problem, as little is known about the effects of mixtures.

Connecting the dots between effects on insects and unintended impacts on wildlife is a bit easier. For example, aquatic invertebrates such as crustaceans are very similar physiologically to insects, hence their high sensitivity to pesticides. Fish are impacted because they are exposed constantly as run-off enters rivers and estuaries. Many studies on aquatic life have linked declines in reproduction and the ability to avoid predation to pesticide exposure. Another issue is that not all insects are targets, so valuable pollinators such as honeybees have fallen victim to the cocktail of chemicals sprayed on or around the flowering plants that they frequent.

We now have a serious bee shortage, one that has been linked to a combination of disease and pesticides such as neonicotinoids. These chemicals not only end up in local ecosystems, but can be taken up into global air and water currents and deposited as far away as the poles, where pesticides have been detected in penguin eggs and the tissues of polar bears.

So how does one reduce his or her pesticide footprint? Eating organic as much as possible is one of the easiest ways to start.

If it’s not in the budget to go completely

organic, try to at least avoid the “Dirty Dozen.” (See following page.) For example, according to Consumer Reports, in the U.S. as little as one conventionally treated apple can cause they typical 3-4 year old child to enter the high dietary risk range for a number of pesticide types.

A recent study done on a family in Sweden that eliminated pesticides from their diet for just one week showed that all family members reduced their pesticide load (detected in urine); particularly the children whose levels dropped by nearly a factor of 10. There are local sources of organic produce as well as plenty of places to purchase such products (e.g., Tidal Creek, Lovey’s, Whole Foods, Harris Teeter). If you grow your own produce or decorative plants, try to purchase organic seeds that aren’t infused with pesticides (i.e. neonicotinoids), which are toxic to pollinators and to us as well.

www.goinggreenpublications.com

environmental science Pesticdes – continued Living in Southeastern NC, one is bound to encounter insects around every corner. It is therefore understandable that many resort to treating their homes and lawns. However, there are some better alternatives to Mosquito Squad and Mosquito Authority, both of which use pyrethroids - shown to interfere with hormone function in wildlife and in human cells, in addition to being neurotoxic. Often companies will advertise pyrethroid pesticides as being “botanically derived.” The reason for this is that they are based on a natural chemical produced by chrysanthemum flowers, but that chemical has been synthetically modified and is anything but natural. A better alternative is pyrethrin, the actual natural chrysanthemum compound, or even better yet, orange oil is known to repel many types of insects, is food-safe and is also organic-certified. Products such as Orange Guard® are available at hardwares stores such as Ace, Lowe’s, and Home Depot. A third option is to choose plants that repel mosquitos, such as basil or citronella. Some of the essential oils derived from such plants are used in natural insect repellent skin sprays, sold by companies such as Babyganics and Burt’s Bees.

Although no single action will solve the global problem of pesticide pollution, these are all examples of small steps individuals

Insert-Repelling Oils & Plants Lavender Basil Thyme Pine Vetiver Bergamot Peppermint Tea Tree (Australian) Eucalyptus Lemon eucalyptus Citronella Garlic Lemon balm Catnip Marigolds Pennyroyal Rosemary Geranium

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can take to reduce their overall footprint on the environment and to potentially improve the health of their families and themselves. As Margaret Mead once said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Sources: www.ewg.org; www.naturallivingideas.com; www.info.achs.edu.

Susanne M. Brander, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology and Marine Biology at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. Her research encompasses the fields of toxicology, endocrinology, and ecology, currently focusing on the impacts of endocrine disrupting compounds on estuarine fish and invertebrates. She lives in downtown Wilmington with her husband, daughter, and four (yes four) cats.

Helpful Websites Environmental Working Group www.ewg.org Consumer Reports Health www.consumerreports.org/cro/health/natural-health/pesticides/index.htm).

Learn the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen Decrease your exposure to pesticides by learning which of our foods are most and least likely to bring pesticides to the table.

Dirty Dozen

Clean Fifteen

Each of these foods tested positive for a number of different pesticide residues and showed higher concentrations of pesticides than other produce items.

Produce that is least likely to contain pesticide residues.

Key findings: t QFSDFOU PG BQQMF TBNQMFT QFSDFOU PG QFBDIFT BOE QFSDFOU PG OFDUBSJOFT tested positive for at least one pesticide residue. t 5IF BWFSBHF QPUBUP IBE NPSF QFTUJDJEFT CZ weight than any other produce. t " TJOHMF HSBQF TBNQMF BOE B TXFFU CFMM pepper sample contained 15 pesticides. t 4JOHMF TBNQMFT PG DIFSSZ UPNBUPFT OFDtarines, peaches, imported snap peas and strawberries showed 13 different pesticides apiece. t -FBGZ HSFFOT LBMF BOE DPMMBSE HSFFOT BOE hot peppers do not meet traditional Dirty Dozen™ ranking criteria but were frequently found to be contaminated with insecticides toxic to the human nervous system.

Dirty Dozen (plus) Apples Peaches Nectarines Strawberries Grapes Celery Spinach Sweet bell peppers Cucumbers Cherry tomatoes Snap peas (imported) Potatoes Hot peppers Kale / collard greens Blueberries

Key findings: t "WPDBEPT XFSF UIF DMFBOFTU POMZ percent of avocado samples showed any detectable pesticides. t 4PNF QFSDFOU PG QJOFBQQMFT QFSDFOU PG LJXJ QFSDFOU PG QBQBZBT QFSDFOU of mango and 61 percent of cantaloupe had no residues. t /P TJOHMF GSVJU TBNQMF GSPN UIF $MFBO Fifteen™ tested positive for more than 4 types of pesticides. t .VMUJQMF QFTUJDJEF SFTJEVFT BSF FYUSFNFMZ rare on Clean Fifteen™ vegetables. Only 5.5 percent of Clean Fifteen samples had two or more pesticides.

Source: www.ewg.org

Clean Fifteen Avocados Sweet corn Pineapples Cabbage Sweet peas (frozen) Onions Asparagus Mangos Papayas Kiwi Eggplant Grapefruit Cantaloupe Cauliflower Sweet potatoes

Native Plant Festival 2015

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gorgeous gardens, presentations bytolocal Bring the whole family enjoygardeners and horticulture experts, plant vendors, a seed swap, and gorgeous gardens, presentations by local gardeners and informationexperts, booths all focused on our native plants. horticulture plant vendors, a seed swap, and Don’tinformation miss the Cape Fear Society’s “Discover booths allAudubon focused on our native plants. the Wonder Birds” hands-on centers and“Discover be sure tothe check Don’t of miss the Cape Fearlearning Audubon Society’s out the NEW native plant garden area!

Wonder of Birds” hands-on learning centers and be sure to check out the NEW native plant garden area!

Speaker Schedule: 9-10 a.m.

-Soil ConditioningFolds Speaker Schedule: o TTeach each your children ho how wEvan to help 10-11a.m. a.m.bees -Native Plants- Sam Marshall 9-10 -Soil ConditioningEvan Folds and butterflies!

11 a.m.-12 -Venus Fly TrapsRoger Shew 10-11 a.m.

-Native Sam Marshall op.m.

Buy native Plantsplants for your garden!

12 p.m.-1 11 p.m.

-“Bringing NatureFly Home” DVDbyShew Doug Tallamy a.m.-12 p.m.

-Venus TrapsRoger o Learn about plants that are friendly to 1-2p.m.-1 p.m. -Bird-Friendly Charley Winterbauer 12 p.m. -“BringingHabitat NatureProgramHome” DVDby Doug Tallamy our area... and ones that are not!

2-3 p.m.

-WaterfordHabitat Award ProgramProgram- Charley Lynne Shineman 1-2 p.m.

-Bird-Friendly Winterbauer p.m. -Coastal NativesPaul Hosier 2-3 p.m.3-4 -Waterford Award ProgramLynne Shineman Bring the whole family to Hosier enjoy 4-5 -Invasive PlantsMelanie Doyle 3-4p.m. p.m.

-Coastal NativesPaul gorgeous presentations by local gardeners and 4-5gardens, p.m. -Invasive Plants- Melanie Doyle horticulture experts, plant vendors, a seed swap, and information booths all focused on our native plants.

Don’t miss the Cape Fear Audubon Society’s “Discover the Wonder of Birds” hands-on learning centers and be sure to check out the NEW native plant garden area!

Why Attend the

Native Plant Festival?

Saturday Saturday,, Oct. 17, 2015 Saturday Saturday,, Oct. 17, 2015 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Arboretum TheSpeaker Arboretum Schedule:NC 28403 6206 Oleander Drive, Wilmington, a.m. -Soil ConditioningFolds 6206 9-10 Oleander Drive, Wilmington,Evan NC 28403

The Native Plant Festival is sponsored by the Arboretum http://arboretum.nhcgov.com/, a local center for NCSU Cooperative Extension services http://newhanover.ces.ncsu.edu; Cooperative Extension Master Gardner Volunteers The Native Plant Festival is sponsoredNew by the Arboretum http:/ /arboretum.nhcgov.com/, a local center forAudubon NCSU nhcarboretum.com/master-gardeners/; Hanover County Public Library www.nhclibrary.org; Cape Fear Cooperative Extension services http://newhanover.ces.ncsu.edu; Extension Master Gardner Society www.capefearaudubon.org; Cape Fear GardenCooperative Club, www.capefeargardenclub.org; theVolunteers nhcarboretum.com/master-gardeners/; New Hanoverand County Public Cape Fear Audubon NC Native Plant Society http://www.ncwildflower.org, Cape Fear'sLibrary Going www.nhclibrary.org; Green www.goinggreenpublications.com.

Society www.capefearaudubon.org; Cape Fear Garden Club, www.capefeargardenclub.org; the NC NativeFor Plant Society http:/contact /www.ncwildflower.org, and Cape Librarian, Fear's Going Green www.goinggreenpublications.com. more information, Justine Roach, Business/Law 910-798-6306 or JRoach@nhcgov.com;

10-11 a.m. -Native Plants- Sam Marshall 11 a.m.-12 p.m. -Venus Fly Traps- Roger Shew 12 p.m.-1 p.m. -“Bringing Nature Home” DVD- by Doug Tallamy 1-2 p.m. -Bird-Friendly Habitat Program- Charley Winterbauer Sabrina Woofter, Natural Resources and Environmental Education Extension Agent, 910-798-7677 or Sabrina_Woofter@ncsu.edu 2-3 p.m. -Waterford Award Program- Lynne Shineman For more information, contact Justine Roach, Business/Law Librarian, 910-798-6306 or JRoach@nhcgov.com; Wilmington Weed Warriors Tackle Invasive Plants Sabrina Woofter, Natural Resources Environmental Education Extension Agent, 910-798-7677 or Sabrina_Woofter@ncsu.edu 3-4and p.m.

-Coastal NativesPaul Hosier All across the country groups of4-5 p.m. Working cary@ncwildflower.org) and ask to be with the Southeast CoastMelanie -Invasive PlantsDoyle dedicated volunteers are springing into Chapter of the NC Native Plant Society, the placed on the email contact list.

action to combat non-native invading group goes to work at local parks, storm For information about the group and species. Called “Weed Warriors,” these water treatment areas, and anywhere upcoming work parties, contact Melanie conservation-minded folks aren’t afraid of environmentally significant that is being Doyle, board member and officer of some hard work for a good cause. Here in invaded and adversely affected by these the NC Invasive Plant Council and State the Cape Fear region, we are proud to have harmful species. Removal efforts take Coordinator of the Beach Vitex Task Force. the “Wilmington Weed Warriors” eager to place on weekend mornings, for about She is available to speak to groups and 201with Chestnut | Wilmington, NC 28401 | 910-798-6301 | www.nhclibrary.org/ do battle the likes Street of Chinese Privet, two hours, during the warm months of the organizations, or to visit your neighborPopcorn Trees, Mimosa, Chinese Wisteria, year. If you’d like to participate, contact the hood to help identify and determine the 201 Chestnut Street | Wilmington, NC 28401 www.nhclibrary.org/ and Tree-of-Heaven, just to name a few of Southeast Coast| 910-798-6301 Chapter of the NC| Native best way to remove invasives near you. Her our aggressive alien plant species.

Plant Society (lara@ncwildflower.org or email address is doylmc12@wfu.edu.

Saturday Saturday, New Hanover County Library , Oct. New Hanover County Library 9 a.m. to 5

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Native Plant Festival 2015

17, 2015 p.m.

The Arboretum

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6206 Oleander Drive, Wilmington, NC 28403