thrashers, and sometimes waxwings to devour. Nothing seems to go to waste with plants that have matured all summer. If they didn’ t produce any recognizable fruit, nut, or berry, then the plant itself will decompose adding to the forest floor’ s layer of leaf litter. It’ s a good place for hollow stems to slowly rot as the caterpillar chrysalis will overwinter there, a home to next summer’ s butterflies and moths.
A professor once told us promising graduates that if somewhere along the line we failed to take our fair share of botany classes, we would be at a great disadvantage.“ Any good biologist is also a good botanist,” he said. If we were to work with any natural resource, anywhere, in any climate or location, it would be our awareness of plants that would help us know more about the environment.
One summer, my wife Kay filmed the two versions of hydrangea growing outside our window. On her phone she captured visits by solitary bees to each type, a wild version I transplanted from the woods, and a domestic type purchased from a nursery. Side by side, the two plants were nearly identical to us; but to the bees, there was definitely a preference for nectar. If we are to increase native pollinators by growing native plants, then it is clear the nursery version, nearly identical except by the nectar, isn’ t a useful food. We really aren’ t helping. Going wild is the mantra we hear more and more, and a check of the plant’ s native source is important.
Each fall I look at the oaks and hickories to see their production, or lack of it. The mast, as it’ s collectively called, includes fruits and varies every year. Bumper crops of acorns and hickory nuts occur in between years of almost no production. It’ s not predictable, but rodents, woodpeckers, and mast consumers like mice and chipmunks, can determine this before fall actually arrives. It is not always a sure thing, but a plentiful mast production can result in a larger wildlife population. Nature isn’ t always in sync, though. We often see large amounts of food and few consumers— and vice versa.
The more we understand the connection between vegetation and wildlife, the better we can act as responsible stewards. Native plants are vital to the wildlife community, and all are a joy to watch every season. •
Stoneware pottery handmade in Brown County, Indiana
812-398-8010 www. HollyPots. com
Main Street Shoppes( Old School Way) 59 E. Main St. Suite G. • Nashville
The Totem Post
78 S. Van Buren St. Nashville, IN 812-988-2511 TheTotemPost. com
~ Since 1952 ~
• Genuine Native American Jewelry
• Zuni Fetishes
• Sterling Silver Jewelry
• Copper Jewelry
• Minnetonka Moccasins
• Pendleton • Knives
~ Open all year ~
COMMON GROUNDS
COFFEE BAR It’ s like a coffee shop in a living room( with things to amuse you)
Hot, Cold & Frozen Drinks • Selection of Teas Froothies( our fruit smoothies)
Famous for Cheesy Eggs & Toast • Pastries • Quiche
66 N. Van Buren, Nashville( Molly’ s Lane behind the red door) Opens 8:00 am M-Sat; 9:00 am Sun( Closed Wed) 812-988-6449
Nov./ Dec. 2025 • Our Brown County 59