Gerardo Ciprian reports on

Our Wetlands

The importance of wetlands:

Wetlands, places where water is very plentiful for most or all of the year, are among the Earth's most productive ecosystems. Yet, they are mong the Earth's most threatened habitats. Today, more than half of the U.S.'s original wetlands have been destroyed.

These ecoystems are very important. They are able to recharge groundwater reserves, to filter water pollutants, and to mediate floods. But most people fail to appreciate these wetland features. They misinterpret the meaning of wetlands. Rather than "wastelands", wetlands are really "wonderlands".

Joe Pye Weed

Our Wetlands:

Our Wetlands are very important to our garden, especially to the pond. The pond depnds on the wetlands. The wetlands clean most of the impurities that flow through, before they get to the pond. So, when the water gets to the pond, it is relatively clean. One proof of this is that the fish and frogs are able to live in the pond, which means the water is clean.

Most people say that the wetlands are the worst part of the garden in terms of beauty. It doesn't have many showy flowers or any other plants with real beauty. In fact, grasslike plants, especially the cattails, dominate the wetlands. Although they have poor beauty, they are very helpful and essential to the garden. Let's see why.

Our Wetland Plants:

Our wetlands has a very diverse selection of plants, although the area seems plain. Some of these plants are:

Cattail (Typha spp): These tall stalks grow in marshs, swamps, and ditches. The characteristic that identifies cattails is their sausage like flowerheads. American Indians Used the cattail leaves to make dolls and floating toy ducks. The heart of the plant is also edible and quite tasty.

Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata): Milkweeds can be found in marshes, swamps, and most wetland areas. They bloom pink flowers from June to August. These flowers attract many insects like wasps, honeybees, bumblebees, and butterflies, including the monarch. A related milkweed we have in the garden is dog bane.

Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis): It grows fastest in full sunlight but is also shade tolerant. these plants grow in moist soil. You can recognize it by its purplish-black flowers and dark berries later in the summer. Not only do birds love this plant, but humans can make wine from the berry.

Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium spp): These tall plants live in wet thickets and along ditches. They give pinkish-purple flowers in the summer and in the fall. These flowers are an excellent nectar source for butteflies.

Swamp Rose (Rosa palustris): This rose is commonly seen in wetlands. You can recognize this rose by its wet habitat, its short down curved thorns, and its pale pink flowers. Bumblebees and other bees collect pollen from these flowers.

elderberry

Our Wetland Wildlife:

Invertebrates - In the wetlands, there are plenty of insects. Some of them we haven't even identified. But the most common ones are bees (bumble bees and honeybees), wasps and butterlies, including the monarch. Most obvious though, is the mosquito, and sorry to say, they do quite well in this kind of environment.Other less common insects are beetles, spiders, caterpillars, and worms.

Vertebrates - For most people, wetlands are a waste of land with ugly weeds. But the wetlands provide many animals and birds with shelter, food, water, and more. Some of these animals are mice, squirrels, pheasants, starlings, catbirds, and of course, sparrows. We have spotted many nests in the swamp willows and cattails, and have found in these nests, little blue eggs. We have also heard the rustling of small animals in the wetlands, but never really know what we are hearing. No doubt, there is lots of life in this "wasteland"!

joe pye weed up close

cattails up close

This web page was originally a pamphlet created by Gerardo Ciprian as a brochure for the garden in 1999.

Funding for the brochure making was provided by the Uplinc program.

The brochure, which is still available at our information kiosk, is bilingual, with the backside of the pamphlet in Spanish.

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