Holding my hot power shears after re-fuelling, I could see the frightened resident slowly driving towards me. It’s rarely about compliments; usually it’s a request or a complaint.
This lady rolled down her window and expressed her concern for the Magnolia trees on her street. The Magnolias were covered in caterpillars and the landscape was in grave danger. She wanted to see an arborist right away.
Vas, always ready
So, I pointed to my ISA certified arborist patch and asked her what the problem was. Caterpillars, of course, couldn’t I see them? The trees were full of them.
I calmly assured her that the landscape was safe and went over to the nearest Magnolia, where I picked off one of the caterpillar cocoons with my bare hands.
Then I brought it over and popped it open for her before she had a chance to roll up her window. And instead of nasty-looking insects she saw bright red seeds!
New to the neighbourhood?
I’m assuming this is the lady’s first season at the complex because the Magnolia seed pods develop every year. They look like lumpy masses but eventually they disintegrate and the seeds become visible before dropping out.
If you examine the seeds closely, you will notice that each one is attached to the pod by a single white filament as if there was no rush to let the seeds drop out.
The frightened lady mumbled something to hide her embarrassment and drove off. I stood there shaking my head at how little people knew about the plants on their own street.
Plant knowledge
Learning about plants is fun. A recent New York Times article mentioned how desperately we need people who know plants. Even botany students struggled with plant species knowledge.
I find handling plants and learning about them a nice break from regular landscape tasks. And when I take my kids out to the neighborhood Shoreline park, I try to quiz them on local native plants.
So, the next time you see your Magnolia trees covered in lumpy growths, don’t panic.
