[MAIPC] [Maipc-brd] Fwd: Garlic Mustard scarce this season, in 2018?

Sat May 5 07:59:56 PDT 2018

I just sprayed one stand and string trimmed another (quick before it could further seed ripen and invade a stream renovation step pool as I didn't have resources to hand pull it all) my first stand found on Town property in Centreville, MD on Delmarva... it is in a very protected riparian area. True...been seeing less now that you mention it...this has been all I've seen. Good observation.

Patrick D. Kelly, Horticulturist
PDK Horticultural LLC  Vegetation and Conservation Services
Centreville, MD 21617
443-262-2079

    On Friday, May 4, 2018, 10:12:11 PM EDT, frazmo <frazmo at gmail.com> wrote:  

 Ms. Schreter wrote the following to the MAIPC info email:

To MAIPC,, Have you noticed that Garlic Mustard seems scarce this season? Everywhere?

Consider the possibility that Garlic Mustard is scarce in 2018, all over. In areas previously cleared or not. I’m thinking the frigid winter destroyed most of the 1styear or overwintering Garlic Mustard leaves, except on plants located in very protected spots. Here in Baltimore City on May 3, 2018, some few scattered 2ndyear plants are in flower. I am pulling the occasional plant that stands <15” tall. Oddly, I also see some nearby patches looking like 1styear rosettes, like a ground cover. Too soon for that. Maybe they are the 2ndyear plants/roots, sending new stalks up from scratch.

I invite your reaction to this novel observation -- and interpretation. Thank you for any wisdom. 

Carol Schreter, Baltimore Bird Club Conservation Chair

1905 Dixon Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21209
(410) 664-5151
#  #  #

Regarding this, of course we all know that Garlic Mustard is a biennial and that at this time of year we should be seeing both first- and second-year plants. And I will not discount that the weather may have impacted some of the plants. However, I remember a presentation on GM provided by an academic colleague at a MAIPC (then MA-EPPC) conference a few years ago (perhaps as many as 10-14 years?). She explained something that surprised and impressed me and stayed with me -- that GM populations are likely to go through alternating 2-year cycles of peaks and troughs of abundance. Her explanation made a lot of sense at the time and I wish I could replay it... :( . I hope someone else may remember better than I and be able to provide a link to more info. Suffice it to say, don't let GM fool you. Alternating boom years and more subdued years may just be part of its normal behavior. Cheers,

Steve Young, Arlington VA

On Fri, May 4, 2018 at 5:39 PM, Jenn Truong <jenn.b.truong at gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Carol,

One of our board members noted that he has not seen much of a difference and he's out in the field quite a bit around DC and MD. 

On the other hand, I don't get out in the field much at all any more (sadly). But what little I have seen from hiking around on weekends on my own does seem (anecdotally) to be less. But I'm not sure I can venture as far as to say I think it may be the frigid winter we've had. We've had worse winters when it didn't seem to have much of any effect on the Garlic Mustard. In my case, I'd like to think the areas I've visited are getting lots of great staff and volunteer control efforts that are staring to bear some success, since I tend to visit a lot of the same areas year after year and see diminished return with each year. =)

Jenn Truong 
Technology Officer

MAIPC Board of Directors
Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Council
info at maip.org | www.maipc.org

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Carol Schreter <c.schreter at comcast.net>
Date: Thu, May 3, 2018 at 12:52 PM
Subject: Garlic Mustard scarce this season, in 2018?
To: info at maipc.org

To MAIPC,, Have you noticed that Garlic Mustard seems scarce this season? Everywhere?

Consider the possibility that Garlic Mustard is scarce in 2018, all over. In areas previously cleared or not. I’m thinking the frigid winter destroyed most of the 1styear or overwintering Garlic Mustard leaves, except on plants located in very protected spots. Here in Baltimore City on May 3, 2018, some few scattered 2ndyear plants are in flower. I am pulling the occasional plant that stands <15” tall. Oddly, I also see some nearby patches looking like 1styear rosettes, like a ground cover. Too soon for that. Maybe they are the 2ndyear plants/roots, sending new stalks up from scratch.

I invite your reaction to this novel observation -- and interpretation. Thank you for any wisdom. 

Carol Schreter, Baltimore Bird Club Conservation Chair

1905 Dixon Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21209
(410) 664-5151

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