The first plant scares me. It started growing in the dog patch last year, and is about fifteen to twenty feet tall already. That’s just not right. I don’t think it’s knotweed (but am not familiar enough with it to completely rule it out) but given its rate of growth I won’t be surprised if it is or if it’s a different problematic invasive. Here is the trunk and stem, and a couple pictures of itsleaves. Lastly, here’s a picture of its size and shape for scale.
It’s growing in full sun, in the old garden space (now turned into a dog run). There is no maintenance of the area (feeding, watering, etc). If it’s not clear, it is growing from one main trunk with no split or other extensions. The branches, leaves, and veins all seem to be alternate, but it’s been too many years since my botany classes to remember if that’s an accurate description. We’ve seen a couple others start to pop up in the gardens and have pulled them, but would like to know what we’re in for in the long run.
The other mystery plant is growing a bit back in the forest. About two hundred feet in, there is an intermittent riparian/watershed/drainage area. Fairly large (maybe fifty feet across), it never gets deeper than a foot or so at the height of spring runoff and the water doesn’t really move. Growing at the edge is a tree, maybe ten feet tall, that puts out very interesting flowers. Other than the flowers, it is very nondescript (we’ve since banded it so we can find it when it’s not in bloom). For some reason I thought it was a hickory of some type, but can’t remember why or where I found that reference. We took a couple floral stalks and scanned them, so here is one image, and here is another.
Oh, one last detail—we’re in the New York downstate region (Hudson Valley/foothills of the Catskills).
I hope this is enough to help identify the plants!
Cottonwoods (a relative of poplars) tend to grow around a good source of water. Are you near a stream or lake? Their leaves turn a bright yellow in the fall. To quote my mom, “When the wind blows, it sounds like you can hear every leaf.” As levdrakon says, they are nasty invasive. So if it is a Cottonwood and you don’t want several 100 foot trees around, you’d better kill it while you can.
My first thought on the second was Honeysuckle as well. Does it have a sweet smell to it?
I’m pretty certain the second is rhododendron periclymenoides, a native azalea. The leaves aren’t right for a lonicera. Does it bloom in spring? It could also be R. prinophyllum, the same range. Lucky you, in any case, a gorgeous shrub!
So, not Knotweed – great! But invasive cottonwood? I’ve been doing a lot of reading, and see references to its invasive tendencies, but am not sure how. That is, one knotweed today equals ten tomorrow, and a hedgerow that will probably never be completely knot-free. Are cottonwoods the same?
It seems – since we’re in rural lower New York – that this is part of its natural range, especially considering that the area all around us is heavily forested (oak/maple eastern climax forest, if I’m not mistaken). How dumb of an idea would it be to just leave this one growing – will we end up with an impossible and unremovable morass of trees right next to the house? That is, will the roots of this tree pop up five feet away to form another tree, then five again, etc.? It’s about twenty feet away, towering over the driveway and garage – will it be a hazard to them?
It’s not that I don’t want to cut it down per se, just that all the invasives I’ve heard of are, well, not trees. Toads. Mussels. Purple Loosstrife. Kudzoo. Knotweed. Smallish and decidedly non-tree.
As for the second mystery, a wild rhododendron? One that I have to slog through a few hundred feet of mountain laurel, various underbrush, and decidedly tall oaks and maples to get to? That is, there can’t have been a house or lawn within a few hundred yards or so in … in long enough to grow full sized trees. And then some.
It definitely bloomed in the spring, but just like I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around an invasive tree (thankfully there’s no threat of wrapping a car around it), to think our woods has a feral landscape element is pretty wild.
I have no idea if they spread from the roots or not. It’s the seeds. I don’t have one. None of my nearby neighbors has one. But someone down the street has one and in the spring it blooms and gives off these little floating cottony fluffs that can fill the air to the point it appears to be snowing. In my backyard. :mad: Then you spend the rest of spring pricking out thousands of weedlings from your potted plants and any disturbed soil they got into. I could go outside right now and get you fifty of the things growing in a seedling tray I left out.
There are a lot of wild rhododendrons and azaleas. The mountain laurel you cite (if it’s Kalmia latifolia rather than the Texas Mountain Laurel (a rather embarrassing moment for the Pennsylvania Welfare Department intranet homepage a few months ago when they put up a picture of the latter instead of the former (which is our state flower))) is in the rhododendron family, actually.
Is this the only native azalea specimen there on your property? Interestin… I’d think there would be others thereabouts. Your’s is a very dark pink,however. You could try to move it closer to your house, and here are some directions. That site also has the answers to other native azalea ?s ya might have.
My guess is also poplar. You are removing it, right? Your instinct that it is evil is right on. (“Any water around here? Hmm, let’s send roots out into that foundation over there to find out…”)
Yeah, we have some issues. Besides the drinking and smoking, they tend to get hepped up on goofballs (yes, that’s his rear paw behind his head). Can’t blame them too much though: their older brothers aren’t exactly the best influence.
Any advice for taking out the cottonwood? Er, besides nuking it from orbit that is (house is a bit close and permits are problematic). I’ve seen some mention that they’re hydra-like, that cutting it down will merely result in new plants growing up from the trunk. Digging up the stump is a wee bit problematic, as it’s in the dog patch, and traipsing around with picks and shovels isn’t likely to be pleasant. Poison? While we’ve a new vegetable patch, we’ve also been considering reshuffling things and reclaiming that area after a dormant year or two – will an herbicide strong enough to kill the roots linger in the soil?
Thanks for the azalea links! It’s too large, in too wooden of an area, and too serene to try and transplant the whole thing – but if we can get a cutting to root it’ll look great in our garden!
Roundup (or a generic equivalent) is a contact herbicide and will not harm the soil. I’ve never tried to kill a tree with it but it should work. Be sure that it’s a very calm day as overspray would not be pretty. You also don’t want to mix it too strong or you will only kill the top part of the plant and it won’t get down into the roots.
You know, I don’t know this plant specifically, but I’m generally pretty good at noticing clues of plant relationships, and I was thinking maybe this was more rhodo than lonicera too. We have a native rhodie out here that’s different, but those leaves said azalea to me too.
Nice garden,Rhythmdvl! If you decide to try and root the azalea cuttings, here’s a good rundown of how to.Sometimes they can be tricky, but this dormant cutting method has had success.
