One of the things I loved so much when I first started walking was that I was always discovering new things. In 2015, I found a Blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium) in bloom at the far end of the 12-acre field.
 |
| Blackhaw in bloom, as seen on April 12, 2015. |
The showy clusters of flowers were buzzing with insect activity, so not only did I think they were beautiful, being an insect lover, I was very happy to see a plant that the insects found so attractive.
 |
| Closeup of the Blackhaw bloom. Although there's only one beetle on the flower in this picture, there were lots of insects on the other flower clusters. |
I didn't give the little Blackhaw much thought over the next few years but in 2022, as I started learning more about how vital native plants are to a healthy ecosystem, I decided I wanted to plant natives in my yard. One of the ones I decided to plant was a Blackhaw.
I read somewhere that the plant could be propagated from semi-hardwood cuttings, so last fall I walked back down to the end of the field to get a few cuttings. It took me a while to locate the little shrub. In the years since I took that first picture, some tree limbs had fallen on it, and it was being smothered by the native, but very aggressive, Saw Greenbrier (Smilax bona-nox) and invasive Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica).
 |
| Poor little Blackhaw, being smothered by aggressive natives and invasive honeysuckle vines. |
I took a few cuttings, and potted them up thinking that I'd get a least one of them to root.
Unfortunately, fall probably isn't a very good time to try to start Blackhaw from cuttings. Just like my spicebush cuttings, the little Blackhaw cuttings soon dried up and it was pretty obvious that they weren't going to make it. I finally dumped them out and checked for roots...not a single one even showed any sign of a root.
So I decided I'd try plan A again, only this time take some cuttings in late spring/early summer. But I also decided I'd have a fallback plan B, which was to see if I could bag up some berries and try to start some from seed if the second attempt at cuttings failed. But I am pretty sure that if the plant is going to have a chance to bloom and make berries, those vines that were smothering the bush were going to have to go!
Today seemed like a good day to work on that project, so I got my pruners and gloves, then Mo and I walked down to the end of the field. Because I now know what Blackhaw twigs look like in winter, I was intrigued to find that there wasn't just one shrub down there...there were several good-sized little shrubs all around the parent plant. As I looked around, I noticed a lot of small sprouts (less than a foot tall) that were apparently more sprouts from the plant's root system.
I cut, and tugged, and cut, and dragged, and finally managed to get most of the fallen tree limbs and vines pulled down.
 |
| The Blackhaw shrubs after many of the vines were removed. |
 |
| Blackhaw from a different angle. You can see the tops of them again! |
I say "most" because I didn't get them all. Poor little Mo was so good and patient, but he didn't understand why we had stopped there instead of walking like he thought we were going to do. I kept telling him, "Just let me get these few more," and finally I had to keep my promise to him and make myself reach a stopping point.
 |
| The largest of three piles of saw greenbrier and Japanese honeysuckle that I cut out of the Blackhaw. Sweet little Mo sat patiently and waited on me while I worked. |
I decided to go ahead and try digging up three of the small root suckers. I found some small sprouts that were a ways out from the main plant and managed to get a little piece of root with a couple of them.
Is it bad of me to dig up plants from the wild? Maybe so, and I certainly won't ever try to dig up just anything that I wanted. But with these being root suckers, and with there being so many of them, I don't feel too bad about it...I know it didn't hurt the parent plant to dig three small suckers.
When we got home, I put some rooting hormone on the bottom of each sucker and potted each one in a mix of potting soil and some of the dirt that I had brought from around the base of the parent plant (thinking if there are any mycorrhizal fungi in the soil, it might help the sprouts to have some of that in the pot). They all got a good soaking in water, and they'll stay in the south window for the rest of the winter.
 |
| Blackhaw root suckers potted up. I hope they make it. |
I told them on the way home that I was sorry for taking them away from the wild, but that they have a new purpose in life...they will become "nursery plants" that I'll use to start more plants from. Their new purpose is to help save the biodiversity of our local ecosystem. I hope they heard me and try really hard to live.