The car broke down on our way to visit my mum. My brother and I got out of the car, and while he researched how to change the alternator, I went behind the vacant garage where we parked the inoperable vehicle. When I explored to the far back of the lot I was grateful to find a small wetland, thriving with tons of species. Trees, tall and low shrubs, and understory thick with both native and non-native, aggressive opportunistic plants vying for life. I was totally impressed and appreciated this wild oasis in the midst of an annoying happenstance.
While I sat there, on an old discarded stump I discovered adjacent to the wetland, I began thinking of weird ecological combinations, novel ecosystems and “invasive” species, both in the context of their potential benefits and their potential harms. I continue to wonder about the role of Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), Burdock (Arctium lappa), Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) on the landscape of Turtle Island/North America. I continue to weigh all theories and ideas swimming around in the varied academic research and current collected folklore (not so much in the mythic sense, but more so the popular awareness and storytelling of these populations), and try to tease out some path forward : do we leave these populations alone? Do we try to intervene? If so, how? Can we do both? What lessons are already being demonstrated on the landscape? How do we listen to the needs of the lands we cohabit with these contested species?
I guess this is what this weeks show is about, all considered out back of an abandoned garage. Sometimes we can be grateful for the car breaking down. Big thanks though to my brother for the wonderful adventure.
To learn more : Wild Urban Plants of the NorthEast by Peter Del Tredici. Cornell University Press, 2020. When Doing Nothing is the Best Invasive Plant Management Tool - youtube video : Dr. Bernd Blossey shares his research on Garlic Mustard