\nCurrent Contributor<\/strong><\/p>\n
Baby\u2019s breath\u2014a plant commonly included in flower shop bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages\u2014is more than just a companion for roses and carnations. It is an invasive plant that thrives on the dunes and beaches that dot our Northern Michigan landscape. <\/p>\n
A single baby\u2019s breath plant can produce 14,000 seeds each year. Additionally, baby\u2019s breath is often included in wildflower seed mixes, inadvertently introducing the plant to yards and surrounding natural areas. The negative impacts of baby\u2019s breath can be seen in our community, as it spreads quickly and overtakes dunescapes, threatening habitat for native species, such as the federally threatened pitcher\u2019s thistle and endangered piping plover bird.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, local organizations and volunteers will spend time this spring and summer treating and removing baby\u2019s breath from Elberta Beach, where it has an established presence. Organized by the Northwest Michigan Invasive Species Network (ISN) and the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, volunteers will remove baby\u2019s breath on the beach, one of the last unmanaged sections of shoreline between Arcadia Dunes Nature Preserve and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. <\/p>\n
\u201cBaby\u2019s breath can be controlled through digging and piling, to prevent seed dispersion,\u201d says Fields Ratliff, ISN\u2019s habitat management specialist. \u201cOur volunteers are out on the beach for about three hours at a time, which isn\u2019t a bad way to spend a morning during the summer in Northern Michigan.\u201d <\/p>\n
Removing baby\u2019s breath during the early summer is ideal, because the plant dries out by late August and can break off at the base, turning it into a tumbleweed that can travel down the shoreline in the wind, dispersing its seed along the way.<\/p>\n
The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy has been treating baby\u2019s breath at the nearby Arcadia Dunes Nature Preserve since 2004 and recently expanded removal efforts to Elberta Beach in 2016, according to Jon Throop, GTRLC land steward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese dune ecosystems host a number of rare and threatened species that rely on the dynamic nature of dunes for their survival,\u201d Throop says. \u201cGTRLC quickly realized that protecting land against development isn\u2019t enough to maintain these habitats into the future. We have to safeguard these areas from the ongoing threat of invasive species to truly preserve the health and beauty of our iconic beaches and dunes.\u201d <\/p>\n
Paula Dreeszen is a volunteer with the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy and frequently helped with last year\u2019s baby\u2019s breath-removal events. Baby\u2019s breath is one of ISN\u2019s \u201cTop 20 Least-Wanted Invasive Species,\u201d a list of invasive plants that are prevalent in the four-county region that ISN serves: Benzie, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, and Manistee counties. Of those Top 20, the priority plants are known as the Focus Four, which includes garlic mustard, Japanese knotweed, oriental bittersweet, and Phragmites. While baby\u2019s breath is not listed as a Focus Four priority species, Elberta Beach is a valuable landscape that serves as critical habitat, making this an important project for ISN.<\/p>\n Volunteer events, called work bees, will begin on Thursday, May 25, and continue sporadically until early August\u2014all are welcome to join in this effort from 9 a.m. until noon each day!<\/p>\n \u2022 Thursday, May 25 As a thank you, anyone who participates in a work bee will receive some ISN swag and discounts to local businesses, including Stormcloud Brewing Company and the Crescent Bakery in Frankfort. Additionally, names will be entered into a drawing that takes place at the end of each event. Prizes include certificates to The Cabbage Shed and FrankZ, native wildflower seed packets, t-shirts, and more.<\/p>\n Emily Cook is ISN\u2019s outreach specialist. If you want to participate in a work bee session, there is no need to register beforehand, but any questions can be directed to 231-941-0960 extension 20 or ecook@gtcd.org. As these work bees will be held outside, volunteers are asked to bring work gloves, water, and sunscreen. Meet at the beach parking lot. For additional volunteer opportunities or more information on invasive species, visithabitatmatters.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Removing invasive species from Elberta Beach<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Baby\u2019s Breath: One Person\u2019s Bouquet, Another\u2019s Nemesis","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[199,41,60,201,56,44,53,59],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/babys-breath-on-Elberta-beach-web.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3TDCr-wc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1996"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2001,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996\/revisions\/2001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"Volunteer](\"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bb-web.jpg\")
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\n\u201cI fight invasives, because I love native wildflowers,\u201d Dreeszen says. \u201cRemoving baby\u2019s breath at Elberta Beach is especially important to prevent its spread south into beach and dune areas, rich with natives like hairy puccoon, beach pea, and pitcher\u2019s thistle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Thursday, June 1
\n\u2022 Saturday, June 17
\n\u2022 Thursday, July 6
\n\u2022 Saturday, July 15
\n\u2022 Thursday, August 3<\/p>\n