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Happening
at the Crossroads
May 26,
2008
by Coggin
Heeringa
Buckthorn
is alive and well and arguably beautiful at Crossroads at Big Creek.
Commons and Glossy Buckthorn [alas, yes, we have both species] indeed
are attractive. They were once sold as ornamental plants.
Back
when they were sold, buckthorn were heavily advertised. Glowing reports
claimed that the plants were perfect for thick, leafy hedges. They grew
quickly, their leaves lasted long into fall, and they attract birds in
droves.
Talk about truth in advertising. Everything those
catalogs boasted was true. The plants did grow lush and thick, and the
leaves stayed green well into November, and the birds found the berries
irresistible.
Two little details were omitted from the the
glowing descriptions. And those two little details are related. The
berries give birds diaheria. And the plants are very invasive.
Like
I said, the two details are related. The birds gulp down the berries
and fly to a nearby forest where they deposit seeds in their droppings.
The seeds grow like weeds. They are weeds. Buckthorn are trees we
really really do not want, because as weeds choke out plants in a
garden, buckthorn grows in such dense stands, it chokes out the
trees of a forest.
Do you have buckthorn on your property? You
don't know? Crossroads and DCIST (the Door County Invasive
Species Team) are joining up to offer "learn by doing" workshops we
call Know the Enemy- Buckthorn Eradication for the next
three Fridays at 10:00 AM, beginning May 30. Invasive Species
Specialist Bob Bultman will help you learn to recognize buckthorn,
demonstrate best management practice for buckthorn removal and
treatment, and then the group will have a chance to practice. You'll
have no problem recognizing buckthorn after you've helped cut out a
couple hundred of the trees. Meet at the Collins Learning Center.
Wear clothes that can get stained.
On a more musical note,
the Door County Folk Alliance, Ltd. will fill the Historical Village at
the Crossroads with fok tunes each Sunday in June. The 2008 Acoustic
Concert Series begins June 1 at 1:00 at the Chapel at the Crossroads
with a concert by Door County's Own Celtic Band, Bubble and
Squeak. Irish music played on tin whistles, guitar, mandolin,
bodhran (the Irish drum) and hammered dulcimer,cello/fiddle &
wooden flute will appeal to all ages.
Also in the Historical
Village at the Crossroads, on Sunday afternoons from 1:00-3:00, the
costumed members of the Door County Historical Society will provide
tours of the Warren House, the Vignes School, and the Greene
General Store, where historical items and books, and of course,
penny candy will be on sale.
The concert and tours are free, though donations will be gratefully accepted.
Tuesday,
June 2, at 7:00, the Door Peninsula Astronomical Society will hold
their June General Meeting at the Stonecipher Astronomy Center.
Visitors are encouraged. Refreshments and fellowship will follow the
program, "A Thorough Explanation of the Tides"
Crossroads is a
learning preserve dedicated to science, history and the environment.
The Collins Learning Center and Wisconsin Wildlife Exhibit are open
daily 2:00-5:30. For more information, call 746-5895.
The
Collins Learning Center at Crossroads is located at on County Highway T
across from Whitetails Unlimited. To reach the Leif Everson Observatory
and Stonecipher Astronomy Center, use the Utah Street Entrance. If
skies are clear, call 746-5896 for a recorded message announcing
whether the observatory will be open.
Many of the Past News articles may be retrieved from this directory,
indexed and named in the following manner: 080101-news.htm where
the first two numbers are the year, the second two the month and the
last two the date.
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