North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[road's end farm <organic101@linkny.com>]

On Jan 28, 2007, at 11:34 AM, ethan roland wrote:

> Howdy All-
>
> I am looking for sources of a handful of strange + interesting plants for a new forest garden I am planting in Upstate New York. I have not been able to locate any of the following, and I appreciate any leads y'all can give me! The plants are: 
>
> - Amelanchier stolonifera (running juneberry)
> - Glycyrrhiza lepidota (American licorice)
> - Robinia viscosa (clammy locust)
> - Zanthoxylum americanum (prickly ash; American pepper tree)
>
> The characteristic I'm looking for with the first three is an ability to sucker and run... 

Why are you looking specifically for invasives?

Are the above native to your area? (I think some are, but am not sure about others. I'm not an expert on the subject.) Is everything you're planning for  your "forest garden" native to the area? You might be planting problems for yourself, your neighbors, and remaining native species already under stress.

I'm not saying, "never plant strange stuff that you haven't been able to find already growing in your area". I'm just saying, "think first." You may already have done so; in which case, apologies.

--Rivka
Finger Lakes NY; zone 5 mostly