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Nature is To Dye For
MAY 8 | By Irvine Naturalist SARA MILLS
 Have you ever heard the Confederate Soldiers referred to as butternuts? Although this sounds like an insult, the nickname came from the butternuts (Juglans cinerea, photographed on the right) that were used to dye the gray uniforms they wore. From the textiles found in the tombs of Egypt, to Native American clothing, using plants as natural dyes is an ancient tradition.
There are two main types of natural dyes; direct dyes and adjective dyes.
Direct dyes are ones that produce rich, bold colors without adding any additional materials. Often these plants contain tannic acid, which naturally causes the dye to attach to fibers. Common direct dyes are sumac (Rhus spp.) and walnut (Juglans spp.). The ancient dyes that were used by the Native Americans, and before the arrival of European Settlers, were direct dyes. Although many plants, such as blood root, can be used as direct dyes, European settlers quickly realized that many dyes that the Native Americans used quickly faded and lost their rich color.
That brings us to our next group of dyes; adjective. Adjective dyes combine water-soluble chemicals, or mordants, with the natural dye. Examples of these chemicals include alum, and metallic salts. Although there’s a great deal of chemistry involved, mordants help the dye bond to the textile, creating a richer and longer lasting color.
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Can You Dig It?
APRIl 7 | By Irvine Naturalist STEVEN MICKLETZ
 Spring has arrived and you can take that long awaited picnic lunch. You lay down the blanket and pull out your food when suddenly you notice hundreds of insects flying around you! They are bees circling low to the ground with swift aerial maneuvers that may make them look perturbed.
You have nothing to worry about, though. What you are likely seeing are ground nesting bees (family Andrenidae); solitary nesting bees generally harmless to humans. In dry, easy to dig soil a female will dig a tunnel as a nest. Thousands of burrows can be located in a patch of suitable soil!
The bees you see flying are likely males watching for females to emerge after a long winter underground. Male solitary bees cannot sting and the females rarely sting. They are focused on digging a nest and finding food for the young. To get this food, the solitary bees visit many flowers for pollen, including food crops like blueberries. They are an incredibly important, but often unheralded, pollinator native to Maryland.
While they may be startling, it is best to let the bees go about their business. The eruptive nesting activity lasts a short time in the spring and the benefits far outweigh any annoyances. The very food you have for your picnic may have been pollinated by these wonderful creatures.
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Let It Snow
MARCH 6 | By Irvine Naturalist SARA MILLS
 The importance of rain during the spring and summer is quite obvious. Lack of rain can lead to drought, low yields of crops, and even transportation and shipping issues along rivers. What about snow? How important is our winter precipitation?
During the summer of 2012 a drought settled over more than half of the continental United States. The dry autumn that followed left many areas parched.
As farmers and economists look to the summer of 2013, they are paying close attention to snow. Snow plays many important roles. It is a great insulator for wintering crops, wild plants and animals. Also, as the snow melts it helps to recharge the moisture in the soil and our watershed tributaries.
Without a snowy winter, soils rely on a very rainy April in order to have adequate moisture. In the west as much as 75 percent of the water supply is derived from snowmelt. Snow can almost be thought of as a reservoir, storing water until warm temperatures arrive.
But just like rain, unseasonably heavy snows and rapid melt can lead to increased runoff carrying excess nutrients, sediments and other pollutants. In our case these pollutants travel to the Chesapeake Bay along with the snowmelt.
So I suppose one can think of snow as they do dark chocolate; in moderation it’s a wonderful thing! |
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