Millipedes in May

I've noticed the millipedes have been out en force this weekend.

Here is one that I found skulking around my pots this morning (he was moving too fast for my poor camera to get a good shot):

I first learned about these 3 years ago, almost to the day.  I reprint here a 'Note' that I posted to my facebook friends entitled, 

"In case we’re all dead in the morning, here’s what happened:"

May 7, 2010 at 11:32pm
Children playing outside in front yard while mom prunes monster rhododendron bushes. Children find a “caterpillar”, want to keep it as a pet, “Mommy isn’t it cute, it’s only a baby, it’s so tiny,” etc. Mommy looks at “caterpillar”, is pretty sure it’s something else, tries to convince kids to leave it alone (“It KNOWS where to find its OWN food”), finally gets frustrated with disobedient children and chucks “caterpillar” into underbrush so children can’t find it again. Mommy ushers children to back yard where they promptly find another one. Mommy thinks she convinces the kids to WATCH this one to see where it goes, only to find them holding and playing with it soon thereafter. 

Mommy gets fed up and goes on the computer to find out what species it is. Turns out it’s a millipede:Harpaphe haydeniana to be exact. Oh, and by the way it is one of the species that secretes cyanide when it’s distressed. Mommy looks up to see the kids helping themselves to crackers, “DROP THE FOOD, GO WASH YOUR HANDS!!!” After a thorough hand-scrubbing session, mommy explains about “poison” and reads a first-hand account of a boy who got cyanide in his eyes after handling a millipede. Children duly impressed. 

Son (age 4) later caught sneaking out back door with something behind his back. Lo and behold the millipede in a plastic container. Daughter (age 6) had snuck it into her room while mommy was researching – she still wanted it as a pet until the whole poison thing was revealed – and convinced her little brother to return the pet to its natural habitat. 

We did take photos of “our” millipede, but the children appear to have hidden the camera. 



I later found the camera and these were the photos we took at the time:

Places to learn a bit more about this species of millipede:
Wikipedia
Evergreen State College
The Bug Guide - information and photos

Ajuga

Four years ago my British gardener friend was visiting and helping me plant up some of my flower beds.  We went to a local nursery (garden center) and she picked out one of her favorite groundcovers - Ajuga reptans "Black Scallop" - or Bugleweed.  She had put these in my garden in Essex, England as well before we moved to the USA.  After planting them in a flower bed close to the house, she noticed that it was actually growing wild in the meadow in front of the house.  She gathered up as many as she could and transplanted them all around.  I now have a carpet of Ajuga which sends up beautiful flower spikes at this time of year (April/May).

Ajuga is native to Europe and Asia, but has been introduced to various parts of the USA. (The USDA website has a map showing where it has been introduced.  The New England Wild Flower Society also has a map and photos showing its distribution in that part of the country.)  It does produce seeds, but apparently the seeds don't always mature.  It spreads mostly by sending out runners, like strawberry plants.

It is a great plant for the Pacific Northwest because it is very hardy, is good in the shade and likes moist soil. It also has purple leaves which lets it stand out among all the GREEN. The deer, rabbits and slugs leave it alone. It holds its own against more aggressive weeds, but still plays nice with taller plants.  The photos below show it sending up flower spikes despite being engulfed by creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens) and blackberry brambles (Rubus sp.) in one photo and grass and English plantain (Plantago lanceolata) in another.  It hasn't come up yet, but in the carpet of  bugleweed close to my house I also have columbine (Aquilegia hybrid) which emerges from the carpet and rises above it to bloom in mid-summer.

Ajuga reptans flower spike

Ajuga spike rising above the weeds

Ajuga among the grass and meadow plants

Some websites that have other information about Ajuga:

• Wikipedia - lists all the various species
• Botanical.com; a Modern Herbal - places Ajuga in its historical context discussing how it has been used medicinally over the years. (With the appropriate caution that historical use may not jive with modern medical knowledge!)
• Kew Garden's Fact Sheet
• Some information about a fungus that can affect cultivated Ajuga from the Pacific Northwest Plant Disease Management Handbook published by the Oregon State University Department of Botany and Plant Pathology.