It's getting close to December and the Ohio landscape is looking pretty barren. The oaks still have a few brown and shriveled leaves clinging to their branches, but only the toughest garden plants (like winter annuals) still show green. Soapwort and St. John's wort don't seem to be bothered yet by the cold.
The real stars of the garden right now are the mosses. As more tender plants succumb to harsh temperatures, the mosses, along with their cronies the lichens, appear to take on new vigor, and send out a green glow from the odd corners of the garden where they have taken up residence.
The specimen shown above is snacking on a brick that borders one of my beds. Sunlight, moisture, and the minerals it can extract from the brick allow it to thrive in this spot. Apparently concrete is tasty as well.
Mosses are happy on a variety of substrates, including the bark of living trees, and just plain soil. They have no true roots or vascular structures for transporting water, and so must remain short. Being height-challenged hasn't hampered their success: They've been around for 350 million years and number over 12,000 species worldwide. About 1,200 of those species grow in North America, with 420 found in Ohio, and 125 in my county. I intend to learn to identify them as soon as I've learned to distinguish the skippers that live here, which I estimate will take a mere decade.
If you live in Ohio and have an interest in moss, you might check out
The Ohio Moss & Lichen Association
Their website includes descriptions of the most common Ohio mosses accompanied by gorgeous photographs. They conveniently offer a county by county breakdown of moss and lichen species, plus all sorts of useful information for the bryophyte nerd.
Mosses don't compete with garden plants for space or nutrients, and are highly ornamental. They are an integral part of the web of organisms working hard to break down organic and mineral substances and make essential elements available for other beings. If you've been adding edges to your garden (see The Edge ) you will probably observe mosses showing up there. Time to celebrate! They are a sign that the ecosystem that is your garden is growing in diversity, complexity, and beauty.
