It is officially spring; the province is thawing out and coming back to life once again following a lengthy and frigid winter. The change of seasons will soon be apparent all around us, especially in the countless plant and animal species that can be found in Saskatchewan.
Those native plants, well adapted to weather roller coaster the province rides every winter, are among the first to show evidence that spring has arrived, and Beth Dolmage, a Species at Risk Botanist with the Ministry of Environment tells us which ones to be on the lookout for.
“Some of our most early-blooming plants that people can keep an eye for that are native (to Saskatchewan) can include Prairie Crocuses - which are always a fan favourite – things like Prairie Smoke, a very distinctive purple and red flower and a very small flower called Moss Phlox,” said Dolmage.
“And then buds on our shrubs like Pussy Willows or some of our trees that bud out a little early, think of our Balsam Poplar.”
While quick to emerge from their winter dormancy, those plants are seldom affected by the wild temperature swings that are all too present during the latter half of winter and early springtime.
“Our early blooming plants are adapted to kind of keep warm in those sudden temperature drops. If you look at a prairie crocus, for instance, they're actually pretty hairy and that hair can really help conserve moisture or protect them from some of those temperature drops, they're really, really resilient and have adapted over time to our environment,” she explained.
Timing is everything for the flora and fauna of Saskatchewan. The ability to essentially sit back and wait out the winter, utilized by a wide range of native animal species in the form of hibernation, is a crucial component of the survival strategy used by plant species as well.
Dolmage noted that species that jump the gun face severe consequences and tend to not survive long enough to adapt to the climate in our region.
“Sudden temperature swings can absolutely be detrimental to plants. If they’ve budded out, produced flowers, or started to really put energy into some of those structures and the temperature drops enough to freeze, it can damage that plant, which must spend energy reserves to regrow, which can be detrimental,” said Dolmage.
“So later on, when things really start to pick up, usually in Saskatchewan, it's early April is when you might see those crocuses start to pop up.”
It is not just the resilience to our region’s climate extremes that makes our native plant species stand out to Dolmage and her colleagues; they have also adapted to a wide range of ecoregions, each one introducing unique challenges to species that call them home.
“We have (numerous) ecoregions and then each of those exists inside of an ecozone and they're kind of nested, so we have our pre ecozone and then within it, we have our ecoregions like the aspen parkland and mixed moist grassland. We are a unique area.”
“Our plants have adapted over eons to that. There are plenty of plants that have their niche. Whether it’s our mixed grasslands closer to the southern border or aspen parkland in the middle, they have adapted to the local climate, to our weather, and even to our soil types,
(The soil types) are so interconnected to the landscape and our history of glaciation. These plants have been here for a really long time and have learned to work with the environment.”
She noted that some adaptations that can be found in the drier and sunny regions of the province and include silvery leaves that conserve moisture by reflecting sunlight and hairs that trap moisture to prevent evaporation.
Some species of native grasses (known collectively as C4 grasses due to the different method of carbon fixation used during photosynthesis) stagger their growth, emerging during the later months of summer to reduce competition.
Throughout her career as a botanist, Dolmage has had the opportunity to travel across Saskatchewan to conduct various studies, and over that time she has inevitably found a few personal favourite plants to encounter.
“One of them, of course, would be our provincial flower the Wood Lily. The bright orange lily you’ll see blooming in June. Another one I really love is a little harder to find, it’s called Showy Locoweed. It’s similar to Prairie Crocus in that it has lots of hairs all over it, it’s a very soft plant,” she said.
“As someone who spends lots of time outdoors dealing with plants, many of them are thorny. So, it’s a real joy to find something so soft and pretty, it has beautiful purple flowers, and it grows in the native prairie of southern Saskatchewan.”
With the growing season just about to begin, Dolmage encourages everyone to get outdoors and feed their curiosity, and one way to do so is to take advantage of the iNaturalist app when running across a plant or animal during their travels.
“A great app. It uses photographs of living insects, plants, animals, fungi and it takes their location, deed of observation and it brings them to a global community of experts for verification.”
“I would really encourage folks to just go for walks and take photos of the plants in their neighborhood if they're curious and we always encourage folks to learn more. iNaturalist is a wonderful resource for that.”
On the topic of seeing different plants when out and about, she noted that there are many ways to help conserve our province’s plant species and even incorporate some of the hardy and beautiful native plant species into your gardens and landscaping.
“If you have the opportunity to say, plant a native garden, we really encourage folks to look into their local area. There are often folks in your area who are collecting native seeds, and if you are curious about creating pollinator gardens, there's lots of resources.”
“If you know of an area that has a lot of native Prairie in it too, we always encourage folks to look into conservation efforts, there are lots of wonderful groups out there they could contact to get an idea of what they can do to help.”