In May of this year, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), with the help of some hearty volunteers from Sierra Club, planted 1,700 native sandplain wildflower and grass plugs at two restoration sites along the south shore of Martha’s Vineyard. Species planted include, Solidago odora, Symphotrichium dumosum, and Danthonia spicata, which were all grown at Polly Hill Arboretum as part of their MV Wildtype program. The island received an abundance of rain post-planting through early August – a stark difference from the drought experienced throughout 2022.

A survey analyzing the success of a subpopulation was conducted exactly 3 months later in early August. We observed an approximate 80% survival rate through a presence-absence monitoring effort. It was observed during the study that Solidago odora and Symphotrichium dumosum were thriving at the time of the survey. Danthonia spicata, had gone to seed by then which made the monitoring efforts more challenging, but appeared to be the least successful of the three plants.

We at TNC are very excited by these results and attribute the high success rate to early season planting followed by a long and consistent period of rain.