Adirondack Family Time™

Memorial Day  was officially proclaimed in 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his   General Order No. 11 , and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.  • The first state to officially recognize the holiday was  New York  in 1873 • 1890 - Memorial Day was recognized by all northern states.  • The South refused to acknowledge the day until after World War I What changed?  The holiday now honors all Americans who died fighting in any war, not just those that died fighting in the Civil War.  • Some southern states still have a separate day honoring the Confederate war dead:   January 19 in Texas  April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi  May 10 in South Carolina  June 3  in Louisiana and Tennessee, which just happens to be  Jefferson Davis' birthday Memorial Day (Remembrance Day, Poppy Day , Armistice Day)

Looking around my own property I find that I have inherited trees, shrubs and plants that are considered moderately invasive in the Adirondack Park. Before I go ripping up my whole yard, I am looking into substituting the plants with native species to New York and the Adirondacks. It will take some weeding, but will be worth it in the long run! Before you transplant know what is considered invasive! Adirondack Nature Conservancy (ANC) surveyed roadsides for the following invasive plants: Garlic mustard  ( Alliaria petiolata ) Russian and autumn olive  ( Elaeagnus angustifolia  and  E.  umbellata  ) Fly and tatarian honeysuckle (  Lonicera  morrowii  and  L. tatarica ) Purple loosestrife (  Lythrum  salicaria ) White sweet-clover (  Melilotus  alba) Common reed grass (  Phragmites  australis ) Japanese knotweed (  Polygonum  cuspidatum ) Common and smooth buckthorn (  Rhamnus  cathartica  and  R. frangula ) Black locust (  Robinia  pseudoacacia ) Black swallowwort