Summer Babies

Wanted to catch this phase of the praying mantis development...they are almost adorable! Didn't see the second one at the time, even tinier...but both hunting.

While mantises (?)  eat everything, including the native bees, they are good at keeping plant-eating insects at reduced levels. And they are very amusing to watch as they turn their heads to watch you.

Keeping up with the News

Trying to get ahead of, or even catch up with, the weeds, I put down lots of newspaper to smother them and prevent their seeds from germinating. In the early stages of this process I often use pots of plants to hold down the papers until I can cover them with Kate's pine needles or David's leaf mulch. Sadly, this created an speed bump for my annual visitor.

While waiting for me to move several big pots of roses from the intended pathway, an eastern box turtle read about the latest weather event. This turtle visits each year to see what the border garden will offer - the earthworm that was dislodged when I moved the rose pots had little time to consider options. 

Don't have mayapple fruit for this critter to munch on but I guess there is some attraction - maybe it's the weeds!

Delightful!

This is a small stand of Penstemon digitalis, a nice native that has a pretty foxglove look but is tougher and more reliable. I grew these from seed and am so pleased that one year later they are full of flowers, tall,  and elegant.

In the evening light, the fat bumblebee gathers pollen to take to his/her home. What a treat.

You Don't Need to Do it All

You don’t need to do it all.

You might have heard that the monarch butterflies are in trouble. According to recent books and articles, the only sustaining food source for monarch caterpillars - milkweed - shrank 58% in the Midwest as agriculture adopted genetically-modified (GMO) crops that tolerate mass spraying of herbicides across millions of acres.

As a result, from 1999-2010, monarch egg production dropped by 81% in the Midwest. Monarchs migrate hundreds of miles to sites in the Midwest where there is no longer any milkweed at all. It’s happening here too.

In addition, millions of acres of weed-free lawns eliminate areas for milkweed to grow. Where milkweed does grow and begin to flower in medians along highways and attract monarchs to lay eggs, the overly tidy highway department mowers and herbicide sprayers descend destroying any accidental habitat for creatures others than us. We know what it does to monarchs – the rest of the damage to pollinators is largely unknown.

The monarch evolved to be able to digest milkweed, a plant that defends itself with a toxic sap, over eons. We know that eating other kinds of plants cannot make up the absence of milkweed because the caterpillars simply cannot eat other stuff.

Butterfly bush is a favorite for many home gardens but not one butterfly will lay its eggs on the bush since no caterpillars (on their way to become butterflies) can eat the leaves. It’s value is limited to being a nectar source for adults.

The only chance for monarch survival is the home gardener. Planting and growing (and perhaps tolerating) common milkweed (Asclepias syriacus), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), and perennial butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) in multiples, creating a good-sized patch the butterflies can find in the huge mass of inhospitable landscape and lawn, will help. I even plant the tropical milkweed in a big pot so I can watch them closely – just remember to cut it down in late October so they will migrate south before cold weather.

If you are successful, they will eat the leaves of the plant. It might look a little tatty and that’s good. You can watch your success in helping them! Might even interest your kids.

Local groups like The Nature Generation and Loudoun Wildlife, as well as the national organizations Wild Ones and Xerxes Society, are working hard to help save the monarch as are many others. Take a moment to learn about the monarch migration and preferred hosts, about growing useful nectar plants for the adults, and how you can take a small step to have a big impact. And while you are at it, tell your friends so they can help too. (www.monarchwatch.org)

Next Step

The Christian Science Monitor Diggin' It blog has started up again so I will be part of a larger group and able to keep up better.  Once the season is over, I may have more time to blog, but for now, I will be letting this go.

Thanks for sticking around.

Donna

A Good Day

After a difficult summer of heat, humidity, and drought, September has come in with cooler and drier weather, but sadly, no rain. Even so, September and October in Virginia are my favorite months. You can usually count on some restorative rains, perhaps even a gentle swipe from a gentle tropical low. The trees could really use the moisture. If we had not had 400 feet of snow last winter, things would be worse.

A friend and I were talking last week about those terrible snows of last winter as she showed me some photos on her computer with major drifts everywhere. Each time it started snowing again, we would commiserate on the phone and then get on the computer and order seeds or plants for spring. We spent more than we might have in a less snowy winter, but the plants have been a joy. I have grown wild senna (Cassia marilandica), anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), the very odd Amicia zygomeris, and some lovely dahlias.

If we had a little rain, a good soaker that doesn't run off the cracked soil, I could put some of my senna and anise hyssop into the soil for the winter. On these sparklingly beautiful, clear-sky September days, I just keep watering and hoping for those welcome autumn rains that usually come.

Echinaceas

Recently I attended a native plant conference at Millersville, Pennsylvania. It was well organized and we heard some wonderful speakers. Had a whole session on goldenrods - fascinating! If native plants are on your radar screen, it's a great place to learn more.

One session was about echinaceas. My distillation of the commentary is included here. I have been reluctant to buy echinaceas after three sequentially purchased Mango Meadowbrites died over three sequential winters at my home. It is the most exquisite coneflower I ever saw. So I gave up - figured the breeders were slap-happy and had bred out the hardiness gene. Each year new varieties - many of us stopped buying them altogether.

What I learned from well-known horticulturist Angela Treadwell-Palmer of Plants Nouveau is that you have to plant echinaceas early in the season so they are well established going into winter. Well at my home, all potted plants got planted in soil in late October before a killing frost. That may be my big mistake. I will try Mango Meadowbrite again, and a few others that are on the good list.

Here are the ones to look for:

Fragrant Angel - white 3-3.5'
Kim's Knee High - bright pink, variable height, supposed to be dwarf so don't be surprised
Mango Meadowbrite - - plant in gravel for good drainage
Pica Bella - pink, strong, short
Twilight - orange pink - good performer
Avalanche - white with lots of yellow in cone
Coconut Lime - greenish, fuzzy top
Tomato Soup - red, not fragrant, mid-size
Mac n Cheese - nice
Milkshake - white fuzzy top
Hot Papaya - 36", great color, more upright

Don't bother with
Magnus - which is now not coming true
tennesseensis - needs total dry, faces east, endangered
pallida – grows in rock crevices
White Swan
Pixie - has tennesseensis parentage - draws leaf hoppers
Sunrise - winters well in pots, may become new parent material for new generation
Sundown
Sunset
Pink Poodle
Pink Double Delight - bees don't like it and won't pollinate but being used to breed new varieties
Meringue
Coral Reef
Marmalade has good goldenrod color to start then fades to very pale on second day
Firebird - not selected in first round by breeders
Flame Thrower- not selected in first round
Hot Lava - not selected in first round
Now Cheesier - just like Mac n Cheese

Too new to know:
Secret series: Passion, Romance - new series of dwarfs
Strawberry Shortcake - bicolor
Pineapple Sundae won't propagate in tissue culture
Jade - white/green - may be nice
Green Envy - pink halo around center - striped, novel
Raspberry Truffle - good stem and intense color - 3.5' tall in Netherlands, 2' tall here'

Hoping that this listing will help you chose good plants. They are amazingly costly for perennials; careful selection and early planting will make beautiful echinaceas a good choice for your garden.