Category: native plants

Categories
native plants Pollinator gardening

A Wild and Wacky Plant

Clouds of beneficial wasps and small bees swarm the crown of tiny, white flowers.  Flowerheads rise on stalks up to nine feet tall offering stunning vertical accents in the garden.  This is Arnoglossum atriplicifolium one of several Arnoglossums native to Eastern North America.  

Why is this plant so different? The flowers don’t have any petals, only disk florets.  Disk florets usually make up the center of a bloom and are surrounded by ray florets or petals.

The leaves seem to defy description.  They’ve been called triangular or oval-cordate or oval but none of these is right.  The closest I’ve heard is Sycamore-like, with undulate edges (rippled edges).

The leaf texture is also unique.  Thick and shiny, it’s been compared to leather or plastic.  All these characteristics come together in a striking plant.2,6

Arnoglossum atriplicifolium grows in full sun to light shade.  Loamy, rocky or sandy soil are all acceptable.  But this plant loves evenly moist soil that stays constantly wet.  When Arnoglossum is happy, it reseeds freely.  Cut back the flower stalks to avoid this issue.1,6,9

In nature, Arnoglossum appears in open and rocky woodlands, thickets, wet meadows, along streams, in mesic forests, savannahs, woodland edges, sand dunes, rocky clearings in woodlands, prairies, meadows, upland woodlands, wooded slopes, slopes of ravines, sandy savannahs, sandy thickets, partly shaded thickets, and partly shaded banks near Lake Michigan.2,6

The first year, Arnoglossum atriplicifolium forms as a basal rosette of medium to dark green leaves.  These leaves grow up to eight inches long and six inches across.  While the top sides are green, the lower leaf surfaces are pale greenish white to bright white.  

In the second or third year, a stalk appears in Spring and grows to between three and nine feet tall with alternate leaves.  The unbranched stalk provides an erect accent in the garden.  These leaves become smaller as they go up the stalk.  Cavity nesting bees and wasps use the hollow stems for nesting.1,2,6,9

Flat-topped flowerheads (technically called a compound corymb) develop at the top of the plant stalk.  Without petals, the flowerhead make up their size by grouping four to fifteen florets together into corymbs.  These corymbs grow together to form the whole flowerhead.9  

The individual florets are about an eighth inch across and a third inch long with five disk florets.  Each one has a style that extends beyond its end.  The styles are bipartite which means two styles joined together.  As they mature, the tips curl away from each other forming circles.  Anthers also reach past the end of the floret.6

Arnoglossum atriplicifolium is self-incompatible.  Each floret must be fertilized with pollen from a different plant. Wasps, small bees and flies provide pollination.3

Blooms appear in mid-Summer and continue into early Fall.   Total flowering time is about one month.  Cut it back for a smaller second bloom.6

Adding to the overall wackiness of Arnoglossum, the most common visitors are predatory or parasitoid wasps.  Some of which look very scary indeed!  These wasps are also beneficial insects helping to control many garden pests.  In fact, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation labeled Arnoglossum as Supports Conservation Biological Control.

Wasps prefer dilute nectar on hot summer days and Arnoglossum is an excellent source of late season nectar.  The nectar secretes at the base of the style.  It’s drawn up the corolla so even short-tongued wasps.  White flowers keep the nectar cool and dilute.3

Thirty-four different species of wasps visit Arnoglossum atriplicifolium.4  These include, Sand Wasps (Bicyrtes spp.), Great Black Wasps (Sphex pensylvanicus), Great Golden Digger Wasps (Sphex ichneumoneus), Thread-Waisted Wasps (Ammophila spp.), Potter Wasps (Eumenes spp.), the Common Yellowjacket Wasp (Vespula spp.), and Grass-Carrying Wasps (Isodontia spp.).3

Are Yellowjackets beneficial?  It’s hard to feel that way.  They’re scary, the stings are painful, and they can ruin your picnic.  Vespids or Yellowjacket wasps can send you to the ER too, if you’re allergic to their sting.  So, is there an upside?

WARNING:  Yellowjacket or Vespid wasps form large colonies.  When disturbed, they’ll attack as a group.  Multiple stings are dangerous even to non-allergic individuals.

Do not allow nests around people, especially children, animals and especially those with allergies. Also, do not attempt nest removal yourself! Use a professional exterminator!

OK back to beneficial insects—Yellowjacket wasps build yearly nests.  Their mated queens overwinter in cozy spots like bumblebees.  In the Spring, the queens establish a nest and lay eggs to become workers.  The workers will continue building the nest and gathering prey.

Almost all Vespid wasps (Yellowjackets), use chewed wood pulp and saliva to create paper nests.  Different types of Vespids choose different locations for homes.  Options include holes like openings in trees, structural walls, abandoned animal burrows or rotting tree stumps or aerial places in trees or under building eaves.  Often nests aren’t noticed until they’re large or disturbed.11

But what good are they?  Colony size ranges from a few hundred to over 5,000.  Almost all these wasps hunt for insect prey and many prey on pests.  Depending on the species, Vespids target crickets, grasshoppers, spiders, flies, and fall webworms.  Those that live in trees and high places frequently gather food there.11

I wouldn’t let Yellowjacket set up housekeeping in my yard especially near children, animals, individuals allergic to bee stings or other human activity.  But you have a place on your property, where they won’t be disturbed, a Vespid nest is like a small army of pest control.

Many small bees gather nectar and pollen from Arnoglossum atriplicifolium.  Sweat Bees (Halictus sp. and Lasioglossum sp.) and small Carpenter Bees (Ceratina sp.) are some of the short-tongued bees seen.

Halictid or Sweat Bees fall in the small and mighty category of pollinators.  There are more than 500 species in North America.  In the garden and in natural area, they are more plentiful than most other native bees.7,8

Almost all are ground nesting but the colony structure can be solitary, communal, semi-social or eusocial.  Sometimes these nesting behaviors vary with time of year, location-geographic and altitude, and for reasons we don’t understand.5,7,8

Two fun facts about the Halictid bees are:  they drink human sweat and they can buzz pollinate.  Why do they lap up sweat?  It’s like an electrolyte drink for them.  On hot summer day, Halictid bees need some salt and other minerals.  Human perspiration is one easy source!5,7,8

What about buzz pollination?  Buzz pollination is sometimes called sonication.  A sweat bee holds onto a flower’s anther with its mandibles and curls its abdomen around the anther.  It vibrates its wing muscles to release pollen.5  

Many flowers need buzz pollination to effectively free their pollen.  These plants include the heath family (blueberry, cranberry) and nightshade (tomato, groundcherry, pepper, eggplant, potato),  A number of native bees can buzz pollinate, most famously, the Bumblebee.  Honeybees cannot.5,10

Lastly, flies gather nectar and pollen at Arnoglossum atriplicifolium.  Syrphid flies frequently stop to sip the accessible nectar.3

Bonus Bug: Both male and female mosquitos visit flowers for nectar. Females need blood for the protein and most use a sugar source. Males need a sugar source, like nectar, to survive. We don’t know how they choose particular flowers but they are attracted to some chemical compounds.12

Hope you enjoyed this look into a Wild and Wacky plant!  Arnoglossum atriplicifolium benefits some bizarre and wonderful insects as well as some more familiar ones.  It delivers a wonder accent in the garden and is an excellent source of late summer nectar!

Warm Regards,

Mary                            

References:

  1. “Arnoglossum Atriplicifolium – Plant Finder.” Accessed September 2, 2024 https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=293225.
  2. “Arnoglossum Atriplicifolium (Pale Indian Plantain) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox.” Accessed September 2, 2024. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/arnoglossum-atriplicifolium/.
  3. Holm, Heather. Pollinators of Native Plants:  Attract, Observe and Identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants. Minnesota: Pollination Press LLC, 2014.
  4. Holm, Heather. Wasps:  Their Biology, Diversity, and Role as Beneficial Insects and Pollinators of Native Plants. Minnesota: Pollination Press LLC, 2021.
  5. Missouri Department of Conservation. “Halictid Bees (Sweat Bees).” Accessed September 2, 2024. https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/halictid-bees-sweat-bees.
  6. “Pale Indian Plantain (Arnoglossum Atriplicifolium).” Accessed September 2, 2024. https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/savanna/plants/pale_indplant.htm.
  7. “SWEAT BEES: GENUS LASIOGLOSSUM | The Great Sunflower Project.” Accessed September 2, 2024. https://www.greatsunflower.org/Lasioglossum#.
  8. “Sweat or Halictid Bees.” Accessed September 2, 2024. https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/bees/halictid_bees.htm#
  9. “Weird and Wonderful Plants for Pollinators: Pale Indian Plantain | Xerces Society.” Accessed September 1, 2024. https://xerces.org/blog/pale-indian-plantain.
  10. Xerces Society. “Delectable Native Plants Attract a Very Special Crowd.” Accessed September 2, 2024. https://xerces.org/blog/delectable-native-plants-attract-very-special-crowd.
  11. “Yellowjackets and Baldfaced Hornets | CALS.” Accessed September 2, 2024. https://cals.cornell.edu/new-york-state-integrated-pest-management/outreach-education/whats-bugging-you/bees-and-wasps/identifying-bees-and-wasps/yellowjackets-and-baldfaced-hornets
  12. “Not Just from Blood: Mosquito Nutrient Acquisition from Nectar Sources – ScienceDirect.” Accessed September 2, 2024. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1471492220300404#.
Categories
native plants Pollinator gardening

Ephemeral Purple Pinwheels

From late Spring to mid-Summer, the blue-purple flowers of Spiderwort decorate the morning garden.  These three petalled flowers offer pollen for pollinators and beneficial insects.  While the flowers fade by afternoon, the lovely blue-green foliage graces the garden throughout the bloom period. 

An adaptable plant, Tradescantia ohiensis thrives in acid-based, calcareous, limestone-based, sandy, sandy loam, medium loam and clay.  It prefers full or part sun and the whole range from wet to dry conditions.  The root system is not only fibrous but thick and fleshy.1

In natural settings, Spiderwort is widely scattered except in disturbed areas.  It can create sizable colonies in these areas.  Tradescantia ohiensis can be found in moist to mesic black soil prairies, sand prairies, thickets, limestone glades, woodland borders, Bur Oak savannas, sandy black oak savannas, roadside ditches, areas along railroads—including the ballast, and moist meadows near woods or rivers.1,3

The foliage of Tradescantia ohiensis is vase-shaped with soft blue-green color.  Its leaves wrap around the stems and then arch gently down narrowing to a point.  Leaves are up to 15” long and one inch wide at the base.  Stems are round.  Both leaves and stems are usually glabrous (smooth with no hair or down).1

The charming flowers have three petals, an unusual number and shape combined with their unusual color.  Blue is the rarest color bloom for native plants.  These two features add to the plants’ garden appeal.  

The top of the petals forms a rounded triangle.  Each bloom has six bright, yellow anthers and fine hairy filaments under the anthers.  The filaments are a slightly darker version of the flower color.1,3

To avoid self-pollination, the anthers release their pollen first.  Then they curve away from the style as it extends and becomes receptive.  Essentially, the anthers move any remaining pollen away from the stigma (area on the top of the style).4

As it spreads and multiplies in the garden, color variations appear.  In my garden, I have deep blue-purple flowers and blooms that are pale lavender with white centers.

The blossoms have unusual schedule.  Each morning one to a few buds open from each group.  They stay open until mid-day, sometimes longer on cloudy days.  Then they wither and fade.  All the buds finish by mid-summer.3  

At that time, cut the plants back to between six  and twelve inches.  This pruning increases chances of a second bloom and helps keep the plants tidy.3,5

In some climates, Spiderwort dies back completely after blooming.  This happens in my garden in the Great Lakes area.  I have fall plants that fill in the space.  This is similar to having perennials grow to cover where bulbs have faded.  In the past, I’ve also used planters in the bare spots.

Managing Tradescantia ohiensis can be a bit of a challenge.  In the garden, Spiderwort spreads easily to form large clumps.  It can also self-seed when conditions are right.  Sometimes considered a problem plant, Spiderwort is easily pulled.  

Deer, rabbits and other herbivores eat Tradescantia ohiensis especially in the early Spring.  I find this happens more when the plants are within the garden, away from foot traffic and people.  A good herbivore deterrent helps.1

Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation declares Spiderwort of Special Value to Native Bees, Special Value to Bumblebees and (it) Attracts Beneficial Insects.  Numerous bees, flies and beneficial insects visit these plants.  Its long bloom season provides a reliable pollen source for many weeks.  Bumblebees are primary pollinators for Tradescantia ohiensis.  

Bumblebees pollinate native and horticultural plants.  They’re even used in some commercial agricultural settings.  As a vital pollinator, I’ll be shining a spotlight on the lifecycle of one particular bumblebee–the Eastern Bumblebee (Bombus impatiens).6

Bumblebees fly from early spring through fall and need resources for all this time.  As generalists, they forage on many different flowers.  The Eastern Bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) is a common visitor to Tradescantia ohiensis.

Bumblebees are social bees, living and raising their young in colonies.  Colonies range from around 50 to hundreds of bees.  The life of the colony begins in the Fall.  Fertile female and male bumblebees hatch and go out to mate.  The males search for females from a different colony.

After mating, the gynes (inseminated females) forage for about two weeks building up fat stores to support them for the winter.  Then, they’ll look for a cozy place to overwinter.  The gynes often choose old rodent holes or they burrow a few inches underground.

In Spring, the gynes emerge when the soil warms and flowers begin blooming.  They search carefully for a nesting site.  Possible spots include old rodent holes, spaces between two rocks, deep thatch in grass, tufts of dead grass, old bird feeders, and unused sheds or barns.  The gyne looks for a sheltered, dry space for her colony.

I’ve followed several gynes in the Spring and I’ve yet to see one find her spot.  The gyne spend a lot of time landing and exploring each area until she finds the perfect one.

Once the nesting spot is chosen, she creates a honey pot.  The pot is made from wax secreted between her abdominal segments.  The gyne fills this with nectar she has collected.  

This nectar tides her over on cold, rainy Spring days when she can’t forage.  The mature colony will maintain several honey pots for similar weather conditions and for workers who remain in the colony and don’t forage.

At this point, the gyne begins collecting pollen.  She mixes the pollen with a little nectar and forms a ball.  Multiple fertile (female) eggs are laid on the ball.  Then she covers it with a wax coating.  

The foundress (a gyne who has established a nest) continues foraging.  When it is too cool to fly, she incubates her eggs by sitting on top of the wax and shivering.  The eggs hatch in three to five days.  If the foundress dies during this time, the larvae also die, and the nest will fail.

Once the eggs have become adult workers, the foundress at last becomes the queen.  Unlike honeybees, the queen continues to gather food and the workers help her with harvesting and with caring for the larva.  Also, unlike honeybees, workers can lay eggs.  The queen suppresses this behavior with pheromones or aggression.  If an egg  is laid, the queen destroys it.  

The colony life ends in late Summer or Fall.  Close to this time, the queen lays unfertilized eggs which become male bumblebees.  She also lays fertilized eggs that are feed additional pollen.  These eggs become next year’s gynes.6

While Bumblebees, honeybees and other long tongued bees pollinate Spiderwort, numerous small bees and flies visit the flowers.  The small bees include Sweat Bees (Lasioglossum spp.),

Green Sweat Bees (Agapostemon spp.),

small Carpenter bees (Ceratina),

Mason Bees (Osmia spp.), European Wool Carder bee (Anthidium maculatum).1,4

Both syrphid flies and bee flies are among the fly visitors.  I’ve mentioned syrphid flies in many posts.  Their larvae  consume huge numbers of aphids.  Today let’s shine a spotlight on the insects themselves.1,4

The names syrphid, hover or flower flies all mean the same group of insects—Syrphidae.  Most have yellow and black stripes that make them resemble bees or wasps.  Others are hairy with long thin abdomens.   They range from less than a quarter of an inch to more than three-quarters of an inch.  Their antennae are short.7

Adults seek out flowers for nectar and pollen.  They’re particularly attracted to tiny flowers.  Yarrow, wild mustard, fennel, coriander and sweet alyssum are all favorites.  

Reproduction usually centers around aphid colonies.  The female lays a single egg on a leaf near the colony.  She may produce hundreds of eggs throughout the growing season.

Eggs hatch into small, legless maggots varying in color from creamy-white to green to brown.  With a slug-like appears, they taper near the head.  The larvae mature in one to three weeks depending on the species, temperature, and amount of food. There are five to seven generation per year.  The final generation overwinters as pupae either on a leaf or in the soil.

These larvae are the beneficial insects.  A single larva can eat up to 400 aphids.  They effectively control aphids in a mixed plot or in a garden.  Although, syrphid fly larvae haven’t been studied commercially.

These larvae mostly hunt aphids.  They can also consume small caterpillars, thrips and other slow-moving insects.  In addition, syrphid fly larvae have been observed preying on small European corn borer and corn earworm larvae.7

Thank you so much for joining me for this long look at Spiderwort, Tradescantia ohiensis.  I hope you enjoyed the information on this beautiful and versatile plant and the spotlights  on the life cycle of the Eastern Bumblebee, Bombus impatiens, and the Syrphid flies.  

I’d love to answer questions or hear your stories!  Please let me know what’s going on in your garden!

Warm Regards,

Mary

References

  1. Hilty, J., n.d., Ohio Spiderwort, Tradescantia ohiensis, Dayflower family (Commelinaceae), http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/oh_spiderwortx.htm
  2. No author, n. d., Tradescantia ohiensis, Ohio Spiderwort, Bluejacket, Commelinaceae, (Spiderwort Family), https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=TROH
  3. No author, n. d., Tradescantia ohiensis, Bluejacket; Ohio Spiderwort; Smooth Spiderwort, https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/tradescantia-ohiensis/
  4. Holm, H., 2014, Pollinator of Native Plants:  Attract, Observe and Identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants, Pollination Press LLC., Minnesota
  5. No author, n. d., Tradescantia ohiensis,https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=279262&isprofile=1&basic=Tradescantia%20ohiensis
  6. Holm, Heather, 2017, Bees:  An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide, Pollination Press LLC, Minnesota
  7. Mahr, Susan, n.d., Hover, Flower or Syrphid Flies (Syrphidae), https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/hover-flower-or-syrphid-flies-syrphidae/#:~:text=Hover%20flies%20(or%20flower%20flies,the%20flowers%20and%20darting%20around.
Categories
native plants Pollinator gardening

A Summer Cornucopia

Part 2

And we’re back for Part II of The Summer Cornucopia!  Today the focus is on insects and how they use Common Milkweed.  If you missed Part I and are interested in the plant and pollination, here’s a link: https://wordpress.com/post/wildthingsinthe.garden/1831.

Asclepias syriaca draws an abundance of insects.  The sap, leaves and flowers are all used for food while blooms provide nectar to many insects.  Common Milkweed supports different life stages of flies, wasps, bees, butterflies, moths, skippers, plant bugs and beneficial insects.  Even hummingbirds try to sip nectar although they can’t reach it.1,7  

The most famous visitor to Common Milkweed is the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus).  Monarchs can only use milkweeds (Asclepias) to feed their caterpillars. Growing milkweed supports the generations of Monarchs that hatch over the summer months.  When the last summer generation is born and transforms into an adult, they’ll drink nectar from milkweed and other flowers for food and fuel for their migration.8  

Growing native milkweeds helps preserve the existing Monarch population.  If you’re interested in helping Monarchs, Monarch Watch has excellent information on creating Monarch Waystations at https://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/ .  Here are the highlights of the plan!8

How big does a waystation have to be?  Any size will help the Monarchs (and other pollinators!).  If possible, a 100 square foot waystation is highly effective.  The area doesn’t have to be all in one spot.  There can be several plantings throughout a property.

Sun is important for Monarchs.  Like other insects, they need heat and sunlight to warm themselves for flying and daily activities.  An area with six or more hours of sunlight is required.  Coincidentally, most milkweeds thrive under those conditions.

Milkweed also grow well in well-drained soil.  Place Monarch Waystations in low clay areas with fast draining soils.

Place plants close together (although not closer than recommended).  Monarchs and their caterpillars need shelter and protection from predators and the weather.

What about milkweed?  At least ten plants are recommended preferably with two or more types of milkweeds.  This planting scheme gives an extended season of bloom and allows the Monarchs longer access to the milkweed plants and nectar.  One type of milkweed is okay if more than ten plants are included.

Establish continuous supply of nectar plants.  Use annual, biennial and perennial plants.  Native plants are a great choice.  These plants also benefit the other pollinators.

Finally, create a management plan.  How will the waystation be maintained?  The plan contains basic garden maintenance:  mulching, fertilizing, removing invasive plants.  Additionally, it includes Monarch specific items:  eliminate insecticides, add more features like a water source or puddling spot.

Again, for more information on Monarch Waystations and other resources, including free milkweed programs, go to https://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/

In addition to Monarchs, swallowtails (Papilio), fritillaries (Speyeria), viceroy butterflies (Limenitis), sulfurs (Pieris), and other butterflies also visit Asclepias syriaca.  Skippers use Asclepias syriaca for nectar including Ancyloxipha.1,7  

Common Milkweed is a larval host for the striking Milkweed Tussock Moth (Euchaetes egle) caterpillar, the Unexpected Cycnla (Cycnia inopinates) and the Delicate Cycnia (Cycnia tenera).  All are part of the group Artiinae or Tiger Moths.1  

The Delicate Cycnia (Cycnia tenera) lacks the usual aposematic coloration  It has a soft tan larva and a charming white adult with just a touch of orange on the head and wing edges.  Instead, it emits aposematic ultrasound calls when caught!  Bats release their prey when they hear the calls.  During the day, their color variation seems to keep birds away.1,9

Both long-tongued and short-tongued bees visit Common Milkweed for nectar.  These include honeybees (Apis),

Bumble Bees (Bombus),

leaf-cutter bees (Megachile),

cuckoo bees (Coelioxys), small carpenter bees (Ceratina)

and sweat bees (Halictus and Lasioglossum).1,7,10

Many wasps enjoy nectaring at Milkweed flowers especially Sphex, Tachytes, Polistes,  Myzinum, and ichneumon wasps.  Sphex ichneumoneus is a known pollinator of Common Milkweed.1,7

Numerous beneficial insects visit Asclepias syriaca including the delicate and diverse ichneumon wasps.  The adult wasps use milkweeds’ nectar for fuel while searching for insect prey.  They’re considered parasitoids and the females lay eggs inside grubs and caterpillars.  

Young of boll weevils, tomato hornworms and wood borers are all food for ichneumon wasps.  In addition to garden pests, adults hunt large insects such as spiders and butterflies.  

In general, ichneumon wasps help reduce the number of insects that reach reproductive age.  Many of these prey insects damage trees.  In this way, the wasps help keep trees healthy.11

Bembix americana, a predatory sand wasp, also gathers nectar from Common Milkweed.  B. americanafeeds their young true flies (Diptera).  Diptera include house flies, gnats and mosquitos.  

As populations of flies increase, B. americanas numbers rise.  A single larvae can eat two dozen flies.  B. americana uses a different strategy for provisioning its young.  Other wasps paralyze their prey and stock each cell with the required (living but paralyzed) insects.  This sand wasp kills the flies and adds more food as needed.12

Asclepias syriaca hosts predatory stink bug larvae.  Stink bugs have a terrible reputation especially since the arrival of  the invasive Brown Marmorated Stink Bug.  But predatory stink bugs are a whole different category.  These are beneficial insects that hunt insect prey.  

Above, is a photo of a Spined Soldier Bug larvae on milkweed.  There are five larval stages (instars) and all eat insects.  Their preferred foods include Mexican bean beetle, Colorado potato beetle, and imported cabbageworm.  

Look for the adult Spined Soldier Bug on plants where prey may be located.  These plants include the melons/squash/cucumber (cucurbit), broccoli, cauliflower, kale, etc. (cruciferous) and tomatoes, peppers, eggplant (solanaceous) crops.  

If you’re looking for eggs, they’re an incredible metallic bronze color with a row of spines like a crown.  Just hatched larvae, cluster around the eggs eating necessary bacteria.  Spined Soldier Bug can be purchased commercially.13

In addition to all these, Asclepius syriaca hosts many beetles and bugs,

grasshoppers,

and leafhoppers

Finally, flies, including beneficial ones, nectar on Asclepius syriaca.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this exploration of the insects found on Common Milkweed.  Pollinators and beneficials all enjoy Asclepias.  It’s always worth stopping to see who’s home in the milkweed patch with or without flowers!

Happy Gardening, Mary

References

  1. Hilty, J., n.d., Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, Milkweed family, (Asclepiadaceae),  https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/cm_milkweed.html
  2. Berkov, A., 28.October.2010, Plant Talk:  Inside the New York Botanical Garden; Plant Profile:  The Extraordinary Common Milkweed, How Do Insects Feed on this Plant with Sticky White Latex? https://www.nybg.org/blogs/plant-talk/2010/10/science/plant-profile-the-extraordinary-common-milkweed/#:~:text=Plants%20in%20the%20genus%20Asclepias,Asklepios%2C%20the%20ancient%20Greek%20physician.
  3. Bowe, Scott, 11.September.2018, Milkweed is More Than Just a Common Weed, WXPR, https://www.wxpr.org/natural-resources/2018-09-11/milkweed-is-more-than-just-a-common-weed
  4. Nelson, M. and Alfuth, D., 24.February.2021, Milkweed (Ornamental Plants Toxic to Animals), X-number:  XHT1276, https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/milkweed-ornamental-plants-toxic-to-animals/
  5. Taylor, David, n.d., Common Milkweed, (Asclepias syriaca L.), Plant of the Week, https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/asclepias_syriaca.shtml
  6. Eldredge, E.P., 2015,11,00, Milkweed Pollination Biology, Plant Materials Technical Note NV-58, Natural Resources Conservation Service, https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/plantmaterials/nvpmctn12764.pdf
  7. Betz, R.F., Struven, R.D., Wall, J.E. & Heitler, F.B., 1994, Insect Pollinators 12 Milkweed (Asclepias) Species, T.B. Bragg and J. Stubbendieck (eds.) Proc. Of the Thirteenth North American Prairie Conference. Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE.
  8. No author, n.d., Monarch Waystation Program, https://monarchwatch.org/waystations/
  9. Geere, Duncan, 2010. August.19, Tiger Moths Scare Bats with Ultrasonic Clicks, Wired, https://www.wired.com/2010/08/moth-jamming/
  10. Holm, Heather, 2017, Bees:  An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide, Pollination Press LLC
  11. No author, n.d., Ichneumon Wasps, Discover Nature>Field Guide:  Missouri Department of Conservation, https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/ichneumon-wasps
  12. No author, n.d., Sand Wasps, Discover Nature>Field Guide:  Missouri Department of Conservation, https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/sand-wasps
  13. Berish, Chelsea, n.d., Spined Soldier Bug in Kentucky, ENTFACT-325: SPINED SOLDIER BUG IN KENTUCKY, University of Kentucky Department of Entomology, Martin Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment
Categories
native plants Pollinator gardening

A Summer Cornucopia

Common Milkweed or Asclepias syriaca is a superb Monarch support and a mainstay of Monarch waystations.  But it is so much more.  This plant feeds more than 450 insects at different life stages. Diverse insects consume nectar, sap, leaves, flowers and seeds5.  Admittedly weedy, its lovely blooms are fragrant and enhance any scent garden1,5.

Common Milkweed thrives in full sun and well-drained soils.  Like other “weeds”, it’s not picky about growing conditions.  A. syriaca  grows in clayey, sandy or rocky calcareous soils, loamy soils and high clay or sand soils. 

Asclepias syriaca springs up in disrupted areas.  Human activity disrupts natural areas.  But natural disruptions occur where water rises and falls, for example, along streams and lakes.  

In nature, Common Milkweed is found in moist and dry black soil prairies, sand prairies, sand dunes along lake shores, fields, pastures, abandoned fields, vacant lots and along railroads, fence rows and roadsides. 

Common Milkweed absolutely lives up to its weedy name.  It spreads by seed and by long creeping rhizomes that pop up in unexpected places.  Once established, this plant is extremely difficult to remove. 

These habits are offset by Common Milkweed’s value to insects and pollinators.  It’s best to let it grow where you don’t mind its vigorous and abundant nature—a wild area, a meadow or a prairie garden.

Asclepias syriaca offers a strong erect form in the garden.  The pale, cylindrical central stem supports opposite jade-green leaves.  These leaves range from pale to dark green on top and are pale green with short, dense hair underneath.  Each leaf has a distinctive central vein with small veins spreading to the edges.  

The milky sap, which gives Milkweed its name, oozes whenever part of the plant is broken.  The sap is called a latex and contains 2% latex.  The latex is thick and sticky.  

Most ingeniously, caterpillars will reduce the sap’s flow by taking tiny bites closer to the stem.  The sap leaks out there.  When the caterpillar begins to eat a leaf, there’s less latex at the feeding site.  Thus, less chance the sticky stuff will foul the larva’s mouth2,3.

For humans and other mammals, there are other concerns.  The milky sap contains cardenolides, specifically cardiac glycosides.  Contact with the skin or eyes causes irritation.  If eaten or exposed to mucous membranes, cardiac glycosides can disrupt the nervous system, the kidneys, the muscles (which includes the heart) and the human’s/animal’s acid/base balance3,4,5.  

The monarch and other insects that consume milkweed have turned this to their advantage.  As the caterpillars/insects consume milkweed their bodies store the cardiac glycosides.  If a bird or animal eats them, they taste bitter and can make the predator feel sick.  

Predators soon learn to leave them alone. The orange/black or red/black coloring of milkweed insects signals, “Stay away!  Not good for you!”  The technical term for this warning coloration is ‘aposematic’5.

Milkweed blooms don’t dazzle but flower in 1930’s vintage shades.  The drooping balls of florets are soft and dusky lasting one to one and a half months.  Colors range from greenish white to greenish pink to rosy-pink to purplish-pink to reddish purple.  

Each cluster averages 30 individual florets but can have up to 100. Their sweet, vanilla fragrance drifts from the three to five umbels on each plant.  

Up close, each floret is a fascinating feat of engineering all directed toward an exceptional pollination system.  Each a quarter of an inch across, the florets have five reflexed (bent back) petals and five raised hoods with curved horns.  The hoods have lighter colors than the petals.  

In the center of each floret, is a cylindrical structure formed by two fused stigmas.  It’s called the stigmatic column.  

Between the hoods, are the stigmatic slits.  These slits hold the pollinaria.  Unique structures, pollinaria hold waxy sacs of pollen.  These are transferred instead of the loose, powdery pollen used by most flowers.  Milkweeds and orchids are the only known plants to have them6,7.

The milkweed pollinium (or pollinarium) consist of a blackish-brown oval gland (corpusculum) with a slit, two translator arms hanging from the gland and two pollinial sacs.  Before each sac, a knee bend of approximately 900 occurs in the arm.  This bend enables the rotation of each sac during pollination.

In the milkweeds, the pollinial sac sit inside the stigmatic column and only the corpusculum is visible between the hood structures.  When an insect lands on the flower, one of its legs may slip into the stigmatic slit between two hoods.   As it tries to free itself, the leg moves upward toward the slit in the corpusculum. Bristles in the chamber keep it from going back down.  

Insects must be strong to free themselves.  Large butterflies, predatory wasps and long tongue bees are most likely to remove pollinaria.  Lost legs and dead smaller insects both occur from failed escape attempts.

When a pollinaria is removed, it begins to dry.  The pollinial sacs rotate 90o during drying.  The rotation moves them into the correct position for pollination.  

When the insect lands on another milkweed,  the knee bend (not the corpusculum oval) slides into the space between the hood petals.  The translator arm follows then the rotated pollinial sac.  The pollinial sac slides into a space in the stigmatic column and pollination is completed.  

When the insect continues pulling upward, the translator arm breaks.  The insect keeps the remaining part of the pollinaria.  

It’s also possible to start a chain of pollinaria during this process.  As the broken translator arm slides between the hoods, it can hook the corpusculum slit of this floret’s pollinaria adding a fresh pollinaria to the partial remaining one.  Clumps and chains of all sorts develop this way.  These groups of pollinaria may increase chances of pollination6.7.

Part I, ends here, with the exciting conclusion of a fertilized milkweed.  Part II will continue with photos and information about the insects that use Common Milkweed.  What a crowd it is—including flies, wasps, bees, butterflies, moths, skippers, plant bugs and beneficial insects!

See you next time to discover what Wild Things are in the Garden!

Mary

References

  1. Hilty, J., n.d., Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, Milkweed family, (Asclepiadaceae),  https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/cm_milkweed.html
  2. Berkov, A., 28.October.2010, Plant Talk:  Inside the New York Botanical Garden; Plant Profile:  The Extraordinary Common Milkweed, How Do Insects Feed on this Plant with Sticky White Latex? https://www.nybg.org/blogs/plant-talk/2010/10/science/plant-profile-the-extraordinary-common-milkweed/#:~:text=Plants%20in%20the%20genus%20Asclepias,Asklepios%2C%20the%20ancient%20Greek%20physician.
  3. Bowe, Scott, 11.September.2018, Milkweed is More Than Just a Common Weed, WXPR, https://www.wxpr.org/natural-resources/2018-09-11/milkweed-is-more-than-just-a-common-weed
  4. Nelson, M. and Alfuth, D., 24.February.2021, Milkweed (Ornamental Plants Toxic to Animals), X-number:  XHT1276, https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/milkweed-ornamental-plants-toxic-to-animals/
  5. Taylor, David, n.d., Common Milkweed, (Asclepias syriaca L.), Plant of the Week, https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/asclepias_syriaca.shtml
  6. Eldredge, E.P., 2015,11,00, Milkweed Pollination Biology, Plant Materials Technical Note NV-58, Natural Resources Conservation Service, https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/plantmaterials/nvpmctn12764.pdf
  7. Betz, R.F., Struven, R.D., Wall, J.E. & Heitler, F.B., 1994, Insect Pollinators 12 Milkweed (Asclepias) Species, T.B. Bragg and J. Stubbendieck (eds.) Proc. Of the Thirteenth North American Prairie Conference. Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE.

Categories
native plants Pollinator gardening

Shining Gold in the Garden

Fluttering above the other garden flowers, the yellow faces of Coreopsis tripterous welcome multitudes of bees.  This mid to late season bloomer supports an array of pollinators and beneficial insects, preparing them for the winter to come.  In addition, Coreopsis tripteris or Tall Tickseed offers an erect accent in the garden resembling bamboo.

Tall Tickseed thrives in Zones 3 through 8.  It grows from two to nine feet tall and spreads from two to eight feet.  Spacing is four to eight feet.  Coreopsis tripteris enjoys medium to moist soils but isn’t picky.  It can tolerate loam, clay-loam, gravel, and sand.  Poorly drained soils can encourage crown rot.  

Established plants tolerate drought and dry conditions.  In dry conditions, Tall Tickseed is shorter and more open.  In ideal conditions, it will self-seed freely.  Deadheading reduces this and may help rebloom.  Unfortunately deadheading, also, reduces seeds for the birds.  

Coreopsis tripteris does lean and often needs support.  This is especially a problem in windy areas and wet areas.  In 2024, I’m going to try a pruning technique called the ‘June haircut’ on my Tickseed.  This technique is used on asters to reduce flopping and increase bloom.  In mid-June, I’ll cut back a quarter to a third of each stem.  I hope to reduce flopping.  I’ll be sure to let you know what happens!

If pruning doesn’t appeal, there are Tall Tickseed nativars available.  Coreopsis tripteris ‘Gold Standard’ and Coreopsis tripteris ‘Flower Tower’ are two options for the native Coreopsis tripteris.  Both plants were originally found in wild populations.  Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware performed the plant trials on the seeds.  

Mt. Cuba is a wonderful botanical garden with a focus on native plants.  In their own words, “Our mission is to inspire an appreciation for the beauty and value of native plants and a commitment to protect the habitats that sustain them.”  As part of their mission, they perform plant trials and offer classes including a certification in Ecological Gardening.1

Coreopsis tripteris ‘Gold Standard’ is a shorter version of the native plant.  It grows to about five and a half feet tall on sturdy stems.  This plant maintains its upright habit throughout the growing season.  It is a slow spreader and fills only two feet.  Like the native, ‘Gold Standard’ has excellent resistance to powdery mildew and leaf spot.  This nativar attracts bees, wasps, skippers, and butterflies.  

Coreopsis tripteris ‘Flower Tower’ has all the native’s height, growing to eight feet tall.  But it has sturdy stems for support,  so it doesn’t lean or flop.  Its flowers are the largest of these three plants at two and half inches.  Unfortunately, those large, lovely flowers only last four to five weeks.  In contrast, both Coreopsis tripteris and Coreopsis tripteris ‘Gold Standard’ bloom for eight to nine weeks.  It spreads two feet over three years and is both hardy and disease resistant.  The Mt. Cuba review didn’t mention insect visits.

Where does Coreopsis tripteris grow in the wild?  It thrives in black soil prairies, cemetery prairies, sand prairies, typical savannas, and sandy savannas.  It can also be found in thickets, edges of seeps, thinly wooded bluffs, meadows in wooded areas and limestone glades.  In areas impacted by people, Tall Tickseed is found in abandoned fields, along railroads, along roadsides and in moderately disturbed areas.  It responds well to fire.2

The leaves of Coreopsis tripteris are a fascinating feature of the plant.  Most of the compound leaves are three parts, suggestive of bamboo. They even flutter in the wind like bamboo leaves.  Combined with the vertical lines of this plant, it creates the impression of bamboo grass in the garden–at least until the flower bloom.  It’s like two plants in one!

Aside from the three-part form, the leaves grow opposite  each other the entire length of the stem.  They are larger at the bottom where they have five parts.  Individual leaflets extend up to five inches long and spread three-quarter inches wide and are elliptic in shape.  The edges often have tiny hairs called ciliate.  Leaves are medium green on top and light green underneath with very small hairs (pubescent).2

Tall Tickseeds begins blooming in mid-summer and continues through the summer, trailing off into Fall.  Bright yellow flowers with flattened, velvety brown centers sit on top of the stems or emerge from upper leaf axils.  The flowers are one to three inches across with rounded, widely spread petals.  The petals give Tall Tickseed a lovely, Daisy-like form different from a Black-Eyed Susan

The blooms can be single or in a flat group resembling an open cyme—think yarrow with just a few large, yellow flowers.  The center flowers open first.  The petals are sterile ray florets while the center has disc florets.  These disc florets form five millimeter long, tubular, four to five lobed, reddish-brown florets.  The lobes’ edges have triangular shapes that are spreading to slightly recurved.

Like Solidago, Coreopsis is a keystone plant. There are two kinds of keystone plants.  One type supports caterpillars from 90% of moths and butterflies.  The other category has pollen used by specialist bees.  These plants feed both specialist and generalist bees.  Coreopsis is in the top 30 keystone plant genera for the Eastern Temperate Forests.  It is seventh on the Top 30 Native Plants for Pollen Specialist Bees (also for the Eastern Temperate Forests—Ecoregion 8).3,4

Tall Tickseed attracts numerous species of bees, butterflies, moth, skippers, and other beneficial insects.  The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation considers it of Special Value to Native Bees and states it, Supports Conservation Biological Control.5  Coreopsis tripteris draws Bumblebees,

cuckoo bees,  digger bees (Melissodes spp.), leaf-cutter bees (Megachile spp.), Halictid bees (Halictus spp., Lasioglossom spp.), small green sweat bees,

honey bees,

carpenter bees (Xylocopa spp. and Ceratina spp.) and dagger bees (Calliopsis spp., Heterosaurus spp.).2

Flies also visit Tall Tickseed.  Syrphid flies, Bee flies and Tachinid flies feed on nectar from the flowers.  Both Syrphid flies and the Tachinid flies can be beneficial insects.

The Goldenrod Soldier Beetle (Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus), another beneficial insect, eats both pollen and nectar from the Coreopsis blooms.  Over its life cycle, the Soldier beetle also preys on soil-dwelling invertebrates, aphids, and other soft-bodied insects.2

Butterflies, moths, and skippers gather resources from Coreopsis tripteris.  Adults nectar at the flowers for summer and early fall fuel.  Various moths use it as a larval host.  The Dimorphic Gray Moth (Tornosscolopacinarius) consumes the leaves of the Tall Tickseed as a caterpillar.  Both the Wavy-lined Emerald Moth (Synchlora aerata), and Common Tan Wave Moth (Pleuroprucha insulsaria) eat the flowers.  The Wavy-lined Emerald larva, also called the Camouflage Looper, not only dines on the flowers but wears them.  The larva use silk to attach pieces of the flower petals to its body.  If it moves to a different type of flower, the caterpillar will change its ‘clothes’ to match its meal.  In addition, it also seems to change clothes frequently since the observed petals are always fresh!6

I hope you’ve enjoyed this exploration into Coreopsis tripteris!  If you have any comments or suggestions about the post, I would love to hear them!  Enjoy your holiday season!

Warm Regards,

Mary

References:

  1. No author, (n.d.) Our Vision and Our Mission, Mt. Cuba Center, https://mtcubacenter.org/about/mission/#:~:text=Our%20mission%20is%20to%20inspire,the%20habitats%20that%20sustain%20them.
  2. Hilty, J., (n.d.) Tall Coreopsis, illinoiswildflowers.info, https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/tl_coreopsisx.htm
  3. Keystone Plants by Ecoregion, The National Wildlife Federation, https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/About/Native-Plants/keystone-plants-by-ecoregion
  4. National Wildlife Federation, Gardening for Wildlife, Keystone Native Plants Eastern Temperate Forests – Ecoregion 8, https://www.nwf.org/-/media/Documents/PDFs/Garden-for-Wildlife/Keystone-Plants/NWF-GFW-keystone-plant-list-ecoregion-8-eastern-temperate-forests.ashx?la=en&hash=1E180E2E5F2B06EB9ADF28882353B3BC7B3B247D
  5. No auther, n.d., Coreopsis tripteris, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=cotr4
  6. Bzdyk, K., (2013, July 1), Wavy-lined Emerald Moth:  Master of Disguise, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, https://loudounwildlife.org/2013/07/wavy-lined-emerald-moth-master-of-disguise/
Categories
native plants Pollinator gardening

Sparks in the Garden

Every year in the early Fall, a glittering cloud of insects surrounds the arching stems of Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’.  Butterflies, moths, skippers, bees, wasps, beetles, beneficial insects, and flies all flock to this goldenrod for nectar, pollen and to use it as a larval host.  This feast helps prepare them for the cold months of winter.

The twinkling yellow flowers of ‘Fireworks’ goldenrod pop open along stems up to 18” long!  Held above the foliage, these stems resemble fireworks and give the plant its name.  Pompom blooms are tightly packed along the stems. Each one is about 1/8th inch in diameter.  The anthers are held above the stigmas and bright yellow ray flowers form the outer ring.  Peak bloom lasts two to three weeks.

Medium to dark green leaves grow alternately and are three to six inches long.  They range from ovate to lanceolate and their edges are toothed.  The deeply sunken veins in the leaves causing a wrinkled look. This feature gives them the name rugosa or wrinkled.  In fact, a common name for the native Solidago rugosa is Wrinkle-Leaved Goldenrod.

Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’ is a charming goldenrod cultivar.  Well-behaved, it sports abundant bloom for a grand show in the garden.  An erect plant, it forms dense clumps with slowly spreading rhizomes.  It grows three to four feet tall.  Spreading from two to three feet, ‘Fireworks’ will reseed if happy.  Space plants one to three feet apart.  

‘Fireworks’ thrives in zones four to eight.  It enjoys moist, well-drained soils although it can tolerate periods of drought or wet soil.  Highly adaptable to different soils, this goldenrod grows in clay, loam (silt), and sand as well as acid to neutral conditions. My plants have not been bothered by deer or rabbits.  It can withstand both heat and humidity. 

The genus Solidago, like Symphyotrichum, is an essential part of wildlife habitat, a keystone species.  In recent years, people have become interested in keystone species of all types.  A keystone species is one so crucial that the ecosystem will collapse without it.

How does this work with plants?  Key plants are native plants that are part of the local food web.  They play a role as a general or specific support for insects.  The general group are the 14% of native plants that support 90% of butterfly and moth Lepidoptera species.1  The specific group are the 40% of native plants that produce pollen for the 15% to 60% of North American native bee pollen specialists.1  Both these groups are listed in the Keystone Plants by Ecoregion from the National Wildlife Federation.  According to this information, Solidago sustains 104 species of caterpillars and 42 different specialist bees.2  (I have used the Eastern Temperate Forest list since this is my region.)  In addition to these categories, 145 different wasp species forage on Solidago.3

So, goldenrod offers abundant food at the end of the year, how is this valuable?  Fall is when next year’s insect generation is established.  Whether it’s healthy adults, well fed caterpillars or full provisions in nests, the foundations are laid with Autumn food harvest.  Goldenrod is one vital resource.

Different insects have different strategies for surviving the winter.  In the next few paragraphs, I’ll talk about what the pollinators do over the winter and where they might be.  Bumblebee and honeybee queens take mating flights in the late summer or fall.  Male bumblebees take advantage of nectar from Solidago ‘Fireworks’ to fuel up before pursuing their queen. When they’ve mated, the queens find a safe location to overwinter.  Some bumblebee queens hibernate in leaf litter and others burrow underground.4

Honeybee queens return to the hive.  During the winter, the honeybees form a ball in the hive.  If they become cold, they will vibrate for warmth.  The queen stays near the center of the mass.  Any resources gathered in the fall, are converted into honey, and used to help the honeybees survive the winter.5

Native bees overwinter as young in their nests.4  Active native bee queens use the resources from goldenrods to supply their nests.  Like Symphyotrichum, Solidago has numerous bee specialists including:  Andrena (Callandrena) asteris, A. (Callandrena) braceata,  A. (Callandrena) simplex, Andrena (Cnemidandrena) hirtcincta, Andrena (Cnemidandrena) canadensis, Colletes simulans, Colletes solidaginis, Perdita (Perdita) octomaculata and Melissodes (Eumelissodes) fumosus.

Where are their nests?  70% of native bees nest underground!  Now is not the time to start digging.  Others nest in old beetle burrows and other holes in dead wood and still others in hollow stems.4  It’s better to wait until spring to cut back dead stems and clean up dead wood.

Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’ attracts numerous native wasps.  Indeed, unlike asters, I find wasps visiting my ‘Fireworks’ goldenrod in equal numbers with the bees.  These wasps serve as beneficial insects preying on or parasitizing pests that damage plants.  They also contribute to pollination as they drink nectar and, occasionally, eat pollen.  Native wasps spend the winter in different ways:  some as mated females called foundresses, some as young and some we don’t know yet.  The foundresses find dry, warm spots to hide in.  Other nesting locations are similar to bees including stems, wood, underground and old nests built by other wasps or bees.3

Many flies visit ‘Fireworks’ goldenrod to drink nectar and, incidentally, pollinate the flowers. The larval stage of some Tachinid and Syrphid flies are beneficial insects. Tachinid flies parasitize leaf eating insects. They over winter in the larval or pupal stage often in the shell of their host. The larvae or pupae can be found in piles of leaves or bush or burrowed into the soil.

Syrphid fly larva are excellent early and late season predators. They consume dozens of aphids each day. Most spend the winter as pupae or larvae in dead leaves or piles of brush.

Butterflies use goldenrod for nectar.  Monarchs fuel up for their migration and other butterflies build fat stores to hibernate as adults.  Not all butterflies overwinter as adults,  they can spend the cold months as eggs, caterpillar, chrysalis, or adults depending on the species.  The eggs are laid close to a spring food source.  Caterpillars deliberately hid in curled leaves, soil or under rocks for protection.  If becoming a chrysalis, the caterpillar will choose a protected location, for instance, under an overhang or deep in a shrub.  Adult butterflies and moths are very diverse when hiding.  Spaces under bark, crevices in trees, cracks in rock and the fall leaves all host butterflies and moths.6

Solidago serves as a larval host for 104 butterfly and moth caterpillars.  One unusual moth is the Wavy-Lined Emerald.  The caterpillar has a fascinating adaptation.  It decorates itself with the leaves or flowers from its host plant.  This camouflage hides it from predators.  The twirler moths (Gelechiidae), Geometer moths, Owlet Moths (Noctuidae), and Tortrix Moths also use Solidago.

The take home for today: Leaves are not Litter!  Stems Stand Tall!  Don’t Do that Digging!

Just take a rest, drink some cider, and enjoy those Fall colors!

References:

  1. Keystone Plants by Ecoregion, The National Wildlife Federation, https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/About/Native-Plants/keystone-plants-by-ecoregion
  2. National Wildlife Federation, Gardening for Wildlife, Keystone Native Plants Eastern Temperate Forests – Ecoregion 8, https://www.nwf.org/-/media/Documents/PDFs/Garden-for-Wildlife/Keystone-Plants/NWF-GFW-keystone-plant-list-ecoregion-8-eastern-temperate-forests.ashx?la=en&hash=1E180E2E5F2B06EB9ADF28882353B3BC7B3B247D
  3. Holm, H., 2021 Wasps:  Their Biology, Diversity, and Role as Beneficial Insects and Pollinators of Native Plants, Minnetonka, MN, Pollination Press LLC.
  4. Morris, S. (2018, October 10). Where Do Pollinators Go In The Winter? Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.  https://xerces.org/blog/where-do-pollinators-go-in-winter#:~:text=Most%20native%20bee%20species%20will,help%20to%20survive%20until%20spring.
  5. Hogeback, J. Where Do Honeybees Go In The Winter?  Britannica.  https://www.britannica.com/story/where-do-honeybees-go-in-the-winter
  6. Grisak, A. (2022, November 04). How Does A Butterfly Survive Winter? Birds & Blooms. https://www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/attracting-butterflies/butterflies-in-winter/
Categories
native plants Pollinator gardening

Grist for the Bees

Purple Wheat in the garden?  Indeed, that’s what Agastache means ‘agan’ much, ‘stachys’ ear of grain, from the Greek.  Its flowers look like heads of wheat or rye and range from pale lavender to purple.  ‘Foeniculum’, the second part of the name, means fragrant for the scented leaves.  Agastache foeniculum (Fragrant or Anise Hyssop) is part of the mint family.  Like Pycnanthemum virginianum (https://wildthingsinthe.garden/2023/05/31/white-goes-with-everything/), also mints, it attracts an enormous variety of bees.  Fragrant Hyssop also supports numerous butterflies and skippers.

Anise Hyssop grows two to four feet tall and spreads eighteen inches to two feet.  It has an upright, clump-forming habit.  Anise Hyssop sports dark green, ovate to broadly lanceolate leaves up to four inches long.  Almost heart shaped, the leaves are one to three inches at the base and whitish underneath.  They sit opposite each other on the classic square stem of mint plants.  The foliage also gives off a strong anise or licorice-like scent that gives the plant its common and Latin name.

Agastache foeniculum can begin blooming in June and continues through August.  In zone 5, where I am, it doesn’t start until July.  Blooms appear as three- to six-inch-long flower spikes at the end of plant stalks.  The eye-catching blossoms range from pale lavender to true purple in color.  Tiny flowers make up each large spike.  They’re laid out in tightly packed rows although there can be gaps (think of an ear of corn).  This arrangement is called verticillasters or false whorls.  Each of the small flowers is tubular, 2-lipped and a 1/3’’ inch long.  Unlike the leaves, the blooms have no scent. 

Fragrant Hyssop plant grows best in full sun with dry to moderately moist soil.  Soil moisture is not a problem if the drainage is good.   Anise Hyssop is drought tolerant, more so after it is established.  It spreads by rhizomes and self-seeding especially under good conditions.  I have not found that this plant spreads obnoxiously.  I have far fewer Anise Hyssop seedlings than Monarda fistulosa seedlings.  Fragrant Hyssop may have problems with crown rot with soggy soil. Other issues include rust and powdery mildew.

Outside of cultivation, Agastache foeniculum grows in prairies, dry upland forests, plains, fields, roadsides, and other dry, open, semi-shaded areas.  In the past, it served as honeybee forage in Canada and parts of the Upper Midwest.  It works well in borders, wildflower gardens, herb gardens, butterfly gardens and meadows.

Agastache foeniculum and similar species inspire plant breeders around the world.  Too many nativars exist to explore them all, but I thought we could look at three very different plants.  Each of these was modified in a different way.

Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’ is a very popular hybrid created by crossing Agastache foeniculum with its East Asian relative, Agastache rugosa.  This compact plant has longer flower spikes than the species.  It blooms for an extended time because it’s bred to be sterile.  ‘Blue Fortune’ is widely reported to be a pollinator magnet.

Agastache ‘Golden Jubilee’ is an older hybrid with yellow-green foliage that’s pure yellow in the Spring. The flowers are identical to the species.  ‘Golden Jubilee’ received the All-American Selection Award in 2003 and is still being sold.  It will self-seed with a mix of species and golden seedlings.  There are mixed reports on how pollinators respond to ‘Golden Jubilee’.  Some sources say bees don’t seem to ‘see’ it and others say pollinators love it.

Agastache ‘Red Fortune’ has red to pink flowers.  The leaves are like the species.  Pollinators don’t like this plant as much as Agastache foeniculum.

These three plants give a nice snapshot of how natives are altered and some pollinator responses.  One idea is that nativars with flowers most like the species’ flowers would be most acceptable.1  Positive reports about ‘Blue Fortune’ and ‘Golden Jubilee seem to support this idea.2

In addition, red is a special case.  Bees see in the ultraviolet spectrum—from approximately 300 to 650 nm.  They can’t see red although they can see reddish tones like orange.  When native plants are hybridized for red flowers, bees often have trouble finding them.1,3

But wait!  There’s an exception.  Red flowers can have ultraviolet “nectar guides”  which the bees see perfectly well.  Plants use these guides to “direct” the pollinators to the nectar reward and encourage pollination.3  

It’s hard to say if a red native hybrid will still attract and support bee pollinators.  If they retain their ultraviolet nectar guides, then the bees should see them.  However, I’ve seen more than one report showing little to no bee activity on the red and pink hybrids.1,2

Anise Hyssop serves a multitude of pollinators providing nectar and pollen.  Like Monarda (https://wildthingsinthe.garden/2023/07/31/the-gardens-super-station/), Fragrant Hyssop has been identified by pollination ecologists as attracting large numbers of native bees.  The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation also designated Fragrant Hyssop of Special Value to Bumble bees and Honeybees.  Butterflies and skippers use it for a nectar source.

Pollination in Fragrant Hyssop hinges on both the individual flowers’ structure and the different bees’ anatomies.  The nectar is secreted by a disc at the base of the flower.  Pollen-carrying anthers are located on the top lip of each flower.  When bees root for nectar, pollen rubs off onto their heads or thorax.  As they move to a bloom with a receptive stigma, female part, the pollen transfers and fertilization occurs.

The many native bees that visit Hyssop range from large to tiny.  Bumble bees are the largest.  I’ve seen Common Eastern Bumble bee (Bombus impatiens), Brown-Belted Bumble bee, (Bombus griseocollis), Two-Spotted Bumble bee (Bombus bimaculatus), and Golden Northern Bumble Bee (Bombus fervidus) on my Fragrant Hyssop. They use both nectar and pollen for their larva.  

Large Leaf-Cutter bees use Anise Hyssop’s nectar. In the process, they are efficient pollinators. In contrast to other bees, pollen accumulates on the Leaf-Cutter bees’ abdominal scopae (specialized pollen collecting hairs).  It is transferred to the stigmas from there.


Digger bees (Melissodes) and smaller Leaf-Cutter bees (Megachile) are mid-sized bees.  They also collect both pollen and nectar from Anise Hyssop.

The Halictid bees (Lasioglossom), small Resin bees (Heriades) and Masked bees (Hylaeus) are small bees that gather resources from Fragrant Hyssop.  Dufourea monardae is included in this group.  D. monardae is a specialist or oligolectic bee that visits Monarda fistulosa and Agastache foeniculum.  These small bees can collect pollen from the anthers extending from the flowers. When harvesting nectar, they climb the style to reach the base of the flower.  (The style is the stalk connecting the stigma and the ovary.)

Fragrant Hyssop provides an excellent late season nectar source for butterflies, skippers and moths including Silver Spotted Skipper Butterflies (Epargyreus clarus), Peck’s Skipper Butterflies (Polites peckius) and the Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly (Speyeria cybele).  They reach their proboscis into each tiny bloom to find the nectar.  Hyssop also works well in Monarch Way Stations providing food after most milkweed has stopped blooming.  

I hope you enjoyed this exploration of Anise Hyssop and its wonderful visitors!  I’d love to hear your thought about this blog or stories about your own experiences in the garden.  Please leave me comment and let me know your thoughts!

References:

  1. Eierman, Kim,11 April 2014,  “Ecobeneficial Interview:  Annie White on Native Plant Cultivars, Native Plants and Pollinators”, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTmuDcEzTOw
  2. Caldwell, Cathy, (2021, August-Vol.7, No.8) Anise hyssop, Piedmont Master Gardeners, https://piedmontmastergardeners.org/article/anise-hyssop/
  3. Riddle, Sharla, (2016, May, 20) How Bees See And Why It Matters, Bee Culture:  The Magazine of American Beekeeping, https://www.beeculture.com/bees-see-matters/
Categories
native plants Pollinator gardening

THE GARDEN BY CANDLELIGHT

Okay, not actual candlelight, but the ethereal candelabra blooms of Veronicastrum virginicum, Culver’s Root.  This striking, upright plant provides a strong vertical accent in any garden.  It’s long, tapered flower spikes attract pollinators of all kinds while dark green whorls of leaves provide plenty of visual interest.

Growing in zones 3 to 8, this plant stretches from four to seven feet and spreads between two to four feet.  Culver’s Root grows in medium to wet, well-drained soils.  It tolerates standing water for a short time and thrives in rain gardens.  Culver’s Root accepts full sun to light shade and is suited to growing at the woodland’s edge.  In very warm zones, it enjoys afternoon shade.  

Culver’s Root’s flowers unfold slowly in mid to late summer.  Here in zone 5b, it starts in mid-July and continues to the end of August.  You can deadhead to encourage rebloom.  

The flower color varies slightly with the location.  Primarily white, the blooms can have tones of very pale pink, lavender or blue.  The blossoms are most often described as candelabra-like with four or more in a whorl at the top of each stem.  In mature plants, flower spikes can be 8” in length!  

Culver’s Root tends to flop without support especially in shadier areas.  I’ve used a peony ring with internal supports.  The deer have also trimmed my plant in mid-June by about one-third to one-half.  The pruning helped and more flowers formed at each cut.  Culver’s Root won’t grow to full height after being cut back. 

Its leaf structure is unusual and offers a contrast to surrounding plants.  The leaves are whorled in groups of three to seven.  Each leaf is lance shaped with slight serrations and attached directly to the stem (sessile) or nearly so.  They can be up to 6” long and 1.5” wide.  The long stems and whorled leaves give the plant an upright, medium texture.  Culver’s Root is not aggressive although it can self-seed.  Some good companion plants include blazing star, monarda, milkweed, rattlesnake master, goldenrod, and asters.

V. virginicum has successfully entered the world of horticulture and numerous nativars exist.  These nativars have been bred to prevent flopping and to bring more color to the flowers.  Some are more compact to fit in small gardens.  Here is a sampling of what’s available:  ‘Fascination’, 5’ tall, 2’ width, lavender bloom, ‘Red Arrow’, 3-4’ tall, 2-3’ width, purple bloom, ‘Album’, 3-4’ tall, 3-4’ width, white bloom, and ‘Cupid’, 2-3’ tall, 1-2’ width, purple.  Like the native plant, all these nativars can grow in zones 3 to 8. 

Culver’s Root feeds native bees, honeybees, and beneficial insects.  A range of native bees visit it including short and long tongued bees.  V. virginicum begins bloom by protruding its anthers outside the bud.  Small bees take advantage of this by collecting pollen. These pollinators include Hylaeus (yellow-faced bees).

Hylaeus or yellow-faced bees are one of the most recognizable small bees.  Mostly black, they have yellow or white markings on their faces.  These marking make them identifiable as Hylaeus although species determination can be tricky.  Yellow-faced bees grow from 5 mm (0.2”) to 7 mm (0.27”).  They nest in existing hollow cavities primarily in hollow stems or holes in wood. Some have been known to nest in stone.  Hylaeus line their nests with a silk or cellophane-like substance produced by the salivary gland.  The bee uses her bilobed tongue to paint on the secretions.  The lining is waterproof and protects the young from bacteria.  Chewed stem pith mixed with saliva is used for cell divisions and salivary gland secretions seal the completed nest.

One fascinating fact, yellow-faced bees are practically hairless.  Hylaeus don’t have any scopa or specialized hairs dedicated to holding pollen like other bees.  They also have short tongues and so can’t reach deeply into flowers.  These bees use their slender bodies to work their way into flowers to reach nectar and pollen.  They also chew on anthers to extract pollen.  Then Hylaeus swallow the nectar and pollen and hold it in their crop.  The crop is a sac separate from the stomach.  This fluid mixture is regurgitated and left for the larva to eat. 

Another fun fact, yellow-faced bees occur all over the world.  However, Hawaii is known for having 63 different species.  The yellow-faced bee is the only bee native there.  All the species found there are unique to Hawaii.

Lasioglossum (small sweat bees) visit Culver’s root and collect pollen and nectar. They use the hair or scopae on the hind femur and tibia to hold the pollen as well as the bottom of their abdomen.

Once the flowers opens larger visitor arrive including bumblebees (Bombus)

and Leaf-Cutter bees (Megachile)

and Long Horned bees (Melissodes). 

Mason bees (Osmia) stop at V. virginicum to collect resources.

Large and small carpenter bees (Xylocopa and Ceratina) also gather nectar and pollen from Culver’s Root.  

This is also a plant for beekeepers.  Honeybees enjoy V. virginicum when they can find it.  I’ve often seen them gathering nectar from this plant in my garden.

                                                    ­

The sphecid and the potter wasps also benefit from the flowers.  They gather nectar to support them while building and filling their nests. I often see the thread-waisted Mexican Grass-carrying wasp (discussed in “White Goes With Everything”, https://wildthingsinthe.garden/2023/05/31/white-goes-with-everything/) on this plant.

These groups of scary insects look nothing like our sweet fluffy bumblebees.  Sphecid wasps resemble nightmare creations with bizarre tiny waists, long thin legs, and triangular heads.  The vespid wasps, which include the potter wasp Eumenes fraternas, can resemble sphecid wasps.   Sadly, they can also look like yellowjackets, hornets and paper wasps who share their family.  Yet when I meet these wasps in the garden, they’re gentle and shy.  

Today, let’s talk about Eumenes fraternas. This wasp is in Vespidae family, subfamily Eumeninae, also called potter and mason wasps.  Eumenes fraternas is a potter wasp that regularly visits the Culver’s root in my garden.  She creates her nest using soil and water.  This wasp collects, mixes, and shapes her mud until she completes a small pot with a flared rim.  The nest is built on a large leaf, sturdy stem, or a home/structure.

Then, the wasp lays a single egg fastening it to the top of the pot with a silk-like thread.  The nest pot is provisioned with several caterpillars.  E. fraternas preys on cankerworms or inchworms.  The potter wasps frequently hunt moth larva in the Geometridae family.  Geometer caterpillars are often pests of native trees eating large amounts of leaves, in some cases, stripping them.

Like other solitary pollinators,  E. fraternas is entirely responsible for her eggs.  It is in her best interest not to sting.  I have found these solitary wasps to be quite cautious.  This holds true for the thread-waisted wasps in my garden and the Mexican Grass-carrying wasp.  If I bump a plant, they’ll fly away while bumblebees persistently keep feeding.  Still, they can sting if handle roughly.

Thank you so much for joining me!  I hope you enjoyed reading about Veronicastrum virginicum, Culver’s root, and consider adding it to your garden. Please let me know what you think of the post and tell me what’s going on it your garden by leaving a comment!

Many Thanks!

Mary

Categories
native plants Pollinator gardening

The Magnificent Month of May—and June

Or when we’re ready for Summer but it’s not ready for us

Late Spring and the first burst of flowers has come and gone.  Delicate and lovely, these early flowers always warm our hearts after Winter but it’s still a long wait for the wild, abundant bloom of summer.  While we wait, let’s fill these late Spring days with more flowers.  And for those flowers, enter my next two plants—Baptisia australis and Parthenocissus vitacea.  

These two stars of late Spring and early Summer are big, bold, and versatile but very different.  And as I wrote I realized they’re too big to share one post.  Today’s post is about Baptisia australis and I’ll save Parthenocissus vitacea for next time.  Baptisia australis is a beloved, award-winning garden plant.  As well behaved, as it is beautiful, it’s perfect for any garden with enough space and sun.

Baptisia australis, (Baptisia), also called False Indigo or Wild Indigo, gives a glorious burst of late Spring bloom beginning at the end May and extending into early June.  Truly a special plant, Baptisia australis was the first straight species native (non-hybrid) chosen as Perennial of the Year in 2010 by the Perennial Plant Association.  This award draws a lot of interest because the chosen plant must be low maintenance, grow in a wide range of climates, be interesting in several seasons and relatively pest and disease-free.  B. australis manages to do all that naturally.

A plant so large it could be a shrub, Wild Indigo serves as a stunning accent plant!  It grows three to four feet wide and high.  Unlike its cousins the lupines, Baptisia isn’t picky about growing conditions.  Give it sun and some water and you can expect beautiful full growth and lush flowers.  It’s also deer resistant, salt tolerant and suitable for xeriscaping once established.

Xeriscaping is landscaping using little or no water from irrigation.  Some people extend the definition to include little to no maintenance.  If your Baptisia breaks off and rolls way to have its own adventure, then it’s absolutely no upkeep.

The Baptisia does have to become established in the garden before it’s fully resistant.  As it grows, Baptisia develops an extensive root system.  The roots can grow up to 12 feet deep and 3 to 4 feet wide.  Choose its location carefully, Baptisia does not take transplanting well.

Baptisia’s leaves are three part and slightly creased at the center vein.  Light green with a slightly bluish tinge, the foliage provides a highlight in the garden.  Some Baptisias, like B. australis, have a rounded form down to the grown.  Other Baptisias are vase shaped with bare stems at the base of the plant.  

Flower spikes rise over the foliage.  Spikes are 4” to 16” and densely packed with blue-purple blooms.  Blossoms open from the base to the top.  Once pollinated, large oval pods form.  They turn from yellow green to black when ripe.  The pods can be pruned off, especially if weighing down the plant. One year, after an especially heavy bloom, my Wild Indigo ended up about one foot tall under the weight of the seed pods.  I’ve also partially pruned to enjoy the effect of black pods against the green foliage without all the weight.  In Fall, the leaves turn to gray or black and curl but remain on the plant.  If the Baptisia is growing in an exposed location, it can break off at the base and roll away like a tumbleweed.  I have one plant at the top of a hill which does this every year.  The remaining stalks look like a very clean pruning.

Baptisia is best known for supporting bumblebees especially the newly emerged Queens.   Many kinds of Bumblebees visit these plants looking for nectar.  

Each bloom has a nectary deep in its base.  The location is part of a remarkable pollination system.  Baptisias try to avoid self-pollination.  Its strategy depends on the physical structure of the flower and the timing of bud opening.  Each blossom has a petal that the stands up (the banner) and two petals that stick out like a dog’s muzzle (the keel).  The keel holds the pistil (female part) and stamens (male parts with pollen).   Between the banner and keep, inside the flower is the nectar.  The bumblebee holds the keel with her mid- and hind legs and pushes her way deep into the flower to get to the nectar.  When held, the keel opens and its pollen sticks to the bee’s fuzzy belly.

When it comes to reproducing, plants have all different structures and methods to regulate when and how fertilization happens.  Why?  It gives plants some ability to control self-pollination vs cross pollination.  Self-pollination won’t change the gene pool in a population (ignoring mutations!)  But cross pollination increases chances of introducing different genes and more diversity into a population.  This is usually considered a good thing.

Baptisia has a fascinating system for reducing self-pollination.  When the bumblebees begin feeding at a bloom spike, they start at the bottom.  These lower flowers have more nectar and the female part is extended.  But the bumblebee doesn’t have much pollen at this point.  As she goes up the bloom spike, there is less nectar and more pollen.  When the bumblebee finishes and flies to the next stalk, she’ll start at the bottom again.  

As before, she finds more nectar and the pistil (female part) available on the lower flowers.  But this time, the bee has lots of pollen and there’s a higher chance of pollination.  The first plant “hopes” that the bee flew to a second plant with the pollen and cross pollination occurred!

Megachile, Leaf-Cutter Bees, a medium-sized bee also drinks nectar from Baptisia.  These medium-sized bees clearly have the strength to reach and enjoy B. australis’ floral rewards.  The Leaf-Cutter Bees use a method similar to Bumblebees when opening the flower.

Amazingly, small bees and insects also visit Baptisias.  In my garden, I’ve included both native plants and nativars.  One afternoon, I spotted the following behavior on my ‘Pink Truffles’ Baptisia.  I observed a mating flight of syrphid flies (also called hoverflies or flower flies).  The pair landed on a Baptisia bloom and the female began teasing out the stamens from inside the keel!  Adult hoverflies feed on nectar and pollen.  They spent several minutes easing them out and feeding.  Not B. australis but an interesting behavior!

Depending on the species, the syrphid fly’s larvae (maggots) can eat a variety of food.  Some maggots eat decaying plant and animal matter.  But other larvae eat aphid, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects.

After the hoverflies, metallic green sweat bees arrived to eat the exposed pollen.  Once the stamens are uncovered, Lasioglossum, small sweat bees, also join these other pollinators using the Baptisia.

In addition to bees, Wild Indigo is a larval host for butterflies and skippers.  The Wild Indigo Duskywing (Erynnis baptisiae) and Hoary Edge (Achalarus lyciades) caterpillars both eat Baptisia.  The larvae of three butterflies, the Frosted Elfin (Callophrys irus), Marine Blue (Leptotes marina), and Orange Sulfur (Colias eurytheme) also use it.  Adult Frosted Elfin Butterflies and other butterflies nectar at B. australis.

I hope you enjoyed this adventure with Baptisia australis-a gorgeous plant for a wonderful time of year.  Next time, I’ll talk about Parthenocissus vitacea aka Virginia Creeper aka Woodbine.  A very different plant, it’s well known as a wild plant but not in the garden.  I plan to show the benefits of including Woodbine in the garden for the landscape and the pollinators.

Please contact me to share your stories, questions, and observations!

Thanks for reading,

Mary