This Week in Anting 10/20/2017

What might be the last This Week in Anting of the year.

The Plant List, So Far

Around this time each year I start to form a plant list. I don't bother with a whole lot of seeds except for annuals like Sunflowers and filler annuals I like more for sentimental reasons and color. The focus is more on plugs and bare roots, often things that will flower in late summer and autumn.

Phlox 'jeana'
I don't have actual photos of this cultivar, but  I was at the Mt. Cuba Center in the fall where they're currently doing a trial run of basically all the true species and cultivars on the market today. They said of all of the verities available this one had twice as many butterflies on it compared to all the rest. They noted the flowers were smaller than most other Phlox which likely makes it easier for the butterflies to work, but other factors like nectar quality and fragrance probably also play a roll. A failing might be that it's otherwise fairly average besides. Flowering wise I'm told other verities did better at offering blooms later int he year so it's still good to diversify. I'm looking forward to their complete trial when it's released in the next year or two.

Ironweed, Vernonia angustifolia 'Plum Peachy'
This perennial turns into a bush of purple flowers in late summer.

I tried planting it in the autumn once but it failed to survive the winter. I think if I plant it in the spring it will have a better chance of establishing.

Aster leavis, 'Bluebird' (actually this is Symphyotrichum leavis but no one seems to care.)
My picture really doesn't do this plant any justice. I have a few planted and love them all, sadly they're not in the most photogenic of places. The one I have nest to a tree with a bird feeder next to it so the squirrels are always snapping the stems off the thing. Even with several dozen stems snapped though it still manages to impress me with tall pyramids of flowers. The perfect compliment to Showy Goldenrod.

Cliff Goldenrod, Solidago drummondii
I bought this plant from some random nursery online and didn't expect much of it. Now that it's established I'm surprised it's not more popular. A failing, if you can call it that, is it forms a rosette of leaves with a couple dozen stems arching out in all directions. The stems tend to get a little long and arch all the way to the ground. I think it's because of the soil I'm growing it in though, too rich. In nature I believe this is meant to be a rock garden plant (hence the name) where the soils tend to be nutrient deprived.

Stiff Goldenrod, Solidago rigida, Actually what's pictured above is Seaside Goldenrod but the two species look similar. They still have broad leaves at the bottom, but Stiff Goldenrod has more flat top flower heads.

Showy Goldenrod, Solidago speciosa
This plant lives up to its name very well.... when it grows right. I bought it because I needed plants for my meadow garden which is dry clay but after flowering great for two years the plants slowly petered out. It's either a short lived perennial or benefits from slightly wetter conditions. Whatever the case I'm willing to give it another chance, perhaps in a more formal setting.

Meadow Blazing Star, Liatris ligulistylis
Same issue as the Showy Goldenrod. I plant these in the Meadow Garden and they do great for two years (being a biannual) but don't reseed on their own. I do have one that has lasted the test of time but it's planted next to our pond. So I'm thinking if I plant more of them in slightly wetter locations, they'll do better.

Bush's Poppy Mallow, Callirhoe bushii
This is a fantastic burst of color. Originally I was against planting these because it's not really a true meadow plant, at least not a plant everyone instantly thinks of when they think of a short grass prairie. Their distribution threw out the US is somewhat limited as well (to the point of being threatened in the wild). Something I noticed about the plant though is that they do well in dry conditions.... making it the perfect candidate for my meadow garden where few other natives seem to be able to establish.

I'm also tempted to buy a second Button Bush. The one I currently have is doing okay, but has a dead limb or two I need to cut out. Also I saw it advertised for in an actual garden brochure I got in the mail. This species is rarely sold and I'd like to support that. I would liken it to Butterfly Bush in terms of attention but it has a far more limited bloom time.

Georgia Aster

Symphyotrichum georgianum, is easily one of the latest flowering perennials in the temperate US. Both a failing and a highlight of this species is that they start blooming right after the trees have dropped a lot of their leaves. Goldenrod and other Asters are all usually past the half way mark in their bloom by the time this species even starts to flower. So a lot of the plant be beneath a pile of leaves leaving mostly just the flowers poking up among the fall color.

This is also an endangered species in the wild but nurseries are easily able to propagate it by seeds and cuttings, as I intend to do with the few plants I have in my yard.

The flowers themselves are a bit on the scraggly side but the overall size as well as the individually long florets in each flower disk makes them quite attractive.

As far as ecological benefits go, you're probably not missing much by having this species in your garden. While they are restricted to a few populations in the state of Georgia, the species is hardy from zones 5 to 9. The plants in my yard are really just prolonging the the lives of a few male bumblebees another week or two.

Older specimens can be quite floriferous, turning more bush-like, similar to but not quite like Aromatic Aster, Symphyotrichum oblongifolium. If you're going for a low bushy boarder of flowers though you should probably just plant S. oblongifolium, and really unless you have a nice population of New England Asters going, there isn't much reason to plant Georgia Aster. Everything that is going to over winter is pretty well fed already. But if you're still looking for something that flowers this late in the year then by all means give S. georgianum a try.

Other Caterpillar Activity

 Also happening with Caterpillars this autumn, I'm attempting to raise a Red Spotted Purple or two. I eyed a female out in the yard laying eggs, curiously on two nonnatives, which the caterpillars seem to be eating. A Snowdrift Crab Apple but they're in the genus Malus so I'm doubt native or not really matters in that case. The other was a Japanese Weeping Cherry, but that's also a Prunus so maybe that doesn't matter as much? Still though I don't see Tiger Swallowtails or Silk Moths laying on the tree so I'm sure the native Black Cherry is the superior host plant. In the short amount of time I've had the sapling Black Cherry I can say I've already found way more caterpillars on it than the ornamental Weeping Cherry.

 In the wild Red Spotted Purples always lay eggs towards the tip or ends of leaves. Ideally it's the tip but I've seen some of the more spiky edged host plants confuse them when laying and eggs are off center to the side.

Upon hatching, what seems like 7 days later, the caterpillar begins constructing a "stick" or poll out of its own frass and silk which it hangs out on so ants don't eat them.


Funny enough EcoBeneficial interviewed Doug Tallamy about this topic. I have the same Lepidoptera species laying eggs on my Black Cherry sapling, but because I have a happy colony of Camponotus subbarbatus living in a log to that flower bed, my tree still has all its leaves! Every leaf on this plant has a nibble taken out which I would characterize as standard first instar caterpillar bites. But nothing beyond that! No branches stripped, no missing leaves, no half munched bites taken out of the leaves. Because I have this ant colony foraging on the tree, the caterpillars never make it beyond the first or second instar. Even the Red Spotted Purples don't seem to live long enough to make their first poo stick.

After making the poo stick, they're free to feed on the leaf little by little and always have something to run back to.

 A complication with keeping this species in captivity is that they over winter in the caterpillar stage. In the wild they spin silk around a leaf or two to build a "shed" that they nestle into until the tree leafs out again next spring. (Perhaps consuming the flowers in the case of apple trees?)

So a friend suggested to me to keep them in the fridge when all the leaves fall of the tree. Hopefully that will be enough get them to survive the winter and I can continue to photograph their life cycle next spring.

Also out in the garden I found an Arcigera Flower Moth, Schinia arcigera, which is a daytime flying moth that lays its eggs in the flowers to members of the Aster family. They nectar on open flowers but lay the eggs into the buds that have not opened.

It was a little hypnotic just watching this one hover about the asters. She took a liking to the Aster 'October Sky' which has become my favorite cultivar I think. I should really find another Aster cultivar that has a slightly different color to it so I can mix and match.

Also saw this one on the False Indigo Bush. I had to prune off the bulk of the foliage to this plant because it was top heavy and going to tip over. It's already sent up a new stem that's just as tall as the old growth was. A friend who operates the Shaw Nature Preserve in Missouri says he cuts them to the ground each year after flowering. In nature he tells me it's common for them to become top heavy and fall over, often snapping the stem/trunk completely. It seems evolutionary this species is stuck between being a soft wooded tree and a herbaceous perennial.

2013 Best of Butterflies

From the previous year, my butterfly season started with a series of Black Swallowtail Chrysalises over wintering in a cage I kept down in my basement. Well one emerged prematurely which lead to this shot.

And then about 8 more which eventually lead to shit shot. I tried to care for them as best I could but found they weren't drinking or really doing much of anything. Some even died sadly.

Over the next three months as they hatched out, I did start letting them go. Despite this though I am sad to report that ended my experience with Black Swallowtails for the year. While I'm sure some of them survived, none of them returned to my garden to lay eggs or even pay me a visit.

Now I don't think I did anything particularly bad. Even around carrot farms this species is not considered a pest. For whatever reason they just don't spread dramatically in huge numbers.

I found this Silver Spotted Skipper Caterpillar nestled on my False Indigo tree. It's a new plant I'm trying out, which will hopefully flower this year. Sadly I think a bird ate this little guy.

Hummingbird Moth laying eggs on my Coral Honeysuckle.

A Pandorus Sphinx nibbling on Virginia Creeper. I had no idea these caterpillars were this enormous.

I don't know the name of this one but if I recall right they can spray acid if you disturb them.

A Spicebush Swallowtail sipping at some Hairy Swamp Milkweed. Note the missing orange spot under the wing, how it's replaced with just the blue smear. This species mimics the Pipevine Swallowtail which is poisonous for birds to eat. Despite this ability, it seems the Pipevine Swallowtail doesn't need to be around to have decent Spicebush Swallowtail populations. I'm told though when the Pipevine Swallowtail is around that it benefits all the other species of black butterflies that mimic them.

There were about six of them zooming around this milkweed patch.

One of these days I need to figure out which of the random grasses in my yard is supporting the skipper population.

Every autumn, I'm suddenly blessed with droves and droves of skippers.

And they absolutely loved the Rudbeckia of all things!

New England Asters I'd have expected to be the bigger hit, as it was with everything else. But not the skippers, they worked the Rudbeckia until it stopped blooming. Very strange. Any who this is a Tiger Swallowtail, male judging from the lack of blue along what I call the tramp stamp.

Monarchs! This was an awful year for them. Years ago when I started doing this (back in 2008 maybe?) I planted Swamp Milkweed and with in a few weeks there were Monarchs, not only having sex on the lawn but laying eggs all over the milkweed patch. I had caterpillars all summer long, and witnessed one emerging from its chrysalis. It's actually that moment that brought me tears that I was really hooked on this whole native plant thing. But this year tragically I didn't see a single one in my garden.

It wasn't until I took a trip to Cape May with a few friends that I really saw them this year. There were stands of Seaside Goldenrod planted all along the beach specifically to help the Monarch migration. While I saw a few dozen flying around it really wasn't enough to give me any sort of hope that their population was doing well at all.

I know that they're by no means endangered. It's simply that the population that migrates through the eastern half of North America will be lost. They're doing okay out in California, apparently there's a population that migrates through South America as well, but what a shame it would be to never see the butterfly that inspired me to garden to ever flutter through my yard again.

Autumn Native Plant Garden Tour 2013

Mountain Mint, Pycnanthemum sp.
Wild Senna, Senna hebecarpa (seed pods)
New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (Pink and Purple)
Goldenrod 'fireworks' Solidago rugosa 'fireworks'
Perennial Sunflower, Helianthus maximiliani
Small Woodland Sunflower, Helianthus microcephalus
Anise Hyssop, Agastache foeniculum
White Woodland Aster or Heath Aster, Eurybia sp.
False Sunflower or Early Sunflower, Heliopsis helianthoides
Northern Blazingstar, Liatris scariosa (might be Liatris borealis)
Threadleaf Ironweed, Vernonia lettermanii
Showy Goldenrod, Solidago speciosa
Smooth Blue Aster, Symphyotrichum laeve
Sky Blue Aster, Symphyotrichum oolentangiense
Purpledisk Sunflower or Appalachian Sunflower, Helianthus atrorubens
Western Sunflower, Helianthus occidentalis
Cutleaf Coneflower, Rudbeckia laciniata




This video features both Swamp Sunflower, Helianthus angustifoliu and Narrow-leaf Sunflower, Helianthus salicifolius. I'm confused as to which is which. The tallest one at the end is supposedly a true species of H. angustifolius, while all the others are supposedly cultivars of H. salicifolius, however I find the same cultivar names listed as H. angustifolius species but never at the same nursery. What's more the two species can also hybridize and often grow in the same locations in the wild.... H. salicifolius supposedly just doesn't get as tall... but I'm unaware of any other differences between the two species, so I'm starting to feel it really doesn't matter which species you have. Even the flowers to both look the same.

Best of Bees 2012

This year's best of bees is somewhat topical as I'm writing a book relating to the topic. It's about honeybees which are nonnative, but by planting native plants as the nectar and pollen plants I believe that the conservation of native bees will come naturally. Even if you're not putting out mason bee nest boxes, or bumblebee homes (which don't work as often as I'd like them to), the fact that we're increasing pollen and nectar sources will benefit things that eat pollen and nectar. So there's this sort of idea that conservation will come naturally, especially when we're talking about flying insects.  

The thing about honeybees is they go for abundant sources of pollen and nectar and communicate where the food is by means of a waggle dance. So a maple tree that's 60' tall is likely going to win out to an apple tree that's only 15' tall. There is more to forage on the maple tree and more bees are waggle dancing about it too. Bees are loyal to one particular plant species when they go foraging, and rarely change plants mid foraging trip. This is why you never see honeybees... bees in general with multicolored baskets of pollen on their legs or under the abdomen.

So early on, I find lots of native/solitary bees on my apple and other fruit trees because they're barely taller than I am. If I had an orchard of maybe 6+ trees of one species all flowering at once, and in close proximity of each other, they'd stand a better chance of getting honeybees. Not that it's horribly important to do this, as long as my honeybees are working something does it really matter? The fact that Blue Orchard Masonbees, Osmia cf. lignaria,  and a diversity of other bees are visiting my trees isn't a bad thing either. 

I get so annoyed by scientists who say honeybees are bad for the environment. In most of North America this really isn't true as much as that general statement leads us to believe. There are plenty of other nonnative bee species that are replacing our natives. Honeybees are cavity nesting and only displacing other cavity nesting bees out of nesting sites; most of which happens in Central and South America as far as the new world is concerned. (Another issue is that Beekeepers down there are farming Africanized Honeybees which is a headache all on its own.)

As far as nectar goes, honeybees seem to only be an issue when they visit plants that they:  1) Don't pollinate, and 2) Actively steal the nectar and pollen in cases where there are bees that Do pollinate them. When this is the case then yes they are stealing from native bees and populations suffer. I strain to think of particular examples but I know they're out there.

More commonly I hear examples of native bees being "Better" pollinators of certain plants. The Sunflower Bee, Squash Bee, and Rose Mallow Bee can be found on a variety of flowers but all specialize on feeding pollen to their brood of which the plants they are named after. Well Duh! I'd hope such bees that specialize in one type of pollen would at least pollinate the plant.

Most of the time when this argument is used, it's usually about food crops so maybe scientists have a point. Alfalfa Bees are better pollinators than Honeybees but farms overall aren't designed with native bee populations in mind. Honeybee hives help to pollinate the middle of the fields where natives don't fly to as much.

It's not a fair argument to compare 1 bee species to 4,500 others. This is like comparing your grades in school to 4,500 other students in your class. (Chances are you sucked at least one subject in school or our right avoided some like music, art, gym, computer programming, other languages, shop, sex ed, driver's ed, or some other class. Maybe its your own fault for not having hair, or lack there of, on the right part of your body?)

Anyhow, pretty pictures.

This image demonstrates the plant loyalty I was talking about. See how each pollen ball is pretty much one color. The sweat bee here deposits an egg on each one to consume it all. Which makes me wonder what the nutritional value of each plant's pollen is comparatively, and maybe this is why some bees have decided to specialize in giving only one type to their young.

The honey produced by many plants varies considerably. With honeybees plants like Sneezeweed, Helenium autumnale, produce copious amounts of pollen, however the honey produced by this plant is described as tasting so f***ing awful that it tents to ruin all other types of honey its mixed with.

As mason and carpenter bees get themselves situated for the year their natural parasites begin to emerge. Though to be fair I haven't ID'd this one (partaking of New Jersey Tea) and it may very well use beetle grubs as a host. Parasites like these are signs of a healthy ecosystem, at least for whatever species they use as hosts.

If I remember right this was a Male Bumblebee I found in early July. Many bumblebee hives actually complete their life cycle early in the year. I know one species is done by June, and calling it "social" is almost a joke when we consider others last well into August. 

Bumblebee on Ox Eye sunflower. This isn't a true sunflower and the main difference is the petals can develop into seeds where as true sunflowers can not. You can't see it in this photo but there are tiny pollen anthers at the base of each petal. 

As summer rolls in, big flowering trees become rare and we see more honeybees on low growing shrubs and full sun perennials that bloom at this time.

My bees found the buttonbush hard to let go of. They worked the flower balls well after the petals turned rotted looking. Part of this plants allure is that the honeybee tongue is 6mm long where as the florets on each ball are 9mm deep. This means honeybees rarely get all the nectar and likely why we see them working the flowers after they're past their prime.

Liatris wasn't quite as popular as Mountain Mint and Anise Hyssop, but it got a hell of a lot more attention than the Black Eyed Susans did. Rudbeckia in general is a genus of easy to grow forbs but most of them seem to only produce pollen or so little nectar that I rarely see bees working them. They're a nice filler plant for a great pop of yellow over the summer but otherwise go for Coreopsis, or better yet Coneflowers, or better still, Milkweed.

Liatris make for a much needed splash of pink and purple in the prairie garden. And many species are popular with butterflies as well as native bees.

Anise Hyssop is so loved by bees. I recommend it over the Butterfly Bush which blooms for about the same amount of time. Mountain Mint is an improvement still that flowers about a month sooner and continues to do so well into frost. It does spread by root suckers but these are easily plucked from undesired areas.

Asters are a late season delight though most species have to be planted in bulk to get honeybee attention. Usually this isn't a problem as Asters are diverse enough that there's usually one species growing as prolific as a weed somewhere. And if not them then Goldenrods are doing it for sure. 

We end with a honey bee on a New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae. Of the 8 Aster genera found in North America (The Alpine Aster is still in the true Aster genus as I learned,) Symphyotrichum is probably the most prized by honeybees. New England Asters in particular seem to take the fewest number of plants to attract copious numbers of them too. Another fun fact, this is the image I decided to use for the cover of my book.

Some Neat Natives

While researching plants for the book I've come across a lot of really cool native plants that are very much outside the norm of what's sold at native plant nurseries. (I get tired of constantly seeing the same plants year after year and frankly I wish they'd sell more than just the same 3 species of milkweed, to give you an idea of what I mean by norm).

Image from Wikipedia

Red Flowering Raspberry, Rubus odoratus, has gorgeous 2" flowers that come in a narrow range of purples pinks and reds. The fruit I read is either just as tasty or slightly less than the normal raspberries sold in stores. It's not often sold but I was able to find a few places selling it.

Image from Wikipedia

Compare that to our native Rose, and you can seem more than a passing resemblance; as far as the flower is concerned anyway. I've always wanted to grow one of our native roses but frankly I'm not open to the idea of eating rose hips and I think they're too thorny and aggressive of a plant to grow just for the birds. So growing the Red Flowering Raspberry is a handy food producing alternative. Both plants spread by root suckers/rhizomes, both have thorns or prickers on the stems, and both grow to be just about the same height. (I've never thought to use Raspberries as a cut flower before but they may even do good in a vase.)

Image from Wikipedia

Cloudberry, Rubus chamaemorus, is a low growing alpine raspberry. This image doesn't do it justice compared to other google search images. They're low growing and are reminiscent of a strawberry patch. The fruit is said to taste a little starchy (lacking somewhat in flavor), but I just think the novelty of a dwarf yellow raspberry is neat. There are actual yellow fruiting raspberries that are probably better worth you time but this was an oddity I thought worth mentioning. 

Image from Wikipedia

Alpine Aster, Aster alpinus, is a true aster that flowers in May! As far as I can tell this is the ONLY aster species native to North America that wasn't move out of the true Aster genus. And oddly enough this plant grows more like a spring bulb than a perennial you'd expect sold at a nursery. They emerge each spring and flower before going dormant sometime over the summer. It's a really bizarre growth habit for the genus... though I guess maybe it isn't. What are other true Asters like around the world? Seeds are available for sale but no one seems to sell the full plants. I'm tempted to buy some and give them a shot. Being an alpine plant I wonder if anyone can really grow them that far south of Canada. There is a patch of them in the rocky mountains though so maybe an ideal addition to a rock garden. Check them out on Google too!

Not to be out done, there's also the Climbing Aster, Symphyotrichum carolinianum, (which some people have labeled as Ampelaster carolinianus, not sure who's right but it looks like a Symphyotrichum to me. Maybe the climbing aspect is why its in a different genus but I still think Symphyotrichum is right). As the common name implies, this is a vine the rambles all over and grows into a massive 6' - 10' long clump of flowers. They seem to bloom unusually late in the year too, and prefer growing in wet sunny conditions. I believe this is one plant that shouldn't be cut all the way to the ground but rather trained up a fence or trellis and cut back as needed. 

So those are a few of the neat plants I found and I hope to add more later on.

Monarchs Wave Good Bye

Now that I have a little break I might as well start posting again. Hopefully on a daily basis.

About two weeks ago I believe the last of the Monarchs passed through my area. I had a male and female on the New England Aster.

They weren't interested in one another at all, but sure loved the flowers.

Sadly I only got one Monarch caterpillar in my yard this year, and it did make it to adulthood. I'm not quite sure why though. Milkweed was the native plant I ever put in my garden and I've always had Monarchs visit. This year though I seemed to be seeing them everywhere except for my yard.

News of their migration this year has been confusing. Early reports varied from Record High Numbers to Record Low Numbers. Currently the Record Low reports seem to have won out.